Zichru Toras Moshe
One of the main supporters of the town of Brisk lost all his wealth. He had been one of the town’s philanthropists for a long time; at any time of need, whether it was an individual in need or the tzibbur, he’d been there. The townspeople were therefore wondering why Hashem took away his money if he had been doing such good with it.
R’ Chaim Brisker conveyed an inspiring analogy: “Did you ever analyze a school? If you look, you’ll see that at first schoolchildren study one subject, and then they review it until they excel in it, master it, and take a test. What happens from there on? They then start a new subject.
“Isn’t this unfair?” questioned R’ Chaim. “They just studied for the subject, and now they start anew as if they know nothing. Why is this so?
“The answer is: They just showed their excellence in one area, and now it’s time for them to master another one and show excellence in that. The same is true in life. Hashem puts people through different situations so they can excel in different areas. He puts people in one situation and then takes from it and places them in another one so they can excel in the next one as well. This is what happened to this wealthy man. He surpassed the challenge of wealth, and now Hashem brought him to a new subject—the chapter of ‘poverty.’ Hashem wants to see him excel in it too. It doesn’t mean that Hashem was unhappy with what he was doing; rather He wanted him to serve Him through new circumstances, and that’s the reason for the sudden variation.” (Shimusho shel Torah)
This equally applies to other circumstances that we are faced with. At times, we find ourselves being able to serve Hashem easier, and sometimes harder; sometimes it is a challenge with nachas, and sometimes it can be with friends. This time it’s hard to serve Hashem because someone offended us, and the other time it’s because we simply woke up late... All these are circumstances set up from Hashem so that we can serve Him under different conditions. He wants to see how we’ll do in the new setting.
