Overcoming Our Tests

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

Overcoming very difficult tests are great ways of accessing extra beracha . When our natural inclinations are pushing us very hard to react in an animalistic way, we must pause for a moment and remember, it's Hashem testing us with a big test because He wants to bless us. The tests are hard, but that just makes the rewards even greater. The sefer Or David told a story that involved the Chacham Tzvi, Rav Tzvi Ashkenazi in his younger years. When he was learning in Yeshiva after high school, he stayed at the home of a very wealthy man. Because Rav Tzvi was such a diligent student, he would arrive back to the house at very late hours of the night. Besides the fact that the family was generally unhappy housing this boy, they especially got irritated when they heard him coming back late at night, sometimes waking them up. They would constantly ask their father to send the boy somewhere else. But the father just remained silent. This went on for months until one day the father himself couldn't take it anymore. It was that day that he had a big business issue and was already very irritable. That night he said some nasty words to the young Rav Tzvi and even though he didn't outright ask him to leave, it was apparent from his words that they weren't happy with him being there anymore. Right after he spoke nastily, he regretted it. He went over to the boy afterward and sincerely apologized. It was just moments later that evening that a couple of leaders from another community came knocking on the door to ask if the young Rav Tzvi would become the Av Bet Din of their city. The young Rabbi agreed and was going to move the next day to that city. When the Rabbi left, he told the homeowner, “It was deemed in Shamayim how long I was going to stay at your house. Yesterday was the last day and that was the day you were tested the most. If you would have held back for one more day and not complained about what my learning caused your family, you would have been zocheh to children and grandchildren who would become great in Torah. You will still have children and grandchildren with tremendous wealth, but none of them will become talmidei chachamim .” And that is exactly what happened as testified to by people from later generations. A few years ago, a Palestinian missile landed directly on the home of a large family in Ashdod. Baruch Hashem, no one from the family was there at the time, but their house was completely destroyed. They needed about nine weeks of renovations to make it livable again and the family was stranded without an apartment. Someone told a man in Tzfat about them. He had an apartment he had been trying to rent out for the past year. He said he would be happy to let them live in it until he found a tenant. He even gave it to them free of charge, but said if he would find a tenant, they would have to go. They moved their stuff to Tzfat and settled in this apartment. And after just two days, a renter appeared. It had been a whole year without finding someone and now, right after this family moved in, they did. The renter was asked if he could wait a couple of months. He said he needed the apartment immediately. He even offered to pay rent for two years, the entire amount in cash up front. It was too good to be true. The family from Ashdod was close with Rav Chaim, zatzal and they told him the details of what had transpired. Rav Chaim said, “Tell the owner, if he lets you stay in the apartment, he'll gain much more than he'll gain from this renter.” When the owner was told of this, he said he has emunat chachamim and turned down the rental agreement. A month later, the landlord received a check in the mail for 75,000 shekels. Years before, there was a windstorm in Tzfat and his property was damaged. His insurance company denied the claim twice and his lawyers told him to just drop it. They made it clear there was no chance of them ever changing their decision. And now, this check arrived with a letter explaining they decided to reopen the case and ruled he was entitled to the money. The tests in life are hard, but when we overcome them, we always win.