As told by Rabbi Yosef Goldstein

Table of ContentsThe Two Voices / 9

The Big Barrel of Wine / 17

The Little Avraham / 25

The Three Sacks of Gold / 29

The Return of Little Tzip Tzip / 37

Let’s Say Baruch Hashem / 43

The Hour of Fortune / 47

The Mystery of the Overturned Inkwell / 57

The Two Brothers / 63

Reb Yosef Mokir Shabbos / 71

This Is the Way I Wash My Hands / 79

The Strange Gift / 83

Hashem Is Good / 91

The Sound of the Shofar / 95

The Secret of the Empty Fireplace / 103

The Hidden Treasure / 109

A Peek at the Third Beis HaMikdash / 115

The Mystery of Dayeinu / 123

The Cup of Eliyahu HaNavi / 131

91

Hashem Is GoodHashem is good and all that He does is good.

Hashem, the one and only G-d who created the heav-ens and earth, is purely good, and nothing bad can come from Him.

The Talmud teaches us how Rabbi Akiva would so often say, “Kol Mah D’ovid Rachmono L’tav Ovid. All that Hashem does, He does for good.”

True, there are times when it is hard for us to under-stand and truly realize that everything Hashem does is good. Yet, sooner or later, we find out that it was for our own good.

The Talmud tells us of a strange but interesting story that happened to Rabbi Akiva as he was travel-ing on the road.

Whenever Rabbi Akiva would travel, he would take along three things: a donkey, a rooster, and a candle.

The donkey would carry all of his belongings. The rooster would wake him up in time to pray. And the candle was to give him light during the dark hours of the night so that he may pray and continue the study of Torah late into the night.

Uncle Yossi’s Big Book of Stories

92

The sun was about to set and Rabbi Akiva headed for a nearby town where he planned to stay over-night. But as he entered into the town, he couldn’t find anyone who would be kind enough to invite him into their house for the night. This meant, of course, that Rabbi Akiva would have to spend the night all alone in the forest.

Upon realizing this, Rabbi Akiva looked up to the heaven and said, “Kol Mah D’ovid Rachmono L’tav Ovid, all that Hashem does, He does for good.”

Upon saying this, Rabbi Akiva turned back and headed for the forest. By the time Rabbi Akiva returned to the forest, it was already very dark.

He selected a place off the road where he planned to spend the night. He took off the load which was tied on the back of the donkey, fed the donkey some food and set it to rest for the night. All was peaceful and quiet, as Rabbi Akiva lit the candle and with the light of its flickering flame, sat down to learn Torah.

All of a sudden, a very strong wind came and blew out the flame, leaving Rabbi Akiva in total dark-ness. Upon seeing this, Rabbi Akiva looked up to the heaven and said, “Kol Mah D’ovid Rachmono L’tav Ovid. All that Hashem does, He does for good.”

A few moments later, out of the forest came a hungry lion and ate up the donkey. And to top it all, along came a cat and ate up the rooster.

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Hashem Is Good

You probably can guess what Rabbi Akiva said to all this. That’s right, “Kol Mah D’ovid Rachmono L’tav Ovid. All that Hashem does, He does for good.”

The next morning, as Rabbi Akiva arrived in the nearby town, he found out that during the night, a band of wicked robbers came out of the forest and entered into the town where they robbed the people of all their belongings.

It was then that Rabbi Akiva realized how true it really was that all that Hashem does, He does for good, for if the people of town would have invited him to stay in their house for the night he, too, would have been robbed of all his belongings. He also realized that the wicked robbers would have surely noticed him in the forest by the flickering flame of the candle, and the sounds made by the donkey and rooster.

The Talmud teaches us this story so that we may learn an important lesson from it. We, too, must know that nothing happens by accident or chance, and that nothing happens without Hashem knowing it.

Yes, Hashem is truly good, and whatever He does, He does for good. And though at times it may be diffi-cult to realize right away how truly good are the ways of Hashem, sooner or later we find out that it was for our own good.

So remember, “Kol Mah D’ovid Rachmono L’tav Ovid, all that Hashem does, He does for good!”