The Six Steps of Bitachon: A Practical Guide to Divine Providence By Chaim Goldberger Mosaica Press Jerusalem, 2016 • 80 pages

The precise terms belief and faith, emunah and bitachon, can be distinguished in a variety of ways. Some consider emunah an acceptance of abstract ideas and bitachon an integration of those beliefs into your life. In that sense, Rabbi Chaim Goldberger’s The Six Steps of Bitachon is the best—most practical—book ever published on the subject. Through careful textual study and a lengthy process of trial and error, Rabbi Goldberger has developed a detailed method of utilizing bitachon in practical settings. This book is not a marketing gimmick. It is very practical and eminently usable by anyone, scholar or layperson, righteous or—believe it or not—wicked.

Without giving too much away, I can reveal that the method involves calculating what you need, the maximum effort possible for acquiring it and then your own prescription for achieving it. Along the way, you need to consult with a like-minded friend to ensure you remain within realistic boundaries. Rabbi Goldberger assures us that if you follow the six steps, God will provide what you need—not necessarily what you want, but what you need.

At first I was skeptical but then I realized that overall, this method is a wonderful way to integrate bitachon into your life. Rabbi Goldberger adopts halachic terminology for his approach, referring to a lack of bitachon as a violation of the prohibition against idolatry and certain decisions in the six steps as a form of pesak, halachic ruling. This overreaching is fine in a homiletic sense, as long as it is not taken literally. Additionally, the Torah (Devarim 6:16) forbids testing God. As Ramban (ad loc.) and others explain, God does not want to perform miracles for everyone at every time. The six steps ofbitachon seem to come perilously close to testing God.

However, the six steps are a wonderful way to bring God into our daily needs. The Rema writes in the very first paragraph of the Shulchan Aruch that a great principle of Judaism is found in the verse, “I have set God before me constantly” (Tehillim 16:8). When we think about God, we magnify His role in our lives, even in the mundane aspects. While a master of bitachon may not need these six steps, the rest of us can use help in remembering God and truly trusting in Him. This alone is a worthy outcome. Rabbeinu Yonah (Mishlei 3:6) says that the reward for bitachon is much greater than whatever physical need we are pursuing. Rabbeinu Bachya Ben Asher (Kad HaKemach[Jerusalem, 1970], p. 73) adds that even if God does not fulfill our specific need, we still have this reward for our bitachon. Therefore, whether or not these six steps work in satisfying our needs, they accomplish something even greater by bringing bitachon into our lives.