Yosef had been thrown into the Egyptian prison. One day two political prisoners arrived and they had very disturbing dreams. Yosef first interpreted the dream of the wine-steward that he would soon be released from prison:

"In another three days, Pharaoh will number you [with the other officers], and he will restore you to your position, and you will place Pharaoh's cup into his hand, according to [your] previous custom, when you were his cupbearer. But remember me (æÀëÇøÀúÌÇðÄé) when things go well with you, and please do me a favor and remember me (åÀäÄæÀëÌÇøÀúÌÇðÄé) to Pharaoh, and you will get me out of this house. For I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here too, I have done nothing, for which they have put me into the dungeon" (Bereishis 40:13-15)

"Fortunate is the man who has made G-d his trust": this refers to Yosef. "...and does not turn to arrogant ones": Because he asked the wine steward to remember him [saying: "æëøúðé åäæëøúé" - a double usage of the word "to remember"], two years were added to his stay in the dungeon. (Bereishis Rabbah 89:2) This Medrash contradicts itself. First it starts by relating that Yosef had full bitachon in Hashem. In the next breath it states that by turning to the wine steward he was punished for his lack of bitachon.

We have to know that there are two kinds of bitachon. There is the bitachon of the Chovos Halevovos and the bitachon of the Ramban. According to the Chovos Halevovos (Sha'ar Habitachon Chap 4) one must combine his bitachon with hishtadlus; it is prohibited to rely on miracles. Yes, nothing can stand in the way of Hashem's ability to take care of a person even without any hishtadlus. Still, whatever we mere mortals can do by natural means, we are obligated to do. This school of thought is problematic. In Tanach we read that King Asa came down with a disease of his legs (some conjecture that it was gout). He called in a team of doctors to cure his ailment. Chazal tell us that he sinned in turning to the doctors. Why is this? According to the Chovos Halevovos what was his crime? A person should not rely on miracles but should use natural means to solve his problems. We must say, therefore, that he turned only to the doctors and didn't pray for himself at all.

The Ramban however, states that ideally one should follow the true path of bitachon and totally throw one's burden on Hashem and not rely on hishtadlus at all. True, we find the statement in Chazal that Hashem gave permission to the doctors to heal. This seemingly implies that seeking medical attention is permitted. This, says the Ramban, is for the average person, he can turn to doctors. One who strives for perfection, however, will not turn to the doctors. (This level of perfection is not for someone living in our generation. See my sefer Trust Me for an explanation.) So too regarding parnossah. Such a person needs no hishtadlus, only bitachon in Hashem. King Asa, according to the Ramban, being on a very exalted level should not have turned to the doctors at all. He should have turned to Hashem and prayed to be healed.

These two schools of thought are both valid and true. We find a similar argument between two great tannaim in the gemara Brachos 35b.

[The Torah states:] And you shall gather in your grain (Devarim 11:14). What is the meaning of this verse? Since it states [elsewhere]: This Sefer Torah shall not depart from your mouth... (Yehoshua 1:8), one might take this literally (i.e., the verse from Yehoshua indicates that one should engage solely in Torah study, to the exclusion of everything else).

Therefore, the Torah teaches: "And you shall gather in your grain": Conduct [yourself] with it (Torah study) a manner of worldly enterprise (i.e., one should study, but also have some form of income to support oneself). These are the words of R. Yishmael.

R. Shimon bar Yochai, on the other hand, is of the opinion that it is not permissible to cease from Torah study for even a minute. Therefore, the verse: And you shall gather in your grain, refers to when the Jewish People are not following the will of the Almighty. If they were deserving, their work would be done by others, and they would be free to study Torah.

According to R. Yishmael, however, the exact opposite is the case, and this verse grants one license to temporarily cease from his studies for the sake of pursuing a livelihood.

The Gemara concludes with Abbaye's observation that: "many attempted R. Yishmael's path, and were successful. However, many attempted R. Shimon bar Yochai's way, [i.e., refrained from mundane activity] and were unsuccessful." (They did not succeed because they had not yet reached the highest level of perfection and therefore were not worthy of miracles.)

Rav Chaim Volozhin (Nefesh Hachaim 1:8) explains that there really isn't any machlokes at all. R. Yishmael was talking to the masses, while R. Shimon bar Yochai was relating to unique individuals. This is the meaning behind the statement in that gemara, "Many tried to live like R. Shimon but failed." Rav Chaim points out that "many" tried and failed. However, some tried and succeeded. Those exalted individuals should strive to live according to the bitachon of the Ramban. This was the level of R. Shimon bar Yochai when he spent 13 years studying in the cave with his son, R. Elazar. They lived from the fruit of a carob tree and a spring of water that miraculously sprouted right outside their cave. They performed absolutely no hishtadlus for their sustenance and Hashem provided for them. The masses, concludes the Nefesh Hachaim, should follow R. Yishmael and perform some hishtadlus for their parnossa.

Rav Yisroel Salanter concluded that we see that there really is no machlokes. Both are valid Torah ways. The Chovos Halevovos is the opinion of R. Yishmael, and the Ramban is like R. Shimon bar Yochai.

We must point out, that even according to the Chovos Halevovos it is prohibited from exerting too much hishtadlus. One should do the minimum according to which it is possible to succeed naturally. As for the outcome, trust in Hashem. Too much hishtadlus displays a lack of bitachon.

There is a third school of thought as well - that of the deniers and non-believers. They don't believe that the Almighty runs the world. Everything runs according to the laws of nature. In their foolishness they exert the maximum efforts to gain what they lack, believing only in nature. They try all the natural means at their disposal. Thus their extent of hishtadlus is much more than that required by the Chovos Halevovos.

However, sometimes it occurs that the non-believer will exert no effort whatsoever, while one with bitachon will put in a limited amount of hishtadlus. For example, one who saw in his stars or had a vision in a dream that he will be raised to a high post. One who believes in astrology is certain that his luck is with him and nothing can change it. Therefore, putting his full belief in his mazal he exerts absolutely no effort whatsoever. It's in the bag, so to speak. But one with bitachon will always fulfill his quota of hishtadlus. His "fortune" can change according to his spiritual status. We find that Yaakov had been explicitly promised by Hashem that Hashgacha Pratis will always be with him. And yet when confronted with Eisav and his army he feared greatly, perhaps his sins had spoiled the Divine promise. Certainly, even more so will he not believe in Heavenly signs. Perhaps he is not worthy of miracles. Thus we can explain the story of Yosef. He saw in his dreams that he was destined to greatness. If he did not believe in Divine destiny, he would have done absolutely nothing to advance his cause to gain release from the Egyptian prison. It was a given that he would eventually become the ruler. But being a G-d fearing man, he feared perhaps his sins had spoiled the prophecy of the dreams and he wasn't worthy of such a miraculous escape from jail without some effort on his part. Therefore he exerted his hishtadlus by mentioning to the wine steward to put in a good word to Pharaoh. Not that he really believed in the wine steward. He was merely doing something to take it out of the category of a miracle. Thus we see that Yosef was a tremendously great ba'al bitachon. His sin was merely that he grasped the bitachon of the Chovos Halevovos. Such an exalted person should have shown an even higher level of bitachon - the bitachon of the Ramban and R. Shimon bar Yochai.

Now we can understand the statement of the Medrash with which we started. "Fortunate is the man who has made G-d his trust": this refers to Yosef who trusted in Hashem and not in dreams. For if he had trusted in his dreams, he would not have exerted any hishtadlus whatsoever. He was very correct in being suspicious that perhaps he had sinned, and so he turned his trust toward Hashem, and not his dreams. However, he failed in one point. "...and does not turn to arrogant ones": he should not have turned to the arrogant wine steward. He should have striven to be on the highest level of bitachon and trusted solely on Hashem alone.

Rav Avraham Yaphen often related the heights of bitachon that his father-in-law, the Alter of Novhardok had achieved. He related that during the First World War one Friday night they had been in the middle of making Kiddush when they started shelling the city. Everyone dropped to the floor and hurried to find some shelter under the table. One bomb landed nearby and the entire building shook sending plaster from the ceiling raining down on the room. Everyone was deathly frightened.

Finally the bombing ceased and they waited until several minutes of silence passed. Slowly, everyone came out from under the table and they were shocked at the sight they saw. There was the Alter standing by his place at the table holding the Kiddush cup in his hand waiting to resume Kiddush. He had not spilled even one drop of wine. Such was the strength of his bitachon. (Avnei Zikaron, Sefer Zikaron of Rav Shlomo Wolbe).

Bitachon is something most people make mistakes in. Quite often we hear one saying, "Nu, I have to have bitachon." That doesn't mean he has bitachon.

Rather, it means he needs bitachon, and it's not there.

Rav Wolbe once met a yungerman who asked, "I'm not sure what to do. Should I do hishtadlus or have bitachon. If I have bitachon, I'm not sure it's bitachon or just plain laziness."

Rav Wolbe answered him, "If you're not sure, it's definitely laziness!"

His answer was based on the Chovos Halevovos' statement that bitachon is characterized by one's serenity. That means that lack of serenity is a sign of a lack of bitachon.

Gut Shabbos!

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© Rabbi Eliezer Parkoff
4 Panim Meirot, Jerusalem 94423 Israel
Tel: 732-858-1257
Rabbi Parkoff is author of "Chizuk!" and "Trust Me!" (Feldheim Publishers), and "Mission Possible!" (Israel Book Shop Lakewood).
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