Brachos
5
Rabbi Chiya bar Abba was ill. Rabbi Yochanan went to visit him.
He asked him, “Do you appreciate
Divine affliction?”
He responded, “I don’t want it or its
accompanying reward!”
“Then give me your hand,” said Rabbi
Yochanan. Rabbi Chiya gave him his hand
and he healed him.
Rava
taught in the name of Rav Sechora in the name of Rav Huna: Any person that the
Holy One blessed be He loves, He strikes with afflictions, as it says, “And the
one whom G-d loves, He struck with sickness.”
I might
think that one continues to be afflicted even if one does not accept the
afflictions lovingly. Therefore, the
verse continues, “If his soul accepts asham,” meaning, just like an asham
(guilt) sacrifice must be offered willingly, so too must afflictions be
accepted willingly.
And if
he accepts the afflictions, what is his reward? He will see offspring and merit
long days. Furthermore, he will remember his learning well, as the verse
concludes, “and the desire of Hashem will succeed in his hand.”
The
greatest question facing any religious person is the matter of theodicy: Why do
bad things happen to good people? How
could a good G-d allow the righteous to suffer?
No mortal human being has ever managed a satisfactory answer to this
question, despite many a lifetime of attempts to do so. Even Moses stood atop Mt. Sinai and pleaded
with G-d to elucidate His ways, but to no avail. “You shall see My back,”
replied the Almighty, “but My face you shall not see. For no man can see My face and live.” Human beings cannot fathom the ‘face’ of G-d
– we do not see the big picture and can never fully appreciate His ways.
Rava explains
that one reason that the righteous suffer is on account of their righteousness! The Holy One blessed be He afflicts those
whom He is particularly fond of. But that is illogical! If He loves you, why would He want you to
suffer?
Let us take
a step back and ask why we are here on Earth. Before you came down, your soul was enjoying
life up in Heaven, basking in the rays of the Shechina (Divine presence). One day, an angel entered and announced, ‘Who
wants to go down there?’ pointing to the physical world. And just like you’d done time and again, you
hid from his gaze, hoping he would pick some other poor soul to descend from
heavenly bliss. But one day, the time of
your mission arrived. And so down to
Earth you went.
Why were
you sent here? Each of us is here for
seventy, eighty, one hundred twenty years, and then we head back up to
Heaven. Is that not a futile exercise? If we are eventually going back to where we
came from, why bother coming down to begin with?
When Joseph
was in the Egyptian prison, he met a baker and a butler. Having successfully interpreted his dream of
redemption, Joseph asked the butler to remember him and help secure his freedom. After all, he’d been sent to jail for no reason. Our Sages teach that, as a result of his reliance
on mortal assistance and his lack of faith that G-d would redeem him, it was
decreed that he remain in jail a further two years. But where was his lack of faith? Surely it
did not make sense for him to sit around waiting for a miracle to happen – wasn’t it wise and responsible of him to ask
the butler to assist?
Rabbi Meir
Simcha of Dvinsk explains that Joseph’s lack of faith wasn’t at the moment of
his request, but over the preceding number of years. If Hashem had him incarcerated, it was most
certainly for a good reason. In this
case, explains Rabbi Meir Simcha, Joseph was placed in the royal prison so that
he could learn the mannerisms of royalty from the other prisoners. He was living in the dungeon alongside the ‘crème
de la creminals’ of Egypt! The Almighty had positioned him there, because he
was about to be elevated to the role of viceroy of Egypt. Had he not lived amongst cultured Egyptians,
he would not have succeeded in his new stage of life! Joseph’s failing was his assumption that he
was languishing in prison erroneously, when in fact G-d had placed him there as
an act of Divine love and care!
Every trial
and challenge Hashem sends our way, He does so to make us stronger, physically
and spiritually, both in this world, and in the next. Sometimes we appreciate His love
sooner, and recognize, like Joseph, that we were being prepared for a moment of greatness. And sometimes we are not given the opportunity to comprehend His ways, during our
mortal lifetimes on Earth. The challenge is to maintain our faith in His love,
despite all the suffering we endure.
When we do that, we become better, stronger human beings and spiritual
beings.
Heaven is
not a single destination. There are infinite
levels of Heaven. True, after 120, you’re heading back up to Heaven. But hopefully you’re ascending to a much
better, more elevated place than you began.
The more challenges we are able to endure during our lifetimes here on
Earth – never ceasing to believe that Hashem is in control and loves us – the higher
the level of Heaven we’ll gain entry to.
It’s really
difficult to maintain your faith when pain and suffering come your way. Whether it’s health issues, financial
difficulties, or relationship woes, sometimes life’s travails are just too much
to bear. When life’s not treating you
right, you wonder where G-d has disappeared to.
Has he forgotten you? You don’t
deserve these problems! You didn't do anything wrong!
Always remind
yourself that Hashem never forgets His children. He hasn't forgotten you. He's not punishing you. As impossible a pill as it may be to swallow, trusting Hashem means believing the hardships are because He loves you so much. It's precisely because you did nothing wrong that this is happening to you. Any time he sends problems your way, it’s in
order to strengthen your soul-power.
When you maintain your faith in Heaven through all the challenges, your character
matures and your soul is elevated.
Nobody goes
looking for a life of suffering. But
when challenges do appear, know that the Almighty has chosen you for strength
and power. No human being is able to
withstand every challenge of life. But
our Father in Heaven has place His hand on your shoulder and promised to walk
with you through the storm. May you
maintain your faith in Heaven and grow ever stronger and more powerful!
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