Do Bad Things Happen?
The opening sentence of this week’s Torah portion records Moses’s words to the Jewish People during the last week’s of his life: “See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.”
Moses uses the word ‘see’. What was he showing the Jewish People? What were the Jewish People supposed to see? The following is a small insight offered by our Sages.
Encapsulated within Moses’s words lay an eternal message that he sought to convey.
The lesson is this: Whether an event or occurrence in our life is a blessing or curse depends solely on the way in which we ‘see’ it. And it was this lesson that Moses sought to teach his people towards the end of his life by using the word ‘see’.
Students of the famous Maggid of Mezheritz once came to him and asked, "Rebbe, we are puzzled. It says in the Talmud that we must thank God as much for the bad days, as for the good. How can that be?
The Maggid replied, "Go to Anapol. Reb Zusya will have an answer for you."
The students undertook the journey. Arriving in Anapol, they inquired for Reb Zusya. At last, they came to the poorest street of the city. There, crowded between two small houses, they found a tiny shack, sagging with age.
When they entered, they saw Reb Zusya sitting at a bare table, reading a volume by the light of the only small window. "Welcome, strangers!" he said. "Please pardon me for not getting up; I have hurt my leg. Would you like food? I have some bread. And there is water!"
"No. We have come only to ask you a question. The Maggid of Mezheritz told us you might help us understand: Why do our sages tell us to thank God as much for the bad days as for the good?"
Reb Zusya laughed. "Me? I have no idea why the Maggid sent you to me." He shook his head in puzzlement. "You see, I have never had a bad day. Every day God has given to me has been filled with miracles."
So, do bad things happen? If we put on the right pair of glasses, NO.
As we enter this Shabbat let us heed the lesson of “seeing” the blessing. We each have so much to be thankful for. This Shabbat is a good time to “see” it, appreciate it, and be thankful for it.
Let’s do a mitzvah today!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick
