Challenges/Growth

At one time or another we all come face to face with an event that appears so terrible that it threatens us emotionally and psychologically. How are we to view the difficulties of our life, when everything appears bleak and we cannot see beyond the limits of our own pain.
Contrary to our experience of challenging events, the Torah tells us that "Nothing bad descends from Above". Everything that happens is inherently good, for it stems from G-d, the "epitome of goodness".

We are coming toward Tisha B'av, when we mourn for the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. When we had the Holy Temple - we were in a spiritual freedom. G-d's blessings were perceived as such, without the obscuring veil of nature. Meaning, we were able to see the Divine revelation and we recognized that everything was directly from the hand of G-d.

However, in the state of exile that we find ourselves now - we are unable to perceive the G-dly spirit that is controlling our destiny. In reality, nothing has changed - the world is still controlled by the Divine Designer - it is only our perception that has changed.

On the surface exile appears to be a terrible punishment for our sins, but the challenge of exile is what unleashes the greatest most potent forces of our soul.

Despite the countless regimes that have oppressed us, one constant has remained and that is our unwavering faith in G-d. There is nothing that the Jewish people who lived during the times of the Holy Temple could have done to express such deep soul-commitment. Only we, who live in the darkness of exile have been challenged to tap the deepest, most powerful resources of our soul.

We must view difficulty not as a negative experience, but a the greatest facilitator of growth. And while these situations are often beyond our control, our attitude IS within our control. We have the ability to accept the challenges as they were meant to be - opportunities for positive growth. Although we may never fully understand why certain things happen, ultimately, they can - and therefore must - make as better people.