Daily Bitachon

Welcome to Daily Bitachon and our final pre-Sukkot thought. As we all know and have mentioned before, our sukkah is a continuation of Yom Kippur, specifically in the realm of teshuvah . The Rambam, in the Laws of Teshuvah (2:4) and based on the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 16b, outlines a sequence of steps to help a person achieve full teshuvah and kapparah . He concludes with the principle that one ex...

I'd like to share a beautiful thought on Sukkos developed by Chacham Yosef Harari-Raful, Rosh Yeshivah of Ateret Torah. As we all know, Sukkos is zman simchateinu , the season of our rejoicing. But to truly understand this, we must first ask: What is genuine simchah , and when does a person truly feel happy and fulfilled? The answer begins with a fundamental human necessity—having a place in this...

The Connection Between Yom Kippur and Sukkot Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are currently in the days between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, and many of us are aware that Sukkot serves as a direct continuation of Yom Kippur. It is no coincidence that Sukkot follows immediately after. Many of us are familiar with the intrinsic connection between this transition and the mitzvah of the sukkah itself. The Retu...

Welcome to Daily Bitachon, a special Erev Yom Kippur edition. Avot DeRabbi Natan—an expanded commentary on Pirkei Avot—quotes Rabbi Yochanan ben Dahavai in chapter 27, who tells us: do not distance yourself from a measure that has no limit, and do not distance yourself from a job that has no end. This is comparable to a man taking buckets of water from the ocean and pouring them onto dry land. The...

Welcome to Daily ביטחון , a special Friday edition for שבת שובה . We are going to start with the מדרש רבה on בראשית 22:13 . The מדרש is talking about קין , stating that when he walked away from God, he departed like one attempting to deceive the Almighty—meaning his תשובה was not wholehearted. The next line of the מדרש continues: פגע בו אדם הראשון . He met up with אדם הראשון , and אדם asked him, "...

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. Today, we are going to discuss Sefer Yonah. We read Yonah for the Maftir on Yom Kippur afternoon, and it carries profound lessons for our lives. The Timeline and the Turnaround In chapter three, verse four, the verse states: "Vayachel Yonah lavo va'ir mahalach yom echad..." Yonah entered Nineveh, walked a day's journey, cried out, and said: "Od arba'im yom veNineveh nehe...

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are now in Aseret Yemei Teshuvah . Everyone looks at Aseret Yemei Teshuvah just as it sounds: ten days of teshuvah , which means "to return." But the Rambam explains the pasuk that serves as the source for the power of Aseret Yemei Teshuvah : "Dirshu Hashem behimtzo" —seek God when He is to be found; "Kera'uhu bihyoto karov" —call out to Him when He is close. There ar...

Daily Bitachon: Bitachon and Rosh Hashanah Welcome to Daily Bitachon. Today, we focus on our core mission— bitachon (trust in Hashem)—and explore how it fundamentally defines our approach to Rosh Hashanah. The Tur ( Orach Chaim 581) quotes a Midrash on the verse, "Mi goy gadol..." —"For who is a great nation that has God so close to them?" The Midrash asks: Which nation is like the Jewish people,...

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. We are presenting a special Sunday edition today because time is running short, and we need to take advantage of every possible opportunity to prepare for Rosh Hashanah. This is our final class on Hakarat Hatov (gratitude), though there is always much more to say. Today, we will explore how Hakarat Hatov is essential for both our Avodat Hashem (service of God) and our Te...

Welcome to Daily Bitachon. This is our final Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah. Over the past year, we have frequently discussed the profound importance of honoring Shabbat—especially leading into a year where Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, when Shabbat serves as our primary defense advocate in the heavenly court. This is our crucial opportunity to give our ultimate honor and respect to Shabbat. The B...

Welcome to the Daily Dose of Bitachon. We are continuing our discussion on the topic of Hakarat Hatov (gratitude). Rav Wolbe, in the previously mentioned va'ad in Alei Shur (Volume 2), explains that one of the primary accomplishments of Hakarat Hatov is that it generates love. The Gemara in Masechet Beitzah (16a) teaches that if someone gives bread to a child, they have an obligation to let the mo...

Today on Daily Bitachon, we continue our directives on how to make a proper kabbalah . We have spent a lot of time on this because it is not an easy concept. Our next rule is that we need to be mindful and add meaning to our kabbalah . A small action should not be purely mechanical; performing an action on autopilot causes it to lose its transformative power. External Additions vs. Internal Transf...

Daily Bitachon: The Reciprocal Bond of Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah The Reciprocal Covenant ( Parashat Ki Tavo ) In Parashat Ki Tavo , the Torah describes a profound mutual commitment between God and the Jewish people: אֶת ה' הֶאֱמַרְתָּ הַיּוֹם — "You have designated Hashem this day to be your God, to walk in His ways, to observe His statutes, His commandments, and His laws, and to listen to His voi...

The Root Cause of the Churban: Disgracing Torah Scholars To truly understand the events of the Churban Beis HaMikdash (destruction of the Temple), we must always look back to its root causes so we can fix them. The Gemara ( Maseches Shabbos 119b ) teaches: אמר רב יהודה לא חרבה ירושלים אלא בשביל שביזו בה תלמידי חכמים Rav Yehuda said: Jerusalem was only destroyed because they disgraced Torah scholar...

From Jealousy to Trust: Healing the Inner Self Through Bitachon I. The Internal Pulse: Sinat Chinam and the Tenth Commandment Yesterday, we discussed a profound shift in the spiritual anatomy of generations: while the generations of old may have stumbled in external actions while remaining internally pure, later generations present the inverse challenge—the external actions may appear intact, but...

The Four Kingdoms and the Root of the Churban We are currently in the Three Weeks, reflecting on the Churban Beit HaMikdash (the destruction of the Holy Temple). To truly understand our work during this period, we must ask: What was the root cause of the Churban ? How did it happen? Most of us are familiar with the Four Galiyot (Exiles): Bavel (Babylonia) Madai (Medes/Persians) Yavan (Greece) Edom...