Timeless Torah

If He is truly capable of anything, then why can't He provide good without the bad?
The moral from Job: Only G-d is perfect. When mere human beings go through pain - as we all do – we can be overwhelmed. G-d understands.

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN?
The answer is simple: Bad things simply don't happen.
Two possible explanations:
Define happen. They are here for a reason; as a punishment, to purify man for the next world, to protect our freedom of choice, etc.
Define bad: For most, the working definition of bad is pain.
A BROKEN LEG. Good or bad?
Obviously, it’s bad. But there he meets his future wife. Pain is not always bad.

THE JEWISH DEFINITION
Good is something that enables you to become more G-dly. Conversely, bad is something that makes you a less G-dly person.
For the man with the broken leg, the one who did not meet his future wife; is the event good or bad? The Jewish answer: neither. It all depends on what this man does with it.

Inspired by a true story: Rabbi Akiva – Water dripping, disinherited, donkey…, Holy of Holies, Torture.
One would think after losing 24,000 students, he’s throw in the towel. Restarts with 5 pupils (Rashbi)
Paradox: the death of the 24,000 is mourned, his is celebrated – both on the same day!!!

Does one have to Pursue Happyness???
Western society commonly perceives happiness as the outcome of what you achieve and acquire.
My whole life would improve if I had a new car...
You get the car. For a whole week you're walking on air. Then you go right back to being unhappy. Sound familiar?
Judaism says: Happiness is not a happening. It is a state of mind.
Who is rich? The one who appreciates what he has. (Pirkei Avos 4:1)
That's why the morning prayers begin with a series of blessings thanking G-d for the simple: That’s 1st step.
Thank you, G-d, for giving me life. Thank Go-d I can see. I can use my hands and feet. I can think.
Once you master the art of noticing and consciously enjoying what you already have, then you will be happy.
Valid…but not our answer.

Reb Peretz Tzernigov: When praying, one eye cried, the other smiled. The lesson?
Happiness doesn’t mean one is always smiling.
The crying and smiling from a true recognition of who and where he was. Imagine the town parade being held in your honor…but you know the truth. Step #2. (Not our answer)

Do the opposite of what makes you negative: make everything personal; use your 3rd C to focus on problems; magnify every issue; be ungrateful. (True, but not our answer)

Inspired by the life & teachings of the Rashbi.
Story - Apter Rov to son: feel my hand. Moral: If your approach is physical.

Rashbi introduced the soul of Torah
Rashbi vs. Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai: Romans, Shabbat, and giving up a Jew.
Jews are like a single body, a single soul. If one of them sins, they are all punished: Proof: Achan.
People in a boat, and one began to drill a hole beneath his seat.
The two sides of unity: an individual cannot harm himself without harming the whole of Israel; an individual cannot be content with self-perfection, ignoring the fate of the community.
If a single person had been missing from Israel, the Divine Presence would not have appeared to them.

The practical implication of mysticism is the infinity of every Jew. That occurs when you see the soul of Torah and man. But how can finite man be infinite, only in his service to the One that is truly Infinite.
“Serve Hashem with joy.” (Psalms 100)