Rabbi Yuhanan Mesilat Yesharim 1.30-1.31

welcome back we are continuing learning Miss silat is commentary we're on page 122 chapter 1.30 types of tests we said that everything that happens to us is a test and now we are going to go through examples poverty for instance is a test for example Hillel who despite his very deep poverty tried and succeeded in becoming a great man so even though a person doesn't have much resources he can still accomplish a lot as long as you have life you can still choose and wealth is a test uh for example was an extremely wealthy man and he succeeded despite his wealth in becoming one of the greatest tourist Scholars and Servants of Hashem even though he was very wealthy and had many kinds of Enterprises he chose to delegate them to managers and even though they might not do the best job but he said it's more important for me to learn Torah than to make sure that my businesses run um to their full capacity it's better that I should run to the full capacity than my businesses and said that I should not become satiated and deny prayed at Hashem don't make me too rich because if I am too rich I might rely on myself and deny God and I would say who is Hashem and also he prayed Hashem don't make me poor because I might steal rich people have tests of arrogance and poor people have tests of theft even if a wealthy man would not actually say who is Hashem subconsciously he might think that he doesn't need Hashem because he relies on all his property so says Rescue Me Hashem from too much wealth and too little wealth because a wealthy mean a wealthy man doesn't need Hashem he thinks so so he might subconsciously at least come to deny Hashem and that is why is that a person shouldn't eat before he prays it's better to pray and then eat why because when you eat and you are satisfied you feel I have no needs it's hard to think Step Ahead yes I'm satisfied now but in a few hours I will be hungry again so let me pray for them right now person might say I don't have children so why should I pray that my children should be successful first let me pray for children but we have to think ahead even though I don't have that need now I have to think for future but still it's hard so the sages say don't become satiated and then go pray because you might think that I don't need God because right now my stomach is full no first go pray on this empty stomach when it hurts when you are hungry then your prayer will be with more feeling and more honest the verse in mishlay concludes and I will snatch I will grab the name of Hashem it means a poor person might steal and then he will deny and then he will swear falsely and using God's name so a poor man has tests and a rich man has tests and even though he is rich he is just as or maybe even more likely to steal than a poor person so every position in life you are subjected to tests even Tranquility can be a test a person could have it so good that he is bored and therefore looks for Ways and Means of Killing Time he has money he has health he has looks and he starts misusing them everything is so good that he begins to look at ways of wasting his life instead of saying since I don't have any worries Let Me Go full steam ahead to accomplish with no distractions such a person becomes distracted by too much good he forgets that he is Mortal he forgets that he came here to accomplish further he neglects to thank Hashem for all the things that he has he takes them for granted he's good health his family and that he lives in a quiet peaceful neighborhood he was never affected by War in his life he never had any serious illness he is obligated to thank Hashem for all of the of these things and more in fact this is his biggest obligation so even peace and Tranquility is a test and now we go to the end of the chapter to see the note there on page 181 Tranquility is a test Robert Miller in his book fortunate Nation by the way Rabbi Victor Miller has a lot of books that he himself wrote in English that every Jew should read and in the notes they quote from these books and we already mentioned the few it would be a good idea for each one of us to go out and buy these books and read them with our families one of them is for example fortunate Nation another one is awake my glory another one is the pride of Israel and another one is seeing you righteous another one is the beginning about berishi the book of berishid another one Praise My Soul so we see so many books that are available wrote and each one is a gem you will benefit a lot and you will enjoy each one of these uh books so in his book fortunate Nation wrote be on guard for yourself lest you forget Hashem this alludes to the foregoing verse because of the Happy Land flowing with milk and honey you should always therefore be mindful of The Giver the Torah says I'm giving you a land beautiful land flowing with milk and honey but be on guard for yourself that you shouldn't forget Hashem what's the connection it says you're gonna get good life wealth tranquility and that's when you have to be on guard the most the purpose of hashem's gift is to allow us to receive the greatest gift the recognition and awareness of The Giver we have good life so that we look back at Hashem and say thank you Hashem I know where good life comes from therefore be on guard because when men enjoy much happiness they may become arrogant and disobedient thus the sublime opportunity to gain Perfection by means of Happiness may be transformed into a cause of deterior deterior deterioration and eventual Calamity if Hashem gives you good and you don't appreciate it then he'll have to try to communicate with you on a different level he'll take away the good and give you shalom sickness and then the person will say oh now I see Hashem and then the Hashem will say oh you only understand the language of disease unfortunately that's how we'll have to communicate but we are smart and therefore we will utilize happiness to serve Hashem all matters of the world are tests poverty is a test Prosperity is a test we are born to be tested not to discover Who We Are because Hashem knows that but for the purpose of evoking and bringing out the potential greatness which Hashem originally breathed into our souls the test of prosperity is hashem's First Choice he would rather give us happiness and test that test us with it just like he uh did with Adam in the Garden of Eden the Garden of delight he put Adam for his first test and he gave him everything to enjoy Angels were serving him all the fruits of the garden were healthy and delicious and beautiful Hashem gave him only one restriction and he failed so then Hashem said okay let me give you another test I'm gonna Exile you from the garden you'll have to work hard suffer and let's see if you pass that test and alcohol say that until World War II the test for the entire Jewish nation was that of struggle and poverty however after the World War II we now enter the new year a new test that of wealth and now all the Western countries as well as other countries the Jews live successfully and wealthy and Hashem says let me see how you will behave and that's what say before mashiach the test will be that of wealth coming back a full circle to the test of Adam and yes we look around it is as if we live in Garden of delight we don't have to work hard the going work for us China produces all our Goods we just sit back we have office jobs and we are doctors lawyers presidents and uh managers and everything is being served to us on a silver platter with all the fancy cars and houses and jewelry everything we may want we have now Hashem says no oh remember me think about me serve me and we would be doing ourselves a favor if we use the test of wealth properly why Hashem chooses happiness as the first test because happiness offers the best opportunity for awareness of hashem's kindliness because God is good and he created the world to give good to his creatures so that they recognize and develop relationship if we recognize his good and enjoy it and thank him for it the purpose of creation is fulfilled if not and he then he will have to message us with a different messenger to awaken us that in itself is not going to be the purpose of creation once we are awakened then he'll have to give us good and only then we will thank him so disease and poverty and suffering are means to an end it's not the end itself however happiness and prosperity is the end in itself if if we enjoy prosperity and we thank Hashem we fulfill the mission of our life and of God um so when we have awareness of hashem's kindness it will bring us to love Hashem which is the highest goal now we'll go back to page 123 the difficulties is another example of tests difficulties and suffering because suffering causes many people to neglect what they could have done to achieve greatness despite their their poverty or illness or other difficulties which means you may be poor but at least you're healthy so Hashem says let me give you poverty and if you serve me will not going to go further but if you use poverty as an excuse not to serve Hashem then hashems will say okay you didn't appreciate that you were healthy Shalom let me give you some suffering and only when you're poor and suffering then you'll say oh what was I doing when I was healthy was so poor that he had nothing to eat and despite this he became one of the greatest Sadiq the gemara tells us a story how once was sick in addition to being poor he was sick and he went to a doctor and the doctor told him he needs to let his blood bloodletting so they drew some blood out and after you let blood you need to eat he came home and he has nothing to eat and he lost blood he found a rotten fruit and ate it which caused him to become nauseous and he passed out became unconscious in the dream Hashem appeared to him asked how long will I continue to suffer in this world when I was just poor it was okay but now I'm poor and sick and I have nothing to eat and I fainted how long can I continue Hashem replied Allah my son would you like me to turn back the world to the beginning and perhaps you would be born in a time of Plenty meaning Hashem told him that he was created to be poor it's good for your soul this is the test that I designed for you and so far you're passing it well just wait a little bit more and you go to ganedan otherwise I'll have to rewind the clock recreate the world give you a new test and maybe I'll choose for you a test of wealth Maybe not maybe it will still be the same test do you want to take a chance he was a poor man but he was the biggest success Ben pedat is mentioned everywhere in the gamot so smart and he told Hashem it's okay he asked him did I live half of my life at least and Hashem said yes you lived more than half of your life and so he said if I lived majority of my life already I can handle the rest don't destroy the world don't give me another chance just let me continue being poor and suffer and he died as a great righteous man now recognizing Hashem is a constant test besides the inherent purpose of everything and every event in the world there is an additional purpose that things and events should lead want to recognize hashem's greatness and goodness yes the clouds are there to give rain and the rain is there to give us water and to to cause plants to grow and plants are there to feed us and to feed animals which we are going to eat everything has a purpose but what's the final purpose the final purpose is that in everything in addition it serving a function in the world it also serves a direct function in our life when we see clouds we see the wind we see the rain we recognize Hashem and everything we see plants we recognization we see animals we recognize Hashem yes we benefit from all of them we eat them we look at them we enjoy them but number one function of everything that we see is to recognize that they were created for by Hashem for our benefit to see the Creator behind his Creations the Creator made the world with the intention that everything would testify about him and that man would observe the creation and recognize God this purpose and intention can be found in everything in the world and man is tested whether or not he will serve Hashem by recognizing him in all of his actions so man stands in a state of constant testing his entire life everything in the world whether other people or animals the heavens or the Earth the Sun or the moon vegetation the limbs of the body and human character traits everything that happens now or has happened in history are all tests nothing happens for no reason and the reason is one to communicate with a human being and to test that human being how will he react appliances that the person has in his house his clothing how other people behave how other countries behave his food his desires everything he senses all of these things are possible sources of emuna and developing a feeling of closeness to Hashem by recognizing his wisdom power kindness and Providence now we go to chapter 1.31 on all sides it comes out that the war is in front and in the back wherever you turn you cannot Escape this is why we say in the sidur in the evening prayer and remove the Satan The Prostitute Prosecuting angel from before us and from behind us because we are being attacked on all sides and we ask Hashem for help a test has two purposes one is to determine how one will react to various situations and the other purpose is to provide the benefit of improving in various ways one is to test us to receive reward and another one is to actually improve us tests are opportunity to become better a child has tests as well of being obedient to his parents and teachers how does he learn in Yeshiva what effort does he put in and how does he progress why do teachers give tests in order to help the child to grow when a man gets married how he behaves with his wife and children is a test and he becomes better as a result of those tests as we mentioned before that living in a monastery is not good for us living a life of peace and calm provides us with less tests than if everything is boiling around us the word Nisa means to test and it also means to elevate as we mentioned before so through tests you are elevated everything in the world is an opportunity to be tested and to be elevated and the mislative explains that we are surrounded by a war of tests that is going on all around us constantly and now he continues if he will be a man of Valor if he will be a man of heroic nature and he will win the battle that is on all sides then he's going to be a perfect man how do you become Perfect by passing all the tests not by running away not by failing when you pass all the tests that you're given you become perfect and says it's not um expected that you will finish everything that's put upon you we are human we make mistakes but the closer you get to Perfection the better it is a man who fights back on all sides and wins against all the odds that are constantly being put before him that is the man of Valor who is considered a man of perfection this is in connection to what he said before that the greatest achievement in life is to strive for perfection and mislation continues he will be worthy to cling to his creator and he will go out of this vestibule when the time comes after 1 20 and she will enter the great banquet hall to enjoy the Splendor of the light of everlasting life now we go to the end of the chapter on page 181 to read the note on the bottom of the page when a man gets married how he behaves with his wife and children is a test and he becomes better as the result of those tests in the his book awake my glory right by Victor Miller writes the universe is literally full of testimonies these are the means which help prepare for the career in the world to come they are not all equally obligatory those whose significance is pointed out in the Torah are indeed most necessary which means we have mitzvot which Hashem says those you for sure have to do they are tests and then there are things that are good to do but they're not written openly in the Torah but of all of them are opportunities and all of them are opportunities and all of them are weapons in the battle against non-thought none thought mindlessness is our Enemy Number One and therefore Hashem gives us a lot of mitzvot to refocus our mind to him the Holy One Blessed Be he has put a man into a place where many things lead him away from Hashem she truly has a difficult battle which surrounds him on all sides these testimonies that the world is full of are useful weapons in this battle against forgetfulness of God you look at nature and you see God and then you uh you have easier time to fight against yet because you know the boss is watching if these weapons would be used as they were intended then a person would remember Hashem and would win against his yet even when improperly used and even when the mitzvot are mechanically performed they are indeed useful at least there's a chance that once in a while you'll remember Hashem if a person stops doing mitzvot completely then he'll forget about Hashem completely if a person performs mitzvot on autopilot at least maybe once a month for a second he'll think about Hashem but in comparison to their effectiveness when intellectually utilized they are like a machine gun which is which a jungle tribes man never learned to use and instead he employs it as a club he takes the machine gun and he runs after animals to hit them so too if we do meets vote without intent without kavana yes we have a powerful weapon but we're only utilizing it to the very minimum if started properly including the attitudes supplied by the sephirahu a book written about mitzvot and it explains the meaning behind me sword and similar Works many Commandments of the Torah can be recognized as testimonies of God they remind us of God and so utilized it is certain that The Giver of the Torah intended this among their other functions of course Hashem when he gave us mitzvot he didn't want us to turn on the autopilot because it's not the uh the actual physical performance of the Mitzvah but rather it's the connection the communication the personality that we put in to the mitzvah now we will continue next week Hashem on chapter 1.32 thank you for listening