B"H

Tuesday, Tevet 28, 5784 / January 9, 2024

One of the pillars of Jewish faith, as formulated by Maimonides in his Thirteen Principals of Faith, is: "The Creator, blessed be His name, is the creator and ruler of all created beings and that He alone has made, does make, and ever will make all things." 

As a result, there is the ancient old question: “If everything is from G-d, then why do good things happen to bad people and bad things to good people?”  So many have struggled with and been bothered by this question throughout the generations.  The following story from the Midrash sheds light on the above question.

The Midrash tells that one day, as Moshe was watching his father-in-law's sheep, he saw a soldier ride his horse to a stream.  The soldier got off his mount to have a drink, got back on his horse and rode off.  Moshe noticed that as the soldier dismounted, he accidentally dropped a sack filled with money.

Shortly after the soldier rode off, a young shepherd boy came to the stream with his flock of sheep.  As he was leaving, the young boy noticed the sack and opened it.  He happily gave thanks to G-d for sending him this treasure, saying, "Now I won't have to work for my cruel boss anymore.  There is enough here to support myself and my mother for the rest of our lives!"

After the young shepherd left, a beggar came to the stream.  He ate a few hard pieces of bread, drank some water, and fell asleep on the grass.

As Moshe was watching, the soldier returned looking for his sack of money.  Not finding it, he woke up the poor man and demanded, "Give me back my money if you value your life!"  The poor man denied having his money.  The soldier went into a rage and killed the poor man.  After searching the poor man's bag and not finding his money, the soldier gave up and rode off.

Moshe, who saw all this, turned to G-d and asked, "How could you let all this happen? Where is justice? Why did the soldier lose the money?  Why did the young shepherd find the money? And why was the beggar killed?"

G-d answered Moshe, "You only saw part of the picture.  Now I will show you what happened before, and you will see that My ways are just!"  G-d showed Moshe the following vision:  A father was walking with his young son when all of a sudden, he was attacked by a beggar.  The beggar killed the father, took his money, and fled.  A soldier stood by and watched this happen but didn't come to the rescue.  As the beggar fled the scene, he lost the money.  The soldier picked up the sack with the money and kept it.

G-d told Moshe, "The father who was killed was the parent of the young shepherd boy who now found the sack of money.  The poor man killed by the soldier at the stream was the same beggar who killed the father of the young shepherd. The soldier you saw that lost the money near the stream is the soldier who found the money that the beggar dropped as he was fleeing."

"Now you see how just My ways are!" G-d said to Moshe.  "The poor man who murdered the boy’s father was executed and the money went back to the young shepherd to whom it rightfully belongs!"

"Righteous are all Your ways," Moshe admitted.  "You are the true Judge Who does true justice!"

WITH SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN ISRAEL

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY