We're now in Mishleh 28, 25 רְחַב־נֶ֭פֶשׁ יְגָרֶ֣ה מָד֑וֹן וּבֹטֵ֖חַ עַל־יְהֹוָ֣ה יְדֻשָּֽׁן׃ A Rechav Nefesh/greedy person stirs up strife. But one who relies on Hashem will have abundance. That's the simple Artscroll definition of the pasuk. And now for the commentaries… “Rechav Nefesh ” is a term used in Pirkei Avot , where Bilaam, is described as having a ‘ Nefesh Rechava ,’ which means he's a Baal Ta’ava, a man of desire. That's a Nefesh Rechava, Yigareh Madon/ stirs up strife.. Rashi says he brings upon himself Middat HaDin/God's justice. [When a person just indulges his own pleasures and is selfish, that arouses God's judgment on him. But a person who’s selfless is someone that's giving, which brings God's mercy upon him. It’s not really our topic, but it’s an important point.] וּבֹטֵ֖חַ עַל־יְהֹוָ֣ה The one who relies on Hashem is יְדֻשָּֽׁן Yedushan , which the Mesudat Sion says is a term of being anointed with oil, as it says in Tehilim 36 יִ֭רְוְיֻן מִדֶּ֣שֶׁן בֵּיתֶ֑ךָ That's the simple explanation. The Gaon of Vilna explains that a man of desire is someone who’s not happy with his lot. He's always angry because everything is too small or not enough, and therefore, he lives a miserable life. And since he's always angry, the smallest thing is going to tick him off, so he's going to get into arguments. But the one who relies on Hashem is the opposite. He is Sameach B’Helko/happy with his lot . He's happy with what he has, so he's in a state of tranquility because he's in a world of completeness. The Malbim says that this man is not only going to get into arguments with people because he's not in the right mood, he's going to start having complaints against God, because he looks at everything in the world as going wrong. He's constantly complaining. Conversely, the one who relies on Hashem, who is not being pushed by his desire, who is happy with what Hashem gives him is going to find what he needs. That's all on what we call the pshat level. The sefer Zera Yaakov, written in the 1700s by Rabbi Yaakov Ben Haim HaKohen, says Rechav Nefesh is referring to Zimri ben Salu, a man of desire who sinned with Kozbi. He caused arguments. He caused arguments with Moshe Rabbenu, and he caused 24,000 people to die. He caused arguments between God and the Jewish people. He says the Bote’ach al Hashem, the one that relied on Hashem, was Pinhas. Pinhas was zealous and killed them both, and he got wonderful blessings from Above. He says, Yodushan refers to the portion of the Mizbe’ach called the Terumat HaDeshen, where they put the pile of ashes. It says, all the blessings came to the Jewish people from the korbanot . So Pinhas, the one that relied on Hashem, merited to become a Kohen Gadol, and brought an abundance of blessings upon the Jewish people through the Korbanot . That's more of a Midrashic reading into our pasuk. There's a very interesting point in this pasuk, which goes back to the Hovot Halevavot in Shaar HaBechina where he discusses why it is that people don't see God creation. He also says, in Shaar Bitachon, that this interferes with our reliance on Hashem. If we don't see Hashem in creation and we don't see how He's taking care of us, we don't rely on Him. He says it comes because of our great desire for more. We're always looking at what we don't have and not at what we do have. We can't see God, because we only see what we don't have. As the famous question goes, Is the cup half empty or half full ? Half empty is the man of Ta’ava . He only sees what he doesn't have. Nothing satisfies him. On the other hand, the Baal bitachon is a man who’s able to slow down and see and appreciate what he has, and see how God has been taking care of him until now, in all the wonderful things that he has. He can truly feel like he's bathing in the goodness of God. This is a fundamental- we should not be looking for more, but rather, appreciating what we have. This is actually a prerequisite for bitachon because if a person is always