“NISYONOS” Life`s Challenges (Part 2)

We ask Hashem each morning that we not be brought to a nisayon — that we not be
enticed to sin. But we were put in this world primarily to overcome tests. Tests allow
us to grow, to become better. Why, then do we ask to be spared from challenge?
The Michtav Me`Eliyahu answers that we ask only that we not be tested severely.
We ask that we be presented only with nisyonos that are not difficult to overcome,
because overcoming nisyonos can be difficult. In fact, the word nisayon stems from the
word nes — miracle. The fact that we can and do overcome these challenges is
miraculous. Hashem provides the strength, we invest the effort, and reap the rewards
of success forever.

Still, we need to be constantly on guard for new nisyonos, and recognize them as
such, for they confront us at every turn in life. They arise in business, in the street,
and at home. Often, one does not even realize that he has been tested.

There are the big tests — the man who must choose between Mincha and a business
deal, the patient who tries to find faith at the door to the operating room, the widow
who must come to grips with her loss.

And there are the daily tests — the mother who needs to control her anger in the
face of chaos, the desire to slide into a parking spot before someone else, the
less-than-kosher garment or forms of entertainment.

We pray that we be spared the big tests of life. And we ask that we be granted the
strength to overcome even the smaller ones. Because they, too, are part of the Divine
Plan, and it is the smaller, less-obvious challenges that prepare us for the
mountainous ones.

Our Sages tell us that Hashem said to Avraham Avinu before Akeidas Yitzchak, "I
have tested you on numerous occasions and you have successfully passed them all.
Now be strong for My sake in this test as well, so that it should not be said, `There was
no reality in the earlier tests` (Sanhedrin 89b).

Hashem pleaded with Avraham Avinu to pass this most difficult test, the test of
sacrificing Yitzchak, "so that it should not be said that there was no reality in the
earlier tests." The Peninei HaGeulah asks — Would failure in this test nullify nine
past successes? Wasn`t this test the most difficult?

The answer is that the other tests were understandable. It appeared to the world
that Avraham was doing what he understood to be correct. While everyone agreed that
it was noble of Avraham to allow himself to be thrown into the fiery furnace, it made
sense, as did all of the other tests.

But the Akeidah went beyond human comprehension. It challenged Avraham
Avinu`s very being. It threatened to uproot his lifetime of chesed and the
anti-human-sacrifice morals he taught to the world. Passing this test would require
unprecedented mesiras nefesh — a new level of self-sacrifice. Moreover, this test would
prove that all of the other tests were given not on the basis of intellectual
comprehension, but strictly because Avraham Avinu wished to do Hashem`s will. This
test proved the validity of all the others.

When a Jew passes a test that goes beyond human comprehension, it proves his
greatness in all of the challenges he has overcome. Our emunah shleimah (complete
faith) propels us to go against our nature and meet the toughest nisyonos. And we are
equipped for the battle.

Klal Yisrael is called an am k`shei oref (a stiff-necked people) (Shemos 34:9). The
tzaddik Rav Arye Levin asked: "How could Moshe Rabbeinu, who defended the Jewish
people through so many trials, call Bnei Yisrael as stiff-necked people? How could he
refer to them in such a derogatory manner?"

R` Levin answered that the name was not derogatory. Rather, Moshe Rabbeinu
meant to say that we are stiff-necked in our avodas Hashem — our worship of G-d. We
are stubborn, but we direct our stubbornness for spiritual challenges. We are fiercely
determined to win Hashem`s battles, whether or not we understand them. We are an
am k`shei oref — a stiff-necked people, and that is one secret of our success.

There are times when the challenges we face are as clear as day. During those
times, we can comprehend our challenges and confidently overcome them, guided by
our steadfast faith. Those are the times we refer to in Kriyas Shema of Shacharis, the
morning prayers, when we say emes v`yatziv — true and firm. We can positively
confirm that what we have said is true, for we have seen it.

But then there is the night — the times when our faith must come deep from within,
for we do not have our faith strengthened by the obvious. Those are the times we refer
to each night, after Kriyas Shema, when we say emes v`emunah — true and faithful,
for at times when Hashem`s hand is hidden from us, we still remain faithful — though
we must remain in the dark and cannot understand His ways.

When a Jew retains his emunah in the darkest times, he affirms his faith during the
day as well. He can say the words of Tehillim, "Nosato l`rei`echa nes l`hisnosess" —
"You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed." The word
nes can mean a test, for when a person passes a nisayon, he proudly carries the banner
of Hashem.