The Parsha begins with יעקב being notified that עשו is heading his way, with 400 men. The פסוק describes Yaakov’s reaction:
וירא יעקב מאד ויצר לו
He became very frightened and distressed.
Why though, was יעקב fearful, why didn’t he just practice ביטחון in Hashem? The following story can help shed light on this question. In the Fall of 1959, the Brisker Rav became ill. Rav Shach זצ”ל went to visit him, and later retold what happened at the visit . “I Went to visit the Rav prior to ראש השנה. ( The Rav passed away shortly therafter, on ערב יום כיפור ) I found him laying in bed in great distress, both over the pending יום הדין as well as his dire prognosis. I tried comforting him by stating the words of the טור, regarding the דין of ראש השנה. While ordinarily people panic when facing a potential life sentence
… …אבל ישראל אינם כן. אלא לובשים לבנים….ואוכלים ושותים ושמחים בראש השנה לפי שיודעים שהקב”ה יעשה להם נס.
We trust that Hashem will grant us a good year even if we’re undeserving, and therefore celebrate on יום הדין.
With these words, I tried giving חיזוק to the Rav” The Rav responded, ” Imagine a blind man walking on the precipice of a cliff. The first thing he needs to do is to be aware of his dangerous predicament, since in his blindness, he’s blissfully unaware that he’s in great danger. Similarly, having ביטחון that we’ll merit a good judgment, is only valuable if we understand the first that the יום הדין is a time of great danger.”
We can now understand why the תורה highlights that יעקב was fearful. It’s only when understanding the danger he was facing from עשו that יעקב could he then start practicing ביטחון.
What does practicing ביטחון entail? Is it trusting that we’ll get what we want, or is it doing our השתדלות, and then trusting that the outcome is from Hashem? Here too, we can gleam lessons from the Parsha. As רש”י highlights, יעקב prepared himself for 3 things, דורון, תפלה and מלחמה. All these are clear means of השתדלות to do what’s in his power to confront the danger from עשו. This includes תפילה, which is a spiritual form of השתדלות, in which we use our words of Davening to try to get Hashem’s ברכה. As the ספרים הקדושים discuss, the רבש”ע created a pipeline from which His שפע comes down to the world, and that pipeline is תפילה.
This provides clarity on the concept of ביטחון. It doesn’t mean that we trust that Hashem will fullfil our wishes exactly as we want them. Rather, ביטחון means doing our full השתדלות, and then trusting that whatever the result, such is Hashem’s will, and that is always for the best. This concept is highlighted by the חזון איש in ספר אמונה וביטחון. After pointing out that Hashem’s ways are beyond the grasp of the human mind, and we shouldn’t expect to always receive our desired outcome, he defines what ביטחון is:
אבל ענין הביטחון הוא האמון שאין מקרה בעולם וכל הנעשה תחת השמש הכל בהכרזה מאתו יתברך.
Bitachon means the belief that there’s nothing random in the world, and everything that happens is only because Hashem declared it to be so.
We’ll conclude with a story that highlights this point, told over by Rabbi Pesach Krohn. “My father became ill in 1966, and was hospitalized over the ימים טובים at Columbia hospital in NYC. For שמיני עצרת I stayed with him in the hospital, and was invited for a סעודה at the home of Rav Shimon Shwab, in nearby Washington Heights. During the meal, Rav Shwab asked me how my father was doing. ‘ He’s not doing too well,’ I replied, but I have ביטחון that he’ll get better. Rav Shwab turned to me and replied: “That’s not what ביטחון means. You’re not always going to get your desired outcome. Rather it’s the understanding that whatever happens, it’s for the best.”
That is the lesson we learn from יעקב אבינו.
Weekly Parsha Shiur 