The Trust Factor
A daily lesson that focuses on achieving unparalleled success in life using ancient wisdom in modern times.
We will be discussing critical concepts as they are laid out in the book Sha'ar Habitachon - The Gate of Trust. Written 1000 years ago, the author reminds us of the values and wisdom that have allowed humanity to thrive throughout history.
The concept of trusting in a higher power that exists purely for our benefit, puts us in the drivers seat with absolute confidence to achieve greatness.
Eliminate: Fear, Hatred, Anxiety, Depression, Jealousy, Greed...forever!
* Note that some terminology will be in the original Hebrew or Aramaic which I will always follow with the English translation.
The Trust Factor
Episode 34 - Walking Like Kings: The Freedom Found in Total Trust
What makes someone truly trustworthy? Not just reliable—but worthy of your complete, unwavering trust? This question lies at the heart of today's exploration into Rabbeinu Bachia's "Gate of Trust," where we unpack the third and fourth essential qualities required for perfect faith.
We've already examined how compassion and love form the foundation of trust—knowing that someone genuinely feels your pain and has a stake in your happiness. Today, we venture deeper into the third and fourth qualities: supreme power and perfect knowledge. These qualities separate divine trustworthiness from human limitations.
Consider how often we pray for wealth, assuming it would solve our problems. But what if acquiring wealth would destroy your relationships, isolate you from others, and leave you constantly questioning people's motives? The hard truth emerges through powerful examples: many who achieve great wealth become "so poor that all they have is money"—their marriages fail, they barely know their children, and they live in a prison of suspicion.
This brings us to a transformative insight: when we don't receive what we desperately want, it is the greatest act of love. The entity that possesses perfect knowledge knows exactly what we need at this precise moment—nothing better or worse—to reach our fullest potential. Understanding this truth allows us to "walk around like kings," unaffected by circumstances, free from anxiety, and filled with genuine peace.
Ready to experience the freedom that comes from placing your trust in something greater than yourself? Listen now and discover how this ancient wisdom can revolutionize your approach to life's uncertainties and disappointments.
Good morning everybody. Welcome to the Trust Factor. Yesterday we did a recap on the election. I hope you guys benefited from that. Today we're diving right back into the book, the Gate of Trust.
Speaker 0:Just to recap where we're holding right now, rabbeinu Bachi is going through character traits. What are the character traits required in order that we should be able to determine who it is that we could put our perfect faith and trust in? We can't just put our trust in absolutely anybody. That person or that individual or that entity needs to earn our trust and in order for us to be confident in who this person or this entity is that we're going to put our trust in, we need to first have certain expectations of their qualifications. Rabbeinu Bachi gives us what those qualifications are and just to reiterate, the first one we said was that there needs to be compassion the person who's doing for you. You need to know with absolute clarity that this entity has the utmost compassion. They care, they see that you're suffering, they see that you're suffering, they see that you're in a bad place, they have pity on you and you know that they feel bad and they want to help. The second is that they need to love. We need to know with absolute certainty that this entity loves us and that they have a stake in us and that they want to see us happy. So they're compassionate. They feel bad when we're down. Secondly, they're compassionate, they feel bad when we're down. Secondly, they love us, they have a relationship with us. And thirdly, this entity has to be all powerful, needs to be supremely powerful. That's where we're at right now in the third criterion.
Speaker 0:If the entity that we place trust in is not all powerful, then you know what happens. They can do their best. They can love you as much as you want, as much as anybody could love you, and they could be compassionate and feel bad for you when you're down. But if they don't have the means to provide for you, then you can't rely on them. And if you know that this entity lacks the necessary means to be able to provide for you, then how can you rely on them? You can't.
Speaker 0:And you walk around constantly second guessing. Is he going to do the right thing for me? Is he not going to do the right thing for me? Am I really left to my own devices over here, or does he have the ability? Can he really give me a cure for my illness. Can that cure come from the heavens? Do you know how difficult that concept is, guys? We talk about it like it's nothing, but the reality is God forbid. You should never know.
Speaker 0:When somebody gets a terrible diagnosis from the medical industry and they tell them that they've got a very short time to live, there's no treatment for them, there's no treatment, they've done everything, can this person really internalize the concept that healing, a complete, 100% recovery, is capable from the heavens? There's no line of doctor, no flesh and blood From the heavens. It's going to come direct down to him. Sometimes God uses individuals, sometimes it comes direct. You have to be worthy of it coming direct and there needs to be criteria that you've met in order for it to come direct. It can come through the medical industry, but do you know where it's coming from and do you know with absolute certainty that God is the only one who's capable? I told you guys a story a while back about the lady who was holding on such a high level that she looked at her doctor who was about to operate on her and said doc, I want you to know if things don't go well, it's not your fault, it it wasn't in your hands. It's got nothing to do with you. But at the same time, doc, remember, if things go well and God willing they do, it's got nothing to do with you, it's not in your hands. That's an unbelievable level to be holding on. I don't know many people that are holding on that level, but that's one of the character traits here that Rabbeinu Bache comes and says not only is it required that this person have compassion and this entity have compassion and love, but they have to be all capable for you to have absolute trust and put all of your reliance on that entity to provide for you.
Speaker 0:The fourth quality that follows. That is that he knows all the ways in which the one who placed trust in him can benefit. In other words, I have to know that I'm trusting in God. Why? Because there is no entity that knows better what I need than he who created me, than he who knows about all my previous visits, than he who knows the past, present and the future. He knows what I'm going to decide. He knows why he chose my parents to be to decide. He knows why he chose my parents to be my parents. He knows why he chose my children to be my children. He knows why he chose that I should be born where I was born and have the relationships that I should have in my spouse. Only he knows so. He has complete clarity. He knows much better.
Speaker 0:You know everybody dovens. Everybody prays for the same thing. Everybody prays for health, everybody prays for wealth. You know you pepper in a few extra things that you want. You know it'd be nice to meet somebody and have a relationship. God, it wouldn't be so terrible. It'd be nice to bring a few kids into the world. You know everybody's got their needs, but the generic ones that everybody asks for is health and wealth. How do you know you're supposed to have wealth? How do you know what entitles you to having wealth and more than that, how do you know that having wealth isn't the worst thing for you? Everybody wants to believe. You know, if I had money, oh, I'd take care of everybody. And if I had money, oh, I would change the world, and that would make the world a better place, and I would be so giving it all these wonderful things right.
Speaker 0:Yet what happens when people win the lottery, or people become successful in business, or whatever it is? Suddenly, what happened to the generosity? What happened to helping everybody. Suddenly you're hanging on to a tight and you're running for the hills. You're running for the hills why? Because that thought, that evil inclination, got into your head and said wait a second. You never had so many knocks on your door before. The phone has never stopped ringing the way it's ringing now. It's unbelievable. Everybody's coming at you. It must be for one reason and one reason only. They weren't here yesterday. They weren't here knocking on your door when you didn't have money. Suddenly you have money in there. Everybody's putting out their hand. Right?
Speaker 0:That's a difficult place to be, my friends. That's why we said it's much more difficult, the test of being wealthy than the test of being poor. You don't have proper relationships. You're constantly second guessing, questioning people's motives. That's not a good place to be. You can't have a real, open and honest relationship with people because you're always thinking why are they here? They weren't there before, I had money. Suddenly they're here. And if I didn't have money, would they disappear? That question, and they're legitimate questions, legitimate questions. But if you're not a millionaire, if you're not somebody who has lots of money, you don't deal with these things.
Speaker 0:People don't come and generally, of course, people. You know when we pray in synagogue. People come through and they ask for handouts and everybody's supposed to give. It doesn't matter how much you have and it doesn't matter how much you have and it doesn't matter how much you give. Give something a quarter, a dollar, $5 to whatever you can afford, you give right. But the guys who have money, they have lineups. I see this every day, my friends. People come to ask money from complete strangers and I know people who give without asking questions. They give and they give a lot and every single individual. They don't know who they are, they don't know their name, they don't know what they're using the money for. They come over and they ask for money and everybody walks away with a check. I see it every day, my friends.
Speaker 0:And then there's the opposite. There's the people who don't have the control. They don't have the mindset and they have an evil inclination, is very powerful and all they do all day long is sit and count their money. Somebody who sits and counts their money all day long and is always concerned with their net worth and how much is in their bank account and how much is liquid, those people who sit all day long and count their money are not parting with it anytime soon, and their only desire, their only drive, is wealth and that version of success. And in fact, we've said that these people are so poor that all they have is money. They don't have relationships and the relationships that they have are broken and their wives hate them. Why do I say wives? Because they're always multiple marriages, they're always multiple wives. They've been married many, many times and they've got probably children from multiple wives and they barely know their children. It's not a fun way to live, guys. It's a corrupt lifestyle, but they've made their priority dollars, money, material, and that's what they chase after all day long.
Speaker 0:Now, if that's what you're after, then guess what. God knows what's good for you, he knows what's good and he knows what's bad. And if giving you money will destroy your life, will destroy your relationships, will pull you away from a relationship with him, he would much rather withhold that money, because if he knows that you're going to do all the wrong things with that success and that money, then he loves you enough to withhold it from you. You don't understand it. You're banging your head against the wall, you're praying for it year after year and you're wondering why isn't this happening? Who am I fooling over here. I'm praying for it and it's not coming. And the answer is it's coming. You're getting exactly what you need, not anything better or worse. Exactly what you need to succeed to your fullest at that point in time in your life.
Speaker 0:If you're walking around thinking that, if you know that to be absolutely true, that your creator loves you, he cares, he's got compassion and he has all the means necessary to be able to do for you and he knows what's good for you and what's not good for you, then you walk around like a hero. You walk around like a king. Nothing affects you, nothing phases you, you've got peace of mind, you're happy, you're content, you've got the ability to help others around you. Because you're not absorbed, we're trying to figure it out on your own, because you have nobody to rely on. God willing, we all get there one day. That summarizes the class for today. My friends, have an amazing day and we'll pick up again tomorrow.
