GOOD AND REVEALED GOOD

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY TESTS?

BS"D There is a concept in Chassidus that is referred to as “Good and Revealed Good”. What this means is that everything that happens in this world is good. Sometimes we are fortunate enough that we can actually see the good, and that is what is termed “Revealed Good”. The good has been revealed to us in our lifetime. Sometimes, we cannot or do not understand or see the good. When we get sick, lose a loved one, not have parnasa – a job or enough money to get us through each day… That is when we have to take on faith, belief - in Hebrew what we call Emunah - that it is still good – we just can’t see it or understand. That is when we are truly tested in this world.

Aryeh Kaplan, in his book The Aryeh Kaplan Reader (page 156), writes: Ultimately, then, all of life is a test. However, there are times when HaShem puts an individual to a special test or nisayon. In such a case, a person is placed in an especially difficult position, where his devotion and faith are tested. However, HaShem does not put an individual to such a difficult test unless HaShem knows that he will pass it…The Midrash teaches us, “The potter does not test vessels that are easily broken, but only those that are strong”.

Again, Rabbi Jonathan Rietti discusses this at length in his wonderful lecture series:
http://www.simpletoremember.com/authors/a/jewish-inspiration/
If we need to work on the middah (character trait) of patience and we ask HaShem to help us, there is only one way that that can happen – PRACTICE. So, HaShem sends in the kids, or our boss, or our spouse, or the car doesn’t start, or a myriad of examples to help us practice to learn how to have more patience! Those are all tests – some bigger than others, but tests, just the same…