12 Nov VAYERA: GROWING FROM TESTS

Once, a person
told his Rebbe that
he wished he had no
tests. His Rebbe
told him, “Take three
pots and fill them with
water. Cook a potato
in one, an egg in the
second, and coffee,
sugar, and milk in the
third.”
An hour later, the
rebbe showed him
that the egg became hard, the potato
became soft, and the third pot had sweet
coffee. The rebbe explained, “The
boiling water represents life’s tests. Tests
toughen soft people, softens tough
people, and it can make someone sweet
like sweetened coffee.”
This is because people grow from the
hardships they overcome.
The Maharal writes that the purpose of
tests isn’t to let Hashem know where we

are up to in our avodas Hashem because
Hashem knows this information even
before we are tested. The purpose of tests
is to help us bring forth our potential.
The Gemara (Yoma 69:, based on
Nechemya 9) tells us how the chachamim
abolished the yetzer hara for avodah
zorah. They fasted for three days and
three nights, and the yetzer hara came
out of the Kodesh HaKedashim,
appearing like a lion of fire. Zecharyah
HaNavi told them, “This is the yetzer
hara for avodah zorah!” and they
captured it.
But we wonder, why did the yetzer hara
come out of the Kodesh HaKedashim?
Why was the yetzer hara in the holiest
site of the world?
The answer is that the yetzer hara
elevates people to the highest levels. The
challenges that the yetzer hara gives us
enable us to grow very high.
Avraham’s first test was Lech Lecha to
leave his father’s home to go to Eretz

Canaan. The tenth test was Kach Na
Es Bincha… V’lech Lecha, that
Avraham should go to the Akeidah. By
both tests, Lech Lecha is written. The
Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 39:9) states,
“It says Lech Lecha twice, and we
don’t know which is more beloved, the
second or the first?”
The Midrash concludes that the
second Lech Lecha, of the Akeidah
was a greater test and, therefore, more
beloved to Hashem.
We wonder, isn’t it evident that the
tenth test was more difficult? What
could be harder than to bring one’s own
child as a korban?
Perhaps the answer is that, in a way, the
tenth test was easier because Avraham
approached this test after already
successfully passing nine difficult tests.
Each test made Avraham stronger and
better, and therefore, the Midrash
debated the idea that perhaps the first test
of Lech Lecha was a harder test.

The Ramban writes that there were
other tzaddikim in Avraham Avinu’s era
who kept the Torah, but they didn’t reach
his level because they didn’t pass tests as
Avraham had.
We are being tested these days, but we
can grow from them. We can improve
our levels of emunah and bitachon,
teshuvah, and tefillah, which we
wouldn’t have achieved if it weren’t for
these tests.