“When I was in the city of
Snovisk, I saw a little girl playing with a doll. I thought to myself: ‘If I would
put this doll away and offer it to this girl twenty years from now, wouldn’t she
laugh? That which was precious to her as a child would have no value to her at that
age.’
“So it is with a person when he ascends to the World of Truth. He will feel shamed
over what he considered valuable during his life on this world. For in the World
of Truth, nothing but Torah and good deeds has any value.”
l l l
When a person wants to ask something of Hashem, He should not ask, “Ribono shel
Olam, give me this and that,” for a person does not know what is truly in his best
interests. Wealth, for example, is not always good for a person, as it says, “...riches
hoarded by their owner to his misfortune” (Koheles 5:12)... Rather, the proper way
to pray is, “Ribono shel Olam, if this request is good for me, then please grant
it to me.” This can be better understood by way of a parable:
A
man told his neighbor who owned a candy store, “When my little boy comes by your
store, give him some candy and I will pay you later.” The storekeeper, however,
was not a very smart man and he gave the boy far too much candy, causing him to
become sick! When the man came to the boy’s father to be paid, he was told, “Fool
that you are! Why did you feed my child so much candy until he became sick? For
this I should pay you? I had meant that you should give him a few candies -- not
an entire bag!”
The two went to beis din (Rabbinical court) -- and who do you think won? The
child’s father, of course.
This is how it is with man on this world. He thinks to himself, “If only I had
this and that, I would be happy” -- and he complains inwardly when his prayers for
these items are not granted. However, he should know that if his prayers would be
answered, then when he would arrive at the World of Truth, he would see clearly
that attaining these things was really not to his benefit. Then he would say, “Ribono
shel Olam, why did You give me this? You knew that it was not good for me, so why
did You grant it to me?”
This is why Hashem does not grant us what He knows is not to our advantage. Such
being the case, why should one complain when his requests are not granted?
