One of the great Gedolei HaDor (great sages of the generation) today is Shmuel Kamenetsky. He runs one of the premier yeshivot in America, Philadelphia Yeshiva. He’s been a Rosh Yeshiva for like over 70 years.
Recently, someone was in his house. The rabbi had lost his wife a few years ago, and someone said, “Rabbi, I want to take over the rabbi’s stuff, the rabbi’s finances. The rabbi’s also on in years and not so well. I’m going to take care of the rabbi’s books and so on.”
So the man’s working through the mail, and in the mail he sees a receipt from a donation to Philadelphia Yeshiva. He says, “I want to say, Rabbi, why are you receiving a receipt?” He goes to Rav Shmuel. He says, “Why are you getting a receipt?” He says, “I’ll tell you what. When I started the yeshiva 70 years ago, my father, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, the Gadol HaDor, told me. He says, ‘You know, you’re starting a yeshiva,’ and maybe he himself or Shmuel himself said, ‘I’m starting a yeshiva. I don’t want it to be about me.’ So Rabbi Yaakov said, ‘You want to know how you make it not be about you? Every month, give your yeshiva a donation, so it’s like you’re an outsider, like everybody else. You’re supporting Torah. Does someone else give your yeshiva a donation? Even though this is your yeshiva, normally, traditionally, if you run the yeshiva, you don’t give a donation. This is your yeshiva. Give your yeshiva a donation.’”
So for the past 70 years, every single month, Shmuel Kamenetsky gives a donation to his own yeshiva.
“I’m not here to be a Rosh Yeshiva. I’m not here to stand on top of the pile. I’m here because I’m ready to serve.”
So yes, we have many tests. But every now and then, someone hits a test that they can’t explain, and they can’t see: How could this be good? How could this work out? Most tests, you could see it: if this and that and that happens, this might work out. I lost a job. I’ll get a better one. Okay, I didn’t have a child today. I have a child tomorrow. I could see where it’s going. And then there are tests where you can’t see where it’s going. And for that test, Abraham performed, because this far and away stands alone, because there’s no way to explain it, there’s no way to give logic to it, there’s no way for the human mind to be able to accept it.
But in this incredible test, Avraham Avinu taught us how to deal with whatever cloud we’re in. Whatever test doesn’t make sense to you. Whatever moment in your life you can’t explain, you simply do what every great Jew has done from Abraham till today. You stand up and you say, “In this cloud, I can see you.”