The Mishnah states (Avos 5:3) בְּכ ֻלָּם וְעָמַד הַש ָּׁלוֹם עָל ָיו אָבִינוּ א ַבְרָהָם נִת ְנַס ָּה נִס ְיוֹנוֹת עֲשָׂרָה, "Avraham was tested ten times, and he stood up to all of them." ֻלָּםבְּכ וְעָמַד means that he kept his ground, standing erect. He didn't fall or falter.
At the Bris Ben HaBesarim (the covenant Hashem made with Avraham Avinu) Hashem promised Avraham (Bereishis 15:15) טוֹבָה בְּשֵׂיבָה תִּקָּבֵר, "You shall be buried in a good old age." Rashi explains this to mean Avraham will be niftar peacefully, without experiencing any tzaros or distress. As Rashi writes, Hashem revealed to Avraham that Yishmael would do teshuvah during Avraham's lifetime. Eisav, too, didn’t go out to תרבות רעה, sinfulness, as long as Avraham was alive. This is why Avraham was niftar early – five years before his time. And on that day, Eisav rebelled."
The question arises, wouldn’t Avraham see everything from Heaven? He will be aware of Eisav's sinful ways. So, what did Avraham gain from being taken from the world before his time? He will anyway see all the bad Eisav does, from his place in Heaven!
Some answer that from heaven, one sees the greatest troubles in an entirely different light. From Heaven, Avraham will see that it is all for the good. Even Eisav's sins had a good side. As the holy sefarim explain, it was necessary that Eisav and Yaakov be twins, because Eisav took all the bad, enabling Yaakov and his offspring to remain entirely pure.
During the Holocaust, the Nazis gathered Rebbe Yisrael Grodzisk zy"a with a group of Yidden to send them to the gas chambers. At that fateful moment, the people asked Reb Yisrael to give them chizuk. He told them, "Very soon, our souls will go up to Heaven, and from there, everything will appear entirely different than how it appears here. Therefore, don't be sad, and don't feel broken..."
We can say the same to people today: Life flies by quickly, as it states (Tehillim 90:10) שׁ ָנָה שִׁבְע ִים בָהֶם ש ְׁנוֹת ֵינוּ יְמֵי וַנָּעֻפָה חִישׁ גָז כִּי ... שׁ ָנָה שְׁמוֹנִים בִּגְבוּרֹת וְאִם, "The days of our years... are seventy years, and for the mighty, eighty years... for it is cut off swiftly and fly away." Life flies by swiftly, and then people will be in heaven. From that vantage point, everyone sees and understands how everything that occurred was for the good. Therefore, one shouldn't feel sad or broken. He should wait for his sojourn to pass, and then he will see that everything that happened in this world was kindness and goodness.
Avraham Avinu’s Reaction to Nisyonos
At the Akeidah, Hashem said to Avraham (22:16-17), ָבִּנְך אֶת ָּחָשׂ ַכְת וְלֹא ה ַזֶּה ה ַדָּבָר אֶת עָשִׂיתָ ֶׁראֲש יַעַן כִּי ָאֲבָר ֶכְך בָרֵ ךְ כִּי ,ָיְח ִידֶך אֶת , "Because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only one, I shall surely bless you..."
Avraham returned from the Akeidah and received the sad news that his wife, Sarah, was niftarah. The Zer Zahav (from Rebbe Wolf of Stropkov zt'l) says that Avraham could have complained bitterly, "Is this the blessings You promised me?" But Avraham didn't question Hashem, nor did he break or become bent over due to his tzaros. On the contrary (23:3) א ַבְרָהָם וַיָּקָם, he stood tall and erect. א ַבְרָהָם וַיָּקָם, he rose to high levels because he passed this difficult test.
This is because when one believes in Hashem, he passes all tests, knowing that it is all from Hashem, and for the good.
It states (23:3) בְּנֵי אֶל וַיְד ַבֵּר מ ֵתוֹ פ ְּנֵי מֵעַל א ַבְרָהָם וַיָּקָם לֵאמֹר חֵת , "Avraham rose up from the presence of his dead and spoke to the children of Ches saying..." Mishmeres Isamar zt'l says that this pasuk teaches us that Avraham rose after each fall, and then he taught all the people who fell and who went through hard times that they, too, should recognize that everything is for the good. Mishmeres Issamar explains that מ ֵתוֹ "His dead" (written in this pasuk) refers to those who fall from their level and go through hard times. As the Zohar states, "Whoever falls from his level, it is called מת, death." מ ֵתוֹ פ ְּנֵי מֵעַל א ַבְרָהָם וַיָּקָם means that Avraham rose up from those falls.
חֵת בְּנֵי alludes to people who are going through hard times. חֵת בְּנֵי אֶל וַיְד ַבֵּר, Avraham spoke with these people, and he told them, לֵאמֹר, that everything is for the good. לֵאמֹר is רכה אמירה, soft, comforting words. Avraham showed them from his own life that every situation, even those that we think look bad, is ultimately for the good.
Mishmeres Issamar concludes, יומתק וממילא ענינים בכל תקומה לו ויהיה הכל , "Automatically [with the awareness that everything is for the good] everything will become sweet, and all the issues that he is going through will end with his promotion and gain."
