The Logic of Bitachon
In the previous installment, we learned that bitachon is borne out of emunah. Emunah requires that we accept the fundamental truths of Hashem, whereas bitachon demands that we actively apply those beliefs in our lives—making choices that reflect our convictions.
In short, responsible action is what transforms emunah into bitachon.
It is impossible to establish trust in Hashem if we do not live in a way that demonstrates our belief in Him. This means that we cannot simply force ourselves to feel calm. Our ability to free ourselves from worry and trust the outcome is directly proportional to the quality of our choices.
Now, we will take a granular look at how these choices reinforce or undermine bitachon on three interrelated levels: emotional, cognitive, and spiritual.
Emotional Level
Emunah should not be construed as blind faith or an abandonment of reason. Emunah is steeped in logic and flows from a true, unshakable knowledge of Hashem and belief in His Divine Providence. It is the recognition that Hashem knows all, interacts, and intercedes as He chooses and that nothing in creation operates independently of Him.
Bitachon means knowing that Hashem not only supervises all aspects of our lives—down to the tiniest detail—but that He actively optimizes the entirety of our lives and life experiences toward our greatest good and growth. Unlike emunah, bitachon reflects a person’s relationship with Hashem.
Trust presumes that we can rely on Hashem to do what is best for us. However, this trust can be compromised when our actions lead us to feel unworthy of His benevolence. We intuit—via our conscience, the soul—that with each of our acts, a natural consequence occurs. When we engage in conduct that we know to be wrong, no matter how cleverly we justify it, our soul is marked by shame—the deep conviction that we are unworthy of love, undeserving of connection, and that everything we care about is neither safe nor secure.
(This mirrors our relationships with others: if we do not love ourselves, it’s hard to believe others would love us—why would they love someone so unlovable? No matter how much reassurance we receive, we cannot easily accept love. Likewise, giving love becomes difficult. We can only give what we possess. If we lack self-love, what can we offer?)
Although the ego muffles the soul’s cry, we unconsciously wait for the universe to drop the other proverbial shoe. Just as one tenses in anticipation of a physical blow, we brace ourselves emotionally when we feel ashamed. As we routinely neglect our responsibilities in favor of immediate gratification or become consumed with protecting and projecting an image, we cannot help but feel that we do not matter to Hashem—that we are unworthy of His goodness and perhaps even deserve pain and punishment. Anxiety and fear, then, are inevitable.
This brings us to an important point: Inspirational stories of emunah and hashgachah pratis foster the recognition of Hashem’s absolute and immutable Divine Providence, kindling our emunah and providing chizuk (“inspiration”). Since bitachon is built on the foundation of emunah, it is essential to consistently immerse ourselves in teachings about Hashem’s Providence. However, this does not necessarily instill the understanding that He desires only the best for us. Shame taints our ability to see and accept Hashem’s unconditional love for us. Even when we can intellectually accept that He desires only our good, we cannot fully bring it into our hearts.
Cognitive Level
Legitimate shame acts as a self-correcting mechanism, alerting us when we fall below our potential. By accepting responsibility through teshuvah, we cancel the emotional and spiritual debt, restoring our capacity to love and be loved. However, when we are confronted by either circumstance or conscience and deny accountability, the ego swells to compensate for these uncomfortable feelings. Here’s the psychological process behind it:
On a conscious level, we have difficulty admitting to ourselves that we are selfish or lazy, much less a failure or flawed. When reality clashes with our ability to accept it, it creates an internal conflict called cognitive dissonance. (All emotionally healthy people want to see themselves as good; hence, any attempts to reduce dissonance are driven by the desire to preserve this self-concept: “I am a good person.”)
From a Torah standpoint, cognitive dissonance is the by-product of tension between the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara. Under this psychological weight, we may feel the need to rationalize our behavior to remain consistent with our self-concept. When the ego reigns, we must make sense of our world and choices in the least painful way. Rather than doing teshuvah, we recalibrate our thinking to accommodate our behavior, which expands the ego and pushes Hashem further away.
The less responsible our choices → our self-esteem decreases → our ego expands
In the next installment, we’ll learn that when we routinely neglect our responsibilities for the sake of immediate gratification or become consumed with maintaining an image, we are, in effect, declaring, “I am in charge.” This presents a profound challenge: how can we realistically expect to summon Hashem at our convenience—seeking comfort and reassurance—while our actions continuously assert the opposite?
Spoiler alert: we can’t.
(To be continued)
