In chapter 4, Rav Mintzberg will elaborate in detail on what he wrote in chapter 1, where he only touched on briefly and without providing context or details to what is probably the main topic of the essay on hishtadlus in Sefer Ben Melech i.e. that proper hishtadlus is hishtadlus b'darko shel olam. We were left with quite a few questions at the end of chapter 1. Among them,
1. What does hishtadlus b'darko shel olam look like?
2. How much hishtadlus are we talking about?
3. What are the upper and lower limits of hishtadlus?
So while in chapter 1, Rav Mintzberg tells that a person's can only be certain and confident that his needs will be fulfilled, when he engages in hishtadlus in the way of the world,
1. What does hishtadlus b'darko shel olam look like?
2. How much hishtadlus are we talking about?
3. What are the upper and lower limits of hishtadlus?
So while in chapter 1, Rav Mintzberg tells that a person's can only be certain and confident that his needs will be fulfilled, when he engages in hishtadlus in the way of the world,
והוא שקבע כיצד היא הדרך שהאדם ישיג צרכיו בעולם. וכשם שקבע שסדר
הצמיחה הוא רק על ידי זריעה והשקיה ועידור וכו' והמאכל נעשה ראוי לאכילה רק על
ידי אפיה ובישול וכדו', כך קבע בסדר העולם כי פרנסתו של אדם, ויתר צרכיו, יבואו
לאדם רק על ידי השתדלות כדרכו של עולם.
that really is not very helpful. Especially, when the way that Rav Mintzberg uses the term hishtadlus k'darko shel olam, which as we will learn, has many different facets, is then used to marginalize those people who don't want to engage in any hishtadlus at all. He is surely correct, but it is distracting. But at the same time Sefer Ben Melech is almost masking the fact that the same issues that apply to not doing any hishtadlus at all, would also apply to those who want to limit the hishtadlus that they do, to less than is proper for them.
Rav Mintzberg starts off with what could be termed a Consumer Warning; that to determine the correct or proper shiur of hishtadlus takes extended focus, lots of wisdom and keen insight. In the chabura, we dealt with this at length and in detail, but that will have to wait for a future post. For the moment, we're just going to frame the basic structure of hishtadlus k'darko shel olam so that we can begin to build an understanding of proper and appropriate hishtadlus as it applies to us.
After which, before diving into the details, he leads with an over-arching rule, stating that the shiur (measure) of hishtadlus must be evaluated according to the normal ways of the world. While it seems overly sweeping and vague, since you could rightfully ask, "Does it mean that almost any hishtadlus that I do is OK, as long as it doesn't violate any of the Laws of Physics?" (as the Rashba uses the term darko shel olam?). And "Does it mean that I can figure out the proper hishtadlus by taking a poll of what people do? (and using the term darko shel olam as meaning to do things the way that people are used to doing it?). Nonetheless, that statement serves to anchor his entire discussion in the world of reality.
We are looking for definitive guidance as to how to determine the definition and boundaries of hishtadlus, define what proper hishtadlus is and how to gauge the appropriate amount of hishtadlus. Rabbi Mintzberg will not disappoint. First, he shows us the size of the playing field and then narrows it down to the dimensions that are real. He says,
There is almost no end to the amount of hishtadlus that a person can do, since we could take the side that a person can (or should) keep doing hishtadlus until they have accomplished what they are trying to do. [ it is even possible that this is the approach of the Akeidas Yitzchak and others (e.g. Ralbag) who say that a person should in fact do ALL that is humanly possible to accomplish his goals, as long as he concentrates and doesn’t forget that whatever he does will only succeed because HKBH decreed that it will succeed.]
On the other hand, we could argue the side, that since hishtadlus is to do things in the “way of the world” and not rely on miracles (whatever miracles means – since we haven’t defined it well enough or at all), then if I do something, almost anything at all that could conceivably be a way that would bring about the successful accomplishment of what I want to accomplish, then once I do that minimal hishtadlus that falls within the boundaries of “the way of the world”, I should be able to have bitachon that HKBH will provide me with my needs and what I want, without exerting myself to anything more.
In all of our discussing on hishtadlus, we have essentially been talking about maintaining our balance. The balance between bitachon and hishtadlus; the balance between too much hishtadlus vs. too little hishtadlus. Another way of viewing it is that hishtadlus is the combination of a Rorschach test and litmus test of our bitachon. If my hishtadlus flies in the face of what my level of bitachon is or should be, it implies that either I’m lying to myself or faking myself into thinking that I possess more bitachon than I in fact do.
But it’s not a tight-rope. HKBH is well aware that human beings are incapable of perfectly calculating the myriad of different variables that would go into balancing between bitachon and hishtadlus on a tight-rope. As we have seen, even the few parameters that we have discussed, make figuring out the hishtadlus that we should be doing, a very difficult task. In fact it probably isn’t a good analogy to use a balance beam. It’s probably closer to walking over a thin bridge (as the baalei haMussar used to sing).
And we are of no use to HKBH, if we end up being paralyzed by our fear of making a mistake. Slipping is built-in to the plan. We just have to keep trying and not give up if we do slip.
They way Sefer Ben Melech has it, where too much bitachon on one side is really a lack of bitachon (actually emunah, but this didn't bother any of us, because we have been working with the assumption that emunah and bitachon are two sides of the same coin, ever since we started Emunah u'Bitachon Chazon Ish last year). While on the either side, too much hishtadlus surely implies a lack of bitachon.
On the side that there can be too much hishtadlus according to Rav Mintzberg, who unlike Akeidas Yitzhak, Ralbag and others, feels that there must be room for bitachon, not just in what you think, but even in what you do. So he holds that doing ALL that is humanly possible to accomplish what you want to do, as long as you concentrate on the ratzon HaShem being the final arbiter of whether your efforts will succeed, is not the proper hishtadlus. Rav Mintzberg will also hold that if you do more hishtadlus than you would normally need to do, in order to expect to accomplish what you want to do, for reasons not having to doi with a change in the way the hishtadlus has to be done (Economic or others changes that require that the amount of hishtadlus that you do needs to be-calibrated), you would have gone over the line and entered the area where your displaying a lack of bitachon. On the side that there can be too little hishtadlus, Rav Mintzberg will tell you that if what you do, cannot be expected to deliver (for you) what you want, that would be less than the appropriate hishtadlus.
What we will not answer today, is,
1. how accurate does a person's estimate have to be?
2. Is it better to err on the side of doing too little hishtadlus or too much hishtadlus?
3. To what degree is my personal ability and experience a factor in assessing the appropriate amount of hishtadlus
The General Rule of appropriate hishtadlus is for YOU to do hishtadlus that YOU can confidently expect to successfully accomplish whatever the particular thing is that you are trying to do.
stay tuned. there is much more to come on this topic
Rav Mintzberg starts off with what could be termed a Consumer Warning; that to determine the correct or proper shiur of hishtadlus takes extended focus, lots of wisdom and keen insight. In the chabura, we dealt with this at length and in detail, but that will have to wait for a future post. For the moment, we're just going to frame the basic structure of hishtadlus k'darko shel olam so that we can begin to build an understanding of proper and appropriate hishtadlus as it applies to us.
After which, before diving into the details, he leads with an over-arching rule, stating that the shiur (measure) of hishtadlus must be evaluated according to the normal ways of the world. While it seems overly sweeping and vague, since you could rightfully ask, "Does it mean that almost any hishtadlus that I do is OK, as long as it doesn't violate any of the Laws of Physics?" (as the Rashba uses the term darko shel olam?). And "Does it mean that I can figure out the proper hishtadlus by taking a poll of what people do? (and using the term darko shel olam as meaning to do things the way that people are used to doing it?). Nonetheless, that statement serves to anchor his entire discussion in the world of reality.
We are looking for definitive guidance as to how to determine the definition and boundaries of hishtadlus, define what proper hishtadlus is and how to gauge the appropriate amount of hishtadlus. Rabbi Mintzberg will not disappoint. First, he shows us the size of the playing field and then narrows it down to the dimensions that are real. He says,
There is almost no end to the amount of hishtadlus that a person can do, since we could take the side that a person can (or should) keep doing hishtadlus until they have accomplished what they are trying to do. [ it is even possible that this is the approach of the Akeidas Yitzchak and others (e.g. Ralbag) who say that a person should in fact do ALL that is humanly possible to accomplish his goals, as long as he concentrates and doesn’t forget that whatever he does will only succeed because HKBH decreed that it will succeed.]
On the other hand, we could argue the side, that since hishtadlus is to do things in the “way of the world” and not rely on miracles (whatever miracles means – since we haven’t defined it well enough or at all), then if I do something, almost anything at all that could conceivably be a way that would bring about the successful accomplishment of what I want to accomplish, then once I do that minimal hishtadlus that falls within the boundaries of “the way of the world”, I should be able to have bitachon that HKBH will provide me with my needs and what I want, without exerting myself to anything more.
In all of our discussing on hishtadlus, we have essentially been talking about maintaining our balance. The balance between bitachon and hishtadlus; the balance between too much hishtadlus vs. too little hishtadlus. Another way of viewing it is that hishtadlus is the combination of a Rorschach test and litmus test of our bitachon. If my hishtadlus flies in the face of what my level of bitachon is or should be, it implies that either I’m lying to myself or faking myself into thinking that I possess more bitachon than I in fact do.
But it’s not a tight-rope. HKBH is well aware that human beings are incapable of perfectly calculating the myriad of different variables that would go into balancing between bitachon and hishtadlus on a tight-rope. As we have seen, even the few parameters that we have discussed, make figuring out the hishtadlus that we should be doing, a very difficult task. In fact it probably isn’t a good analogy to use a balance beam. It’s probably closer to walking over a thin bridge (as the baalei haMussar used to sing).
And we are of no use to HKBH, if we end up being paralyzed by our fear of making a mistake. Slipping is built-in to the plan. We just have to keep trying and not give up if we do slip.
They way Sefer Ben Melech has it, where too much bitachon on one side is really a lack of bitachon (actually emunah, but this didn't bother any of us, because we have been working with the assumption that emunah and bitachon are two sides of the same coin, ever since we started Emunah u'Bitachon Chazon Ish last year). While on the either side, too much hishtadlus surely implies a lack of bitachon.
On the side that there can be too much hishtadlus according to Rav Mintzberg, who unlike Akeidas Yitzhak, Ralbag and others, feels that there must be room for bitachon, not just in what you think, but even in what you do. So he holds that doing ALL that is humanly possible to accomplish what you want to do, as long as you concentrate on the ratzon HaShem being the final arbiter of whether your efforts will succeed, is not the proper hishtadlus. Rav Mintzberg will also hold that if you do more hishtadlus than you would normally need to do, in order to expect to accomplish what you want to do, for reasons not having to doi with a change in the way the hishtadlus has to be done (Economic or others changes that require that the amount of hishtadlus that you do needs to be-calibrated), you would have gone over the line and entered the area where your displaying a lack of bitachon. On the side that there can be too little hishtadlus, Rav Mintzberg will tell you that if what you do, cannot be expected to deliver (for you) what you want, that would be less than the appropriate hishtadlus.
What we will not answer today, is,
1. how accurate does a person's estimate have to be?
2. Is it better to err on the side of doing too little hishtadlus or too much hishtadlus?
3. To what degree is my personal ability and experience a factor in assessing the appropriate amount of hishtadlus
The General Rule of appropriate hishtadlus is for YOU to do hishtadlus that YOU can confidently expect to successfully accomplish whatever the particular thing is that you are trying to do.
stay tuned. there is much more to come on this topic
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