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

Daniel Eidensohn yadmoshe at gmail.com
Mon Mar 11 11:17:22 PDT 2013


On 3/10/2013 2:59 PM, Rich, Joel wrote:
>
> 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?
>
> KT
> Joel Rich
>
>
This is from the chapter on Trials and Tests in my sefer Daas Torah


    Suffering is not greater than ability to handle it

*Bereishis Rabbah*[i]*(32:3):*A potter does not test defective vessels 
because he cannot even give them even a single blow without breaking 
them. Similarly G-d does not test the wicked but only the righteous. 
When a flax worker knows that his flax is good then he knows that the 
more he beats it the more it improves. In contrast when he knows that it 
is poor quality he doesn't bother beating it because he knows it will 
simply split. Similarly G-d does not test the wicked but only the 
righteous. When a person has two cows one of which is strong and the 
other weak, obviously he puts the yoke on the strong one? Similarly G-d 
does not test the wicked but only the righteous.

*Kesubos*[ii]*(67a):*According to the camel is the load.

**Rashi*[iv]*(Kesubos 67a):**A camel is given a burden according to how 
strong it is.

*R' Saadiya Gaon*[iii]*(Emuna V'De'os 5:3):*The righteous suffer for two 
reasons. The first reason is that it is for the few sins they have 
committed... The second reason is that it a trial. G-d tests them when 
He knows that they will be able to endure the suffering. Afterwards he 
will reward them to compensate them for the undeserved suffering. G-d 
does not test a person who cannot endure it - because then it serves no 
purpose. The purpose in afflicting the righteous is in order that 
mankind should know that G-d did not choose them for nothing. Job and 
his suffering is an example of this second type of suffering. If the 
suffering is the result of sin then typically G-d will acknowledge that 
this is the reason - if He is asked. On the other hand if the suffering 
is because it is a trial - G-d typically does not acknowledge it. This 
we see from the response to Moshe's complaint "Why are you making it 
worse for this people." Similarly Job was not answered when he asked why 
he was suffering. This lack of explanation is necessary so that the 
suffering of the righteous should not be simply dismissed by the average 
man as merely a means for the tzadik of getting additional reward. And I 
say that even the completely innocent person is sometimes afflicted in 
order that he gets reward for it. This is obviously the case for the 
infant who suffers. I have no doubt that they will be compensated for 
their suffering. A wise person views suffering as the chastisement of a 
father by means of a beating or detention to keep his son from harm. It 
is comparable to the disgusting bitter medicine that a person takes to 
be cured. A person might ask why is this suffering necessary because G-d 
can give the good without the suffering? We answer him that good 
deservedly given as reward is better than receiving it out of kindness.

*
*



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