[Avodah] HKB"H doesn't give anyone a test they can't pass

Kenneth Miller kennethgmiller at juno.com
Sun Mar 10 18:06:36 PDT 2013


R' Joel Rich asked:

> I often hear people say  HKB"H doesn't give anyone a test they
> can't "pass". Does anyone know of any original sources either
> way on the issue?

I have heard of the Eishes Yefas Toar given as an example of a test which no one could pass. That is to say: A soldier in such a situation inevitably will succumb to his desires and violate the woman.

I have also heard this same case used to disprove the claim: Now that Hashem has taught us a specific procedure to use in such situations, the soldier *will* be able to control himself.

The above comments are cute and inventive, but ultimately meaningless unless we can explain or define what is meant by "passing" and "failing" these "tests". R' Micha offered several tragic stories of people who suffered severe mental trauma from the situations they were placed in. I would suggest that this does not in any way constitute failure. Has a mugging victim "failed" in some way? No, he has not, and emotional trauma should be no different than physical.

Hakol biyedei shamayim, chutz m'yiras shamayim. Hashem controls everything except the choices we make, and so success and failure can be judged only on the choices we make. If a mugging victim has suffered a broken leg, his inability to walk away must not brand him a failure; so too, if a victim of emotional trauma finds certain things to be difficult or impossible, he must not be held to blame for that. But there will be some choices, *perhaps*, that he is in a position to make, and *that's* how Hashem will judge his success or failure.

Never before have I found R' Micha's sig line so fitting:

> None of us will leave this place alive.
> All that is left to us is
> to be as human as possible while we are here.
> - Anonymous MD, while a Nazi prisoner

Akiva Miller
____________________________________________________________
1 Key Fat Loss Hormone?
Doctor Reveals 1 Hormone Making You Fat & How To Banish It Now.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/513d2e483c3092e48051cst03vuc



More information about the Avodah mailing list