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 64 - When Giants Fall: The Danger of Placing Trust in Powerful People
What happens when the most powerful people in the world fail us? This episode of The Trust Factor examines a profound spiritual paradox that's playing out in real time.
We continue our exploration of the seven essential criteria needed for complete trust, revealing why even the most influential figures can only check off one or two boxes at best. The third principle—exclusivity of trust—challenges us to reconsider our relationships with others. While we necessarily rely on people throughout our lives, this reliance must be grounded in the understanding that humans are merely instruments through which divine will operates.
The recent public dispute between Elon Musk and Donald Trump serves as a powerful case study in human fallibility. Despite possessing unprecedented resources, influence, and capability, these giants of our age demonstrate the universal truth that human trust is ultimately fragile. "The bigger they are," the podcast notes, "the bigger the evil inclination associated with them." This isn't meant to excuse poor behavior but rather to illuminate why our trust must be directed toward something greater.
Perhaps most counterintuitively, we discover that multiplying our human safety nets actually weakens our position. Like two kings trying to rule one kingdom, appointing multiple people to solve our problems often creates conflict rather than solutions. By distributing our trust among various individuals, we're not increasing our odds of success—we're actively undermining them while simultaneously expressing doubt in God's capability to work through a single channel.
God alone possesses perfect ability and desire to help us succeed. Unlike humans who constantly struggle with competing needs and desires, the Creator lacks nothing and exists to give. When we recognize this fundamental truth, we transform not only our relationship with the divine but also our approach to human relationships, viewing them through a lens of proper perspective and reasonable expectation.
Take time this weekend to reflect on where you've been placing your trust. Have you been disappointed by those you thought would never let you down? There's profound freedom in redirecting that trust toward the only source that will never fail.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Trust Factor for this Friday. It is a Friday after Shavuot, so it's a short week. Thank God it's Friday, though we are continuing with the concept of trust and faith in God. We laid out in the early days the seven criterion that are required in order for us to know that this is the entity where we put all of our trust in, and we found out really early on that when you go through these seven criterion, it stops really early. I mean, there's not a lot of people that even check off two or three of those boxes. I think we stopped at two where we said some people could have potentially some of the criterion, but even when they have it, it's limited in capability and then it only stops after one or two. The rest of the seven nobody has that. It only comes from our creator. And so we went through that. And then we proceeded to go through five of the principles behind what it takes to put our trust, our complete trust, only in our Creator. We're finishing off with the third principle and we're going to move into the fourth, and the third is that we have to be careful.
Speaker 0:It says over here that the trust that we put needs to be exclusive. In other words, we cannot employ other people to do the things that we need to trust God for. We rely on people. We know that we rely on people to do things for us. We trust them to come through for us. Sometimes there are people who are worthy of our trust and our faith. Sometimes there are not, but nonetheless we're put in a world that was created by nature in order for us to have relationships built on trust and faith. But we've said, and it bears repeating, that when you're going to decide to trust in a human being of flesh and blood, the only way to do it is to know with absolute certainty that that person is a tool in the hands of his creator and that if that person is going to have a positive outcome, it is only because God signed off on it. If God didn't sign off on it, it doesn't matter who you employ, it doesn't matter how many people you bring to the table. It's just not going to happen. That's how this world was created and that, my friends, is the right way to put your trust and faith in humanity. We know that we have to do that, but know that humans are frail and fickle and that, no matter how powerful they are, no matter how much money they have, you simply cannot rely on them.
Speaker 0:Look, my friends, it's in the news. Okay, with regards to politics, my friends, I don't think there's anybody who's more upset at what's going on right now. Two people, elon Musk and Donald Trump, two people with more money and power and fame than anybody else on planet Earth. They've got it all. It's all there. They lack nothing and yet and yet, you see how fickle they are. At the end of the day, it doesn't take much.
Speaker 0:I'm still praying that this is a big prank, that there's a battle going on between the two giants, but whether it is or it isn't, it doesn't matter. What's happened over here is just a. It's a disaster. There's no other way to put it. What's happened over here is a disaster. It's the last thing that should have happened and you had two people who were the last people. I expected to see this.
Speaker 0:Maybe you say Trump was petty, okay, but Elon Musk, guys, it doesn't make sense. All it comes to do is teach us that if you're relying on humanity, boy, are you wrong. Boy, are you going to fail. You are setting yourself up for disaster. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The bigger they are, the bigger the evil inclination that's associated with them. So, while we might want to put these people down for succumbing to their evil inclination, you have to understand that if you think you've got an evil inclination, you've got no idea what these two individuals deal with on a second by second basis, the pressures and the people who are pulling on them and trying to get them to fall and to stumble.
Speaker 0:That's not an excuse. I'm not excusing this away. I'll be the first to say it's an absolute shame what's going on right now. But if anything, if anything, my friends, it's for you and me to look at and to go wow, look at that. Even these guys I can't rely on to do the right thing, to rise above a petty, stupid situation. I can't rely on the president of the United States. I can't rely on the richest man and most powerful man on planet earth. How is that even possible? That is clear cut evidence, my friends, if I've ever seen it for you and I to say there is only one who is worthy of our complete and utter trust and that is your creator. He does not have an evil inclination. He created it and he controls it.
Speaker 0:Now we go on over here and we read about. What he tells us is an even larger pitfall, and that is that you're going to appoint more than one person to do something for you. He says over here that your appointment is flawed. The task which you made, the appointment for people to do for you, will simply not get done, and to understand this you just have to go back to grade school, right? Or maybe you work in an environment where you work in teams and you're always worried about being paired up with A or B or C or whoever it is why? Because you know that that individual is simply not going to pull their weight, that they're not capable of doing what you're capable of, or that you've got a much better work ethic and you've got clarity and you've got knowledge that they don't have, whatever it may be, and ultimately you come away upset and you think to yourself I'm done, I'm fed up with this. Ultimately, we know that we're only as strong as our weakest link. So if that's our weakest link, then I will gravitate naturally to putting out that type of effort equal with theirs.
Speaker 0:Now, is that right, is it wrong? That's not the conversation here. What we're talking about is as soon as you've employed more than one person that you've said I'm going to, not only I'm going to put my trust in humanity, but I'm going to put my trust in multiple people. Why? Because now I'm going to increase the potential for a positive outcome. If one person gave me a hundred percent potential outcome, now I'm going to double it by putting two people in place. I'm going to double to 200% potential for outcome or probability, and if I bring three people in, it's absolutely wrong. It doesn't make any sense, and you all know this.
Speaker 0:If you're in a position of management, you have to be very careful when it comes to appointing multiple people to do a job, because more often than not, you will end up disappointed. It's a similar vein as having two kings running a kingdom. You can't do it. They're constantly negating each other. They're pulling at each other One's upset with the other person's decision-making process, or they have a different process altogether and they cannot come to terms. And ultimately, who suffers from it? You. That's how it works. You suffer from it. You think you're bringing on more people, so you're going to have better odds at success, and you suffer. And I can tell you on my life, I've seen that, where people who are dealing with challenges want everybody and their uncle to come and review all the things that they're going with so they can get advice from absolutely everybody, and everybody can pitch in and try and help and try and give their two cents. Everybody and everybody can pitch in and try and help and try and give their two cents, and all it ends up doing is complicating a situation and making things more difficult and then ultimately, you never even come up with a decision because all it's done is it's brought.
Speaker 0:Conflict, conflict of ideas, conflict of morals, whatever it may be. That's what he's telling you over here. And why is that? Because you're going exactly in the opposite direction. Instead of saying I'm not putting my faith in man, I'm utilizing man and I'm putting my faith in god that he's going to operate through joe. Joe is going to do what I need him to do, if god allows it to happen, by enlisting multiple people. Not only are you saying I don't believe god's going to do it through joe, but you're saying the more people I get, the more of humanity I rely on, the better my odds. And it's the exact opposite, guys. It makes no sense, it flies in the face of what we're talking about over here.
Speaker 0:If you want success, go to the source of success. Go to he who has it all and wants to give it to you. That's the beautiful part here is that he wants to give it to you. It says that he brought us into this world, lehativ, to do good for us. He wants us to receive good, he wants us to be happy and he has only to give.
Speaker 0:We've said by definition, god is perfect. He lacks nothing. There's nothing that we can do for him. His by definition, his definition, is to give, because he only has to give, he lacks nothing. So every time we go and enlist an individual, it's an affront to God.
Speaker 0:When you enlist two, three, four individuals, you've. All you've done is you've expanded that affront. You've now doubled and tripled and quadrupled the affront to God to say I don't believe that you've got the capability. I'm going to put my capability in. Joe and Sally and Sarah and Mike, and every single one of those people are going to let you down. My friend, just look, it's in front of you right now, if you have any doubt the two most powerful and influential men in the world who have absolutely everything and lack absolutely nothing cannot rise above a petty simple situation, and we're supposed to put our faith and trust in humanity. My friends, if you haven't figured it out by now, the clock's ticking, but the good news is it's Friday, so you've got plenty of time to contemplate and we will pick up on Sunday. Have an amazing Shabbat.
