Event Date:
Event Type:
Event Location:
Event Description:
Monday Night Torah
with Phil Lazzar
“Ivdu et Hashem b’Simcha”
Monday, January 29, 2024
6pm-7pm PST
Tests נסיונות Nisyonote
An old man comes to his rabbi but his rabbi is busy and so, instead, he speaks with the rabbi’s daughter…
The Old Man: Why does G-d test us? I mean, since G-d is all-knowing, what’s the point of testing us? G-d already knows where we’re holding.
The Rabbi’s Daughter: Hmm…the test is not so that G-d will know where we’re holding… but so that we’ll know. Remember when Adam was hiding from G-d in the Garden of Eden? Remember that G-d calls out to Adam “Where are you?”? It wasn’t that G-d did not know where Adam was. The question was for Adam to know “where he was”. This is the question I try to ask myself every day “Where am I?” Meaning, where am I holding?
The Old Man: When does G-d test us?
The Rabbi’s Daughter: When isn’t G-d testing us?! Everything is a test! We’re being tested all the time. Sometimes “from the front” (meaning with good) and sometimes “from the rear” (meaning challenges).
The Old Man: What’s the point of knowing where I’m holding?
The Rabbi’s Daughter: Once you know where you’re holding, you’ll know what needs tikkuning (fixing) in you. You’ll know where your work is. As you tikkun yourself, this also helps tikkun the entire world.
The Old Man: But…there’s not much wrong with me. I mean, I’m basically a good guy. It is the rest of the world that needs fixing, not me! That’s why I’m so focused upon what’s wrong with the world and always trying to fix the world.
The Rabbi’s Daughter: Hmm… Oy vey…
All are welcome.