“And Behold, It Was Very Good”: Seeing the Positive
At the very end of creation, just before the first Shabbat, G-d looked upon the world and saw that והנה טוב מאד – “Behold, it was very good” (Bereshit 1:31).
Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky noted that the word והנה (“behold”) is generally used in reference to something unexpected. For example, the Torah says that when Rivka gave birth, והנה תומים בבטנה – “behold, there were twins in her stomach” (Bereshit 25:24). Pregnant women expect to deliver just one baby, and the onlookers were surprised when two infants exited her womb. Another example is when Yosef was told that הנה אביך חולה – “behold, your father is ill” (Bereshit 48:1). Our Sages teach that people in ancient times did not become sick before passing on, and so Yaakov’s illness was something unexpected. Similarly, the phrase והנה טוב מאד suggests an element of surprise, or something counterintuitive. There are many aspects of creation that we would hardly consider “good” – such as death, disease, war, and man’s negative tendencies. However, at the end of the process of creation, just as the first Shabbat was about to begin, G-d announced הנה טוב מאד – as opposed to what we might at first think, the world is not just good, but “very good.”
The Hovot Ha’levavot (6:6) tells the famous story of a certain pious person who was walking with his students and passed by the carcass of a dog that emitted a strong stench. The students exclaimed, “This carcass is so smelly!”
The pious man then said to them, “Look how white the teeth are!” The students immediately learned the lesson, and regretted focusing on the negative rather than finding something positive to say.
The Hovot Ha’levavot noted that if this man was able to find something positive to say about a dead dog, then certainly we are capable of finding and focusing upon the positive aspects of all living people. And this was precisely the message the pious man wished to convey to his students – to accustom themselves to speak positively and see all that is positive about the world.
Rabbenu Yonah mentions this story in his Sha’areh Teshuvah (3:217), and writes:
כי דרך הישרים לכסות על כל פשעים ולשבח האדם כי נמצא בו דבר טוב
“For it is the way of the upright to overlook all the wrongdoing and to praise a person for the good qualities found in him.”
Rav Shimshon Pincus (Tiferet Shimshon, p. 157) added that this pious man was not just trying to convey a lesson. When he saw the carcass, his mind naturally focused on the white teeth. The concept of והנה טוב מאד, of always seeing the good, was so ingrained in him, that his first instinct upon seeing a rotting animal carcass was, “Look how white its teeth are!”
When Rav Povarsky, the Rosh Yeshivah of Ponevizh, eulogized Rav Eliyahu Dessler, he called him a חסיד (a pious man). He explained that the Hovot Ha’levavot, in telling this story, refers to the pious man as אחד מן החסידים (“one of the pious people”). Anyone who has this quality of looking for the positive aspects of every person and every situation is truly a חסיד, and therefore, Rav Dessler, who embodied this quality, should be considered a חסיד.
Rav Meir Hadash z”l, the mashgiah in Yeshivat Hevron, studied in the yeshiva at the time when it was led by the Alter (“Elder”) of Slobodka (Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel a”h). He told that one year, on Simhat Torah, a certain student in the yeshiva who was known for being unmotivated drank and became slightly inebriated. Feeling looser than usual, the student spoke of his spiritual ambitions and how much he would like to achieve in Torah and religious observance. Rav Hadash heard what the boy said, and later that day he went over to the Alter to excitedly tell him about how this young man truly desires to grow.
The Alter replied, “When we came to Eretz Yisrael, all the boys were uplifted and inspired – but I didn’t see any uplifting or inspiration in this student. Thanks to what you told me, I see that he, too, is uplifted and inspired.” He then added that he wished he had known about this earlier, as he would have honored this student with the privilege of holding the Sefer Torah during the hakafot. The Alter decided to conduct hakafot sheniyot – additional hakafot on the night after Simhat Torah, a practice he did not normally observe, so he could give this young man the honor of dancing with the Sefer Torah. Rav Meir Hadash showed the Alter this story told by the Hovot Ha’levavot, noting how he, too, was capable of seeing the goodness within each and every individual.
Rav Yehuda Mintzberg told that a certain great sage in Jerusalem became frail towards the end of his life and was forced to use a wheelchair. When his wheelchair was first brought to him and he was using it for the first time, he looked up to the heavens and said, “Thank you, Hashem. In my old age, when I am weak and my legs cannot carry me anymore, You provided me with this chair so I can get around!” At a moment when most people would become depressed, he saw the positive and felt joyful and appreciative. In any situation in life, a person can choose to see the “white teeth” instead of focusing on the negatives.
The Gemara comments in Masechet Shabbat (58a) that a “good guest” is a guest who looks at all the bread, wine, meat and desserts at the table and thinks to himself, “My host went through all this trouble for me!” By contrast, the Gemara then teaches, a “bad guest” is a guest who looks at how little he ate and drank in contrast to everything on the table, and thinks to himself, “What do I have to be grateful for? My host did all this for his wife and children.” The Rabbis teach us that we are all “guests” at G-d’s “table,” and we should be “good guests” by looking at all the beauty and goodness in the world and feeling grateful. Rather than complain or think that G-d really does not do too much for us, we should train ourselves to see all the positives and feel appreciative.
Rav Ades once attended a sheva berachot celebration, and he saw that a young man walked in and disliked the smell of the chopped liver. He commented on the liver’s unpleasant smell, and so none of the guests ate it, and it all went into the garbage. Rav Ades decided that from that time on, whenever he attended a sheva berachot, he will make a point of noting something beautiful and elegant– the rolls, the tablecloths, the glassware, etc. In order not to be influenced by that young man’s negativity, Rav Ades decided to go out of his way at every such event to observe the positive.
This should be our attitude at all times, but especially on Shabbat, when we end our workweek and step back to recognize all the blessings in our life. This is the time to make a special effort to look beyond the problems and hardships and see all that is good and beautiful about our lives and the world, and give praise and thanks to the Almighty for all He does.