Everything is for the Good
In Megillas Rus, Naomi said (Rus 1:20), אל תקראנה לי נעמי קראן לי מרא כי המר ש"ד לי מאד, "Don't call me Naomi (pleasant). Call me Mara, bitter, because Hashem made my life very bitter." The Chasam Sofer zt'l (Drashos vol.2, p.299.) explains that when Naomi returned to Eretz Yisrael, she knew that she would need money to settle down and to survive, and she hoped that her wealthy nephew, Boaz, would support her. However, the Chasam Sofer writes, "It isn't the way of tzanuah women to meet with men. Indeed, we never find Naomi meeting or speaking to Boaz." Naomi didn't want to meet with Boaz. Instead, as she returned to Eretz Yisrael, Naomi planned to speak to Boaz's wife and ask her to speak with Boaz on their behalf, to help them settle down in Eretz Yisrael. But this plan didn't work out because "the day Naomi arrived in Beis Lechem, the levayah of Boaz's wife took place!" (see Bava Basra 91.). Naomi's dreams and hopes were shattered.
Naomi told the women of Beis Lechem to call her מרא, bitter, and not נעמי, pleasant, because her life was bitter. She told them that she came to Eretz Yisrael with a plan of how she would support herself, and now she doesn't have any plan at all, and she doesn't have any source of income.
It was all for her good, though, writes the Chasam Sofer. "The petirah of Boaz's wife was for Naomi's benefit because Rus arrived and took her place, and from this marriage, Rus bore a child, which Naomi raised as her own. Naomi told the women of Beis Lechem that her life was bitter. She thought Boaz's wife's death was bitter for her. But it was Hashem's plan and for her benefit. Only, at the time, Naomi didn’t realize that."
The roshei teivos of מאד לי י"שד המר, "Hashem made it very bitter for me" spells שלמה. This hints that although Naomi thought matters were bitter for her, they were for her good, preparing the way for Shlomo HaMelech to come.
This is how it always is. We think something is negative, but it turns out to be positive.
When Hashem gave the Torah on Har Sinai, most of Klal Yisrael weren't permitted to ascend the mountain. The exceptions were Moshe Rabbeinu, the seventy zekeinim, and Aharon HaKohen with his two elder sons, Nadav v'Avihu (see Shemos 24:1). Aharon's younger sons, Elazar v'Isamar weren't permitted to go on the mountain.
Elazar and Isamar were greater than the seventy zekeinim (see Eiruvin 54:). In fact, Elazar and Isamar were the teachers of the seventy zekeinim. Yet the zekeinim were allowed to be on the mountain, and they were not.
35. It states, ואביהוא נדב ואהרן אתה 'ה אל עלה, "Go up to Har Sinai; you, Aharon, Nadav, and Avihu." The taamim (trop) of these words are רביעי מונח ואזלא קדמא. Perhaps this hints קדמא, Hashem foresaw from the very beginning, אזלא, that people who go up on Har Sinai will be smitten and leave the world. מונח, therefore, Hashem left over a remnant, רביעי, from Aharon's four sons. Because two sons went up and were niftar, and the two sons who didn't go up survived.
It states (Melachim 1, 5:12) וידבר שלושת אלפים משל, "Shlomo told three thousand mashalim..." שלושת אלפים can also mean three א's. This refers to אהרן, אלעזר, איתמר, three people whose names begin with 'א. Initially, Aharon, Elazar, and Isamar didn’t understand how it was good that Elazar and Isamar weren’t allowed up. Later, they understood the great kindness of Hashem. Shlomo Hamelech used this as a mashal to teach people that everything is for the good.
Most people in this situation would be upset. They would say, "Why can't we go up on Har Sinai, while the seventy zekeinim, who are smaller than us, can? Why can our brothers Nadav v'Avihu go up on Har Sinai and not us?"
Also, such a situation would generally upset the parents, too. "Why can't our children be on Har Sinai? People less than them can go on Har Sinai!"
But it was for their benefit. The Tur (on Chumash) teaches that Nadav, Avihu, and the seventy zekeinim were punished because they lacked the proper yiras Shamayim when they stood on Har Sinai. The Midrash (Tanchuma, Behaloscha 16) states, "They were lightheaded when they went up to Har Sinai and saw the Shechinah, as it states (Shemos 24), ויחזו את האלקים ויאכלו וישתו, 'They saw Hashem, and they ate and drank.' ... ויאכלו וישתו is an analogy of a slave who eats his lunch as he serves his master. This was disrespectful, and they deserved to be punished. Hashem didn't want to punish them on the day He gave the Torah to Bnei Yisrael because the day of matan Torah was precious to Hakadosh Baruch Hu..." so their punishments were postponed to a later date.
Nadav and Avihu received their punishment when they entered Ohel Moed with their ketores, and a fire came forth and burnt them, and the seventy zekeinim were burned due to the sin of מתאוננים (see Bamidbar 11:1).
So, in retrospect, Elazar and Isamar understood that it was for their benefit that they were prevented from being on the mountain. Had Elazar and Isamar been on the mountain, it is likely that they, too, would have died, and Aharon would have been left without children.
Let this be a lesson for us when something seems to be going wrong. The situation is directed by Hashem's hashgachah pratis, and it is the best for you.
One of the mitzvos of Shavuos is aliyah l'regel – to be in the Beis HaMikdash. Chazal (Pesachim 8) say that only people who own fields must perform the mitzvah of aliyah l'regel. Those who don't own a field don't have this obligation.
What is the logic for this? Why should a mitzvah be dependent on the ownership of a field?
The Chidushei HaRim zt'l explains that the purpose of aliyah l'regel is to increase our emunah in Hashem. Being in the Beis HaMikdash on the holidays improved Yidden's emunah in Hashem. Poor people don't need aliyah l'regel to strengthen their emunah. Their life situation of poverty forces them to continuously place their trust in Hashem. Only those who own property must go to the Beis HaMikdash three times a year to learn that everything is from Hashem because they are at risk of forgetting.
Once again, we discover that something we think is negative is actually positive. Many reason that poverty is undesirable, but from the mitzvah of aliyah l'regel, we see that poor people benefit greatly. They always remember Hashem. Similarly, many things appear to be negative, but are, in fact, for our benefit.
