This Is Also Good
Chovot Halevavot: A person who relies on G-d is secure from any mishaps in the present and also feels secure that no bad will happen to him in the future. This is because he believes that anything that happens to him is from G-d and will, therefore, be a cause of joy and happiness. (Chovot Halevavot, introduction).
Story:
The Talmud relates a story of Rabbi Nachum, who always reacted to misfortune with unyielding optimism—saying that everything G-d does is for the good. Even when something did not appear to be good, or even seemed bad, Rabbi Nachum would say, “This, too, is for the good” (gam zo l’tovah). To the extent that people soon began calling him “Nachum Ish (the man of) ‘Gam Zo.’”
Rabbi Nachum was once sent with other Sages to the Roman emperor on behalf of the Jewish people to try to persuade him to be kinder to the Jews. They even brought along a box filled with gold and diamonds as a gift for the emperor.
On the way, they stopped at an inn. Seeing the great treasures, the innkeeper stole what was in the box and instead placed in the box sand and soil.
The following morning Rabbi Nachum continued on the journey, not knowing of the innkeeper’s actions.
When they finally reached Rome and presented themselves to the emperor, Rabbi Nachum handed him the box as a gift from the Jewish people.
The box, upon opening, was found to contain nothing but sand and soil.
The emperor, furiously thinking that the Jews were mocking him, sentenced the sages to death. Rabbi Nachum was not worried and said, as usual, “This, too, is for the good.”
Elijah the Prophet then appeared in the guise of one of the emperor’s advisers and said, “Caesar, the Jews would certainly not have mocked the emperor. Perhaps this was no ordinary sand and soil. I once heard that when Abraham, the first Jew, went to battle against the four kings, he threw at his enemies sand and soil, which G-d then turned into arrows and deadly weapons. Perhaps this sand and soil are of the same kind?”
The emperor, who had been in the middle of a war against a certain enemy, ordered that this sand and soil be tested at the front. Indeed, the Talmud concludes, a miracle happened: the sand and soil turned into deadly weapons.
Rabbi Nachum and the Sages were not only saved but heaped with reward and praise.
Note: At a deeper glance into the story, the emperor already owned many precious gems, so such a gift might not have accomplished its intended goal. Only the “sand,” which looked like a disaster, was truly a precious gift for the emperor.
(Babilonian Talmud, Taanit 21a)
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