What Is Trust

Essays
Written By Rabbi Simon Jacobson

The word “trust” is used commonly, but what does it mean? Is there a spiritual dimension of trust? Here is a short summary — a bird’s eye view — of the spiritual basis of trust, based on the 4,000-year-old Kabbalistic tradition. It comes down to three fundamental concepts:

Accountability

Trust is the single most important ingredient in any true communication; it creates the fertile ground for all relationships. That doesn’t mean that the people we trust are perfect. What it means is that they are accountable. Trust is based not on perfection but on accountability.

Trust Takes Work

Trust is tool, a resource, a faculty of the soul. But it needs our work to uncover its power. Obviously, trust needs to be earned (and we can’t be naive and trust anyone that comes our way). But we also have to not be afraid to trust others (even if we have been hurt and our trust was violated in the past) and must make an effort and discover the power of trust in our souls. And when we find trust in our lives — when we learn to trust others and we when others can trust us — our lives are immeasurably improved, and trust can change the course of our destinies.

Beyond Positive Thinking

Trust is not just being at peace with any given situation because you believe in a Higher Power and His plan. Trust is actually the certainty that you can change destiny. In the words of the Tzemach Tzedek, a great mystic and teacher, to someone in need of healing: “Think good and it will be good.” Not just “think good” period. Not merely positive thinking. But that by thinking good “it will be good.”

Trust is the absolute conviction that goodness will prevail, and that we have the power to make it happen. This conviction comes from the innermost recesses of our souls.

 

More Essays from Rabbi Simon Jacobson

Rabbi Simon Jacobson

Rabbi Simon Jacobson is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life, which has to date and has been translated into Hebrew, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Georgian. Rabbi Jacobson heads The Meaningful Life Center, which bridges the secular and the spiritual, through a wide variety of live and on-line programming. The Meaningful Life Center presents to people of all backgrounds the universal teachings of Torah as a blueprint for life and has captured the hearts of thousands of participants over the last 40 years with their spiritual message and profound insights into the human condition.

For over 14 years Rabbi Jacobson, as Editor-in-Chief of Vaad Hanochos Hatmimim, was responsible for publishing the talks of the late Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Beginning in 1979, he headed a team of scholars that memorized and transcribed entire talks that the Rebbe. In this position, Rabbi Jacobson was privileged to work in close association with the Rebbe and published more than 1000 of the Rebbe’s talks.

Jacobson is one of the greatest scholars and sought after speakers in the Jewish world today. He has lectured to diverse audiences on six continents and in forty states on psycho-spiritual issues and applying Jewish thought to contemporary life. His voice is rooted in the timeless teachings of Torah, yet at the same time is profoundly timely, relevant, unique, and cutting edge.

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On Faith And Trust
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Trust And Self-Interest