top of page
Search

The Ten Faces of Bitachon: Your Soul, Your Mission, and Trust in HaShem

by Ram ben Ze'ev


The Ten Faces of Bitachon: Your Soul, Your Mission, and Trust in HaShem
The Ten Faces of Bitachon: Your Soul, Your Mission, and Trust in HaShem

In the Torah, trust in HaShem is not a concept but a calling. It is not merely a feeling of comfort but the soul’s very orientation toward its Creator. The Hebrew word for trust—bitachon (בטחון – trust)—appears throughout the Tanakh, often interwoven with deeper nuances expressed through other terms. These ten expressions of trust are not poetic variations; they are spiritual stations—soul-gates—through which each of us must pass in the fulfilment of our mission in this world.


The essence of bitachon is the unwavering internal knowledge that HaShem is in control of all things. It is this trust that Avraham displayed when he walked away from everything familiar to follow the voice of G-D, as written in בראשית (Bereshit – Genesis) 12:1:לך לך מארצך... אל הארץ אשר אראך — “Go forth from your land... to the land that I will show you.” This journey was not only geographical—it was spiritual. It was the prototype of trust, an act of bitachon without condition.



In the Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh, Epistle 11, the Alter Rebbe teaches that true bitachon is not merely confidence in a good outcome, but the certainty that everything is good even if that good is hidden. This kind of trust includes joy before the salvation becomes visible—because the soul knows that it already exists in hidden form.


The Ten Names of Bitachon and What They Reveal

Each of the ten expressions for bitachon illuminates a different relationship between the soul and HaShem. They are not synonyms. They are revelations.


  1. Security – בטחון (bitachon) This is your soul’s foundation: the clarity that nothing exists outside of HaShem’s will. It is expressed in תהלים (Tehillim – Psalms) 4:9:בשלום יחדו אשכבה ואישון כי אתה ה׳ לבדד לבטח תושיבני “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, HaShem, make me dwell in trust.” This type of trust is unshakable. A soul rooted in bitachon walks forward without fear, recognising fear as a false illusion.

  2. Refuge – חסות (chasot) This expression reveals the soul’s willingness to take shelter under the Divine Presence. In Tehillim 91:2, we read: אמר לה׳ מחסי ומצודתי — “I say of HaShem, ‘My refuge and my fortress.’” This is trust that flows from humility—not from despair, but from knowing your place in the Divine design.

  3. Hope – מקוה (mikveh) Just as a mikveh surrounds the body entirely, this trust immerses your entire being in the reality that HaShem is everywhere. As written in ירמיהו (Yirmeyahu – Jeremiah) 17:13: מקוה ישראל ה׳ — “Hope of Israel is HaShem.” Your soul reveals itself as a vessel of purification and spiritual renewal.

  4. Expectation – שבר (shever) This trust is marked by confident anticipation. In Bereshit 49:18, Yaakov proclaims: לישועתך קויתי ה׳ — “For Your salvation I have hoped, HaShem.” The soul here becomes a beacon of joy and redemption, uplifting others through positive certainty.

  5. Waiting – יחל (yachel) This expression connotes enduring trust. In Tehillim 130:5:קוויתי ה׳ קותה נפשי ולדברו הוחלתי — “I hope for HaShem, my soul hopes, and for His word I wait.” Your mission includes holding space in the silence and remaining loyal even when the way forward is hidden.

  6. Sustained Hope – תוחלת (tohelet) This form of trust is about enduring over time. As written in משלי (Mishlei – Proverbs) 13:12: תוחלת ממושכה מחלה לב — “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Yet the soul that lives with tohelet continues unwavering, becoming a pillar of hope for others.

  7. Outcry – זעקה (zaakah) Even in the cry, the soul declares its connection to HaShem. In שמות (Shemot – Exodus) 3:7, HaShem says: ראה ראיתי את עני עמי... ואת צעקתם שמעתי — “I have seen the suffering of My people... and I have heard their cry.” This is not a cry of doubt but one of bold intimacy, a direct dialogue with the Divine.

  8. Faith – אמונה (emunah) Bitachon without emunah is impossible. As stated in חבקוק (Chavakuk – Habakkuk) 2:4: וצדיק באמונתו יחיה — “The righteous shall live by his faith.” This form of trust is your soul’s deep-rooted programming—unyielding belief regardless of outcome.

  9. Simplicity – תמימות (temimut) The trust of the pure-hearted is uncluttered by strategy. In דברים (Devarim – Deuteronomy) 18:13: תמים תהיה עם ה׳ אלקיך — “Be wholehearted with HaShem your G-D.” This teaches that your strength lies in innocence, and your clarity in unwavering alignment.

  10. Clinging – דבקות (deveikut) This is the summit of trust. In Devarim 10:20: ובו תדבק — “And to Him you shall cling.” Here the soul no longer trusts as a concept—it lives it. There is no separation, only unity with HaShem in thought, speech, and deed.


What These Reveal About Your Soul and Mission

Each name maps to a stage in your soul’s development and reflects a different angle of your mission in this world:


  • Security and refuge remind you to start your journey by re-establishing the inner connection to HaShem’s protection.

  • Hope and anticipation move you to live not just with faith, but with positive expectation.

  • Patience and sustained hope challenge you to endure through silence, to keep believing even when you don’t see.

  • Plea and faith show that trust is not without struggle, but born through dialogue with the Divine.

  • Simplicity and clinging reveal that the ultimate goal of your soul is oneness with G-D, where trust becomes your identity, not just your decision.


The Holy Zohar teaches in ויקרא (Vayikra – Leviticus) 111b that one who places their trust in HaShem draws blessing from the highest Sefirot. Trust becomes a spiritual vessel through which abundance flows. In the Tanya, chapter 26, the Alter Rebbe writes that bitachon leads to joy, and this joy becomes the foundation for overcoming all obstacles—internal or external.



The Meaning of Trust in HaShem

Bitachon is not mere optimism. It is the soul’s alignment with the eternal truth that אין עוד מלבדו (ein od milvado – “there is nothing besides Him”), as stated in Devarim 4:35. To live with bitachon is to move through life with calm and confidence, knowing that no moment is random, no suffering is wasted, and no darkness exists without purpose.


These ten names are not linguistic style—they are spiritual diagnostics. They reveal where you stand, what you must refine, and what HaShem is asking you to carry into the world. As each of these soul-gates opens, you begin to experience trust not as something you summon, but as something you are.


This is your mission.


This is the voice of your soul.


>>>> BUY ME A COFFEE <<<<


###


bottom of page