In this week’s Parsha we learn about the Sotah – a lady who was seen secluded and suspected of sinning with another man. The Torah says that by the case of a suspected sotah, the husband must take his wife to the Beis Hamikdash where the kohen does a special test to see if she sinned or if she was innocent.
If the woman sinned then she would automatically die a painful death but if she didn’t sin and the suspicion was inaccurate, the Torah promises her a special blessing. The Torah promises her a child.
There is a big question here. Why is this woman worthy of blessing? Even if she didn’t sin the woman still secluded herself with another man. She almost committed a major sin. She almost committed adultery. Why is this woman getting a blessing? Why is she promised a child? She sinned by secluding herself with another man!
My father, Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlita shared an incredible and empowering answer from the Chasam Sofer. The Chasam Sofer says that although the woman sinned and secluded herself with another man she stopped. She didn’t take it further. The woman controlled herself and didn’t sin. Because of that we cherish her. Because she overcame the challenge we treasure her. She was about to sin, and she didn’t, so we salute her, and commend her. Hashem gifts her with a child. She controlled herself so Hashem blesses her.
In life, we all sin. We all have struggles and temptations. Many times, we feel like we’ve ruined it. We think that we broke our record and that we fell so far that there is no hope. That’s not the case. Hashem loves us. Hashem is telling us, that yes, we may have looked at something inappropriate. We may have done something or gave in to something alluring or enticing. However, if the next time you don’t, or if you are able to control yourself, Hashem cherishes that. Hashem treasures the moments when we go beyond our nature and preserve and sanctify our Kedusha. Hashem is patient. Even if we ruin one moment, it doesn’t mean the next moment can’t be glorious. There is hope. We have to get back up. The woman is blessed because we are celebrating that she was able to overcome the challenge. She was a victor over her temptation.
A wealthy man one visited Radin and while he was there, he found out that there was a huge fire in his hometown and his business was destroyed. He lost millions of dollars. When he heard this news, the rich man fainted from shock and grief. People quickly ran over and poured water over him. After pouring water on him he woke up but a few seconds later he fainted again. This went on and on and on. He fainted, they revived him, then he fainted again.
The Chofetz Chaim was present, and he went over to the man. The Chofetz Chaim bent down and whispered something in his ear. Suddenly the man got up and walked away. He was fine and acted like nothing had happened.
Later, they asked the man what happened, and he said that the Chofetz Chaim whispered to him that his business was fine. The Chofetz Chaim promised him that there was nothing to worry about.
The group ran to the Chofetz Chaim. They asked him, “Are you a navi? How did you know that the man didn’t lose his business? The Chofetz Chaim answered, “No. I’m not a navi – but I knew that it couldn’t have happened. I knew the man couldn’t have lost all his money. I knew the news wasn’t true because Hashem doesn’t give someone a nisayon – a challenge they can’t handle. This man couldn’t handle this news. He kept on fainting. He wasn’t able to get past the challenge. Right then and there I knew that it couldn’t have been true. He couldn’t handle the news, so I knew that he didn’t lose his business and money. Therefore, I went and whispered to him that everything was ok.
The lesson of the story is that Hashem doesn’t give us a challenge we can’t overcome.
Hashem gives us tailor made challenges that bring out the best of us. Many times, we feel like we can’t face our challenges. Many times, we give into sin because we feel like we can’t overcome it. That’s not the case. If Hashem gives us a challenge it means that we have the power, strength, and fortitude to overcome it. Let’s do this.
In life we struggle. In life we fall and mess up – but we have to get back up. We have to realize that we have the power to overcome our challenges and that just like the Sotah there is always hope. Hashem cherishes those moments when we are fighting. If we go beyond our nature for Hashem he will go against his nature for us. We will receive unbelievable blessings. Let’s keep growing and climbing together!
