Moshe Rabbeinu pleads to Hashem: “And now, if I have indeed found favor in Your eyes, make Your ways known to me … “ What were the “ways” of Hashem that Moshe was interested to know about?

The Gemara (Berachot 7) explains that this pasuk teaches us that Moshe said to Hashem: “Master of the Universe, what is the reason that there are righteous people for whom things are good, and righteous people for whom things are bad; that there are wicked people for whom things are good and wicked people for whom things are bad?” Hence, these “ways” of Hashem—i.e, the way Hashem conducts His justice (Rashi)—are what Moshe wanted to understand.

Seeing “righteous people for whom things are bad” while also seeing “wicked people for whom things are good” might appear to be at odds with what we consider to be just and moral. However, perhaps this potentially puzzling phenomenon seems to ultimately stem from a lack of perspective —albeit, a perspective which, typically, may be withheld from us. Indeed, what may appear to us as good may not actually be good, while what may appear to us as bad may not actually be bad.

Rabbeinu Nissim Gaon brings an account of one who also wondered why it is that righteous people may experience bad while wicked people may experience good. In this special case, this individual was actually granted to understand the whole picture, what was going on behind the scenes:

R’ Yehoshua ben Levi asked Hashem to teach him His ways—why there are righteous people for whom things are bad while there are wicked people for whom things are good. Later, he merited to have Eliyahu HaNavi appear to him, and R’ Yehoshua asked Eliyahu if he could come along with him to see how he carries out Hashem’s missions, for R’ Yehoshua thought that perhaps through this experience he would understand Hashem’s ways and His and providence over the world. Eliyahu agreed on condition that R’ Yehoshua not question him,because if he does so, they will part ways. R’ Yehoshua accepted the terms and off they went.

In the evening they came across an old wooden shack. The residents of this shack—a destitute elderly couple—came out to greet them and pleaded that they stay the night, an invitation which Eliyahu and R’ Yehoshua accepted. Despite their hosts’ great poverty, they nevertheless tried to accommodate their guests and give them the best service they could. When the morrow came, before they took leave, Eliyahu prayed, and how utterly astonished was R’ Yehoshua upon hearing Eliyahu beseeching Hashem that their host’s only cow should die! It wasn’t too long after they left when they already heard the sobs of the elderly woman crying over losing their one and only cow.

The following evening, when they reached the luxurious home of a wealthy person and knocked on the door, no one answered. Eliyahu figured that perhaps they didn’t hear them, so they proceeded to enter the home. Upon entering, they saw the owner and his wife sitting at a table set with expensive utensils and delicious foods. Around the table, stood servants and maidservants ready to serve them. When the owner saw Eliyahu and R’ Yehoshua, he didn’t greet them nor did he invite them to join their meal. Instead, he furiously turned his head away from them and said to his wife, “Who invited these bothersome people?! We must be careful to keep the doors locked so that unwanted guests don’t enter!”

This evil-hearted and miserly person was in a greater state of unrest that day since one of the walls of his house was collapsing and those whom he called upon to fix it didn’t show up. When Eliyahu and R’ Yehoshua asked if they could stay for the night, with great reluctance the owner allowed them to stay, on the condition that they sit on a concrete bench outside the back of the house. No food was served to them either.

Before they took their leave the next day, Eliyahu once again prayed, and again R’ Yehoshua was mystified upon hearing Eliyahu beseeching Hashem that He perform a miracle and have that collapsing wall be fixed immediately. This miracle did, in fact, occur and R’ Yehoshua continued to feel bewildered.

That evening, they reached a big city and entered the shul. The shul was quite magnificent, elegant and beautiful. It was evident that the people of this city were extremely wealthy. They waited until after the prayers, when finally one of the members told another that it should be arranged to have a bit of bread, salt and water be brought to the guests. No one else paid attention to them, let alone invited them over.

The next day, after morning prayers in the shul and before they were about to depart, Eliyahu blessed the people that they should all become leaders and important people. This caused R’ Yehoshua to become extremely upset, and he so badly wanted to ask Eliyahu for an explanation of his unexpected prayers, but he remembered the condition…

Later, they arrived in a different city and the people there greeted them with joy and honor, escorting them to a big and comfortable house. They brought them their best foods and drinks and sat together with their guests, in order to bring them joy. The next morning, before Eliyahu and R’ Yehoshua got up to leave, Eliyahu prayed for them and blessed them that Hashem grant them only one leader.

At this point, R’ Yehoshua could no longer tolerate this apparently strange conduct of Eliyahu, When they left the city, R’ Yehoshua said to Eliyahu, “I am unable to witness these strange events: Regarding the good people, you prayed that they should experience bad, and regarding the bad people, that they should experience good; please inform me of the explanation of your actions.” Eliyahu responded, “Since you have violated the terms, we will depart from each other, but before I leave, I will explain to you my actions:

Regarding our first stay: I knew that it was decreed that the wife of that impoverished man should die the next day. Therefore, I prayed to Hashem that she should live, and that their cow should die in her stead. True, they experienced tremendous pain upon the death of their only cow. However, wouldn’t that elderly man have been happily willing to give away everything he owned in order to spare the life of his wife? Furthermore, this good and diligent wife will bring him much prosperity and soon they will merit to live pleasantly and not be pained by the loss of their cow.

Regarding our second day: The wealthy man we stayed with didn’t know that hidden beneath his collapsing wall was a huge treasure box filled with gold. Had he fixed the wall himself, he would have found that treasure box. But since a miracle was performed and the wall became fixed on its own, he will never find it. Furthermore, that wall will soon collapse again, but he will be preoccupied with so many other concerns that he won’t even have the time to think about fixing it.

Regarding both our third and fourth stay: I prayed for those people that they all become leaders, for then they will quarrel and fight since none of them will give in to the other; hence, there will be no peace among them, and their lives will not be blessed.

However, when we came to the city where the people greeted us pleasantly, I blessed them that they should have only one leader chosen unanimously. In this way, they will live in peace and enjoy his leadership.

Eliyahu then drove home the lesson to be learned from this entire experience: “Now, pay good attention and take it to heart, that the ways of Hashem are hidden, and thus, not everything that appears to you as good is truly good, and not everything that appears to you as bad is actually bad(as seen in Otzrot Hatorah, Va’eira).”

We can learn from this story that judging and being troubled by the situations of individuals and communities, may stem from a lack of perspective and information. Hence, that which may seem to us as good may be a setback, while that which may seem to us as bad may actually be a blessing.

Binyamin is a graduate of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan and of WSSW.