Friday, 22 November 2019

Miller's Musings Parshas Chayei Soroh: Get It All Out


בס''ד

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לעילוי נשמת
 לאה בת אברהם
ולרפואה שלימה
למשה חיים בן מרים
ורג'ינה מלכה בת שרה
Quote of the Week:
A ship is always safe        at shore.  But that’s not what it was built for.”
Miller’s Musings
חיי שרהפרשת 
Get It All Out
He had shown himself willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.  To give up that which was most precious to him and for the rest of his life, live with that choice.  Avrohom had submitted himself to G-d’s will in the face of patent contradictions with what Hashem had told him would be and flagrant conflicts to his own teachings and life’s work.  And after he had passed this almost unpassable test, he returned to find his beloved wife had died from the shock of what had almost occurred.  What a tremendous test of Avrohom’s faith this must surely have been!  And then to have to deal with the insufferable Ephron and his underhanded tactics to procure a place to bury Soroh.  And yet, despite all this, this does not make it as one of the ‘ten trials of Avrohom’.  Why ever not?    
                                                                                                                                                                                                       
A common misconception is that a trial is there to determine the mettle of the person.  To find out what they are capable of in trying times. But even the most perfunctory reflection on this suggestion would see that this is entirely illogical and impossible.  For if this were the case, when it is Hashem that is administering the test, there would be absolutely no point.  He of course already knows exactly what level a person is currently at and is abundantly aware of what this person is able to achieve.  We instead understand a test to be as the Ramban explains it.  A means by which to extract from within us all the hidden strengths and potential that without a test would otherwise left dormant and never be unearthed.  When we pass a test we extract abilities that have, until now, been buried deep within us.  These are perhaps concealed even to us and consequently require these trials in order for us to reach these higher spiritual planes.  Therefore, says Reb Shammai Zahn זצ״ל,by the time Avrohom reached this moment of grief for his wife, his previous tests had raised him to such echelons that this presented no opportunity for further growth.  He had already brought into actuality abilities even higher than those needed now, hence this could not be counted as a test.     
                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Over our life we build up a picture of who we are and what we can achieve.  It is based upon what we see and experience, but according to what we have said, it can be entirely wrong.  But worse than being incorrect, to have such limitations on oneself, can be incredibly stifling to one’s growth and restricting to who we can be.   If we do not believe we can be more than we currently are, it can elicit a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby we have failed before we even begin a test.  A true test brings out what we have not yet seen within ourselves, but if we already decide that there is nothing more within us, what hope do we have!  We must be absolutely clear in the knowledge that we have a potential far beyond our current perception of ourselves.  And we must view each of life’s tribulations as an opportunity to discover new truths about who we can be.  Understood in this way, the complexities and struggles of life are what allow us to be our better selves and attain the greatness we must strive for.    


*May this Shabbos enable us to realise our potential and see clearly that it is there*

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