July 3, 2026 Categories: In Print / Features
The Bitachon Blueprint (Part XXXV)
In the previous installment, we ended with the Mishna, which states a general principle: one is obligated to bless the (seemingly) bad just as one is obligated to bless the good (Berachos 9:5). We will now resume the discussion with the Gemara, which recounts the following:
While traveling, the great Rabbi Akiva came to a town to look for lodging, but to no avail. He said: "Everything that Hashem does, He does for the best." He went and slept in a field, bringing with him a rooster, a donkey, and a candle. A gust of wind came and extinguished the candle, a wild cat came and ate the rooster, and a lion came and ate the donkey. He said: "Everything that Hashem does, He does for the best." The same night, an army came and took the city into captivity. Had the rooster crowed or the donkey brayed or the candle remained lit, he would have been discovered and been captured along with them. He said to them (his disciples): "Didn't I tell you? Everything that Hashem does, He does for the best" (Berachos 60b).
Based on this Gemara, the Maharal deepens the concept: bitachon is not only passive acceptance of what is – it can be an active spiritual force that shapes what will be. He writes: "A person should accustom himself to say, 'All that the Merciful One does, He does for the good.' When someone applies this to an event that appears negative – yet holds bitachon that it will ultimately be for the good – Hashem turns that 'bad' into good" (Chiddushei Aggados, Berachos 60b).
The Maharal explains that even when we cannot fathom why something happened, we trust that it is for the good, because Hashem acts only with goodness – this aligns with basic bitachon. But he then speaks to its transformative power. When a person actively believes and verbalizes that even a seemingly negative event will result in good, that belief itself can change the outcome, and Hashem may transform the apparent "bad" into revealed good.
The synthesized approach is a continual cycle: we accept each moment with love, knowing it is for our good, while at the same time expecting Hashem's kindness to manifest in a revealed way. If that outcome does not appear as we hoped, we return to acceptance – trusting once again that this, too, is for our ultimate good – and we accept it anew.
Please note that acceptance means leaning in with simcha and moving forward with purpose. It doesn't mean we stop wanting change or resign ourselves to victimhood. Rather, it means facing reality without labeling it an injustice, since such denial undermines humility. True acceptance recognizes that everything – including challenges – is ultimately for our good and stems from Hashem's love. Paradoxically, this very perspective enhances our ability to change reality.
While the mitzvah of tefillah obligates us to ask for what we believe we need, we do so with the awareness that only Hashem knows what is genuinely good for us. As the Rashash explains, we ask Hashem l'malei mishaloseinu l'tovah – to fulfill our requests for the good – because even when a request seems reasonable to us, it may not truly be in our best interest (Rashash on Berachos 16b). At the highest level, we move beyond ego-driven desires and accept, without condition, that whatever we receive from Hashem is for our ultimate good and growth.
How Bitachon Changes Reality
Bitachon transforms not only how we perceive reality, but also reality itself. For centuries, we understood the universe as a clockwork mechanism – predictable forces like gravity and motion operating independently of human awareness. But quantum mechanics shattered this assumption: at the subatomic level, particles exist in multiple potential states simultaneously – until the moment of measurement. When we observe, reality crystallizes into a single outcome. This reveals a startling truth: human observation doesn't just witness reality – it actively participates in creating it. At the heart of this lies wave-particle duality: every particle can exist as both a wave and a particle until measured. (Interestingly, each of the Sefiros – the ten emanations through which Hashem interacts with creation – can likewise manifest in dual forms: circular iggulim or straight yashar.) Before observation, infinite possibilities coexist in quantum flux; after observation, one reality emerges as the observer's perspective shapes what comes into being. In other words, observation is not passive. The observer's perspective – their level of consciousness – directly influences which possibility becomes real. For most people, observation collapses possibilities into predictable outcomes. But for those with refined awareness – marked by humility and diminished ego – observation can access a broader spectrum of potential, even entering the realm of nissim ("miracles"). This explains why authentic bitachon demands more than wishful thinking – it requires sustained, focused awareness. Research shows that the more intensely subatomic particles are observed, the greater the observer's influence on their behavior (Physical Review A, Vol. 41, 1990). Reality responds to the quality of attention, not the sheer quantity. When we nullify the ego through the practices outlined in Chapter 16, we create space for Divine consciousness to operate – allowing Hashem's "observation" to determine which possibilities manifest. Yet our self-nullification does not change Hashem Himself. Hashem is infinite and unchanging; His observation is constant. What changes is our capacity to receive. By reducing the ego, we expand that capacity, allowing Divine energy to manifest according to our receptivity.To be continued.
