On Bitachon and the Ego

In the book “Trust me” by Eliezer Parkoff he writes: “Idolatry is seeing the hand of Hashem in front of your eyes, and still worrying about what tomorrow will bring”. This statement should be deeply contemplated time and time again for it holds within it the rectification of our generation.

Today’s idolization is worshiping the ‘me’. It is ‘me’ who accomplished and it is ‘me’ who is a failure, c”v. It is ‘me’ who works and earns a living, gives tzedakah, has smart children, knows how to ‘save a buck for a rainy day’, etc. But is it ‘me’? For if so, it is because of ‘me’ that my children act with chutzpah (defiance), that I am about to lose my home because we are financially strapped, etc.

Idolatry is the challenger we must confront on today’s battlefield to win genuine emuna. It is vital to remove the ’me’ and replace it with Melech Malchei HaMelachim HaKadosh Baruch Hu. ‘Ein od milvado (there is NO ONE else but Him)’. The idea of wishing that life was different, easier with fewer bumps in the road unfortunately serves only one end. We are left with a feeling of emptiness. It is as though we have been dealt a bad hand of cards… totally unfair!

However knowledge is power and that is what we strive to achieve each day by learning to envelop our lives with emuna. To what purpose does it serve to work with no end? What good does it do for us to be grouchy over the circumstances of our lives? You say you can’t help it… yet it is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Misery is a choice. Emuna is a choice.

“Hashlech ol Hashem yahavatcha v’Hu yichalkelecha (Cast your burden onto Hashem and He will take care of your needs)”. To visualize this passuk let us see ourselves schlepping a bag overflowing with the burden of life packed with all of our worries, trials and tribulations. All of our ‘if only’s’. But then again there is a ‘camel’ nearby onto which we can place the package over his back and no longer feel the weight of carrying it.

This mashal (parable) demonstrates the emuna that we strive to have. Emuna shleimah (pure and simple faith). Hashem is always with me, through thick and through thin and actively involved in every circumstance of life. It is He who grants success and chas v’Shalom failure. It is all from You Hashem. I will not serve ‘me’, I will serve YOU Hashem and cast my burdens onto You.
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ואנחנו נברך קה, מעתה ועד עולם הללוקה
 
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