There was an older man in Russia who used to always say when something "good" happened "who says it is good" and when something bad would happen he would always say "who says that it is bad". This man was a wagon driver and he had one horse and that was the source of his livelihood. One day the horse ran away to the wilderness and the man was left without any means to make a livelihood. The people in the town heard about what happened and came to console the man on his loss. He responded to them, "who says it is bad". The horse ran off and met up with a group of wild horses but after a few hours the horse realized that there wasn't any food and he decided that he must turn back to the owner. The horse told the other horses that at "home" his owner gives him plenty of good food. Therefore his horse returned but not alone. Instead he brought along with him 5 other wild horses who all showed up at the owners home.

The townspeople were ecstatic that in fact it really ended up being good for the owner that his horse ran away. Now he has not only one horse but six. The owner responded to them though "who says it is good"?  The old man had his youngest son who was 18 who was still living at home with him. One day the young man decided he would take one of the "new" horses out for a ride. As the young man rode on the untrained horse the horse bucked him, sending the young man falling to the ground and breaking both of his legs.

The townspeople came to console the old man about the accident but once again he responded "who says that it is bad"? A few weeks later as the young man was laid up in bed with two broken legs, the Czar's army came into the town and inscripted all of the eligible boys. When they saw this young man with two broken legs they obviously left him alone. The other boys who were taken to the army were eventually killed in battle.

The commentators explain that the obligation that we read about this week to "judge" favorably means we should also "judge" so to speak the things that Hashem brings upon us in a favorable light. We sometimes think that something that happened is horrible but "who says it is bad"? We need to continue on with Faith in G-d.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath