ויירא יעקב מאוד וייצר לו וגו', שמעתי מפי אאמו"ר בשם הבעל שם טוב הקדוש ביאור פסוק (תהילים כ״ג:ו׳) אך טוב וחסד ירדפוני כל ימי חיי וכו', כי לפעמים האדם אינו יודע טובתו, כי מי זה האיש אשר יחכם להבין אופני טובתו, והגם שהטובה רודפת אחריו בחמלת ה' עליו שרוצה להופיעו אור ישע והצלחה, הוא פונה עורף ולא פנים, ובורח ממה שהיה טובתו באמת, כי אין אתו ידיעה כלל שאם יעשה זה ירוויח ויצליח, על כן ביקש דוד ברוח קדשו עבור כלל ישראל, אך טוב וחסד, שאתה רוצה לעשות עמי ואין בי דעת לקבלם ולהביאם אלי, ואולי הנני עוד בורח מפניהם, על כן אני מבקש מאתך שהם ירדפו אחרי, בלי אוכל לברוח מפניהם עד שאקבלם ואביא ברכה לתוך ביתי, וזהו ירדפונ"י שהם ירדפו אחרי עד שישיגוני, עד כאן שמעתי ושפתיים ישק: (לקוטי תורה מהר"י פ' תבא)
And the messengers returned to Jacob and said, We came to your brother Esau, and he is also coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him. Then Jacob was very afraid and distressed” (Genesis 32:7-8) The verse says: “May only goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalms 23:6). A person does not always know what is good for him; for who is wise enough to think that they always know what is in their best interest? Sometimes, the goodness even runs after a person. G-d, in His mercy, wants to shine His light, deliverance and success upon him; yet the person has no idea that he would benefit from this thing and be successful, and so he turns around and runs away from what is for his own good. Therefore, with holy inspiration, King David asked on behalf of all Israel, “May only goodness and kindness pursue me.” Even when I don’t have enough insight to accept these things in my life, and, in fact, I run away from them; still, I beg You that they should run after me, until they overtake me, and I welcome them and bring blessing into my life.52This teaching reflects the idea that even apparently negative occurrences are actually for our own good. G-d’s nature is ultimately loving and beneficent, and therefore, even suffering will ultimately be revealed to have been for our benefit. Indeed, Kabbalah teaches that there are many things that can only be repaired through suffering, such as purification from certain sins. In such as case, Divine blessing would only come after the experience of purification. However, the Baal Shem Tov, in his great love for the Jewish people, propounded yet another principle: G-d is all-powerful, and can therefore accomplish the same repair that suffering achieves through loving means. The Baal Shem Tov composed the following prayer that reflects this idea: “I know that even the bad is for my good. However, You are G-d, and not a man, and you can transform the bad to real good, so that even though there won’t be any aspect of bad left, even so, it will be completely for my benefit, so that the necessary repair can come from the good itself.” (See Mishmeret Yitamar, Vayishlach.) This can be understood with a parable taught be the Baal Shem Tov: Once, a simple country villager rebelled against the king. Everyone was sure that he would be caught and sentenced to death. However, the king did something else. As soon as he learnt of the rebellion, he appointed the villager to be mayor of his town. Later, he appointed him to a higher position, and then to an even higher one, until he made him one of the dukes of the land. However, the more he promoted the man, the worse the man felt for having originally rebelled against the king, who showed him so much kindness. This was the king’s intention. For had he punished the man once at first, the man’s pain would not have been as great as that which he felt over a long period of time, in the face of the king’s continual beneficence. Likewise, when a person sins, G-d showers upon him even more grace than before. When the person realizes G-d’s goodness to him, despite his behavior, he is immediately humbled and repents of all that he is doing wrong. (See Otzar Mishle Chasidim, vol. 1, p. 85). Likutey Torah, Ki Tavo
ויירא יעקב מאוד וייצר לו וגו', שמעתי מפי אאמו"ר בשם הבעל שם טוב הקדוש ביאור פסוק (תהילים כ״ג:ו׳) אך טוב וחסד ירדפוני כל ימי חיי וכו', כי לפעמים האדם אינו יודע טובתו, כי מי זה האיש אשר יחכם להבין אופני טובתו, והגם שהטובה רודפת אחריו בחמלת ה' עליו שרוצה להופיעו אור ישע והצלחה, הוא פונה עורף ולא פנים, ובורח ממה שהיה טובתו באמת, כי אין אתו ידיעה כלל שאם יעשה זה ירוויח ויצליח, על כן ביקש דוד ברוח קדשו עבור כלל ישראל, אך טוב וחסד, שאתה רוצה לעשות עמי ואין בי דעת לקבלם ולהביאם אלי, ואולי הנני עוד בורח מפניהם, על כן אני מבקש מאתך שהם ירדפו אחרי, בלי אוכל לברוח מפניהם עד שאקבלם ואביא ברכה לתוך ביתי, וזהו ירדפונ"י שהם ירדפו אחרי עד שישיגוני, עד כאן שמעתי ושפתיים ישק:
(לקוטי תורה מהר"י פ' תבא)
And the messengers returned to Jacob and said, We came to your brother Esau, and he is also coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him. Then Jacob was very afraid and distressed” (Genesis 32:7-8)
The verse says: “May only goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalms 23:6). A person does not always know what is good for him; for who is wise enough to think that they always know what is in their best interest? Sometimes, the goodness even runs after a person. G-d, in His mercy, wants to shine His light, deliverance and success upon him; yet the person has no idea that he would benefit from this thing and be successful, and so he turns around and runs away from what is for his own good.
Therefore, with holy inspiration, King David asked on behalf of all Israel, “May only goodness and kindness pursue me.” Even when I don’t have enough insight to accept these things in my life, and, in fact, I run away from them; still, I beg You that they should run after me, until they overtake me, and I welcome them and bring blessing into my life.52This teaching reflects the idea that even apparently negative occurrences are actually for our own good. G-d’s nature is ultimately loving and beneficent, and therefore, even suffering will ultimately be revealed to have been for our benefit. Indeed, Kabbalah teaches that there are many things that can only be repaired through suffering, such as purification from certain sins. In such as case, Divine blessing would only come after the experience of purification. However, the Baal Shem Tov, in his great love for the Jewish people, propounded yet another principle: G-d is all-powerful, and can therefore accomplish the same repair that suffering achieves through loving means. The Baal Shem Tov composed the following prayer that reflects this idea: “I know that even the bad is for my good. However, You are G-d, and not a man, and you can transform the bad to real good, so that even though there won’t be any aspect of bad left, even so, it will be completely for my benefit, so that the necessary repair can come from the good itself.” (See Mishmeret Yitamar, Vayishlach.)
This can be understood with a parable taught be the Baal Shem Tov: Once, a simple country villager rebelled against the king. Everyone was sure that he would be caught and sentenced to death. However, the king did something else. As soon as he learnt of the rebellion, he appointed the villager to be mayor of his town. Later, he appointed him to a higher position, and then to an even higher one, until he made him one of the dukes of the land. However, the more he promoted the man, the worse the man felt for having originally rebelled against the king, who showed him so much kindness. This was the king’s intention. For had he punished the man once at first, the man’s pain would not have been as great as that which he felt over a long period of time, in the face of the king’s continual beneficence. Likewise, when a person sins, G-d showers upon him even more grace than before. When the person realizes G-d’s goodness to him, despite his behavior, he is immediately humbled and repents of all that he is doing wrong. (See Otzar Mishle Chasidim, vol. 1, p. 85).
Likutey Torah, Ki Tavo