I had the merit to learn directly from the author of The Six Steps of Bitachon, Rabbi Goldberger n’y. He taught me that bitachon is preceded by emunah. He explained that emunah by definition is the intellectual understanding that God exists, while bitachon is the emotional awareness that God exists. It reminded me of the verse in the siddur וְיָדַעְתָּ֣ הַיּ֗וֹם וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ֮ אֶל־לְבָבֶךָ֒ כִּ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ ה֣וּא הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים בַּשָּׁמַ֣יִם מִמַּ֔עַל וְעַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ מִתָּ֑חַת אֵ֖ין עֽוֹד, “And you shall know today (emunah-intellectual understanding), & you shall take it to heart (bitachon-emotional awareness), that it is the L·rd (Hash·m), Who is G·d in the heavens above & upon the earth below. There is no other.”
While it is clear to me that Hashem does in fact exist logically, I struggle with my heart accepting God exists when experiencing times of hardship; one of the key ingredients to the Six Steps of Bitachon is to be tranquil in one’s heart that God will provide for one’s need after fulfilling one’s effort; the effort one makes plays no role in obtaining the need, the effort serves to nurture tranquility in one’s heart that God will deliver one’s need. The issue for me was thinking that my effort brings the result. How could it be otherwise? Don’t I reap what I sow? While practicing the Six Steps of Bitachon I had success with basic needs, but moving up the ladder of greater needs created for me a sense of emotional doubt, as if I did not deserve God involving Himself to that extent. Of course, that is flawed, God is always involved in the world, I knew it, but had trouble feeling it.
This further connected me to the tefillin shel yad and the tefillin shel rosh. It seems that the shel rosh is connected to emunah[1], the intellectual awareness that there is a God in the world, and the shel yad, because it sits across the heart is related to bitachon. Perhaps tefillin bridges the gap between mind and heart. In addition I learned from my Rebbe, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg n’y that one can have the kavannah (intention) that the two tefillin connect when saying poteach et yadecha.
So perhaps one can have the following kavannah (intention):
עֵינֵי־כֹל אֵלֶֽיךָ יְשַׂבֵּֽרוּ
The eyes of all look UP to You
This is emunah (the intellectual understanding in God)-the tefillin shel rosh (of the head) that is pointed upward
וְאַתָּה נוֹתֵן־לָהֶם אֶת־אָכְלָם בְּעִתּוֹ
and You give them their food at its proper time
This is Bitachon (the emotional awareness in God that my needs will be tended to)-the tefillin shel yad (of the hand)
פּוֹתֵֽחַ אֶת־יָדֶֽךָ
You open Your hand
Poteach et yadecha again is the bridge between the intellectual and emotional awareness of God, the connection between the two tefillin
וּמַשְׂבִּֽיעַ לְכָל־חַי רָצוֹן
And You satisfy every living being with ratzon
The connection established between the tefillin shel rosh and the tefillin shel yad bridges the gap between the mind’s awareness of God and the heart’s acceptance of God, there is a sense of unwavering satisfaction in one’s heart that everything is guided by the ratzon (Will) of God.
We should all be blessed with a mind and heart that work in tandem to accept God.
[1] תָּשׁ֣וּרִי ׀ מֵרֹ֣אשׁ אֲמָנָ֗ה (Shir HaShirim 4:8). There is a connection between the rosh and emunah
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Michal
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Neil Wernick