What Trust in Hashem Looks Like

I recently heard a remarkable story from the nephew of the late Rav Nissim Yagen zt”l — a story that captures, in the clearest possible way, what true bitachon (trust in Hashem) looks like when lived, not merely spoken about.

Several years ago, the nephew spent a full day with his uncle, Rav Nissim Yagen, in his office. At one point that morning, Rav Nissim mentioned casually, “Today I need to pay the salaries of the kollel.”

His nephew asked, “Uncle, do you have the money?”

Rav Nissim replied calmly, “I’m short $26,000.”

Taken aback, the nephew asked, “So what are you going to do?”

Rav Nissim smiled gently and said, “Hashem never lets me down. Hashem will take care of me.”

Trying to be practical, the nephew pressed further. “But even if someone gives you a check for $26,000 today, you won’t be able to cash it in time to pay everyone.”

Rav Nissim answered simply, “Hashem can give me cash. Hashem can do anything.”

The nephew decided to observe quietly and see how the day would unfold.

What struck him most was what didn’t happen.

Rav Nissim did not pace.

He did not make frantic phone calls.

He did not show even a trace of anxiety.

The day continued as usual. He learned his regular seder. He taught Torah. He met with people seeking guidance and comfort. He gave shiurim. Hour after hour passed, and still no money arrived.

With only an hour or two left in the day, the nephew finally asked again, “Uncle… what are you going to do?”

Rav Nissim replied, with the same calm certainty, “Don’t worry. Hashem will take care of me.”

He then went into a small back room and closed the door. Curious, the nephew stood quietly nearby and heard his uncle speaking softly:

“Hashem, Hashem… this is Your kollel. I am not doing this for myself. I am doing this for You. Please send the money now so I can pay their salaries.”

Rav Nissim emerged, sat down, and said once more, “Don’t worry. Hashem will provide.”

Moments later, a man rushed into the office, placed a satchel on the table, and left without a word. When they opened it, they found exactly $26,000 — in cash.

The nephew was stunned. It was an open miracle. No name. No explanation. The kollel salaries were paid in full.

Two years later, while Rav Nissim was in Baltimore, he noticed a man he felt he recognized.

“Who are you?” Rav Nissim asked.

The man replied, “Rabbi, you don’t know me.”

Rav Nissim insisted, “I do know you.”

The man hesitated, then said, “Do you remember a few years ago when someone dropped off money at your office?”

“Yes,” Rav Nissim answered.

“That was me,” the man said.

Rav Nissim asked, “Why did you do it?”

The man explained that he had been visiting Israel during the yahrzeit of his father. Feeling emotionally drained, he returned to his hotel room to rest. While asleep, his father appeared to him in a dream and said, “What are you doing sleeping? Rav Nissim Yagen needs $26,000. Go give it to him.”

He woke up shaken. He had never heard of Rav Nissim Yagen, but felt compelled to listen. He went downstairs to the hotel lobby, where he unexpectedly met a friend who had just completed a major business deal and was carrying a large amount of cash.

“I need cash right now,” he told him. “I’ll repay you when we get home.”

He took the money, found Rav Nissim’s office, dropped it off, and left.

“This,” the man concluded, “was yeshuat Hashem keheref ayin — Hashem’s salvation in the blink of an eye.”

But the true heart of the story lies not in the miracle itself.

It lies in the serenity of Rav Nissim Yagen.

He never panicked.

He never became unsettled.

He never lost his composure.

His unwavering trust in Hashem was not theoretical — it was lived, moment by moment. And it was that bitachon that turned faith into reality.

In a world so often driven by worry and control, Rav Nissim Yagen left us a timeless lesson: when one truly places their trust in Hashem, Hashem never lets them down.