If Hashem Knows Everything - Why Does He Test Us?

00:00 So what really is the reason that a person’s life is full of tests? Why does Hakadosh Boruch Hu make life difficult? Every day in our prayers, we ask: “Do not bring us to a test.” But in reality, our lives are full of tests. As we discussed, there are many kinds of tests. Broadly speaking, we find five types of tests in the Torah, with all sorts of variations. What is gained from a test? We’ve already discussed that Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s purpose in testing us is clearly not to trap us, G-d forbid, or to confront us with something impossible. On the contrary, the purpose is for a person to grow stronger and rise higher. But what is gained by that? After all, we came into this world to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Our Sages say, “I was created to serve my Maker. I was created for no other purpose than to serve my Maker,” as the Gemara says at the end of Kiddushin. We came into this world to serve Hashem, to observe Torah and mitzvos. But why must that involve so many difficulties? Why are there tests? When we look in the Torah, the main verse that speaks about tests is in Parshas Re’eh: “For Hashem your G-d is testing you, to know whether you love Hashem.” Literally, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is testing us. There, the verse speaks about a particular test—one of the hardest, as we discussed: a spiritual test, a test of faith. A prophet, a false prophet, comes and performs wonders and miracles, and we have to hold firm and not listen to him, because he wants to lead us away from the straight path, the path of Torah and mitzvos. So the Torah says, “For Hashem your G-d is testing you.” Sometimes Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives power to the sitra achra, to idolatry and idol worshippers, to false prophets and the forces of impurity, solely to put a person to the test. What is the purpose? What is gained from that test?

02:14 The Torah tells us: “For Hashem your G-d is testing you, to know.” What does “to know” mean? To know whom? Who is supposed to know? “To know whether you love Hashem your G-d”—does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want to know? What does that mean? Some have wanted to understand it literally: Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to know whether we do the right thing or not. He wants to know where we stand, what is going on with us. On the face of it, that is the plain meaning of the words. But the great commentators—the Rambam, the Ramban, and others among the great Torah commentators—already say that it is impossible to claim that the reason for tests is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to know. Hakadosh Boruch Hu already knows. What could it mean that He wants to know? “Everything is revealed and known before You.” In Pirkei Avos, Rabbi Akiva tells us, “Everything is foreseen.” So what does “to know” mean? The great commentators have already written about this question. Today we will discuss two broad explanations of the purpose and benefit of tests. One is the approach of the Rambam and other great Torah scholars who follow it. The second is the approach of the Ramban and other great Torah scholars who follow his approach. We will also want to see exactly what Rashi’s view is on this subject. It is very interesting and fascinating to find out what Rashi, in his commentary on Chumash, holds about this, and of course to explain the wonderful explanation in the teachings of Chassidus. The Alter Rebbe explains the subject in a maamar, and several maamarim of Chassidus after his give us a profound, wonderful explanation of the deeper meaning of “For Hashem your G-d is testing you, to know.” In general, as we said, we see that most explanations fall into two groups: the approach of the Rambam and the approach of the Ramban. The Rambam discusses this in Moreh Nevuchim and cites the explanation found among some commentators, who want to say

04:41 that “to know” means Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to know. He rejects this completely. He argues that to think Hakadosh Boruch Hu is uncertain and wants to find out even verges on heresy. The Rambam maintains that, when it comes to tests, “to know” refers to the world: it means making something known publicly, so that the world will know, so that the nations will know. They will know why Hakadosh Boruch Hu cherishes the Jewish people so much. The Rambam says something wonderful. He says that the reason Hakadosh Boruch Hu brings all kinds of tests upon the Jewish people is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself already knows. He knows His children, He knows His people, He knows our faithfulness. But the world does not know, and the world asks: Why does Hakadosh Boruch Hu perform miracles for the Jewish people? Why does He love the Jewish people more than all other nations? Why does He treat us differently? Why are the Jewish people the chosen people? These are questions everyone asks, whether they want to understand or not. When Hakadosh Boruch Hu brings us tests, both physical and spiritual, and the Jewish people, by and large, withstand them, that is the meaning of “to know” in this verse. Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows that the Jewish people have an unshakable, tremendous strength to withstand tests, because the Jewish people’s power of faith is extraordinarily strong. At Matan Torah, we, the Jewish people, stood at Mount Sinai and saw face to face. In the Rambam’s words: “Our eyes saw, and not those of a stranger; our ears heard, and not those of another.” We saw and heard the divine revelation at Matan Torah together with Moshe Rabbeinu. Faith was then engraved, planted very deeply in the soul of every Jew. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu has no doubt: a Jew, whatever situation he is in, will certainly serve Hashem. So

07:03 the difficulties Hakadosh Boruch Hu places in our path, whether physical or spiritual, are there “to know”—to make known to the world the true nature of the special bond between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the Jewish people. The Rambam also uses this to explain the verse in the Torah about Matan Torah. In the account of the Ten Commandments it says, “For the purpose of testing you, G-d has come.” After Matan Torah, the Jewish people were frightened, awestruck by the wondrous revelation there. Moshe Rabbeinu tells them, “Do not be afraid, for G-d has come for the purpose of testing you.” According to the Rambam, what does “for the purpose of testing you” mean? It refers to all the tests a Jew would face in the future, throughout the history of the Jewish people—a people whose history is full of tests. The reason for all these tests is that at Matan Torah there was such a wondrous, profound revelation. It made a Jew’s bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu so deep, so strong, so unconditional, that they would clearly withstand every test. “For the purpose of testing you” in the future—and then the world will know why the Jewish people are especially cherished. In fact, this is stated explicitly in Pirkei Avos. “Avraham Avinu was tested with ten tests,” says the Mishnah in chapter five of Pirkei Avos. Hakadosh Boruch Hu tested Avraham Avinu ten times “to make known how cherished Avraham Avinu was.” That is the straightforward meaning of the Mishnah. Was the reason Hakadosh Boruch Hu tested Avraham Avinu ten times that He somehow had doubts about whether Avraham would withstand the test? Hakadosh Boruch Hu knew who Avraham was. He knew Avraham; He knew that Avraham was a chariot, as the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya—a chariot for the Shechinah, entirely and absolutely devoted to the Divine will. Rather, it was “to make known”—to make known how cherished he was. Why, indeed, does Hakadosh Boruch Hu cherish so much

09:16 Avraham Avinu? Why did He choose him as the head of the Jewish people? Because through the tests, and through his standing firm in them, he became known throughout the world. People saw and knew who Avraham Avinu was. And that is what a Jew accomplishes in every generation: through his conduct, he makes Hashem’s name known and sanctifies it. He explains and shows the world what a relationship is, what connection is, what loyalty is, what pure and genuine fear of Hashem is, and what pure and genuine love of Hashem is. That is the Rambam’s approach. The Ramban offers a different explanation. The Ramban disagrees with the Rambam and argues that “to know” refers to the person: “For Hashem your G-d is testing you, to know.” It does not refer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, nor, by contrast, to the world or the nations of the world. Rather, “to know” means that the person himself should know—that he should be tested and examine himself in actual practice. In other words, the fact that Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows the truth, knows a Jew’s strength and loyalty, and knows the tremendous inner strengths a Jew possesses—all of that is wonderful, but it is all still latent. It is all potential. But when a Jew actually faces a test, he faces a situation in which he must decide which direction to take and how to respond to the reality before him. Whether these are material tests, material difficulties piling up along his path, or spiritual tests that make his path in serving Hashem more difficult, the person is, in effect, testing and examining himself and bringing his strength into action. He expresses his potential and makes it real. “To know” means that the person should know, that he should come to know himself and express his potential in a tangible way. This also enables the great reward that Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to give him to come about in actuality, to be realized in a tangible way. That is

11:37 more or less the Ramban’s approach. That is why he says there are different kinds of tests, as we discussed: tests of closeness and tests of distance. Sometimes Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us tests of extraordinary closeness and love, as at the giving of the Torah. According to the Ramban, “in order to test you” does not mean, as the Rambam says, tests that would come in the future. The giving of the Torah was itself a test. And the same applies to tests involving distance, difficulties, and all kinds of other tests. It is all for the person himself, so that he will come to know himself: so that he will know who he truly is, what strengths he has, and bring those strengths into action. In the Ramban’s words, it is for the one being tested, not the One testing: “For Hashem your G-d is testing you, to know.” Who is to know? The one being tested, the person who receives the test. He will know himself, recognize his strengths, and see how those strengths come into action in real life. That itself will give him a wonderful strength to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the Ramban’s general approach, and it is also how he explains the test of the Akeidah. The whole account of the Akeidah is also described as “And G-d tested Avraham.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu knew that Avraham Avinu was loyal to Him. He had no doubt. Hakadosh Boruch Hu was certain that Avraham Avinu was devoted to Him, but He tested Avraham. He wanted to put Avraham through a test so that Avraham, too, would know and see openly, in reality, in a tangible way, just how deep his fear of Heaven was. “Now I know that you fear G-d.” In other words, it became openly expressed in Avraham Avinu. It did not remain merely latent or potential; it came into action. It is interesting to examine what Rashi holds on this question. I had the privilege of hearing the Rebbe’s explanation one year.

13:46 As we have discussed many times, at farbrengens the Rebbe would speak about Rashi and explain Rashi’s commentaries on the Torah—the plain meaning of the text and its deeper layers. The Rebbe’s explanations of Rashi are truly wonderful. It was Parshas Re’eh 5727. The Rebbe spoke then about Rashi on “For Hashem your G-d is testing you, to know.” The question is, as we said, all the commentators ask what these words, “to know,” mean. Who is supposed to know? Look at Rashi: nothing. Not a word. There is no Rashi here. Rashi explains nothing. Yet this is the simple question everyone asks. It is one of the deepest philosophical questions, and it concerns the plain meaning of the verse. How can Rashi not address it? The Rambam, the Ramban, Ibn Ezra, Sforno, Rashbam—all the great commentators on the plain meaning explain it, each in his own way. There are other explanations we have not gone over now, other explanations we have not discussed, including different, interesting ways of translating the word “test.” Everyone tries to explain the verse. Rashi says nothing at all. So the obvious question is: Rashi is always teaching what the Rebbe would call “the five-year-old beginning to study Scripture.” Rashi studies with the child and tries to explain the most basic things, the plain meaning. How can Rashi leave this unaddressed? The explanation is that Rashi has actually answered it already. There is a principle with Rashi: he does not repeat things he has already answered, because he has already addressed them—especially things he expects the child to remember because they are so very powerful. Even if many parshiyos and several books of the Torah have passed since then, something so profound and emotionally compelling is something Rashi is sure the child will remember. So the child will not need Rashi to explain it again. The Rebbe says: Let’s simply

15:58 go back to the first test, in Parshas Vayeira. True, many books have passed since then, but every child remembers the test of the Akeidah. We say it and revisit it every day in our prayers, and the story of the Akeidah is so powerful, so profound, that any child who hears it will never forget it. He will remember it forever. So when the child recalls the story of the Akeidah, Rashi told us there, on “And G-d tested Avraham,” exactly what happened: the Satan had complaints about Avraham Avinu. The nations of the world complained: Why does Hakadosh Boruch Hu love Avraham Avinu so much? Their complaint was: Why had he not offered sacrifices? Hakadosh Boruch Hu had performed such great miracles for him and given him a child when he was ninety-nine, when he was a hundred. How could he not have done something—not given an offering, not offered sacrifices, not held celebrations over it, and so on? There were all sorts of complaints, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu had to prove—to show the Satan and the nations of the world—Avraham Avinu’s loyalty. He had to show them that Avraham Avinu’s loyalty knew no bounds, that he would stand firm in any situation, through any test. His relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu was not superficial; it was deep and inward. So according to Rashi, this is very similar to the Rambam’s approach: the purpose of tests is to make something known, to publicize it. When others have doubts and come to confuse matters or level accusations, Hakadosh Boruch Hu comes and, through the test, shows the whole world the beauty, the preciousness, and the uniqueness of the Jewish people. That is essentially Rashi’s approach to tests. On this basis we can also understand why Rashi does not need to explain anything here: he has already said it. “For He is testing”

18:02 “Hashem your G-d [tests] you, to know.” According to Rashi, “to know” means so that the world will know—that it will become known, that it will be publicized. “To know whether you love Hashem your G-d”: so that this will not be in doubt, so that the world will know whether the Jewish people truly love Hakadosh Boruch Hu and are bound to Him by a deep, wonderful, unique bond that nothing in the world, neither physical nor spiritual, can break. So that is the meaning of “to know.” This is what Rashi already explained regarding Avraham’s test, and on this basis we can also explain another matter, another Rashi. It is Rashi’s comment about Matan Torah, on the verse we are discussing: “For the sake of testing you, G-d has come.” What Rashi says is remarkable. When the Jewish people are standing after Matan Torah and Moshe Rabbeinu tells them, “Do not be afraid, for the sake of testing you, G-d has come,” Rashi comes and says that “for the sake of testing you, G-d has come” means to elevate you in the world, so that you will gain renown in the world. “Testing” here is related to the phrase “Raise a banner upon the mountains.” That is Rashi. And the Ramban says, What do you mean? The Ramban challenges Rashi and says no, that is not correct, that is not the plain meaning. It is a beautiful interpretation from Midrash, but it is not the plain meaning. And it is interesting that Rashi, who explains the plain meaning of the verse, gives this as his only interpretation. Because here, “for the sake of testing you, G-d has come” does not mean testing in the sense of a trial or examination, but raising you up. In fact, Rashi is following his own approach. Rashi holds that the purpose of all tests is truly to raise and elevate. “For the sake of testing you, G-d has come”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu has a special purpose—that the whole world should know and recognize the Jew’s unique bond with Him. The question is, why does Rashi really hold that this is the meaning? Why, according to Rashi, is it the plain meaning of the verse that this is the purpose of all tests—Avraham’s test, the test at Matan Torah, and also

20:12 the tests that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives each person—that the world should know? Why is it so important for the world to know? What is the explanation? The truth is that Rashi already answered this at the beginning of the Torah, in his very first comment. Here we see how we need to look at Rashi and understand his depth, how a thread connects all of Rashi’s interpretations. When we recall what Rashi says at the beginning of the Torah, in his first comment on Bereishis, Rashi says: Rabbi Yitzchak said, the Torah should have begun only with “This month shall be for you.” So why did it begin with Bereishis? What does Rashi tell us? Why did the Torah begin with Bereishis? Because “He declared to His people the power of His works, to give them the heritage of the nations.” The whole reason the Torah begins with the Book of Bereishis—with the account of the creation of the world, the account of the forefathers, and that whole story—is to reveal to the world that “He declared to His people the power of His works, to give them the heritage of the nations.” If the nations of the world come and complain that we are robbers who stole the land, we will tell them that the land belongs to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In other words, the whole Torah is so that the world will recognize the purpose of the world’s creation. As Rashi goes on to say, Bereishis means “for the sake of the first”—for the sake of the Torah and for the sake of Yisroel, the whole world was created. That is the entire purpose. In other words, the purpose of giving the Torah to the Jewish people was not only for the Jewish people, but so that the world, too, would recognize the purpose of creation. So that the world, too, would be part of that purpose. In other words, what we are saying here is that a part—an essential part—of all the tests that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives the Jewish people in exile, throughout the different periods of Jewish history, is so that the nations of the world will also come to recognize and understand the value of the Jewish people, the value of the Torah, and the greatness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and they too will devote themselves to the Divine purpose. That means that the whole

22:22 … It is true that the ultimate goal is for the Jewish people to fulfill Torah and mitzvos, but the purpose is for the whole world to be part of it as well—for it to happen with the world’s agreement and willingness, for the world to cooperate and take part. And that is why the tests serve to make it known, to raise and elevate, so that people will recognize and know. As we say every day in prayer, at the end of davening in Aleinu: “All the inhabitants of the world will recognize and know that to You every knee will bend, every tongue will swear allegiance. Before You, Hashem our G-d, they will bow and fall, and they will give honor to Your glorious name.” All the nations of the world will recognize Hashem’s greatness and, along with that, recognize the greatness of Yisroel. “Praise Hashem, all nations; extol Him, all peoples, for His kindness toward us is mighty.” And here we come to the wonderful, profound explanation in Chassidus. The Alter Rebbe explains that the meaning of “to know” is for a person to reach the level of daas. In Chassidus, the deeper meaning of “to know” is for a person to reach an inner recognition. Here we enter a wonderful subject that the Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya and that is explained at length in the maamarim of Chassidus: the deeper meaning of daas. Daas is not merely external knowledge—knowing and understanding. “To know” has a much deeper meaning. The deeper idea of daas is connection: “And Adam knew Chava.” This is not just external knowledge, but inner knowledge and recognition. Daas means to recognize, to feel, to connect, to identify. “And Adam knew Chava” refers to marriage. When Adam married Chava, there is one word for it. The Torah tells no stories about exactly how Adam’s wedding was celebrated. It says just one thing: “And Adam knew Chava.” The deepest connection in the world, the bond of marriage, is called daas in the Torah. So the meaning of “For Hashem your G-d is testing you, to know,” says the Alter Rebbe, is to reveal the daas within us. The entire purpose of tests

24:58 is to reach daas: inner recognition, the deepest possible connection between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And here we return to a point we discussed in another class: a test is not about a person working with something else; the person is working with himself. It is about awakening the depths of the soul, awakening the yechidah within the soul. That is the depth of a Jew’s recognition, feeling, identification, and inner connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. When a Jew stands firm in a test, he breaks through an outer shell of himself and reaches the depths of his neshamah, his yechidah, his deepest part, where a Jew’s bond with Hakadosh Boruch Hu is a bond that cannot be severed, ever. “A Jew cannot and does not want to be separate from Hakadosh Boruch Hu,” says the Alter Rebbe. And this daas, this connection, can only be reached through a test. As long as we serve Hashem and things are easy, things are pleasant and everything is nice, there is a connection, but it is an external connection. When there is a test, however, and the Jew reveals his deepest inner, essential strengths, then true daas is revealed—the higher daas, what is called in the language of Chassidus the higher perspective, the higher connection, the deep bond. This daas, this wonderful connection between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu, is the purpose of all tests: to reach the deepest bond and connection of a Jew with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is why we know that in the days of Moshiach, after we have already passed through all the tests we endured during exile, the verse says, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.” Daas is central to the coming of the Geulah. How does the verse put it? “They will no longer teach one another, for they will all know Me.” With the coming of Moshiach, the daas, the connection, the marriage, the bond between a Jew and Hakadosh Boruch Hu will reach its greatest depth,

27:15 all through the power of the tests we have endured during exile. We have already been through enough tests. We ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu that we merit, today, the Divine revelation in which “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea,” and the building of the third Beis Hamikdash. Then the revelation of daas in the world will be complete. May the deep and wonderful connection between us and Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the complete marriage of the Jew and the Jewish people with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, take place in our days, literally, and may these days be transformed into days of joy and gladness and festive occasions.