Don’t Question Hashem!

Q: I just found out that a former classmate of mine just passed away. He was only 21 years old. What should my thoughts be when I begin to question why Hashem would do such a thing?

A: And the answer is that you must know that Hashem is righteous in whatever He does. In this case, I couldn’t tell you anything without knowing this particular person. But I could tell you many stories, where I did understand something. A little something, I was able to understand. 

Here’s a man – a beautiful man, a strong, tall man. A good learner; a jewel of a young man he was. Something special, a real gem; but then he became ill – a cripple. And he died young too. Nobody knows why. 

I also don’t know why. But I have one possible reason for why he might have died young. I have a good idea because I dealt with him once. He had a bride. And right after the wedding celebration, he said he doesn’t want her anymore. I visited him. I said, “How can it be? You’re ruining the girl! You chose her. You chose this girl. And her parents spent a small fortune on the wedding. And right after the chuppa ceremony, you don’t want her anymore?!”

“No,” he says. He doesn’t like her. Well, I didn’t win. And there was a divorce. It was a tragedy. And I think that it was a very big crime that he committed. Nobody knows why, but I think that’s the reason. He devastated her. Now, I wouldn’t go publicize it, but I believe that’s the reason.

If I would know the cases, who knows what I could discover! I know a case of a young man who was in Yeshiva University years ago. It was a Yeshiva from the olden days. It was the only Yeshiva in those days. He died young. Nobody knows why he died young. I think I know because I know the story. I knew him well. He was once talking to a divorced woman, a young divorcee. And he became too familiar with her. And I know that he had business with that young divorced woman. And she didn’t have a “gett.” She didn’t have a Jewish divorce. She was still a married woman according to Halacha. Nobody else knows about it, but I do know. And he died young. He was a son of a very fine family. 

So if I knew, maybe I could tell you. Maybe. And sometimes, it’s a tzaddik who dies young. That also could be. Hashem knows why He did it. He has plenty of good reasons. Whatever it is, don’t suspect Hashem of doing anything that’s not proper. He is righteous in whatever He does. And when you come to the Next World, then you’ll discover all the secrets anyway.

(Transcribed from Tape # E-169)

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Rabbi Avigdor Miller of saintly and blessed memory was one of the great spiritual leaders of Torah Jewry in America during the previous generation. With a courageous commitment to truth, he feared no one but Hashem. As a young man, he left the comforts of America to learn in the Slavodka Yeshiva in Lithuania from 1932-1938. We are honored at Breslev Israel to feature his writings, which we have received from the Toras Avigdor organization in Brooklyn, New York.