Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Chasidut for Bava Batra 31:1

מעין העולם הבא

future world.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' R. Johanan understands the text to imply that so soon as the oxen had ploughed and the seed had been cast, the produce sprang up and the asses ate it. Similarly in the future world conception and birth will be on the same day (v. Sanh. 30b). ');"><sup>1</sup></span> While he was yet speaking there came also another and said, The fire of God … While he was yet speaking there came also another and said, The Chaldeans made three bands&nbsp;… and fell upon the camels and have taken them away&nbsp;… While he was yet speaking there came also another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, and behold there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house and it fell upon the young men&nbsp;… Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head … and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not nor charged God with foolishness. Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves&nbsp;… and the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth etc.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. I, 18 — II, 2. ');"><sup>2</sup></span>

Kedushat Levi

Let us proceed to explain the nature of the blessing Yitzchok ‎bestowed on Yaakov. We must remember that he thought that he ‎was blessing Esau. The wording of the blessing reflects evaluations ‎in the celestial spheres. In order to understand this better, ‎compare the Talmud in Pessachim 118 where psalms 118,1 ‎הודו לה' כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו‎, “Praise the Lord for He is good, for ‎His loving kindness lasts forever;” this is understood by Rav ‎Chisda as the goodness of G’d being displayed in the manner in ‎which He applies punishment for the same sin by exacting ‎retribution from the sinner only relative to his economic ability, ‎i.e. He may punish a wealthy man by depriving him of his ox, ‎whereas he may deprive a poor man only of a lamb, though both ‎committed the same sin. The principle we must constantly keep ‎in front of our eyes is spelled out in B’rachot 60: “whatever ‎G’d initiates is for the benefit of His creatures.” Being only ‎human, we cannot always recognize that what befalls us is ‎actually for our own good. Even when it is quite obviously a ‎setback to our aspirations, we must remember that when these ‎setbacks are retributions for sins committed, designed to preserve ‎our claim to an afterlife intact, the retribution itself is tailored to ‎our individual circumstances ensuring that we will not collapse ‎under their burden.‎
The same rule applies in reverse. Sometimes we experience ‎what we consider a stroke of good luck, and we may even thank ‎the Lord for this “stroke of good luck.” This does not mean that ‎this very “stroke of good luck,” does not constitute a challenge ‎even more difficult to deal with than a “stroke of bad luck.” ‎Eventually, we may trace reverses we experience in life to the ‎very stroke of “good luck,” such as winning a lottery. Had we not ‎won that lottery, dissent within the family, envy and jealousy ‎might never have reared their head within our family. The ‎overriding element that a true believer in Hashem must ‎never lose sight of is that G’d did not give Satan unlimited ‎powers, and that whatever difficulties he puts in our path must ‎be geared to our ability to overcome it, if only we exert ourselves ‎to the fullest extent.‎
We know that Yitzchok’s predominant characteristic was the ‎aspect of G’d called ‎מידת הדין‎, attribute of Justice. Esau, on the ‎other hand, personified the perennial accuser, Satan, whereas ‎Yaakov personified virtues of the Jewish people. When preparing ‎to bless his son Esau, (as he thought he was doing) Yitzchok had ‎to tailor his blessing to the power of retribution, Satan. (Compare ‎‎Baba batra 16). When G’d gives the attribute of Justice the ‎green light to punish human beings, this means that he allows ‎Satan free reign for a time. By withdrawing, hiding His ‎benevolence from the people being punished, He is actually doing ‎them a favour. When Yitzchok proceeded to bless Esau, he had ‎intended to empower the forces that mete out retribution on ‎earth; having been unaware that the son facing him was Yaakov, ‎who instead of empowering retribution was concerned only with ‎what was manifestly good for Israel. This was an example of ‎everything that G’d does being for the ultimate good. Yaakov too ‎had not realized the true motivation of Yitzchok in wanting to ‎bestow a blessing on Esau at that time not having been aware of ‎the type of blessing Yitzchok intended to bestow on him. ‎‎[All three (not counting Rivkah) parties involved in the ‎blessing were unaware of pertinent facts before undertaking a ‎potentially fateful step. Ed.]
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