“‘Our father Abraham was tested with ten challenges, and he withstood them all – to indicate how great was our father Abraham’s love’
(Ethics of the Fathers 5:3)
The Hebrew word for ‘test’ (or ‘challenge’) – ‘nisayon‘ – shares the same root with the word ‘ness,’ which means miracle and also banner. A miracle reveals the extraordinary within the ordinary; the Divine within the natural. The same is with a ‘nisayon,’ a challenge: Every person has innate qualities.
By virtue of being created in the ‘Image of G-d’ every soul contains enormous reservoirs of extraordinary potential.
However, these powers remain dormant when unactualized. A ‘nisayon‘ – the true test of one’s character – is a challenge that actualizes our potential and brings the best out of us by revealing the powerful forces we carry within. When we pass a difficult test in life… A deeper part of our soul is revealed, to the point that it can actually bring on true transformation of the human being. And, as a result, a deeper, transformative dimension of Divine light manifests in existence.
Each of us in our own lives will be tested, or rather, challenged. Each challenge is actually an opportunity to grow – to draw out great strengths from within. Each triumph over a challenge lifts us to unprecedented heights.
Everything that happened to the patriarchs [Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov] is an indication for their children…”
[The way in which our patriarchs overcame their challenges has been ‘sublimated’ and raised to a higher level, in a spiritual repository in the Olam Ha’Elion (the Higher World), always available for us to draw from and apply to our own challenges. Our patriarchs created, through their behaviour, a sort of imprinting in the ability to face and overcome challenges for the benefit of their descendants].