Among the worldly benefits is that having bitachon creates in the person the peace of mind that comes from not needing to travel long distances. Such travel can destroy people’s bodies and hasten death due to the excessive motion and change of climate involved.
וּמֵהֶן מְנוּחַת הַנֶּפֶשׁ מִלֶּכֶת בִּדְרָכִים הָרְחוֹקִים, אֲשֶׁר הִיא מְכַלָּה הַגּוּפוֹת וּמְמַהֶרֶת הַשְׁלָמַת יְמֵי הַחַיִּים,
As it says (Psalms 102:24): He has afflicted my strength on the way; He has shortened my days.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קב, כד) "עִנָּה בַדֶּרֶךְ כֹּחִי קִצַּר יָמָי."
And as has been related regarding an ascetic’s path to asceticism: He went to a faraway land to seek his sustenance during the beginning of his asceticism. During his travels he met a star worshipper in a city where he had arrived.
וְנֶאֱמַר עַל אֶחָד מִן הַפְּרוּשִׁים כִּי הָלַךְ אֶל אֶרֶץ רְחוֹקָה לְבַקֵּשׁ הַטֶּרֶף בִּתְחִלַּת פְּרִישׁוּתוֹ, וּפָגַע אָדָם אֶחָד מֵעוֹבְדֵי כוֹכָבִים בָּעִיר אֲשֶׁר הָלַךְ אֵלֶיהָ.
The ascetic said to the star worshipper: “How much are you in a state of ultimate blindness and lack of understanding in your service of the stars!” The idol worshipper replied, “And whom do you serve?” The ascetic replied, “I serve the Creator, Who is able to do anything, Who sustains, Who is One, Who provides food for each person according to his needs, and there is no one like Him.”
אָמַר לוֹ הַפָּרוּשׁ: כַּמָּה אַתֶּם בְּתַכְלִית הָעִוָּרוֹן וּמִעוּט הַהֲבָנָה בַּעֲבוֹדַתְכֶם לַכּוֹכָבִים! אָמַר לוֹ הָאַמְגּוֹשִׁי: וּמָה אַתָּה עוֹבֵד? אָמַר לוֹ הַפָּרוּשׁ: אֲנִי עוֹבֵד הַבּוֹרֵא הַיָּכוֹל, הַמְכַלְכֵּל, הָאֶחָד, הַמַּטְרִיף, אֲשֶׁר אֵין כָּמוֹהוּ.
Shaar Habitachon - Gates of Trust (Chayenu)
Take a journey towards confronting and transforming unpredictable and challenging events through genuine trust and tranquil reliance on G-d.
The idol worshipper said, “Your actions contradict your words.” “How so?” asked the ascetic. The idol worshipper replied, “If what you said were to be true, then G‑d would provide for you in your city just as He provided for you until now, and you would not need to bother yourself to come to this far-away land.
אָמַר לוֹ הָאַמְגּוֹשִׁי: פָּעָלְךָ סוֹתֵר אֶת דְּבָרֶיךָ. אָמַר לוֹ הַפָּרוּשׁ: וְהֵיאַךְ? אָמַר לוֹ: אִלּוּ הָיָה מַה שֶּׁאָמַרְתָּ אֱמֶת, הָיָה מַטְרִיפְךָ בְּעִירְךָ כְּמוֹ שֶׁהִטְרִיפְךָ הֵנָּה, וְלֹא הָיִיתָ טוֹרֵחַ לָבוֹא אֶל אֶרֶץ רְחוֹקָה כָּזֹאת.
With this, the argument of the ascetic was shut down. Consequently he returned to his land, accepted upon himself to be an ascetic from that time on, and never left his city again.
וְנִפְסְקָה טַעֲנַת הַפָּרוּשׁ וְשָׁב לְאַרְצוֹ, וְקִבֵּל הַפְּרִישׁוּת מִן הָעֵת הַהִיא וְלֹא יָצָא מֵעִירוֹ אַחַר כָּךְ.
The argument of the ascetic was shut down. Rabbi Yaakov Emden argues that there are valid reasons that can cause a person’s inability to find a livelihood in his place of dwelling, requiring him to travel.
Rabbi Emden writes that this was in fact his own situation, and that it was not due to a lack of trust in G‑d—rather, it was the will of G‑d that he travel to earn his livelihood.
He continues that this is also the advice of our Sages in the Talmud: A person who does not find substance in one city ought to travel to another (Bava Metzia 75b).
This travel can be for three reasons:
1) The person does not merit to find his livelihood in his hometown and must travel to provide for himself because of his sins, because exile brings forgiveness.
2) G‑d causes a person to travel so that he not be around the evil people of his town.
3) The need to travel might simply be a test from G‑d to see if his belief is non-wavering despite these hardships.
Rabbi Emden points out that many of the Jewish Sages and even the forefathers had to travel for their survival (Birat Migdal Oz, Bet Middot, Aliyat Habitachon)
The Baal Shem Tov teaches that Divine Providence leads a person to a certain place. He explains the verse And you will go to the place that the L-rd, your G‑d, will choose to make His name dwell there (Deuteronomy 26:2) as follows: You must know that you go from one place to another because G‑d has chosen this path, so that His name will dwell there. G‑d orchestrates that you end up in a specific place in order to spread the light of G‑d in that very place (Hayom Yom 18 Elul).
Rabbi Emden concludes with a simple question: If, indeed, G‑d orchestrates that a person needs to travel for business, why did this ascetic not know what to respond to the idol worshipper?
His answer: The reason why the ascetic returned home was his realization that traveling caused him to be near bad people (like this idol-worshipper). The ascetic did not even respond to the idol worshipper because he did not want to waste his time on dialogue with an idolater (Birat Migdal Oz, ibid.).
