Don’t Rely on People? Where Should You Place Your Trust

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Zamir Cohen’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

Good evening and welcome. Today, with God's help, we will explore a topic that touches every one of us, expectations and disappointments. Who can we rely on? Who shouldn't we rely on? What happens when we place our trust somewhere and later feel let down? And how do we deal with it? In the verse before us in the book of Proverbs, King Solomon teaches, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Let's first understand the simple meaning of the words and then uncover the deeper insight behind them. Hope deferred refers to a person who longs for something for a long time and doesn't receive it. The word "makes the heart sick" here does not mean a medical illness as a noun, but an action. It causes the heart to become sick. It causes the heart to become sick. Constant waiting, constant expectation, it wears the heart down. But then Solomon continues, "A desire fulfilled is a tree of life." When a person yearns for something and in the end receives it, it gives life, strength, joy. The Malbim, a great commentator who lived about 150 years ago, explains that every word here is deliberate. The verse begins with the term "hope" and ends with "desire." and ends with "desire." What is the difference? Hope describes someone who has been promised that something will happen. When do we hope? When we're waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. Someone told us clearly, "This will happen." And now we are just waiting for it. But to hope for something uncertain, we usually call that wishing or expecting. No promise was made, no guarantee. There's a possibility, yes. So the person says, "I hope it will

Jump to a moment

1. 0:00Good evening and welcome. Today, with God's help, we will explore a topic that touches every…
2. 3:36There are countless blessings gained by not postponing unnecessarily. We won't go into detail on this…
3. 7:08I cannot be sure. But he's the prime minister, the president, a wealthy man. He told…
4. 11:13of this verse. So it is with the good person who trusts in God. A person…
5. 14:48You can't run through an ocean. They saw the Egyptians approaching quickly, arrows already beginning to…
6. 18:53of, "I deserve this. I prayed, so I deserve to be answered. I gave charity, so…
7. 22:27And the human body is just one example from countless systems throughout nature. It is told…
8. 26:01Scientific research has shown that walnut extract contributes to healthier brain activity in Alzheimer's patients. As…
9. 30:09an amoeba, how did motion begin? Explain it scientifically. Suddenly, some tiny particle of dust, inanimate…
10. 33:43over 2,000 years old, states clearly that Abraham was commanded to offer Isaac. The later Islamic…

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