More on "tests" and "free will"
- From: moshes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:33:14 +0000 (UTC)
This was in the posting from HaMaayan. I'm reposting it under the
specific Header.
Moshe Schorr
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"You shall remember the entire road on which Hashem, your Elokim,
led you these forty years in the Wilderness so as to afflict you,
to test you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would
observe His commandments or not." (8:2)
What does it mean that Hashem tests a person? After all, Hashem knows
in advance what the outcome will be! R' Moshe ben Nachman z"l (Ramban;
1194-1270) explains:
Hashem presents people with challenges in order to reward them, for
even though Hashem knows that someone is capable of withstanding a
particular challenge, a person who merely has the potential to do
something heroic is not as deserving as someone who has actually done
something heroic. Indeed, Hashem only tests those who can pass the test.
Why then is it called a "nisayon" / "test? Because, from the perspective
of the person being tested, it is a test, for he has free will and does
not know in advance how he will perform.
For this reason, Ramban continues, Bnei Yisrael were tested in the
desert [as our verse relates], i.e., so that they could be rewarded for
tolerating the inconveniences of, and frightening times in, the desert.
Thus we read (Yirmiyah 2:2), "So said Hashem, `I remember for your sake
the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridal days, your following
after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown'." [See below]
In addition, Ramban writes, a person who withstands a test is
deserving of reward because, through his heroism, Hashem's Name is
sanctified and other people are led to love and fear Him. (Sha'ar
Ha'gmul)
Did Bnei Yisrael really pass their test in the desert? Surely they
complained a great deal!
R' Yoel Sperka shlita (Detroit, Michigan) explains: Commentators ask
why the Torah identifies all of the places where Bnei Yisrael camped in
the desert, and they answer that the Torah is informing us that Bnei
Yisrael followed the Clouds of Glory to a series of extremely inhospitable
places. And, while the Torah tells us that some of Bnei Yisrael
complained on some occasions and were punished for their complaints, those
were the only times that they complained. Overall, Bnei Yisrael did, in
fact, follow Hashem through the desert and tolerate all of the
inconveniences that they encountered. (Chazon Yoel, note 182)
R' Mordechai Yosef Leiner z"l (1801-1854; the Izbica Rebbe) writes
that a person sometimes faces a challenge which he cannot pass, as was the
case when Yehuda encountered Tamar (Bereishit 38:15). (Mei Ha'shiloach:
Pinchas)
What is the purpose of such a test? In fact, a challenge that cannot
be passed is not considered a test. Rather, the test is how a person will
react to his failure. In Yehuda's case, the test was whether he would
confess and spare Tamar's life (as he ultimately did). (Heard from Rabbi
Aharon Lopiansky shlita)
In other cases, the test may be whether a person allows himself to
become depressed by his "failure," or whether he uses his fall as an
opportunity to strengthen his prayer and Torah study. (Ayin Tovah)
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