Parashat Chukat opens with the mitzvah of the Parah Adumah, a classic chok—a divine commandment beyond logic. Rav Weiss draws from a striking Midrash that sees in the red cow a mirror of the Jewish story: a story marked by suffering, exile, and ultimately redemption.
He speaks of recent events: the joy of survival after the miraculous war with Iran, contrasted with the deep sorrow of young soldiers killed in Gaza. How do we reconcile this? We are the chosen people, deeply loved by God—so why do we seem to suffer more than any other nation?
Rav Weiss turns to Sefer Iyov (Job), the Torah’s most powerful book about suffering. Iyov loses everything. His friends try to comfort him, but fail. Then God appears—not with explanations, but with questions: “Were you there when I created the world?” The message is clear—we cannot understand everything. Our challenge is not to explain, but to trust.
At the end of time, Rav Weiss says, we will look back and see the full picture. The very events that broke our hearts will somehow make sense. We’ll say “HaTov VeHaMeitiv” not out of habit, but from understanding. Until then, we live with faith.