“NISYONOS” Life`s Challenges (Part 1) By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

Man has been veritably placed in the midst of a raging
battle. For all of the affairs of the world, whether for the good
or for the bad, are trials to a man: Poverty on the one hand
and wealth on the other, serenity on the one hand and
suffering on the other, so that the battle rages from both
sides. If he is victorious on all sides, he will be the "Whole
Man."

(R` Moshe Chaim Luzzato, Mesillas Yesharim)

The "raging battle" of life surrounds us each moment of each
day. Good and bad, suffering and serenity, health and illness — all
challenge us alike. So how should a person react to life`s tests — to
nisyonos? Why, indeed, are we subjected to these never-ending
tests? And perhaps most important, how can we emerge victorious
in this lifelong battle, so that we become, as the Mesilas Yesharim
says, "Whole People"?

There is a force behind the challenges — and we have the
power to overcome this force.

There is a force called the Yetzer Hara within us that creates
these challenges. It entices the rich to become miserly, and the poor
to despair, the suffering to doubt, and the untroubled to become
complacent. The Yetzer Hara possesses the power to turn each
human condition into a test of faith and strength. The evil
inclination is the unwelcome guest in the soul of every human being.
It is the inclination with the power — and the purpose — to
challenge us to sin.

There will come a time when the Yetzer Hara will lose its
power. The Gemara tells us that at the End of Days, Hashem will
slaughter the Yetzer Hara in front of the tzaddikim, the righteous,
and in front of the resha`im, the evil. In the Olam HaEmes, the
World of Truth, the Yetzer Hara will appear in its true form,
unmasked by human misinterpretation. Still, it will appear in
different forms to different people.

The Yetzer Hara will appear to the tzaddik as a mighty
mountain, and to the rasha as a thin strand of hair. In the World of
Truth, both the righteous and the evil will know beyond doubt that
what they see is the very force that has challenged them all life
through. And interestingly, the Gemara tells us that both will cry at
the sight.

How can it be, asked Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman, the Me`or
V`Shemesh, that the same entity, the Yetzer Hara, will appear so
differently to different people? How can the tzaddik see it as a
mountain and the rasha as a strand of hair?

The answer is that each person will see the Yetzer Hara as the
challenges he was presented with. The tzaddik, presented
throughout life with difficult tests, will see the mountain of
challenges he overcame. He will recall the trials and tests he faced,
each one meted out to him according to his ability to overcome it. He
will understand the power of his faith, and the way each test
strengthened his faith to massive proportions. And when faced with
the greatness of his efforts, the har govoha — the mighty mountain
which he battled, he will cry, overwhelmed with emotion at his suc-

cess.

The rasha, too, will see the Yetzer Hara as the challenges he
encountered. But his challenges were smaller. Our Sages tell us
that "Hashem does not challenge a person with something he cannot
handle." The rasha was never challenged beyond his ability.
Although he may have faced tests that seemed mighty at the time,
in the Olam HaEmes he will be forced to recognize that his trials
were not difficult at all. They were merely a thin strand of
challenge.

He may remember the time his elderly mother asked him to
help her cross the street.

"I can`t do it," he might have thought at the time. "I`m busy.
Why is she always bothering me? I think she is taking advantage of
me." Whatever his excuse, it seemed perfectly valid at the time. But
in the World of Truth, excuses will fade, and he will be forced to face
the painful truth - that he could have conquered his Yetzer Hara.

He will understand for the first time that all of his trials could
have been so easily overcome — it would have been as simple as
stepping over a minuscule strand of hair. He will weep in remorse,
but it will be too late. All he will be able to do then is cry for the
battle lost forever.

Such is life. No matter how difficult the situation, how
insurmountable the odds, we do have the power to overcome life`s
challenges. The tests that are sent our way are for our benefit. They
spur us on to greater faith, and to greater depth of character and
soul.