וידעת עם לבבך כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו ה' אלקיך מיסרך (ח-ה)
MASHAL: Tom Watson Jr., was the son of IBM Corporation founder Thomas J. Watson, and served as it’s CEO between 1956-1971. He was a key figure in the information revolution and a legendary leader of the mammoth company.
IBM had survived the Great Depression. Gambling on a post-war boom, the Watson family maintained IBM’s employment levels by increasing inventories when there was little demand. Excess machinery and parts crowded basements and filled every nook-and-cranny of their warehouses. Not everyone loved this approach. Some of the board of directors began lobbying to remove Watson as IBM’s chief, due to this. He needed to sell the inventory.
At one point, a very large government bid approaching millions of dollars, was on the table, a deal the company needed very much. Unfortunately, the salesman failed. IBM lost the bid and the millions it stood to net from the deal.
The young executive was summoned to Mr. Watson’s office, fully expecting to be reprimanded and likely dismissed. As he entered the office, he expressed the obvious, “I suppose after all of my mistakes you will want to fire me,” he managed to blurt out before getting cut off.
“On the contrary,” the CEO exclaimed, “Young man, we have just spent a couple of million dollars educating you!”
NIMSHAL: The Ohr Hachayim Hakadosh explains that just like a father rebukes his son because he sees potential in him, so too, Hashem only “rebukes” those individuals He recognizes real potential in. Therefore, if a situation presents itself whereby a person feels like things are not going his way and he’s getting “the raw end of the deal,” he should realize that obviously Hashem sees potential in him. He is not just experiencing an act of suffering, but rather an educational lesson which he is meant to learn from!