Rabbi David Ashear
Can a person be considered to have perfect emunah in Hashem, but at the same time have questions about the way He runs the world? If the person’s questions are something like, “I don’t understand a certain event. I wish I could understand it better, but I realize I am limited. I’ll have to wait for the future when Hashem explains all of His ways,” that would not be a problem.
But if a person says, “I do believe Hashem made the world. I do believe He’s controlling the world. But I have a problem with something He did. I can’t make sense of it, so something must have gone wrong.” That would be a major flaw in emunah.
The pasuk says (Devarim 32:4), “…a Gd of faith without iniquity, righteous, and fair is He – Hashem is perfect; He has never made a mistake and never will. For a person to have a problem with something He did shows a lack of humility.
Imagine if someone consulted with an expert doctor, who examined and diagnosed him and prescribed a certain medication. And then the patient, who never studied medicine, asked the doctor, “Why are you giving me that medication? It doesn’t make sense; you should be giving me a different medication.” How foolish would that patient sound? What knowledge does he have that gives him the right to question?
We, as well, have such a limited knowledge of the world that it would be even more foolish for us to question anything Hashem does. When something that seems harsh or cruel happens, we’re only seeing what’s on the surface. We have no idea what each soul is doing here in This World, what its purpose is, or what it’s coming back to fix from a previous lifetime.
We can’t even begin to understand. How foolish it would be to question something we know nothing about! How much more so when it has to do with our all-powerful and loving Gd?
Hashem gives every single person exactly what he needs in this world to accomplish his purpose here. If it would be any different, his stay in This World would be pointless.
When Iyov questioned the ways of Hashem, He responded, “Were you present when I created the world? Do you realize how little you know?” That’s all Hashem needed to say. We have to know our place. We are beings who were created with an extremely limited understanding.
Midrash Rabbah on Shemot (Ch. 6) says: “Who could possibly question anything Hashem did? Every single event that ever took place, Hashem first discussed with the Heavenly Court. And not until it was decided by all that it is totally righteous, without a flaw, did anything ever happen.” Of course, Hashem doesn’t need to ask anyone anything. He does this solely to enable us to trust how righteous His Ways are.
A baal emunah always says, “Blessed is Hashem, Who knows what He’s doing. All His ways are perfect. It is I who is deficient.” If we incorporate this, we will always trust that everything Hashem does is best.