How can we know that we have chosen good?
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Question
I often hesitate about what is the right thing to do. How can I know that I have truly chosen correctly?
Answer
Shalom Rav,
The Creator of the world made it in such a way that we do not have an exact tool to know this. Even Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, despite being a great tzaddik, did not know at the time of his death whether he had indeed succeeded in choosing good, and he feared which path he would be led.
In Psalms, we find many requests of King David, who prays to Hashem to know how to choose the right path, such as (Psalms 86:11): 'Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth.'
However, there is a wonderful sign given to us by the Gaon of Vilna: when a person performs an action that he has no desire to do, and he needs to exert effort to do it, it is a sign that it is from the good inclination, and the evil inclination is trying to resist. However, when a person is very enthusiastic and drawn to do something, there is a concern that it is from the evil inclination, and one must carefully examine whether it is truly the will of Hashem. The Gaon of Vilna explains the verse (Ruth 1:18): 'And she saw that she was determined to go with her, and she ceased speaking to her.' That is, initially, Naomi tried to dissuade Ruth from converting, fearing that she was doing it with improper intentions and was not serious about it, and this came from the evil inclination. However, when she noticed that Ruth had to exert effort to go with her, she understood that it came from the good inclination, and thus she stopped dissuading her from converting and accepted her into the people of Israel.
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