Trusting that Hashem dwells within

אא"ז מו"ר ז"ל הגיד בשם הרב מפרשיסחא עמ"ש ואמר כו' על כי אין אלקי בקרבי מצאוני כו'.

My grandfather, my teacher and master of blessed memory, said in the name of the Rav of Pshischa, on that which is written, "And he will say, etc., 'Because my God is not in my midst, these evils have found me, etc.'"

The Sefas Emes brings a teaching from the Rebbe of Pshischa on the verse (Devarim 31:17) in which a person laments that troubles befell him "because my God is not in my midst." The opening establishes the verse he is about to explain.

כי נחשב לחטא.

For this itself is reckoned as a sin.

The very statement "my God is not in my midst" is counted as a transgression. The problem is not only the troubles, but the despairing belief that Hashem has withdrawn from within him.

שצריך כל איש ישראל להאמין כי השי"ת בקרבו כו'.

For every Jew is obligated to believe that Hashem is within him.

Emunah (faith) requires that each member of Bnei Yisrael trust that Hashem dwells inside him. To deny this inner Presence is itself the failing the verse describes.

ומ"מ אמת הוא כי כשיש השראת השכינה אין מגע נכרי לאדם כדכ' וראו כו' כי שם ה' נקרא עליך ויראו ממך.

And nevertheless it is true that when there is hashra'as haShechinah (the resting of the Divine Presence), no foreign force can touch a person, as it is written: "And they shall see, etc., that the Name of Hashem is called upon you, and they shall fear you."

When the Shechinah rests upon a person, no hostile or alien power can reach him. The verse (Devarim 28:10) testifies that when Hashem's Name is upon a Jew, others are gripped with awe and cannot harm him.

אך כי [*אין] אלקי בקרבי כו' כשאדם נופל מבטחונו בהשי"ת ואומר כי [*אין] אלקי בקרבי עי"ז מצאוני כו'.

But "my God is not in my midst, etc." — when a person falls from his bitachon (trust) in Hashem and says "my God is not in my midst," through this very thing "these evils have found me, etc."

The troubles flow from the loss of bitachon itself. When a person collapses in his trust and declares that Hashem is absent from within him, that despair is precisely what opens him to the evils. The lament becomes a self-fulfilling withdrawal of protection.

ולזאת נכתב פרשה זו שיחזק האדם עצמו לבטוח בהשי"ת.

And for this reason this passage was written — so that a person should strengthen himself to trust in Hashem.

The Torah records this warning so that a person will take the opposite lesson: rather than despair, he should fortify his bitachon and hold firm in his reliance on Hashem.

ולהאמין כי הוא שוכן בקרבנו.

And to believe that He dwells within us.

The core of this strengthening is the emunah that Hashem is not distant but actually dwells inside us — an indwelling Presence that never truly departs.

ועי"ז יהי' התגלות שמו ית' עלינו להיות נשמר מכל דבר רע ח"ו כנ"ל:

And through this there will be a revelation of His Name upon us, to be guarded from every evil thing, Heaven forbid, as above.

When we hold fast to the faith that Hashem dwells within us, His Name becomes revealed upon us — and that very revelation shields us from all harm, the protective Presence described earlier in the verse.

Summary: The despairing declaration "my God is not in my midst" is itself a sin, for a Jew must believe Hashem dwells within him; when bitachon collapses, that withdrawal of trust is precisely what exposes a person to harm, whereas strengthening one's faith in Hashem's indwelling Presence reveals His Name upon him and guards him from all evil.