We continue to discuss the Bet Halevi on humility and arrogance, as it relates to Bitachon. The Gemara tells us in Masechet Kiddushin that God does not apply your thoughts to an action. Meaning, if a person plans to go to an unkosher restaurant but gets a flat tire, he doesn't get punished. But when a person decides to go to shul, and gets a flat tire, he gets the reward- because God does not punish for thoughts that don't come to fruition. The exception is Avodah Zara. The Gemara quotes a pasuk, “ I'm going to get the Jewish people for what they did in their hearts .” The Bet Halevi brings up that arrogance is also in the heart. He says that normally the sin of eating unkosher is the eating of the unkosher food, and therefore the plan to eat unkosher is not punishable. But when it comes to Avodah Zara, if a person's on the way to bow down to an idol, and he didn't do the action yet, why should he be punished? Just because he planned to do Avodah Zara ? The answer is that for Avodah Zara, the main sin is that he's accepting upon himself this idol as a God. That's a sin of the heart, and therefore, even if he doesn't do the action, he is culpable because it's not about the action, it's about his thought . He says that's why arrogance is compared to Avodah Zara. Because the sin of Ga’avah is an improper thought process. It's not just a bad character trait where your arrogant and haughty. It stems from an improper cognition. It stems from an improper way of thinking, which is the thinking that you are controlling things, that you are in charge. That brings about Ga’avah, and therefore the heart , the thought, is what's causing the problem. As we’ve discussed, the Bet Halevi speaks about Bitachon as a mitzvah of the heart. So too, the Hovot Halevavot, when he talks about Bitachon, says it's a mitzvah of the heart. Mitzvot of the heart are difficult mitzvot. It's not about an action, it's not something that we can measure. It's in our hearts. It's an improper thought. It's a heresy. These are very important concepts to be careful of. Like Shlomo Hamelech says in Mishleh 4,23 מִֽכׇּל־מִ֭שְׁמָר נְצֹ֣ר לִבֶּ֑ךָ כִּֽי־מִ֝מֶּ֗נּוּ תּוֹצְא֥וֹת חַיִּֽים From all watchings, watch your heart . because from there comes our life. The Gaon of Vilna says, “Guard your heart like you guard precious jewels,” because the heart is the source of everything. If the heart is off, everything is off. The Malbim says that although deeds are sometimes bad, sometimes you have to do something wrong for the right reason (we won’t get into when or why ) meaning that the thought is everything. External actions are not the measuring stick. It’s what's going on in your heart. And that's why Ga’avah and Bitachon are two opposites in the heart. Bitachon is is all about connecting to God. Bo Tidbak. Ga’avah is the exact opposite. Ga’avah is a disconnect. It's Avodah Zara. It's Richuk/distancing. That's why they are polar opposites. We have to constantly work and guard our hearts, because everything that's going to come out eventually comes to the heart. Since the heart pumps blood throughout the body, if you have something wrong with the heart, it's going pump it throughout, and everything's going to become corrupted and tainted. That's why we have to be so careful of what goes on in our heart. מִֽכׇּל־מִ֭שְׁמָר נְצֹ֣ר לִבֶּ֑ךָ כִּֽי־מִ֝מֶּ֗נּוּ תּוֹצְא֥וֹת חַיִּֽים From all watchings, watch your heart . Guard your heart , more than anything else. From what? From Ga’avah. Have a wonderful day.