Bitachon Chapter 9

Yeshayahu HaNavi says, “An ox knows his owner and the donkey the trough of his mouth, yet Yisroel doesn’t know, my people don‘t understand" (ישעיה א ג).

Let us analyze the Pasuk. If we were to ask an average person how a loaf of bread is made? They would answer: The baker takes flour and water, and mixes it together. Then, he bakes it in the oven — out comes a loaf of bread. However, according to the accounting of Chazal, there is not a single piece of grass that doesn’t have a corresponding spiritual force that hits it; commands it to grow (ברשאית רבה פ״י ו). Thus, we see that all of the natural process leading up to the production of the bread were carried out by Malachim.

Even from a physical perspective, countless factors are involved in making bread. The bread is made from flour, which is made from wheat through grinding, which itself requires many factors. Grinding demands a great deal of equipment and construction of the equipment also required many steps. The wheat itself required plowing, which also has many steps and processes. All of these were accomplished by many workers, who were also the result of steps that proceeded them.

Nevertheless, if we calculate all of the invisible Divine Preparations carried out without any assistance from mortal men at all — like Chazal described above about every blade of grass — we see the amount of preparations accomplished by people is actually very small in contrast to the tens of thousands of hidden steps done by Malachim.

In light of this, it is shameful that people forget that all of the world was created for them alone. A person errs in thinking only about the baker, who toiled over the bread. It is amazing how limited a person’s Emunah is and how narrow-minded they tend to be to disregard all of the preparations that came before the baker, besides the fact that baker himself relies on spirit forces to remain alive and well. It is plausible that this is the Navi’s intention when he said: “An ox knows his owner and the donkey the trough of his mouth, yet Yisroel doesn’t know, my people don‘t understand” (ישעיה א ג). This means, that they do not recognize their creator and they confuse Him with the created causes.

Man’s responsibility is to choose wisely in spiritual matters. If he claims credit for his material causes, he shows that he is ignorant of Hashem’s omnipotence (ברכות לג). The masses claims they are responsible for all their accomplishment, so they believe that they invest too little effort, they will not achieve their goals. This is a mistake, because if they would only follow the Ramban’s opinion, the evidence would prove that they can obtain all their needs without toil or effort. Additionally, when a man’s Hisdalut goes above and beyond what the Torah permits, it is a transgression like any other transgression. The Midrash tells a story of a student of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, who emigrated to Israel and became wealthy. The other students became jealous and they also sought to leave Israel. Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai learned of their intentions and took them to a valley near Miron and he prayed: “Valley! Valley! Fill up with gold coins.” Before their eyes, the valley filled up with gold coins. Then, he turned to his students: “If it is gold that you want, go ahead and take it! But you should know, that whoever takes now from these coins, is thereby taking from his Olam Haba” (שמות רבה נב). We see from this Midrash that what a person attains without Hisdalut was clearly sent to him by Hashem. On the other hand, if a person puts in his Hisdalut in order to profit, it is possible he is consuming from his portion in Olam Haba.