Would a World Without Pain Be Better? Part 2

Eliran asked: "Hello. Hashem created many beautiful things in the world, yet it's hard to understand some of them, like pain. Anyone who has broken a bone or sprained an ankle knows what I'm talking about. I genuinely want to understand why it has to be so painful. Thanks".

In the previous article, we explored the scientific perspective on pain—how it manifests in our brains—and learned about a rare genetic disease in Bedouins in the Negev called CIPA, which makes those afflicted unable to feel physical pain. At first glance, this might seem like a blessing, but it quickly reveals itself to be a curse. Those with this rare condition do not live long.

As infants, they bite their tongues and may easily choke; as they grow older, they might burn their throats by drinking boiling beverages, but they often risk their lives due to very small injuries that get infected.

Dr. Yaron Weisel, who treats patients with this condition, said in an interview: "I don't remember how many limbs I've had to amputate in recent years for these children." A mother of a child with CIPA shares: "I no longer count his birthdays; I count the months he hasn't spent in the hospital".

Life as a Learning Experience:

Fire is beautiful and dances, but a child who brings a finger close to it will immediately withdraw from the pain: Once burned, twice cautious.

This point is often overlooked: pain not only signals us to take care of ourselves but also teaches us to avoid dangers. Little children play and fall—the mild pain teaches them to avoid more dangerous actions that could harm their limbs and hurt them. The Creator has established a gradual process of learning and adapting to the external world, teaching us to recognize our limitations and cautioning us against potential dangers so that we may act rationally within our reality.

It's crucial to understand that physical pain isn't merely a red light flashing in our minds to signal injury (for that, a strange heat sensation or a special type of itch at the site of injury would suffice). Rather, the pain serves to educate us to maintain our health in the future—to acknowledge the value of life through the mental experience of pain, which makes us want to avoid further pain, and helps us understand the world isn't child's play.

This is why the color red is so prominent. It's no coincidence that the Creator decided that the color of blood would appear red to us, so we can quickly notice a visible injury and recognize its severity and react to it accordingly. I'm sure people would not be as cautious about injuries if blood were clear or blue, for example.

Hashem commanded in the holy Torah: "And you shall take great care of your lives" (Deuteronomy 4:15). The world aligns with the laws of the holy Torah because the Torah preceded the world.

You asked about intense pain in your question, but remember, during the breaking of a bone or injury to an internal organ, it is the intense pain that forces a person to cease all activity and seek immediate help without delay. The level of their cries alerts those around them to the level of danger to the affected organ. Yet, even in the slow healing process, the intense pain prevents a person from performing everyday activities that would exacerbate their condition and put them at risk. The physiotherapist knows how much pressure to apply and how fast the organ is recovering, based on the patient's ability to endure the pain.

In contrast, it's interesting to note that Hashem wisely created in the brain a special command to ignore pain during great danger, so severe injury does not incapacitate a person and prevent them from saving their own life or the lives of their loved ones. People in wartime or peril often managed to ignore serious injuries to their bodies and perform impossible acts to save others and themselves.

Additionally, Hashem also created in our world plants and substances from which pain-relieving drugs are made, allowing medicine to alleviate pain once the danger to life has been averted. Nothing in our lives is coincidental.

Painkillers and anesthetics affect the brain by disrupting normal cell activity, thereby preventing the production of the pain experience.

The main point hardly needs mentioning, as it is widely known: every injury, and even the mildest of sufferings, is given from Heaven as atonement for sins and personal corrections for the soul. Every case is unique. Our sages said: "To what extent are sufferings? Even having intended to mix a cup of wine with hot water and mistakenly mixing it with cold, or having intended to mix it with cold and mistakenly mixing it with hot, these are called sufferings... Even if one's clothes turned inside out when putting them on, and he had to turn them back again, these are sufferings... Even if one reaches into his pocket to withdraw three coins, and only finds two, these are sufferings" (Arachin 16b).

But aside from the correction, there is another significant message behind the pain—it's not just the message to maintain our health while we live, but the critical message to recognize the purpose of our existence.

I've encountered pampered individuals who were hardly exposed to pain, and perhaps for this reason, they aren't aware of the insignificance of materialism and the value of their inner selves. Material indulgence has led many in our generation to overvalue materialism, to the point they seek nothing more than their immediate satisfaction. In contrast, I've seen many people exposed to pain, sometimes extreme pain, which made them realize that this life isn't just meant for pleasure, and enjoyment isn't the purpose and main reason to live for. As the Ramchal wrote in the first chapter of "The Path of the Just":

"And you will see that no person of understanding could ever believe that the goal of man's creation is for his situation in this world, for what are the days of our life in this world? Or who is truly happy and at ease in this world? 'The days of our years among them are seventy years, and if by strength, eighty years, and their pride is but travail and trouble.' With various kinds of trouble and sickness and pains and worries, and after all that - death. Barely one in a thousand will find that the world provides him with plenty of enjoyment and true tranquility, and even so, if he reaches a hundred years, he will already have passed and vanished from the world".

Exposure to great pain can change one's perception of reality and attitude toward life. The attitude toward the body also changes when one understands it's just a weak, fragile, and temporary shell, which teaches a person to invest more in their spiritual and eternal inner self that isn't dependent on this body.

The most interesting and wise people I've met were those who knew pain. And there's a big question of whether they would have been such without the pain they experienced. This may sound somewhat harsh, but it is the hard truth: pain builds us, shapes us, and teaches us to value our spiritual role. Many Jews began their search for the meaning of life following pain, leading them to ask why we live, and thus they were able to return to their Jewish roots. For others, the pain guided them to seek knowledge, develop character, invest in their inner selves, perform acts of kindness, and most importantly: invest in the study of Torah, which refines humanity.

Who knows if this isn't another explanation for the purpose of suffering in our lives—not just as punishment and correction for a previous existence, but also as a ladder of wisdom meant to uplift and elevate us to greatness, greatness we couldn't achieve in any other way. The Lord said in His Torah: "And you should know with your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so Hashem, your God, disciplines you" (Deuteronomy 8:5). If life is like school, it seems that after basic education, each soul turns to higher education that builds it according to its talents.

The sages said that in the world to come, we will give thanks not only for the pleasant gifts we received but also for the painful corrections that were intended for our benefit, as they said: "The world to come is not like this world. In this world, upon hearing good news, one says 'Blessed is He Who is good and bestows good,' and upon bad news, one says 'Blessed is the true judge.' In the world to come, one will always say: 'He Who is good and bestows good'" (Pesachim 50a).

The righteous, as is known, accept suffering with love even in this world, and even thank Hashem for it, with the belief that He does everything for their benefit. May we all attain this incredible level.