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שבת שלום - פרשת וירא
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch a sicha by
Rabbi Scott Kahn about Stevie Wonder and the Limits of Choice |
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News and Notes
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The entire yeshiva
wishes mazal tov to Yitzchak
and Gila Fisher on the
birth of their daughter,
Rachel! Shetizku l'gadla
l'Torah ul'chuppah ul'maasim
tovim!
Rav
Wolicki is traveling
to Great Britain and
the United States this
week as the annual yeshiva
recruiting season gets
underway. He will be
at the London Israel
Fair on Monday, November
9, and afterwards will
travel to New York, New
Jersey, Toronto, Miami,
and Boca Raton. He will
be meeting alumni at
Darna at 600 Columbus
Avenue (corner of 89th
Street) on Monday evening,
November 10, and will
be spending Shabbat in
Teaneck. If you would
like to get in touch
with him, please contact
the yeshiva office at
972-2-992-3099 or at
yeshiva@yesodei.org.
Rav Wolicki will also
be speaking at the BJE
conference in Hewlett,
NY on Tuesday, November
11. He will be giving
two sessions on "Teaching
Skills in the Limudei
Kodesh Classroom".
On Thursday night,
Rav Wolicki gave the
sicha ruchanit on the
topic of "Meaningful
Tefillah". During mishmar,
Rav Kahn spoke about
"Ayeh Haseh L'olah: Three
Chassidic Interpretations",
Rav Wolicki gave a shiur
entitled, "Angels", and
Rav Arram continued his
weekly shiur in the thought
of Rav Nachman of Breslov
in Likkutei Moharan.
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Why G-d Tests the Righteous
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki
The following is a quotation from Midrash Bereshit in reference to Akeidat Yitzchak - the Binding of Yitzchak.
"'G-d tests the righteous' (Psalms 11:5)
Rabbi Yonatan said, the potter does not check shaky vessels because if he would only tap them once they would break. Rather, he checks strong vessels, that even if he taps them many times they do not break. So too G-d does tests not the wicked, but the righteous."
Rabbi Yosi ben Chanina said, a flax dealer, when he knows that the flax is of high quality, the more he beats it the more it will be improved. When it is of low quality, he does not even beat it once, lest it crack. So too G-d does tests not the wicked, but the righteous.
Rabbi Elazar said, one who owns to oxen. One is strong and one is weak. On which does he place the yoke? On the strong one. So too G-d does tests not the wicked, but the righteous."
At first glance it seems that these three sages are all making the same point. G-d tests the righteous and not the wicked. He tests the righteous because they are on a higher level.
A closer look at the three reveals three very different theological approaches to the fundamental question of why G-d tests the righteous. Specifically, the context of this Midrash indicates that they are commenting on the purpose of the Akeida - the binding of Yitzchak - as a test of Avraham.
Rabbi Yonatan, who compares G-d to a potter checking his vessels, maintains that the purpose of testing the righteous is to display their strength. The potter taps his vessels to check and display that they are solid. Seen this way, G-d tested Avraham so that he could demonstrate Avraham's greatness. By having him undergo this test, Avraham showed himself, G-d, and the world that he is truly a righteous servant of G-d.
Rabbi Yosi ben Chanina, in comparing the test of the righteous to a flax dealer beating flax, takes a different approach. The purpose of beating the flax is to make the flax better. However, the flax must be of a high enough quality to be able to handle the beating. If it can, it will be improved. According to this view, G-d's purpose in testing the righteous is to actualize their potential. The test brings them to a higher level of righteousness, piety, and spiritual strength. Avraham was great enough to be tested in a way that would facilitate him becoming even greater.
Rabbi Elazar compares G-d to the owner of two oxen. According to him, the purpose of the testing of the righteous is neither to display greatness nor to actualize potential. G-d needs to test the righteous because there is a spiritual task that needs to be done in this world. The world that we live in would be a different place had the awesome experience of Akeidat Yitzchak never happened. It is difficult - perhaps impossible - to imagine Torah and Judaism without that formative event. The binding of Yitzchak was something that had to happen. In order to get the job done, G-d needed a "strong ox" who could handle the job. G-d tests the righteous because there are difficult spiritual tasks that need to be done in the world that only they can bear.
I'd like to suggest that these three great sages are actually not in dispute. Rather, they are presenting three perspectives on this difficult question. G-d brings difficult tests on righteous people. These painful and often tragic episodes arouse questions about G-d's plan for us. No one answer is fully satisfactory.
At the same time, there are three powerful lessons that emerge from this Midrash. First, greatness must be displayed. Often, it is when tested that greatness can best be seen. Second, greatness must be developed. Trials and suffering are frequent ingredients in the development of potential and the emergence of true greatness. Third, there are difficult tasks that must be done in order for G-d's plan to be actualized.
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