Ra'anana Community Kollel

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Rabbi Binyomin Lipson

“Show me your ways . . .” (Shemot 33:13)

Rebi Yochanan said in the name of Rebi Yossi, Moshe inquired, “Master of the world, why do the righteous suffer, and why the wicked prosper?”
(Brachot 7a)

In observing the world in which we live, we have no trouble identifying many people who, while knowingly transgressing Hashem’s commandments, seem blessed with only good. Obviously, as human beings with limited understanding, we cannot expect to fathom the true depth of Hashem’s judgments and the precise explanation of what each person must endure in his lifetime. Indeed, Hashem tells us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways.” (Yishayahu 55:8) However, for those of us whose belief in our Creator’s ultimate control over all world events can sometimes falter, living in an environment in which the truth of Divine justice is constantly hidden from our eyes can sometimes make us begin to feel that perhaps all of the effort and self sacrifice that we invest in keeping the mitzvot are not really worth it. While the Torah cautions us that careful adherence to the mitzvot and regular Torah study are the sole keys to our physical and emotional well being, we regularly encounter people whose existence seems to openly defy this premise.

Whenever we examine our lot in life, the most important fact that we need to remember is that our ability to evaluate exactly how good or bad something is for us is severely limited. On the most simple level, we have all had experiences that, at the time when we were in the midst of them, we felt were obviously to our detriment only to discover later how in fact they ultimately worked to our benefit. On the other hand, sometimes the events which we consider our greatest successes can in the long run prove quite negative.
In order to sell his wares, a salesperson needs to explain to the potential customer the attributes of the product and the various benefits that the customer will attain with its purchase. For this purpose, stores often construct a large, well lit window in which to display their merchandise in an attempt to draw the attention of the passersby to their product. Just as different stores compete with each other for a person’s business, the two opposing fronts of a person’s internal moral struggle also vie competitively for his or her attention. One’s inner desire to make truthful decisions and to live a life imbued with eternal value and meaning tries to lead one to make the right choices, while his desire to ignore the truth one knows and to pursue earthly desires pulls the person in the other direction. However, while the Yetzer Hatov has no trouble showing one the great benefits that await a person if one chooses the path of truth, the Yetzer Harah has a much more difficult task on hand. After all, it has nothing of real value to offer and its sole wares are illusions and empty promises. Therefore, in order to ensure the continued equilibrium of free will, it was necessary for Hashem to incorporate into the world a forum in which a person could realistically choose deceit over truth, a showcase in which all the falsehoods of the world are brought to life and are imbued with sufficient attraction to balance out the clear and solid reality of truth which opposes it.

For this reason, the forces of deceit were given the ability to employ people who would be endowed with affluence and worldly success despite their immoral lifestyle in order to serve as a test for others. In fact, were it not for the existence of such people no one would even be tempted to choose a life of falsehood and the pursuit of physical gratification as the folly of choosing to ignore the truth would clearly have nothing to offer. In Truth, the apparent prosperity that such individuals experience is not for their ultimate benefit. To the contrary, they have so desensitized their hearts and detached themselves from holiness and spirituality that their only remaining purpose in the world is to serve as the ambassadors of evil.

If we are to stand up to the tests of life, we must know that Hashem is the world’s sole arbiter, overseer of all its occurrences, and that it is impossible for one to benefit by transgressing G-d’s commands or to suffer a loss by upholding them. Only with this knowledge firmly etched in our minds and hearts can we hope to see through the world’s illusory pleasures and to behave as true and loyal children of Hashem.