In EmunahSpeak:
So Who are You Relying on… we
said that The avodah of bitochon is to train oneself to rely only on
Hashem.
No small statement, this.
After a chapter
and verse recitation of a number of things that we do in fact foolishly rely
on, we quoted Rabbi Chaim Malinowitz’s take on the view of the Chovos Halavovos
as put forth in the Sha’ar HaBitochon:
The avodah of
bitochon is that we should rely on Hashem that the store will be open on time,
that the milk will be fresh, that the cars will stop at the red light
etc.. Bitochon and relying are active verbs. We are relying on
Hashem that the bank will have our money, that our boss won’t fire us. We
are relying on Hashem to bring us customers, not the size of the ad that we
place in the media.
And so it is. But that’s not all it is.
The picture that
Rabbi Malinowitz painted for us was but a broad-stroke lick and a shmeck of
what it means to rely upon Hashem. But
the devil is in the details.
How about a cup of coffee?
How about a cup of coffee?
On a very basic
level, along the lines of what we previously brought out in EmunahSpeak:
So Who are You Relying on… we
are relying on Hashem rather than the store that there will be coffee,
sugar, cups, lids, milk, and stirrers. This
is Relying on Hashem 101, and it’s a very high madreiga, because most everyone
else relies on Costco, the merkolit, or the corner bodega.
But if you would
actually like to drink something then we have to take our reliance on Hashem to
a more advanced level.
One who relies
on Hashem does so to the exclusion of anything else. In reference to our cup of coffee it means
that we rely on Hashem period, not on Hashem in addition to the laws of physics
or chemistry. Therefore we are relying on Hashem that the cup won’t leak.
And unless you
prefer iced coffee, you are relying on Hashem that the water should be
hot. And if you do, in fact, prefer iced
coffee, you are relying on Hashem that the ice cubes should be cold. And moreover, you are relying on Hashem that
those cold ice cubes will chill your coffee.
And if you do want your coffee hot, then rely on Hashem, not the Styrofoam cup, to keep it sizzling. Use of the Styrofoam cup only gives us the right
to rely on Hashem because without either it or something equivalent we
would not have done the proper hishtadlus required to bring Hashem into the
picture in the first place.
And those whose palettes
desire something more than the taste of water rely on Hashem to give the brown
liquid in their cup the taste of “real” coffee.
Those who rely on Starbucks to take care of the taste run the risk of
getting decaf on the wrong end of a labeling mistake or something worse.
To the extent
that we are hung up on taste we are also relying on Hashem that the sugar or its
substitute will be sweet. But that in
itself is not enough to put us on a cavity watch, so we are relying on Hashem
to that the sugar will sweeten the coffee.
This still won’t
hack it because I’m also relying on Hashem that the coffee will mix with the
sugar (and the milk) when I stir it.
All this for a
cup of coffee.
Anyone for tea?
