[Avodah] Bitachon

[Prof. L. Levine]

What is the relationship between bitachon, hishtadlus, and emunah?

Rav Shimon Schwab in his lecture titled Bitachon deals with this.  You can read the entire lecture at

https://web.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/bitachon.pdf

The following is a small selection from this talk:

The Will of G-d is that a Jew should go to work and earn
a parnassah, and go to a doctor when he is sick, like every
other person on earth. What, then, makes the baal bitachon
different? He believes-he knows with certainty-that every
penny he earns, and every cure he receives-indeed, every
success he enjoys or failure he endures--comes directly from
Hashem. It may come about through an earthly agent like a
doctor, but its source is Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It is He who
grants the physician the skill and ability to heal others; it is
He who ensures that a business venture will be profitable or
disastrous. One who looks beneath the surface and realizes
this is the true baal bitachon.

<Snip>

There is no conflict, then, between the concepts of bitachon
and hishtadlus. On the contrary, we must display a combination
of the two. When we earn a living, we must do all we can
in an honest way to support our families, but we must always
recognize that Hashem is the source of our well-being. And
when we fly in an airplane, we should believe b'emunah
sheleimah that the pilot and the air controllers gain their
skills from the Ribono Shel Olom. Furthermore, the plane is
held together through the mercy of Hakadosh Baruch Hu
alone. If one maintains and displays this attitude, one can
effect a great kiddush Hashem.
Bitachon, then, is a major component of kedus"hah; but
there is also something else: emunah. The Rambam wrote an
entire sefer on it, and at the beginning he states that there can
be no bitachon without emunah. However, it is very often
possible for a person to have emunah without having bitachon.
How is this so, and what is the difference between the two
ideas?

See the above link to the pdf file for the entire essay.

YL
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