My friend Tzippy owned an antique diamond ring that had belonged to her grandmother. The ring was Tzippy's only family heirloom. When she washed her hands, she sometimes put the ring next to the soap dish in the bathroom.
One day Tzippy's husband David flushed the toilet and reached for the soap. As he did so, he saw a small, shiny object fly in an arc directly into the flushing toilet. He hurriedly found Tzippy in the kitchen and asked her if she had left her ring by the soap dish. Tzippy glanced down at her finger and answered, "I suppose I did. Why?"
"Because I just flushed it down the toilet," was David's alarming answer.
Tzippy felt like screaming, "YOU WHAT? THAT WAS MY GRANDMOTHER'S RING! IT'S IRREPLACEABLE! HOW COULD YOU BE SO CARELESS?!!"
Instead, she stopped herself. If she had lost her heirloom ring, she thought, why should she also lose her shalom bayit [marital harmony]? In soft, measured tones she asked, "Okay, so what should we do now?"
David, feeling dreadfully guilty, had been ready to defend himself against his wife's attack with a self-righteous counter-attack: "HOW CAN YOU BE SO CARELESS AS TO LEAVE YOUR VALUABLE RING IN A PLACE LIKE THAT?" Since Tzippy did not attack, however, he answered humbly, "I'm really sorry. I guess we should call the plumber and ask him to check inside the pipes, but it's a real long shot."
Tzippy suggested that before they called the plumber, they should take a look in the bathroom. Perhaps the ring had fallen next to the toilet, not in it.
"I saw it fly into the flushing toilet," David insisted, but he went with her to satisfy her doubts.
They looked on the floor around the toilet and found nothing. Then they looked into the toilet bowl and could not believe their eyes. The ring was sitting there on a narrow porcelain shelf two inches above the bottom of the bowl.
"If I had screamed at my husband or he had screamed at me," Tzippy told me at the conclusion of her story, "I know the ring wouldn't have been there."
DIVINE TESTS
The concept of God testing human beings is as old as Judaism itself. According to the Midrash, God tested the Patriarch Abraham ten times, each test more difficult than the one before. The ultimate test was God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. The Torah explicitly introduces this account with the words, "God tested Abraham" (Gen. 22:1).
A test is meant to elevate and reveal the innate potential of the person being tested.
What is the purpose of a Divinely ordained test? A student is tested in school so that the teacher can find out how much the student knows. The omniscient God, by contrast, is already aware of a person's capacity before the test. The purpose of a Divine test, therefore, cannot be to reveal any new information to God.
The Midrash points out that the Hebrew word "tested," nisah, is derived from the word nase, meaning flag. As a flag flies high above and identifies an army or ship, so a test is meant to elevate and reveal the innate potential of the person being tested.
A test is always a choice at the upper limit of a person's capacity. Passing the test actually changes the person. Potential becomes actualized. A rose bud contains all the petals of the opened rose, but a rose in full bloom is far more beautiful than a bud. Abraham standing with a knife in his hand on Mount Moriah was a greater Abraham than he had been at the foot of the mountain.
RECOGNIZING TESTS
Tests come in many disguises: someone else's ineptitude, a traffic jam, an unexpected (and unwanted) guest, a computer malfunction, a telephone call just as you're falling asleep, a financial loss, a child throwing a tantrum, a gratuitous insult, suggestions from your mother (or better yet, your mother-in-law) on how to raise your children, etc.
God doesn't give us a test we cannot pass.
God doesn't give us a test we cannot pass. When we fail our tests, it's usually because we didn't recognize the situation as a test in the first place.
If only we could see a neon sign flashing in front of our mind's eye, "THIS IS A TEST!" all of us could muster enough patience, forgiveness, kindness, self-discipline, calmness, or whatever other character trait is called for, to pass the test. How tragically often it is only afterwards that we realize the test beneath the disguise, as we hit our foreheads in frustration and regret at a squandered opportunity to outgrow our limitations.
The key to recognizing a test is to remember that everything, everything, EVERYTHING, comes from God. God is the ultimate source of every occurrence, every financial loss, every traffic jam, every tantrum. Although humans have free will to choose between good and evil, what happens to any individual is determined by God. A thief can choose to mug a passerby on the corner of Broadway and 23rd at 2 AM, just as you're on your way there, but if it isn't God's will for you to be mugged, you'll be delayed a block away, a policeman will show up just at that moment, or the thief will run into an old pal who owes him money. That your two-year-old throws his tantrum in the middle of an upscale department store surrounded by well-dressed singles shaking their heads and clicking their tongues is a deliberately scheduled Divine test for you.
So how can we recognize a test before we've blown it? Much of Jewish practice is geared toward recognizing God as the ultimate source 24/7. Cultivating such God-consciousness puts us in the optimum mental posture to field a test when it comes, just as a well-seasoned tennis player assumes the perfect stance ready to hit the ball before it comes flying over the net.
Saying blessings that acknowledge God as the source before eating food and drinking, seeing the ocean, or hearing thunder is a sure-fire practice to sustain God-consciousness when the test comes flying at us. Twice-a-day recitation of the Shema, the affirmation that the transcendent God is also the director of nature from moment to moment, is a better test-prep than crib notes.
My favorite method for remembering Reality when I'm about to lose it is to recite the first line of a laminated prayer I keep handy: "I believe with a firm belief that this trouble and distress that I am undergoing is ordained by Divine Providence, and I accept it upon myself with love." Remembering that the computer crash, the late-night phone call, or the gratuitous insult comes from God, Who loves me, does not render the bitter test suddenly sweet, but it could give me the right mindset to swallow the bitter medicine rather than spitting it out.
THE REWARDS
In the above story, Tzippy perceived that the ring was still there, in seeming defiance of the laws of physics, as a Divine reward for her husband and her passing their test. But surely God does not reward humans in the same way that a parent rewards a child who brings home a good grade.
Because Tzippy went beyond her nature and didn't yell, God's response was also "beyond nature."
Rewards for tests are similar to prayers fulfilled. When God grants our prayer, it's not because we have succeeded in convincing the Almighty to give us what we want. Rather, earnest prayer transforms us and makes us into bigger vessels, able to contain the blessings that God is always eager to bestow on us. Similarly, tests passed make us into bigger vessels, more able to contain even "supernatural" levels of Divine beneficence. Because Tzippy went beyond her nature and didn't yell, God's response was also "beyond nature."
A couple years ago, my family was vacationing on the Golan Heights, near the Sea of Galilee. One day we found an isolated beach, pulled our car over, and went swimming. In the water, my husband commented that he was nervous about losing the car key, which he had put into the pocket of his bathing suit.
"Are you kidding?" I upbraided him. "Your pocket is no place for the car key. Give it to me." I had zippered pockets and safely inserted the key.
The next day, we did a hike through one of the streams that feeds into the Sea of Galilee. This hike, popular in the heat of the Israeli summer, involves walking in waist-high water past lush, overhanging vegetation. At intervals, the stream forms delicious pools, where the hiker can dunk down and cool himself.
I was walking ahead with one of our children. Suddenly my husband, pale and distraught, caught up with us and announced, "I lost the car key. It must have happened when I dunked down a way's back."
"Where did you have it?" I asked, horrified.
"In my bathing suit pocket," he replied simply, as if I hadn't, just the day before, warned him about putting the key in his shallow pocket.
"Well, let's go back and look for it," I suggested with dawning desperation.
"No, we'll never find it in the mud, and I don't even remember exactly where I dunked."
I stood there staring at him, my mind quickly calculating the ramifications of his carelessness. My set of car keys was in my purse, locked inside the car. To open the car, we'd need to call a locksmith from Tiberias, but the cell phone was also locked inside the car. And even if a fellow hiker lent us a cell phone, how would we find a locksmith? How much would he charge to come all the way out here into the wilderness? How many hours would we have to wait?
I felt like screaming, "HOW COULD YOU?" Then I remembered Tzippy and her ring. I knew, in a flash of clarity, that I was being tested. And I hoped that if I passed the test, perhaps God would get us out of this mess. So I flashed my husband a reassuring smile and said, "Let's just enjoy the rest of the hike. When we get back to the car, maybe one of the other hikers will know how to break into the car."
An hour later, we emerged from the stream onto the bank. Two trails led back to the parking lot. Our chosen trail led us through a Eucalyptus grove where a group had been making a barbeque. I saw people bidding each other good-bye and driving off in their cars. One vehicle, a Renault, caught my attention. The back doors were open to reveal some kind of technical equipment, but I couldn't make out what kind. Perhaps, I thought, he has a tool we can use to pry the car door open.
As I approached, I saw that the car's hood was up and a man was working on the engine. His wife was standing beside the vehicle. In my best Hebrew, I tried to explain to her what had happened, and asked her if her husband had any tools that could help us.
She replied that their car wouldn't start, so her husband had been trying to fix it for the last half hour. When he finished, she would ask him to help us.
No more than three minutes passed when I heard the sound of the engine turning over and purring. The wife apprized her husband of our plight. He came to where I was standing at the rear of the vehicle. I repeated my request, that perhaps he had some kind of tool to pry open the car door. He looked at me as if I were crazy, exclaimed something in Hebrew, and slammed one side of the rear doors shut, revealing a sign that read: "URI LOCKSMITH."
Two minutes later, he was at our car. We watched with fascination as he deftly used his state-of-the-art tools to open the car door. As he walked away, he called over his shoulder: "You folks sure are lucky. If my car hadn't broken down, I'd have been gone from here half an hour ago."
Divine rewards, indeed.
For Sara Yocheved Rigler's April/May 2010 speaking schedule, click here.
(49) Sara, April 28, 2010 3:02 PM
Awesome article, I was going through a very difficult few hours yesterday. I was falling into my usual pattern of worrying and fretting, while at the same time a neon light in my brain was flashing: THIS IS A TEST! After a while, I started to laugh--it was so clear to me what was happening. Once the laughter came--I calmed down. I felt like I passed. Thank you for helping me to clarify my nisayon and making it so much lighter.
(48) eva, April 27, 2010 12:03 AM
suffering is good for the soul.
Every little bit of suffering is a tikkun/rectification for the soul, it cleanses our sins. The same goes for insults received. Even tzar gidul bonim, the difficulty of raising children, is considered suffering which is beneficial for the soul. If something valuable is lost, one should say: may it be a kaparah, an atonement, ie,: if something bad had to happen to me let it be this., and nothing worse.
(47) Anonymous, April 26, 2010 3:24 PM
Fairytale- sounds like you're doing better than a lot of people could in your situation! keep looking for the good. May you have a lot of light in your life very soon and see it through the dark. G-d loves you.
(46) Anonymous, April 26, 2010 4:58 AM
It took burning in flames to believe in God.
My Uncle H. was married to a bitter, nagging woman for 40 yrs. My Uncle H. became an alcholic going on drinking binges for days to get away from his wife. He got picked up for DUI 3 times and losted his license. He had to go to AA, which helped him to quit drinking. My Uncle H. was agnostic, and a scoffing agnostic at that. Then his wife passed away. One day he was burning brush on his land, when a fierce wind took a turn and caught him on fire. He told us he had called out to God to help him. A near by neighbor saw him on fire and ran out to him, and put the fire out. He got burned, but was fine and he didn't have any scars from it. He started going to single dances, and met a wonderful, sweet religious woman. They married, and she treated my Uncle H so good. When my Uncle H. passed away he no longer was an agnostic. He knew God had helped him. By the neighbor who saw him, and a sweet wife that showed him the love of God. Otherwise, my Uncle H. would of died being an agnostic.
(45) Rose, April 25, 2010 10:48 PM
Aboslutely!!
I fully agree but I dont understand how to decipher whats a test and my own mind going AWOL, any suggestions? For example my husband was abusive so I had plans to leave him. Now hes changed but I still want to go - which part is the test and how do I decide?
(44) Elana, April 25, 2010 10:07 PM
Test?
You may say it is a test for the small things...getting angry at something someone said, even a minor accident...it goes way beyond testing for the major things...earthquakes, death, illnesses, etc. Hashem does things for a billion and one reasons. We just don't have the capabilities to perceive them. His way of thinking is not our way of thinking. All beneficial for us, agreed, but we, as humans, have a right to be upset, cry, etc. Every emotion is there for good use. Ex. I once had a question about jealousy between spouses. Isn't that a bad thing? A rabbi (I forget which one) said to me, it isn't. Even G-d was jealous. He wasn't jealous of other gods (there are none other), but rather of the attention his people were giving to other (false) gods. Same in a marriage...it is right to be jealous (and upset) when one spouse is giving more attention to another instead of you. So for the big calamities in your life...go ahead and cry, and be upset, but then realize that it was meant to happen for some reason to you; and since Hashem is all good, somehow it was good too. Only we don't understand Hashem's ways. Just like u have to believe that there is a G-d, u have to believe whatever it was, in the end, was good too. Great article!
(43) Anonymous, April 25, 2010 4:03 PM
God's will?
If you believe that God sends things to test us what is the lesson in a person being murdered and noone comes to their aid? Does God create all the evil in the world, too?
(42) Anonymous, April 25, 2010 2:13 PM
FAIRY TALE?
I try very hard to believe that we're not given more than we can handle, however I have reached a point where I am overwhelmed. Admittedly I was raised in an environment of negativity, but in the last 3 years I've lost my job, acquired cancer, and diabetes, and was rear ended causing chronic neck and back pain. As well I walk on eggshells around my oldest (19) daughter in fear of being yelled at because (fill in the blank) God forbid I should ask her to not watch TV or go on the computer in the family area on Shabbes. My belief is lessening. I suppose the answer I would get is "I don't pray enough, or with enough kavannah."
(41) Chaya, April 25, 2010 2:09 PM
YOU HIT THE NAIL ON ITS HEAD!
Last year, my company found it necessary to lay me off because they couldn't pay my salary.Since my brother was ill at the time, I accepted the lay-off as G-d's way of telling me, "Take care of your brother". I was owed quite a bit for unused vacation. They refused to pay me-offering 1/4 of what was due. In addition, my boss sent an email thanking the treasurer for "firing" me because my hiring 6 years prior was "a disasterous move, poisoning the air". My initial reaction was to sue, but I didn't want to harm the company & accepted their payment. Ten months later, I was diagnosed with early stage cancer. I am convinced that my refusal to take formal action against my former employer and not create a chilel Hashem is why my cancer prognosis is so good
(40) Anonymous, July 2, 2008 7:57 PM
The same thing happened to me!
my sister was playing on my laptop and she accidently broke it. as upset as i was, i realized it was a test from Hashem so i didnt get angry and told her it was okay and that maybe someone would fix it for us, even though the situation looked hopeless. when our dad came home, he was able to fix it easily- i knew that it was only because i did not get angry at my sister
(39) Keren, December 29, 2007 3:15 PM
Thank you for this beautiful article. Thanks to G-d who schools us in this life. And thanks to those who come into our lives and test us and give us the opportunity to learn & hopefully pass the test.
(38) dean, October 25, 2007 5:35 PM
prefect timing
Yesterday I lost 100 dollars. On the way to work today I rear ended the woman in front of me. No damage, but she is making a claim anyway. I came home disgusted and distressed. I was even so annoyed I couldn't pray. After I read this, I felt renewed and have regained my focus. Yes HaShem, now you have my full attention. Thnaks so much.
(37) Andy, October 25, 2007 11:30 AM
I was taught it's only as true as it's weakest link and clearly that statement is a problem
"If I had screamed at my husband or he had screamed at me," Tzippy told me at the conclusion of her story, "I know the ring wouldn't have been there.""
great story and our choices seem to effect results but it seems to me to be false to claim knowledge of how that works
(36) Neshama, October 22, 2007 8:56 PM
So true. Improve ourselves
BS"D
Suffering shouldn't B viewed as punishment for wrong.
In reality, in the Almighty's suffering there is a strong element of kindness.
Suffering is a divine message telling a person that he has something 2 improve.
It is a reminder that one needs 2 improve oneself, a motivation 2 improve his behavior.
When viewing suffering this way, as a mean 4 elevation, even though there is pain involved, it is much easier 2 cope.
And Rebbe Nachman of Breslev's words: "There is No despair in this world at all".
(35) Anonymous, October 21, 2007 6:56 PM
great reminder
After an extremely stressful week, this article was a much appreciated confirmation of the importance of awareness of the Divine in life. The way you explained 'testing' hit home; I guess I did better than I knew with my tests afterall. Thank you for the insight!
(34) Sarah Rivka, October 21, 2007 4:52 PM
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope I can keep this article in mind from now on when I'm tested.
(33) Dena, October 21, 2007 3:24 PM
What a great story
What a great story about the lost key.
Now let's see if I can be calm like that next time something really distressing happens....
Thanks for the inspiration!!!
(32) A grateful reader, October 21, 2007 2:32 PM
Thank you
Thank You Mrs. Rigler. I really needed to hear this.
(31) Tzippy, November 14, 2005 12:00 AM
Thank you. I really needed to read that right now.
:)
(30) Dina, November 6, 2005 12:00 AM
Bitachon, tests and despair
I really agreed with this article. I just wish that I could pass all of
G-d's tests. While I am at a point of despair regarding some personal situations, I intellectually know that everything G-d does is for our own good. This article demonstrates this very well. I am going to copy this article and include it in my life's encouragement notebook. Thank you for this wonderful article.
(29) Anonymous, July 27, 2005 12:00 AM
Thank you
Sara Yoheved Rigler, your articles are always wonderful. Thank you, I needed to read this, I read it just in time as I am going through an uncomfortable situation in my life regarding my husband and his family.
(28) Tsipora, July 21, 2005 12:00 AM
Its so hard
Am"osh
I agree with everything you're saying- there was not one word missing in this article; it's so perfect. The only problem is actually having Bitachon DURING the test that everything is for a reason and that it's only a test with a reward waiting for us.
I remember that I learnt once that there were 4 moments in Jewish history that if they [our forefathers] knew that everything they're doing is being written down in the Torah, then they'd do it with much more enthusiasm. Q: It sounds like they'd want more honor by doing it for enthusiasm. Isn't that wrong? A: They wouldn't do it for honor, but they knew that these moments would lead up to the future destiny of Klal Yisroel- they knew that all their actions have consequences that would lead to the Bais Hamikdash, and the time that we have now. Knowing what powerful these moments are, they'd do it with more enthusiasm.
This is a lesson for us to remember that when we're being tested, we should remember that there will be consequences to our actions, and that we may as well do it right.
It's REALLY hard though to follow through.
(27) stephen, July 20, 2005 12:00 AM
How God works...
Often we are so proud of ourself that we do not make mistakes. Our self righteousness flag like a peacock.Only we learn to obey Him taht we can see His working in us.
(26) Anonymous, July 10, 2005 12:00 AM
just read the story about Tzippy's ring. The same thing happened to my dear Mother A"H when her ring that I now have also fell into the toilet bowl. There was the same little ledge on which we found the ring.
(25) Diane McKillop, July 8, 2005 12:00 AM
God's testing
Sara Yohoved Rigler - I just love the way you write about your experiences and relate them to God's truth, and I'm also quite jealous about your being able to live in Jerusalem while I'm stuck here in Canada (part of my tesing, I guess). Thanks for sharing your life. I always learn something very valuable from you.
(24) Anonymous, July 8, 2005 12:00 AM
of course...
right, a test......i have to remember that.
(23) Esti, July 8, 2005 12:00 AM
It's so true...
Hi, I wanted to just add that I loved reading this article. I found it to be so true. I know for me it's so hard not to overact when things go horribly wrong, especially when I think I know that there is someone to blame. I hope I can think of this article the next time I'm being "tested". Esti
(22) Lisa the Diva, July 7, 2005 12:00 AM
This is a test-so true
I wanted to thank you for this article. Just like the author, Sara Yoheved Rigler, I had my keys locked im my car a few months ago. I would usually burst into a rage about this and this time was even worse because my boyfriend did it.
Thanks to my studies in Kabbalah I learned to hold this rage and not fly off the handle. I know I did not react like I should have, but I was calmer than usual. I stayed away and stayed silent while he worked to open my car. It took an hour but he opened it. I know if I was to fly off the handle and let the rage that usually sucuombed me I would have never gotten into my car without having to pay far too much money. We laugh about it now and I have learned to be more calm in situations.
~Namaste~
(21) Jon Strauss, July 7, 2005 12:00 AM
Wonderful!
Wonderful!
Blessings to you.
Jon Strauss
Bristol, RI
(20) Ilanit, July 7, 2005 12:00 AM
Summer of Tests
This summer has definitely been one of tests...a major driving accident involving my mother-in-law (who is recovering, thank g-d)...our own out-of-pocket & unforseen car expenses...lost luggage...someone rear-ending our car (separate incident from above)...and a host of other seemingly "just bad luck" incidents. After a while, all one can do is laugh and get through each situation as calmly as possible. If my husband and I can get through this summer, we can get through anything! Thank you for the article.
(19) Merlock, July 6, 2005 12:00 AM
I'm not sure everything is a test of God, but certainly He is keeping track of everything we do; we should behave our best in everything we do, knowing that He is judging us whether or not we'll get something material back.
God bless!
(18) david, July 6, 2005 12:00 AM
thanks for the article
i dont know how u can calculate the way G-d gives rewards though. there are many times where ppl dont have happy endings like this and i would say thats even most of the time.
(17) Aura Slovin, July 5, 2005 12:00 AM
My Miracle dress..........
Thank you Sara Yocheved for another "wow-article" with an equally impressive message to deliver.
Approximately 17 years ago a seemingly similiar incident happened to me as did to your friend Tzipporah with her heirloom ring.
I had just purchased an expensive silk dress to honor shabbos, and was at a friends home that shabbos, wearing it for the first time. Erev Shabbos after we lit candles, I went into the kitchen to help her - she was trying valiantly to open a corked bottle of olive oil, when I approached to help her....the cork flew off, along with a stream of olive oil (similiar to a garden hose) hitting me square on the front of the dress, dripping down the length of it onto the floor!
MY FIRST THOUGHTS WERE TO SCREAM AT HER, YOU INCOMPETENT KLUTZ, HOW COULD YOU BE SO CARELESS! Do you know how many weeks salary went into buying the dress!!! Instead I took a mental calculation of how badly she felt about this anyway - and I would never want to increase her emotional anguish...and so painting a printed smile on my face, I replied, "Oh don't worry about my dress I'll go change, then I'll come help you clean up the floor.
In the darkened bedroom I shed big fat tears on my 'material loss'and sent up a prayer to G-D to please compensate me in some way for putting my friends feelings before my own and to acknowledge the Mitzvah I had done. This is so unlike me anyway to request that G-D take notice of an action of mine.
The Acknowledgement was not long in coming. The next morning I looked at my dress and nearly fainted - for there was not one sign of a stain or ruination on the dress - It was as clean as the day I bought it. I too am convinced that this open miracle was wrought because of my behavior and my "passing-the-test"
I still have the Dress in my closet, and though it no longer fits me nor is it in style, I will not part with material proof of when my own materialism was held at bay to spare another jews feelings!
Keep those great articles coming!
(16) Rachel, July 5, 2005 12:00 AM
Amazing timing
Thank you so much, this article is a reminder of what wonders G-d is capable of. Too many times a day do I decide that something is over, ruined, gone when I really should let go and let G-d. Great article!
(15) Chandra, July 5, 2005 12:00 AM
God is really in charge
I appreciated that story above on needing a locksmith. There is always controversy in saying that everything comes from God as I believe many things happen or don't happen due to prayer, even selfish prayer or lack of. Although this is key and crucial, the stories about passing the test reveals God's rewards, thats for sure and gives revelation that He really is in control. Thanks for the stories.
(14) Dahlia Bennett, July 5, 2005 12:00 AM
Yiyasher kohech!
I have always been indomitably healthy, but have been experiencing one health challenge after another for going on 3 years now. Yikes! A dear friend, an extraordinary woman who started life as a California "Valley Girl" and has transformed herself to a B"H Aishet Chayil of the highest degree (my opinion), a Breslov wife & mother (kinehara) living in Yerushalyim, introduced the concept of "nisayon" to me.
It is thoroughly empowering to view "life's little calamities" as "spiritual challnges," particularly in contrast to the view that adversity is a punishment. We can rise to face a challenge, as compared to the paralyzing shame of feeling punished.
Every article by Sara Yoheved Rigler is deeply moving and inspiring to me, especially against the backdrop of her peculiar and original path back to Judaism! :-) Kol tuv.
(13) Menashe, July 5, 2005 12:00 AM
Absolutely Beautiful
Mrs. Rigler has outdone herself--AGAIN!!!
What an absolutely beatutiful and inspiring article!
BTW, if Martha N. Holman has not received an answer re the source of the prayer, she can contact me and I can send her both the English and the Hebrew.
(12) Andy, July 5, 2005 12:00 AM
don't think it is that simple
"If I had screamed at my husband or he had screamed at me," Tzippy told me at the conclusion of her story, "I know the ring wouldn't have been there."
Tzippy believes that by her and her husband maintaining control of their emotions and her positive reaction she was allowed to retrieve the ring back from where it landed,and if she had screamed at her husband the ring would not have been there. It seems to me that while I understand her feelings there is no evidence to support that claim. I think it takes away from the positive message of the article. Maybe we should view all difficulties as opportunities for spiritual growth and the reasons for outcomes are often beyond our understanding. It may be that to a person of faith and wisdom t all outcomes are on the true level positive.
"God doesn't give us a test we cannot pass. When we fail our tests, it's usually because we didn't recognize the situation as a test in the first place."
That may be true but it seems to me that it does not appear to be the case. Rape and incest victims,abused children, mental patients and countless others seem to be tested in ways where suffering lasting emotional damage is the result and to view that result as being not up to passing the test that they were capable of passing seems an incorrect conclusion.
(11) Debbie, July 4, 2005 12:00 AM
So inspirational and useful!
Thank you for an amazing article. I am a very positive person but am human so do doubt who is in control sometimes. This article and especially the inspirational line, "I believe with a firm belief that this trouble...", mentioned above will help me to focus that God is in control at ALL times. This is probably the first long article I actually read the whole way through.
(10) Ezra, July 4, 2005 12:00 AM
A Rule To Live By
The article posted on this website which discusses tests and divine providence illustrates a rule that one must live by in order to be truly happy and satisfied with any situation, difficulty, or problem. If a person recognizes that all happenings are the will of the All-Powerful, Merciful, and Omniscient G-d then we would understand that there is a reason for it and would never fall prey to the evil inclination. Unfortunately every human sins; he thus, must take precautions by imagining the most trying or tempting situation in which he could fall and devise a plan by which he could prevail and be more fit to receive The Almighty's blessing and help.
(9) D. Amos, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
Incredible article "This Is A Test"
I am in my 70's and as a Jew I think that I have finally come to understand that if we "Trust in G-d will all of our hearts and do not lean to our own understanding, and in all our ways acknowledge (experience) Him that He will direct our paths 24/7"
Thank you Ms. Rigler and keep these articles coming.
(8) Gretchen, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
Thanks
Thank you so much for this article. God has certainly been testing me lately. Some I have passed, some I have failed, and some got mixed results. But, with this in mind, I may be able to turn my lemons into lemonade, so to speak, and be better apt to pass future tests.
May all of our tests be small ones...
(7) Dick Amos, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
These are wonderful. The article "This Is A Test" is one of the best ever.
(6) Yitz Greenman, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
Sara Rigler does it again!
Great article. Enjoyed immensely.
(5) Anonymous, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
I have a hard time agreeing with your article: Question.
What about life's big calamities like a child dying from cancer or the holocaust?
(4) Anonymous, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
tests
I believe that if one can reach the level to understand and integrate into one's personality that Hashem really is running the show then whatever he sends us as a test is potentially "passable" by us.
This attitude of acceptance of Hashem's Will brings us to a calmer and happier state of mind but it obviously needs major work!
Thanks for a great article.
(3) Anonymous, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
interesting article
A boy who was a stranger gave me a gratuitous insult as I was leaving a neighbor's party and I didn't respond. However it does not feel like I passed a test. I feel I should have responded in some way although not nastily. I have turned it over and over in my mind as to what I should have said.
(2) Martha N. Holman, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
Request for quoted prayer
I loved the article & I'm printing it so I can review it frequently. Where would I be able to find the entire text of the prayer you quoted? Thank you.
Martha N. Holman
(1) tova, July 3, 2005 12:00 AM
grace under pressure
a friend and I have been working on this very issue our motto breathe..smile..and find grace!
we needed to hear stories such as yours for the deeper picture..Thank you again
for this bulls-eye example of just how to do it