Spiritual Reflection, May 2024

Gam Zu L’Tova

Last year, Roz Kinzer and I started the first Yachad BeYeshua Women’s Group. It has been a great gift to those of us in the group, and recently we’ve been discussing the Hasidic concept of “gam zu l’tovah”—“this is also for the good.” The term was coined by Nachum Ish Gamzu, an early second century Mishnaic sage, the teacher of Rabbi Akiva. He suffered great poverty and illness, yet always remained joyous.

Especially in the dark and uncertain times in which we are living, this notion has challenged me to trust God more fully with all things and not to overestimate the validity of my own limited perspective. For me, it brings to mind Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

In our small group, we have discussed how the “gam zu” perspective is not a license to call evil good, nor is it an excuse to be passive and surrender our own sense of agency and influence. Rather, it nudges us toward a greater trust that God is indeed at work in our lives and our world—that God’s name is “the Good,” as we pray during the Amidah.

As I seek to trust God more fully, I also find myself praying often the Shalom Rav blessing: “Grant great peace to Your people Israel forever, for You are the sovereign Lord of all peace; and may it be good in Your eyes to bless Your people Israel at every time, at every hour, with Your peace.”

May we see and experience more deeply the peace of Messiah as we trust ever more fully in God’s goodness.

Jen Rosner