Bitachon is not just a mitzvah. It is also the only way to live without worry. Most people are beset with worry. They worry about their health and security, parnassa, children and many other aspects of life. This can negatively impact both the mind and body. It magnifies stressors by constantly raising negative possibilities, leading to more stress and keeping people from enjoying the time and resources Hashem blesses them with.

There Will Be More Tomorrow

The way Hashem distributed the manna in the desert addressed this issue. Hashem permitted taking only the amount needed for that day and prohibited saving from day-to-day. Any manna that people tried to save rotted (Shemot 16:16-20).

This taught them to use what they had each day, without worrying about what they would have tomorrow. There was no need to save for a “rainy day” (or, in the case of the manna, a non-rainy day, a “non-Manna-day”). Just as Hashem provided manna each day (besides Shabbat) in the desert, we rely on Him to provide each day, wherever we are.

This was the Tanna Hillel’s way of life. The Gemara tells us that Hillel earned a trapic (ancient coin) each day and used half to support his family and the other half to pay for entry into the beit midrash (Yoma 35b). He did not need to make additional money to save for the next day because he relied upon Hashem’s future providence.

Hillel also relied on this belief for his leniency regarding the mitzvah to prepare special food for Shabbat. As opposed to Shamai, who would put special food aside already on Sunday, Hillel’s faith that Hashem would provide for him made him comfortable waiting until the end of the week (Masechet Beitzah 15b and Rashi 16a, D”H L’Shem).

In more recent times, the Brisker Rav also lived this way. When the Nazis invaded Poland, the Brisker Rav and his family joined other Jews hiding in Polish forests. Unlike others, who took large amounts of food with them, the rav instructed his family to rely on Hashem to provide for them. Indeed, on their first day in the forest, a Jew showed up with baskets full of food to offer them. The invasion had forced him to cancel his daughter’s wedding, and he had a full four-course meal available. The rav encouraged his family to enjoy the meal but not to take food for the next day.

Indeed, another surprise visitor came the next day with a meal—but this time, there was no dessert. While the family enjoyed their meal, the rav was concerned about the lack of dessert. He gathered the family together and asked whether anyone had saved food from yesterday. A young boy eventually admitted that because he was concerned that there might not be food on the second day, he had saved an extra dessert from the day before. This—explained the Brisker Rav—is why the second day’s meal did not include dessert.

Peace of Mind

This kind of bitachon facilitates peace of mind. It helps you live life without worry. Avraham Avinu was an example of such peace of mind. Though commanded to set off to sacrifice his son, Avraham’s faith in Hashem helped him sleep that night. He knew that Hashem was handling things and that the result would be what needed to be.

Rav Aryeh Levine—the kind-hearted Yerushalayim rabbi—pointed out that the Hebrew word for “worry—deagah,” consists of the first five letters of the Hebrew alphabet except for the letter bet. This—he explained—is because one has worries only if he lacks (the bet for) bitachon.

The Ability to Focus on What Matters Most

Bitachon also allows people to devote time and energy to meaningful pursuits. Though we need to work to support ourselves, our realization that Hashem provides for us and our trust in Him to do so should curb the impulse to allow work to take over life. We should be able to devote time and energy to other things—the things our lives are meant to be about.

Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai gave the example of Torah learning. He taught that the Torah needed to be given specifically to those who ate the manna (Mechilta, Vayisa 2). Only people who fully rely on Hashem’s providence are able to focus properly on Torah learning.

Hashem commanded Moshe to save manna in a flask for future generations (Shemot 16:32), so that they, too, could be inspired by the manna to trust in Hashem enough to devote time to serious, consistent Torah study.

Indeed, Chazal tells us that over 800 years later, Yirmiyahu used the flask to inspire people slacking in their Torah learning. In response to their explanation that they needed to focus on supporting themselves, Yirmiyahu reminded them how Hashem provided manna to their ancestors in the desert (Medrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 21). They, too, could rely upon Hashem’s providence and devote time to Torah learning.

We saw that Hillel was a model of someone who internalized this message. His reliance on Hashem gave him the confidence to focus on his Torah learning, after earning the money he needed for the day.

Hillel should be a model for us all. Hashem Himself uses Hillel as the example to respond to those who claim (after their lives) that they were too poor to devote time to Torah learning. The tension of living paycheck to paycheck can understandably distract one from focusing on Torah learning. Hillel exemplifies how bitachon should help one focus on learning nonetheless.

The dependency of our ability to commit to Torah study upon the strength of our faith is why the heavenly tribunal asks whether we devoted time to daily Torah learning, only after it asks whether we conducted faithful business practices. Only one who trusts that Hashem determines how much he earns has the confidence to consistently stop working and start learning (after having invested a proper effort). As Hashem determines the degree of our success, there is no need to overwork, and a good reason to focus on Torah learning.

We, Too

We, too, should emulate the bitachon of the generation who first received the Torah—those who lived off the manna Hashem provided for them. Though we work for a living, we should develop the bitachon rooted in the recognition that Hashem is the one who provides.

*Written by Joshua Pomerantz

Rabbi Reuven Taragin is the Dean of Overseas Students at Yeshivat Hakotel and the Educational Director of World Mizrachi.