We are now in Pesukei Bitachon, starting with a Vav , Vayikra 25,18 וַעֲשִׂיתֶם֙ אֶת־חֻקֹּתַ֔י וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֥י תִּשְׁמְר֖וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֣ם אֹתָ֑ם וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ לָבֶֽטַח׃ You will keep My statutes. My laws you'll observe and do. And in reward for that, you will dwell in the land with security. Rashi says this is referring to keeping the laws of Shemittah . Keep My statutes and laws refers to the laws of the sabbatical year. Measure for measure, if you keep the laws of the sabbatical years, you’ll stay on the land and have success in the land. But if you don't keep the laws of the sabbatical years, you’ll get sent out. The commentaries ask a question about this: There is a rule that there is no reward in this world for Mitzvot. So how can we say that if you keep the statutes, then you'll end up getting all of these wonderful things, if there's no guaranteed reward in this world? On answer, based on the sefer Bat Ayin on Parashat Behar , says that the secret for success in the land is bitachon . That's why Hashem put us in Eretz Yisrael- so that we would stay there and keep the mitzvot. But it only works if you rely on Him. He has a novel way of reading the pasuk. He says, וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ לָבֶֽטַח ׃ Doesn't mean simply You will dwell on the land with security , but rather, ‘ When will you dwell the land? Labetach / when you have the Middah of Bitachon .’ Through the trait of relying on Hashem and having faith in Hashem, you realize that everything comes from His will, and that is what brings us success. He continues with another novel explanation of the well-known pasuk that we say three times a day in Ashrei , “ Pote’ach Et Yadecha U’Masbia L’Kol Chai Ratzon/You open your hands and You satiate every living thing with Your will,” which means His will is what causes us to be satiated. We don't do anything. It's our reliance on Hashem that opens up the gates of bounty, and it's His will, not our worthiness, but His will, that gives it to us. That attitude and approach brings us success in Eretz Yisrael. The sefer Ahavat Shalom on Parashat Behar shares a similar concept and he reads it into this pasuk- וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ לָבֶֽטַח׃ You'll dwell in the land with security עלידי הבטחון החזק והאמיתי ישבכוחי נו להמשיך חסד הטוב ממקורוהצפון והגנוז / Through strong, solid bitachon, we have the ability to bring down God's good and kindness from the upper hidden places. We have the ability to bring down God's bounty through our bitachon . That answers our original question. How could it say that if you do something in this world, you'll be guaranteed reward? The answer is, it's the bitachon that brings the reward of the success. As we’ve said in the past, the Hovot Halevavot says that one of the sources for bitachon, is Test Me with this, which talks about keeping the laws of Ma’aser . Test Me, God says. And the question is , I thought we're not allowed to test God . It says, Don’t test God. But one of the answers the rabbis give is that you don't get rewarded for Mitzvot.That's true. But you get rewarded in this world for bitachon because it’s not a payback. Hashem is reliable. If I rely on Him, He’s going to give me what I need, because He is reliable. So, I'm not getting it because I did mitzvot. When you keep Shemitta, for example, and you leave your land fallow for a year and let the poor take and do nothing, that's an expression of bitachon. The reward is not because you kept the Mitzvah of shemittah , but because you exercised your bitachon, and when you exercise your bitachon, all the wonderful things happen. That's what this pasuk is telling us. Keep My laws and keep My statutes - but with bitachon , and the bitachon that you exercise will bring down all of the bounty. This is another important bitachon pasuk to keep in mind always. As we keep Ma’aser or Shemitta or close our stores on Shabbat or do any one of the myriads of things that we are doing and exercising our bitachon on, the merit of the b