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 101 - Between Trust and Recklessness: Drawing the Line in Divine Faith
Trust is the cornerstone of faith, but what happens when we misunderstand its boundaries? The Trust Factor podcast delves into this profound question, exploring the delicate balance between surrendering to divine decree and fulfilling our responsibility to preserve life.
True faith means accepting God's decisions with complete love—not just in moments of joy like the birth of a child, but in every circumstance life presents. This acceptance isn't passive resignation but active embrace. When we release our desperate grip on controlling outcomes and truly trust in divine wisdom, our quality of life improves in perfect lockstep with our spiritual growth.
However, this trust comes with important caveats. Using 850-year-old wisdom that remains strikingly relevant today, we examine how self-preservation forms the foundation of spiritual practice. While our lifespan may be divinely decreed, we must still seek proper nourishment, shelter, and safety. Expecting miraculous intervention while neglecting basic self-care isn't faith—it's foolishness. Modern risk-taking behaviors like extreme sports mirror ancient examples of unnecessary dangers that deplete our spiritual merits and protection.
The discussion takes a compelling turn toward contemporary ethical dilemmas, particularly Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). Through a powerful personal anecdote, we confront the contradiction between these practices and Torah principles about life's sanctity. The conversation challenges listeners to recognize the preciousness of human life and understand who alone holds authority over its beginning and end.
Whether you're wrestling with questions of faith, seeking purpose in difficult circumstances, or simply trying to navigate life's challenges with spiritual wisdom, this episode offers profound insights that will transform your perspective on trust, responsibility, and the divine decree that shapes our journey.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Trust Factor. This is the podcast that guarantees your success when you implement its divine teachings. I want to wish you a Shavua Tov, a wonderful, wonderful week. I had an amazing Shabbat and I hope you had an amazing Shabbat. We are about to get into some very interesting conversation. My friends, this is the nitty-gritty.
Speaker 1:We left off on Friday talking about the fact that somebody who has trust and faith in God resigns, forget, resigns, accepts with absolute love God's decree of whatever it may be, in any given circumstance. It doesn't mean some of it, you accept some of it. You don't accept this part, you're good with that part. You wish would be better Every ounce of the result that God gives you in any given situation. You look up to the heavens and you say thank you, thank you. The same way you are elated when you are given a child, when you've brought a child into this world, the same way you are elated when you marry off that child. The same thanks that you feelated when you marry off that child, the same thanks that you feel and appreciation that you feel when you're saved from certain death or certain harm. That is the way that you accept any decree that comes from God in any situation in your life. That's somebody who is holding on a very high level and we all have the ability to get there. My friends, trust me, we all have that ability and as you get there, you will see trust me on this. You will see that as you get there and as you develop your character to become that individual that trusts completely in God, you will see that your life improves every single day. You get better and it's in lockstep. The more you build yourself and your trust and your faith in God in every single situation and release control, give up that desire, that burning desire to control every single situation because you think you know what's better, the more you do that, you will see in your life unbelievable joy and it will grow in long steps. So when you reach higher levels of trust in God, your life will become that much better. That's it. It's a perfect, positive correlation.
Speaker 1:My friends, now we talk about the nitty-gritty. We give an example over here. Now, remember, these examples are 850 years old, so we're going to do our best to bring them forward. Here's what he says Preserving one's life. This is the basis. This is where it starts At the end of the day, if we don't preserve our life, if we are carefree with our actions, that we're not concerned with preserving our life, then what are you here for? Right, Then what's the whole point? You'd have no opportunity to have trust and faith in God, because your life's going to be snuffed out from you or you're going to live a decrepit life that's going to end up taking you out by mental health illness or malnutrition or whatever it may be.
Speaker 1:He says that even though a person's end and his allotted days are bound by the decree of the creator, in other words, even though we have an expiry date every person has the responsibility to pursue ways and means that will keep him alive. How does he do that? Simple you need food, you need drink, you need clothing, you need shelter, you need the basics of survival, of human survival. Everybody has an obligation to make sure that we have a roof over our head, that we're sheltered in the summertime from the heat and the wintertime from the cold, that we have clothing that is appropriate for the seasons to keep us safe and healthy, that we have food that is nutritious, that gives us the proper nutrients to keep us alive and extend our life as much as possible, even though we can say and this would be wrong to say that God controls everything. He brought me into this world. Therefore he has an obligation to me. Yes, you're right, he has an obligation. The same way he feeds idol worshipers, the same way he feeds insects on the ground cockroaches get their daily meal. They lack nothing the same way he will feed them. He's going to feed and take care of you. But the difference is, my friends, we are the highest order. We are the top of the totem pole. We are not like the rest of creation. We are the exception. And God says to us although he has an obligation to take care of us, this is a world of action and we have an obligation to act in our best interest.
Speaker 1:He says over here he should not place this responsibility on God, saying, for example if the Creator had already decreed that I should live, he'll preserve my soul and my body for my entire allotted lifespan, even without food. It's ridiculous. We know that, by nature, the right way and the only way to exist is to eat. You have to be nourished. You cannot expect open miracles. None of us can expect open miracles. This world was not created that way.
Speaker 1:He continues to say likewise, it would be improper for a person to endanger his life through his trust in the decree of the creator. In other words, he's going to drink a deadly poison, saying if I'm destined to live, then I'll live. This won't be poison, it won't harm me, and if I'm not, then it's my time to die. That is foolish, he says. Nor would it be proper for him to endanger himself by unnecessarily battling with a lion or dangerous animals. What is this like, my friends, he says. Or to cast himself into the sea or into a fire right or engage in some similar hazard that's unsafe for a person and thereby endanger his own life. The Torah warned us against that. What's the idea? Let's bring this to 2025. Skydiving, bungee jumping all these extreme sports and activities that can end up snapping your neck in a heartbeat that will always end up with somebody getting hurt. Eventually, my friends, it's going to find you.
Speaker 1:You can have merits, and that's the way the system works. We live this life building merits, and there are many ways for us to build merit, but that's what we do. Every time we do a mitzvah, every time we engage in helping other people, every time people are dependent on us. We build merits. Now we can keep those merits and use them in the world to come to gain greater heights, or we can burn through them in this life. How do you burn through your merits? Well, those merits are keeping you alive and healthy as soon as you start to engage in activities that are dangerous or unhealthy. The protection that comes to you, the effort that needs to be made in the heavens to give you additional protection on top of the status quo, because now you're doing foolish things with your life, that protection eats away at your merits and you can destroy all of the merits. You can consume and use up all of the merits that you have in this life and be left empty-handed, my friends, be left with zero merits when you come to the next world.
Speaker 1:Can you imagine you work overtime over in this world trying to do good, trying to do mitzvahs, trying to help other people, trying to bring godliness to the world, and you're doing all these wonderful things and then, at the same time, you're going and engaging in life-risking activities and you're being careless with the things that you're doing and the actions that you're taking, where you know that there is a real possibility of harm or death. That, my friends, we've been warned against very clearly. Now it says over here exposing oneself to danger is harmful, because such behavior will inevitably have one of two possible outcomes. One possibility is that you're going to die as a result of your dangerous activities. That bungee cord is going to snap on you, your parachute's not going to open right, in which case he will be considered as if he killed himself. You hear this? We have an obligation not to commit murder. It's one of the Ten Commandments Thou shall not kill. You know who's included in that commandment you, you're not allowed to kill yourself. That brings on a whole other conversation, my friends, a whole other conversation which is very, very relevant today. What is it, MAID? In Canada we have something called Medical Assistance in Dying MAID. It is becoming very popular. It is being promoted by government, it is being promoted by the health care system. I know this, my friends. Personally I know this.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you about a small example of a friend of mine, a very good friend of mine, who works for the burial society Hever Kadisha. When a Jew passes away, we call the Hever Kadisha and they come and pick up the individual and they take care of all of the ritual, purity and the burial and everything that's got to do with that. Well, this individual that I know volunteers for them and they got a call to come to an old age home, a Jewish old age home, to pick up a lady let's call her Sarah Cohen. They came in, they went up to the proper floor with the gurney and they said to the nurse that was working there we're looking for Sarah Cohen, we have an individual who's deceased. We need to pick her up. And the nurse said yes, and pointed down the hall and said you see that lady sitting in the chair over there. That's Sarah Cohen. Give her a few minutes, she'll be right out. Of course, these guys didn't understand what she was talking about and repeated no, no, no, we're from the burial society. We've come to pick up a Jewish dead individual to give them a proper burial. She is alive and well. We need a dead person. And that lady said that is Sarah Cohen. You're just going to have to wait, she'll be with you in a few minutes. These guys were perplexed. They had no idea. This is a good friend of mine. They waited outside for a few minutes. That lady who, by the way, was made up very nicely, in her finest dress and had makeup on, picked herself up, walked into the room where her family was waiting and that's where they killed her. And then they wheeled out the body and these guys were beside themselves. The same lady that was there alive and well a few minutes ago came out dead and ready to be buried.
Speaker 1:That is happening now, my friends, in Canada. It is controversial, to say the least. It certainly flies in the face of Torah. We have no, no right, not one ounce, to be able to take our life, not even a second before its due date. My friends, that's what we're talking about over here. We have to be careful. We have to understand the preciousness of human life. We have to understand the frailty of human life. We have to understand who brought us in and who is the only one who has the authorization to take us out when the time is right. That wraps it up for today, my friends. Have an amazing Sunday and we will chat again tomorrow.
