How do we know Hashem is doing what's best for us?

Question:

1. How do we know for certain that ה' is always doing what’s best for us? I know it says צדיק וישר הוא, but how can we be sure He does what’s best for each of us?
2. In שמע, we say המלאך הגואל אתי מכל רע – but then why have some experienced burglaries, murder, fires, etc.? What’s רע if not these things? Where was the מלאך?
3. Also, I wonder, why do we say all the שמע? What’s the point??

Answer:

Hello,

1. We know this from multiple perspectives. First, it is written in Tehillim 98:3, "עולם חסד יבנה, the world was built for kindness. It also states in Tehillim 145:9, "טוב ד' לכל ורחמיו על כל מעשיו." Sometimes it’s hard to see this, but we can look at some examples to help us understand the idea.

A parent seeks the good of their child, every single child, even if the child doesn’t realize it. The child might think, why doesn’t my mother let me stay up as long as I want, make me eat real food instead of just snacking, go to school, and wear a coat in winter? If she truly loved me, she’d let me do whatever I want whenever I want. However, parents understand the world better than their children do and know what’s truly in the child’s best interest, even if it means making the child do things he doesn’t like. Hashem created us, and we are His children, so we trust that He intends our ultimate good. Even if we don’t see it right now, He knows what’s best for us better than we do.

Moreover, if we focused on all the countless good things Hashem does for us and appreciated them, we would realize how much He cares and gives to us. For instance, Hashem didn’t have to create the world with so many delicious fruits—apples, oranges, melons, kiwis, dates—and hundreds of other varieties of fruits and vegetables. Not to mention the countless spices, each offering a new taste, and each containing different vitamins. If Hashem didn’t love us, He could have simply created us with just bread and water, and we would survive. But He created all these treasures so we can enjoy and realize how much He provides. When we focus on these thoughts, it becomes clear that Hashem wants our good and cares for us.

2. The posuk you are quoting is what Yakov told Yosef—that there was a malach who protected him, not that the malach made things easy; rather, it protected him from real harm.

Additionally, we need to distinguish between the words 'hard' and 'bad.' In the famous story with Rabbi Akiva (Brachos 61a), he came to a village where no one would host him for the night. So, he slept in the forest with a light, a chicken, and a mule. A wind came and blew out the candle, a lion appeared and ate the mule, and a cat came and ate the chicken. At first glance, everything seemed to be going wrong and was bad. However, he still said, “whatever Hashem does is for my good.” The next morning, he discovered that during the night, an armed group of bandits had arrived and kidnapped the entire town. Had he stayed in town, he might have been kidnapped too. If the candle had stayed lit, they might have seen him. And if the cat and mule hadn’t been eaten, noise would have been made, and he could have been caught. From this story, we learn that what is truly good is not always what seems convenient. Hashem is looking out for our good, so we accept whatever He does because we know He loves us and wants what is best for us. The malach was there protecting him, even when he didn’t realize it.

3. The reason we say Shema twice a day is because it is the Jewish Pledge of Allegiance, the basics, and the foundation of our belief in Hashem. And it is with this posuk that a Jewish person ends his life, showing that this is what his life was about—belief in Hashem. The reason we have to say it each day is that the more we repeat it, the deeper the meaning of the words goes into us, and the stronger it will make our emuna.