What does it mean to trust in Hashem and not rely on your own understanding?
By Rabbi Shalom Landau.
Rabbi Landau explains something striking: “King Solomon was the wisest man, and he told you not to lean on wisdom.” The verse reads, “Betach el Hashem bechol libecha, v’el binascha al tisha’en,” trust in Hashem with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.
He explains that this does not mean to stop thinking. “Don’t use your mind to replace trust. Use trust in Hashem to free your mind.”
The reason is that worry looks like thinking but works against it. “Worry feels like thinking, it’s the opposite of thinking.” A frightened mind has lost access to its own intelligence. So, he teaches, “bitachon is not the opposite of intelligence, it’s allowing intelligence to work at its best.”
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Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level
Surface claim
Shlomo HaMelech, the wisest man, taught not to lean on your own understanding but to trust in Hashem.
Fear, vulnerability, or tension
Worry feels like thinking, but it is the opposite, and it blocks access to a person’s intelligence.
Deepest human truth
Trust does not replace the mind; it frees it. Bitachon allows intelligence to work at its best.
More questions from this teaching
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