February 27, 2026
When I was in rabbinical school at the Hebrew Union College Los Angeles campus, I took a year to pursue a master’s degree in Jewish education. One of the required courses for this degree was entitled Leadership and Management. In this course, we not only learned about the skills required for leadership but also the character traits we, as leaders, need to nurture. It was during this course that I first learned about Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This book taught me key concepts like the circle of control compared to the circle of concern, seeking first to understand and then to be understood, and thinking win-win. Years later, Covey wrote other books focused on trust. Covey explains that trust is built on the confidence you have in someone else, but it starts with building confidence in ourselves. We cannot begin to trust others until we trust ourselves.
According to the mussar tradition, trust defines how we are in relationships with others. Alan Morinis asks, “Can we truly trust others, knowing that people test us in our lives? Can we trust God?” Perhaps there is no better example of trust in God than that displayed by Abraham in the infamous story of the akeidah, when Abraham is told by God to bring his beloved son as an offering. Guided by the early morning light, father and son walk quietly together until Isaac sees the wood for the burnt offering but wonders where the animal is. Abraham’s trust in God is portrayed in his response when he tells his beloved son that God will provide the offering. Was this just an answer to calm his son? Was he saying this to calm himself? Or did he truly believe that God would provide the ram that he would ultimately find in the thicket?
The Hebrew word for trust is bitachon. In modern Hebrew, this is the word we use for security. Alan Morinis, in his book Everyday Holiness, invites us to think about the story of our lives. When we are in the midst of a crisis, it is nearly impossible to see how it will work out. Morinis explains that when we react to a situation with trust, this reaction stands in opposition to our reactivity. He teaches that we do not write the script of our lives, so we have nothing to worry about. I might offer a different perspective. When we turn to trust, we turn to the idea that our experiences have given us the traits we need. By acting with trust, we pause to think carefully and intentionally about how we might respond. Trust is not giving up control, but rather taking the time to act thoughtfully and with purpose. While situations may be unknown, having trust allows us to stand firmly in the knowledge that something we may have tried once before could work in a new situation.
Morinis tells a story about the wife of Mussar teacher Rabbi Meir Chodesh, who was making Aliyah from Poland to Israel in the early twentieth century. The Jewish Agency in Warsaw asked her to fill out a questionnaire. One of the questions asked, “What are you taking with you and how do you plan to earn a living in Israel?” Rebbitzin Hunter responded in large letters with the word bitachon—trust. Perhaps she knew that her soul contained everything she needed. In that moment, she did not have all the answers, but she knew that with the tools she had, she could figure it out.
Trust is not having the answers; it is knowing that if you take one day at a time, the opportunities will present themselves, and we can use our skills and virtues to stand firmly and confidently as we move forward. Pausing, breathing, and thinking help us recognize that we may not have all the answers. It is not giving up but waiting patiently for the right moment to come along.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rick Kellner