There is a famous story brought down in the Gemara in Masechet Gittin that we learn on Tisha B’Av, that talks about Rav Yochanan Ben Zachai, who was smuggled out of the siege of Jerusalem to meet up with the general who eventually became the Ceasar, Vespasian . When Rav Yochanan Ben Zachai came to greet him, he said, “ Peace be upon you the Ceasar, peace be upon you the Ceasar.” In truth, at that point , Vespasian was no more than a Roman general. In the end , Rav Yochanan Ben Zachai said, “No, You are the Ce asar.” He had extrapolated on a pasuk where it said that the Bet HaMikdash would fall into the hands of a king , And therefore , if Vespasian was the one that was taking over, then must have been the king. S ure enough, a few moments later, a m essenger came from Rome with the news that Vespasian was now the king . But the E lder of N ovordok says that this was Rav Yochanan Ben Zachai’s only hope of saving the people from dying of starvation. He was coming to negotiate. Surely he chose his words for this critical encounter carefully . Why would Rabbi Yohanan jeopardize his mission, and his life, by addressing the general as king in his very first sentence? Granted, he might be able to demonstrate, from a biblical source, that he was indeed the king, but what if Vespasian had not ac cepted that? Why take the risk? The Elder of Novordok answers that Rav Yochanan Ben Zachai possessed an u nwavering conviction that the Torah’s reality was the only reality. And if the Torah said that he was the king, then he was the king ! Rav Yochanan Ben Zachai didn’t follow what his physical eyes told him. He saw reality through the Torah. There are times when the T orah’s p ers pective might contradict what seems to be the path to worldly success. It is not enough for us to feel that we must bow our heads in submission and forgo that success for the sake of the Torah. Rather, we must have the conviction that the Torah’s perspective is the reality, and any apparent contradiction to that reality is an i llusion. Therefore, it’s not that Rav Yochanan Ben Zachai was willing to endanger himself to promote the Torah’s perspective . Rather, he called Vespasian the king because he realized that he really was the king. He didn’t even feel the danger , because the Torah‘s perspective is the reality (This is a message from the Medregat HaAdam, in Cheshbon HaSedek, chapter 9) Rav Yehezkiel Abramsky would e motionally relate how , in his youth, he heard this from the E lder of N ovordok himself . He said, “ You will only be able to go through life according to Hashem’s w i ll, if you know that only what is said in the Torah is real.” Rav Abramsky said that this was indeed how the Elder of Novordok lived his life. Only what was in the Torah was real (brought down in the Artscroll Tisha B’Av edition of En Yaakov, on the Aggadah of Gittin,page 18). This is a tremendous lesson in life. We can only look at things through the Torah’s ga ze . The Chafetz Chaim would often asked, “ H ow do I know that the sun will come up tomorrow? Because it says in Bereshit that the day and night will not cease.” Everything that we look at has to be through the eyes of the Torah. This is a fundamental in our Bitachon . Our reliance on Hashem has to be clear, without a doubt, that Hashem’s Will will come true, that He is in charge, and that He is in power. That is why we are calm and relaxed. The story of Nakdimon Ben Gurion is mentioned in the sugya of the Churban. He had enough money to supply wood for the entire Jewish people for 21 years . At one point during a drought, he borrowed from a wealthy goy, and agreed that he would pay him back during by a certain time. When the time came to pay back the loan, he did not have the money to cover it , but in the end H ashem made a miracle for him. He was completely unworried. He was calm and relaxed . He waited till the very last day , and he said, “ Hashem, show that You have people that You love.“ He was convinced ; he was solid. He had no questions , because he looked at th ings through the Torah’s eyes . That is what we have to do. The more that we learn about Emunah and Bitachon, the stronger our reality will be. Take a reality check that you have the Torah’s way of looking at things.