BS’D
Today’s daily dose of Emuna is dedicated l’iluy nishmot Almog Yissaschar ben Michal and Dalia Lemkos who were both brutally killed yesterday by terrorists, HY’D. May Hashem envelop Ahm Yisrael with Rachamei Shamayim and protect our nation from evil. May we, His beloved nation, understand that the Geulah is rapidly approaching and B’H soon we will all merit to see Divine justice b’mheira, b’rachamim, Amen.
How can I say thank you for a driving ticket? Why would I want to thank the crooks that cheated me? I can only do so if I can judge the term ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ objectively. Can I really say that something is for my benefit or harm?
To bring this point closer to home let us briefly recap the story of Rabbi Akiva ztk’l who wished to sleep at an inn while traveling, but was turned away. After spending the night in the forest the wind blew out his lamp, a weasel ate his rooster and a lion ate his donkey. Yet, he still proclaimed, “All that Hashem does is for the good.” The next morning the good in all that happened was clearly revealed to him. A gang of robbers had marched into town where he was supposed to sleep and killed all who lived there. Rabbi Akiva was spared since they did not discover him in the forest. The donkey, rooster and candle would have alerted their attention to the forest and he otherwise would have met the same fate as the others; a blessing in disguise.
How many blessings are disguised? The key is to clearly understand that all situations are brought by Hashem through Divine providence. Even if it appears unfavorable, know that eventually it will lead to a positive outcome. Usually, this will be discovered and revealed in time, although sometimes we will not know the truth until we reach the World of Truth.
We should never see ourselves as victims of random circumstance – all is ultimately for our personal good. Certainly there is a concept of apparent good and disguised good, however they both are good. In fact they are both very good.
With that in mind we can even say ‘thank you’ to the police officer that hands us a traffic ticket. Who knows what decree it replaced and the important lesson we just learned such as to drive more carefully?
