Grateful for the Pain - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

so the the the great stage says that a person should have wholehearted Simplicity and believe that everything is for the good and if he does have that Faith then in the end he will certainly see with his own eyes that those things which he perceived as bad were in truth great blessings and kindnesses from Hashem it seems like we're just constant we're talking about this all the time all this time this is probably the number one theme at least for me in the entirety of the fellowship Gam this two is for the good why why is it why do we need to be repeating it all the time why do I need to have strings on my garments and a muuza on my door and make blessings after I use the restroom why because this world is such a persuasive and masterfully created mask and illusion and it's our job through the Tree of Life the Torah to be able to connect with Hashem on the deepest level through the illusion of this world and that is by knowing that we're walking with Hashem that everything he does to us is for us is with us and so R Beerman actually brings a a famous verse as a demonstration of this truth from Psalm 23 right Psalm 23 know though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they Comfort Me Your Rod which we know is hashem's Rod of of Correction of discipline of punishment and M M is to lean on right it's his death that's when Hashem is holding us up when he's supporting us right they're two opposite things but both of these things King David is saying both the painful punishments as well as the revealed kindness and compassion and support they are both a comfort to me they're both a comfort right let that sink in King David is saying that even his punishments ideally there are Comfort there a comfort to him because you know both because he knows they are for the good but also because he knows that Hashem has his eye on him he is deeply involved with him and engaging with him you see it in children you know I remember Jordan Peterson was once talking about how his two-year-old son would constantly repeat behavior for which Jordan was seriously reprimanding him and scolding him and he was doing the behavior again and again and then he realized something that I found so powerful here the I'll let him say it here here here's how he says it who you're talking to like open reception of the message they're receiving right it's just that and kids love this right one of the things kids are doing all the time is testing you to see if you're paying attention and they will modify their behavior in any way imaginable to get attention there's no it's because there's no difference between attention and love by the way like there's no difference the clip I wanted to show you I couldn't find it it was it was longer than that and more in depth but that's the message right that you know the opposite of love is not hate it's indifference right that's why the punishment Hashem gave to the snake in the garden was so severe because he told the snake it's destined to eat the dust of the earth youd think that wouldn't be such a bad thing there's dust everywhere but he was essentially saying you have everything you need we are done there's no us anymore you're on your own Mr Snake right Hashem was saying he was indifferent to the snake he didn't want to have anything left to do with it it has everything it needs that's why the snake's punishment was perhaps the greatest punishment ever given out arguable and so King David is comforted by his Corrections no matter how severe and painful because at the very least they mean that he's engaged in a true deep relationship with Hashem and that was his only desire our only desire that we are able to wholeheartedly accept any amount of punishment and pain with the simple wholehearted faith of that ultimately it is for our good