FROM THE UPCOMING ‘REBBE NACHMAN’S SOUL’, ADAPTED FROM HIS AUDIO SHIUR ON SICHOS HARAN 250

LIVING WITH EMUNAH: THE SECRET OF THE AKEIDAH

Parshas Vayeira reaches its spiritual climax with the Akeidah — Avraham Avinu’s supreme test of faith. Rebbe Nachman teaches that true life means living with complete emunah and bitachon, trusting Hashem even when everything seems lost. Fear and worry are signs of distance from Hashem, while calm faith — the kind Avraham embodied as he walked with Yitzchak Avinu toward Mount Moriah — is the essence of spiritual life itself. Avraham’s silence was not resignation but serene certainty: “The tzaddik lives by his faith.”

Rabbeinu zal made a short statement that is difficult to understand, but we can still learn a vital lesson from it. There are people who are anxious about earning a livelihood. They worry about whether they will find a job, about problems in a particular trade or business venture, and in general, whether they will earn enough to feed their family. Rabbeinu zal asked, “Why should a person worry about making a livelihood? What is the worst that could happen?”

If a person has no parnassah at all and as a result he has no food at all, the worst that could happen would be that he would die of hunger. Rabbeinu zal asked, “What is the problem if he dies? What does he lose? A person has to die anyhow.”

This is what Rabbeinu zal said, and we must endeavor to understand what he meant. A person’s life is very valuable. You do not speak about the death of a Jew by saying, “so what.” After all, the Mishnah says that the life of a Jew is so precious. If a Jew could live one minute longer, and in that minute he could do a mitzvah, that one mitzvah is worth more than the whole Olam HaBa (Avos 4:17). The eternity of Gan Eden is not worth the act of one mitzvah, because you cannot do a mitzvah in Gan Eden.

WORRYING CAUSES SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL HARM

What Rabbeinu zal meant here is that the worry itself is superfluous and unwarranted. It is wrong to worry because that shows that the person is not living a proper life. A Jew who lives without emunah, without bitachon in HaShem is not considered to be alive. Therefore, what does it matter if he dies? The life of a Jew is his emunah, his faith. The navi says, “Vetzaddik be’emunaso yichyeh”(Chavakuk 2:4), the tzaddik will live by his faith, and David HaMelekh says, “Vekhol mitzvosekha emunah” (Tehillim 119:86), all of your mitzvos are faith. The whole life of a Jew is based upon emunah and bitachon. A Jew is supposed to have a very powerful sense of bitachon, and to believe implicitly that HaShem provides nourishment and livelihood for every living thing that was created. HaShem created billions of different types of organisms: animals, birds, reptiles, worms, plants. Every one of these requires nourishment, and HaShem alone takes care of them all with hashgachah pratis, ensuring that they are fed every day.

A Jew is supposed to say be’emunah sheleimah that since HaShem is zan umefarneis lakol, He provides food for everything and everyone, surely HaShem will take care of me, too. To worry about parnassah shows a lack of bitachon. Therefore, Rabbeinu zal said, “What is there to worry about?” The worry itself is wrong. It is a sin. It is also wrong from a rational point of view. What good does a person accomplish with worry? Will the worry get him money? Will the worry bring him food? It will only give him ulcers. It will only make him sick. It will accomplish nothing as far as providing him with his necessities. Worry causes physical and mental harm and is an indication of a person’s lack of emunah and bitachon.

EMUNAH IS LIFE

Therefore, Rabbeinu zal said, a Jew is supposed to live. To live means waking up each morning with emunah, bitachon and a clear knowledge that HaShem will provide. It means not to worry about parnassah because HaShem provides for everyone, and He will provide for you, too. Every Jew is noted in Heaven, and HaShem will see to it that you have parnassah. If you have bitachon, you will have created the vessel with which to receive that parnassah and that nourishment. Relax. HaShem will provide. If that is your attitude, then HaShem will definitely provide. As long as you have bitachon and emunah, you will be provided for by HaShem.

Of course, a person must make an effort. The Torah says, “Uveirakhekha HaShem Elokekha bekhol asher ta’aseh,” HaShem will bless you in all that you do. You cannot sit back at home, fold your arms, put a basket in front of you and watch the coins drop in. That could only happen to a tzaddik whose emunah is especially pure. We are not in that category, and there is no one today whose emunah is so strong it can actually create gold coins. That is the power of the tzaddik emes.

The Midrash says that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai showed his talmidim a valley that looked like a big dish. He said, “Bika, bika, mil’i dinarei zahav,” Valley, valley, become filled with gold dinarim, and instantly the whole valley was filled with gold dinars worth millions of dollars (Shemos Rabbah 52:3). He said to his students, “There is no question. If you have emunah and bitachon, then you have shefa because you have the cup. I just used the cup that comes from bitachon and there is the shefa. The valley is filled with gold dinarim.”

According to the degree of bitachon a person has and the minimal amount of work he puts in to show that he has fulfilled “bekhol asher ta’aseh,” HaShem will bless him so that he will have parnassah beshefa. Of course, the amount of parnassah beshefa depends on the bitachon. The Gemara mentions other items that also help for parnassah. The ikar, Rabbeinu zal says here, is that a person should not worry about parnassah because worrying is a bad sign. A person should have complete bitachon and simchah.