From: MASH@WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL (Michael Shimshoni)
Subject: Bitachon (Trust)
Organization: Mail to News Gateway at Wang Labs
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 12:50:08 GMT

In: <6280@ceylon.gte.com>
sg04@gte.com (Yechezkal Shimon Gutfreund) discusses the subject at length

>What is Bitachon (Trust?) in G-d?
>
>The common perception of this concept is that we trust in G-d that
>whatever happens to us will be good. That is, we believe G-d is good,
>and that whatever endeavor we undertake and any situation we find
>ourselves in, then because G-d is good, things will be good.
>
>Of course, there are two possible outcomes. Either the even will turn
>out good, or it won't. So what happened? The usuall explanation is that
>it depends on whether we are worthy or not. That is, if we merit it,
>then it will be for the good, if not, then it won't be for the good.
>
>Now, even those who explain Bitachon this way, will qualify things
>slightly.  That is, if a bad occurance happens, then true, it is a bad
>occurance to us.

Sure,  never question  the underlying  assumption, do  never allow  an
"experiment" to  decide, because whatever its  outcome, the assumption
is correct.  Why? It just is.

>                 That is, on the revealed plane to us this appears bad.
>However, on the hidden level it is good. That is, everthing that occurs
>to us G-d intends for our good. At a particular time and event might
>appear to us to be bad, however, the inner intent is for our good.
>Sometimes, after the passage of time this inner goodnes in the event
>will become apparent to us, and sometimes it might never become
>revealed. Still, our Trust in G-d is that G-d is good and that we
>believe even the revealed bad contains within it a deeper inner good
>(just not perceivable by human-kind).
>
>This is where things usually end. But the Rebbe asks a further
>question.  What is the simple meaning of Trust? Does not trust mean
>that we trust that G-d will give us a revealed good? What would the
>point be in trusting that G-d is going to deliver us a revealed bad,
>but a concealed good? Something is really not very good until we can
>really see in a revealed way that the thing is good. Until then, for
>all practical purposes it is bad. Besides, what would the use of our
>trust be? Sure we trusted, but we got bad. Our trust had nothing to do
>with what we got. It was our merits. The same thing would have occured
>if we did not trust.

I rather  stop here.  The Rebbe  by any possible twist  has to support
the believe in the  "good" God.  As I have stated  before on scj, with
the Holocaust and its one  million (lacking of merit?) Jewish children
and  babes, and  the  many millions  of others  murdered,  no talk  of
"revealed bad" but "concealed good", can *conceal* the fact that there
was no God there  when he was needed, all the rest  is just talk, talk
and talk.

I know  that there  quite a  few who survived  and kept  on believing.
This is  a fact  which just  shows that  there is  no limit  of people
clutching at straws trying to give a "meaning" to their shattered life
from a source which continuous to prove it's non existence or at least
not caring.

I shall skip almost all the  rest of Yecheskal's article, leaving just
some of his special gems.

>This is what David says in Tehillim: (Psalm 55)
>
>Hashlech al HaShem yavcha, v'hu y'chalklecha, lo yitan l'olam mot l'tadik
>
>Throw on HaShem your needs, and he will support you, he will never
                                                      =============
>allow the tzaddik to fall.
 =========================

And later:

>This all applies to the individual. An individual might sometimes
>and some point in his/her life be less than perfect and perhaps less
>than totally meritorious. However, when speaking about the totality
>of the Jewish people, then certainly we are meritorious. Thus
>certainly via our Bitachon in HaShem, and our trust in our redeption,
>he will certainly bring Moshiach and the true and final redemption.

Sure deny  all evidence  from the  past and what  has happened  to the
"meritorious"  people,  just  keep  on  mouthing  the  same  worn  out
platitudes about  the good which that  God who let us  down time after
time will  do in some  *future* time.   From past experience,  I  will
never buy a used car from "Him".

>Yechezkal Shimon Gutfreund		 		  sgutfreund@gte.com

 Michael Shimshoni
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish