commando612 wrote on 18 Mar 2010 02:04:
JIP, I don't think you realize this, but you're giving many of us chizuk just from your story. Some of us have gone through really tough times, but when we hear from someone who has survived a different type of Gehennim, then we realize that we could survive our tough times too.
Everyone has their own troubles, their own Gehinnom here on earth. I know that no one can judge me in my situation, and I can't judge anyone else in his situation.
As the attitude handbook mentioned, Rav Tzadok Hakohen teaches that Hashem does sometimes give us tests which we can't pass. To answer your question, the exact place is in Sefer Tzidkas Hatzadik paragraph 43. He says there that sometimes we're given a test that we can't pass, and we're considered a complete "Oneis" and not punished for it. He concludes, "but a person can't say to himself that he's reached that stage, because maybe he does have the strength to pass the test".
I think we've all experienced tests which we can't pass. But we've also experienced those moments when we went far beyond what we thought were our limits. Sometimes you reach your limit of endurance, and you push yourself beyond that limit. And again. And again. Another night. Another stand. I once worked with a former marine, who told me that a marine who is ordered to do the impossible will do it until they physically collapse. Those battles are the ones which turn us into advanced warriers, and they're our most proud and memorable moments that we look back on years later.
Thanks.... The thing with the Marine is inspiring....
I want to add one thought:
R' Yisroel Salanter once observed the following:
The Cossacks were the elite troops of Europe. They were drafted at a young age and served for 30 years before retiring on a government pension.
During their many years of army service these troops were super disciplined, super energetic and super productive. The Cossack soldier was the epitome of discipline, he was an example for society of what a human can make himself into....
However, after retiring, these soldiers where found spending the rest of their lives in a drunken stupor, epitomizing the concept of Laziness
What happened to the good habits that they practiced for 30 years?!!!!
Answers Rav Yisroel, that Since they were forced to
join the army and never identified with these values, , their external
behaviors could not have the power to influence their internal values....
A good thought to keep in mind.....
