Today's class is dedicated memory of Dina Bat Sara, Diane Azrak a’h, by her family. She was a lady that was a great Ma’amin/great believer, and she merited that the first book of the Living in Emunah series, by Rabbi David Ashear was dedicated by her family only a few days after her passing, and it became a bestseller in Emunah. Only someone that has Emunah has the merit to have anything put out for them, on the topic of Emunah. There was a great Mekubal , known as The Leshem , for his sefer Leshem Shvo V’Achlama. He was the grandfather of the famous Rabbi Elyashiv, and he's bothered by a question: Why do we see so many great people that suffered a lot? They definitely had Bitachon. And if we believe, as we've been talking until now, that if someone really has Bitachon, he's guaranteed to be saved, Why weren't they saved? He gives three answers: Number one is that they were Mekabel Yisurim B’Ahava There are certain people (this is not for us), that accept suffering out of love for God. They don't want anything other than what God wants for them. The example is Rabbi Akiva, who said, as the Romans were peeling off his skin, “ All my days, I was waiting to die Al Kiddush Hashem and now's my chance to do it. ” And he brings other such cases, of great rabbis that wanted to be Moser Nefesh and therefore didn't use their bitachon. His second answer, which is a little bit difficult to understand, is that they didn't want to bother God. That's hard to understand, because nothing is hard for God. But Rav Bloch gives the explanation that since they really believe that nothing is bad, and that everything is good, and in the future, they'll see how good it was, then anything they're asking from God is really unnecessary, because it's good right now. Again, this is above our level of understanding. His third answer is very important, because it shows us the power of bitachon and answers this question of why great people died. There were great Rabbis that died in the Holocaust- it’s beyond our conception, how great they were. I'm sure they had bitachon, and yet they died. What's going on? And he says it’s a very hidden reason. He says that sometimes God wants to something to happen. We don't know why. God has deep reasons, and you can't beat the system. So yes, if you use Bitachon you'll get out of it, but God wants it to happen. So what does God do? In his words, “ He takes away someone's freedom of choice and puts fear in their hearts and makes it impossible for the person to use his Bitachon.” That means bitachon is so strong that, his words,” Nothing stops bitachon.” But what does that mean? Does that mean I can beat the system? If God wants something to happen, I can beat it with bitachon? No. Since God is above everything, He will take away my bitachon. That’s a tremendous hiddush. Why? Because God has rules for how He runs the world, and one of the rules is that He doesn't take away people's freedom of choice, with rare exceptions. Rambam wrote a whole thesis on how it could be that Paroah’s freedom of choice was taken away, and he has to explain that it was a punishment. But God doesn't take away our freedom of choice. Why is God taking away this great man's freedom of choice and not allowing him to have bitachon? And the answer is, because God has a choice. He could either break the rule that if you really rely on Him, He comes through, or He could break the rule of taking away your ability to rely on Him. He would rather break the rule of taking away your freedom of choice than break the rule that if you rely on Him, He comes through. A possible reason for this goes back to what we discussed at the beginning of the series- that Bitachon is built on the fact that God does not commit iniquity. If you rely on Him, He comes through. That's basic common decency. You're waiting for the ride, so He's going to pick you up. He's not going let you down. So, what is He supposed to do now when He can't pick you up? The plane is landing and you’re relying on Him. How can He let you down? What will he do? He'll make it that you can't rely on Him. And if you can't rely on Him, then He didn't let you down, because you didn't rely on Him. This is a very deep concept. God would rather play with your freedom of choice than break His rule of bitachon, because bitachon works. What a powerful, powerful lesson. Have a wonderful day.