Written by Edan Khanian

The Bitachon club at Valley Torah is a great opportunity for students to increase their Bitachon- a strong trust in Hashem. An interesting lesson we learned in the Bitachon club is the fact that man was made to work in order to achieve sustenance. Before, in Gan Eden, food was made for Adam by the malachs (angels). Then after Adam had sinned by eating the fruit of wisdom, Hashem said, “You shall eat bread from the sweat of your brow.” From then on whenever man wanted something, he would have to work from it. We call this effort “Hishtadlut”. One must understand that his Hishtadlut is not what causes his sustenance to appear. Instead, it is the fact that one puts in effort, which then Hashem decides to give him his reward. It is easier to think of Hishtadlut as a king’s command. A king tells you to bring him something, and in response you will be rewarded for your act. Hashem tells us to work,  and from our work, Hashem provides for us. An important concept to note is that overdoing one’s Hishtadlut can lead to one’s detriment. If one does not acknowledge that his sustenance is provided by Hashem and works excessively, not only does it show a lack of Bitachon but also results in a future loss. 

There is a famous story that helps us to understand this idea of overdoing Hishtadlut. A man goes into a cave and finds a nest full of eggs. When the man heats up the eggs, vipers hatch and bite the man. The eggs in this story represent our sustenance, we should not go to too much effort to gain it, or else Hashem will cause our effort to backstab us. Fundamentally, one should balance his Hishtadlut and understand that no matter what, if a person accepts the fact that Hashem provides him with everything he needs and does not overdo his efforts, he will be provided with his required sustenance.