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

[Zev Sero]

On 11/03/2013 2:17 PM, Daniel Eidensohn wrote:
>
> *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.
>
By the way, the Malbim has an excellent explanation of this medrash.
He points out that these are not three examples of the same point, but
three different kinds of test, for distinct purposes.

1. For the benefit of its object.  The purpose of beating flax is to
improve it; beaten flax is better than unbeaten.

2. For the benefit of the tester.  A cow is not improved by carrying a
yoke.  Yoking it and making it work is for the owner's benefit.

3. For the benefit of onlookers.  A pot is not improved by striking it,
nor does the owner benefit from striking it.  He strikes it in order to
impress potential buyers with its soundness.

The medrash is telling us that the Akeda was for all three purposes.
It improved Avraham's character, it gave pleasure to Hashem, and it
served to prove to the world that Avraham was a true tzadik who deserved
all that that Hashem had given him.


-- 
Zev Sero               A citizen may not be required to offer a 'good and
zev at sero.name          substantial reason' why he should be permitted to
                        exercise his rights. The right's existence is all
                        the reason he needs.
                            - Judge Benson E. Legg, Woollard v. Sheridan