Halacha Corner: Why Do We Experience Hardships?

We cannot always know why hardships come, and we cannot make heavenly calculations. But our sages taught (Berachot 5a) that if a person sees that suffering comes upon him, he should examine his deeds. Most hardships come because of a person's transgressions. Since most troubles and hardships that come upon a person generally stem from one of three causes, as detailed below.

Atonement for Sins: When a person sins before Hashem, sometimes punishment comes upon him in this world, either because Hashem spares him from being punished in the eternal world to come, where punishments are more severe, or because Heaven wants to hint to him to return in repentance before Hashem, so that he will return to Hashem who will have mercy on him. For Hashem does not desire the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. These hardships include those that come upon a person due to transgressions that his soul committed in previous incarnations.

Testing: Sometimes Hashem wants to test a person which presents itself in the form of suffering. Just as Hashem tested Job with severe hardships to see if he would remain steadfast in his love for Hashem, or whether he would, God forbid, speak against Hashem's providence in His world, if a person withstands the test that comes to him, the hardships will depart from him, and great good will come to him, both in this world and in the world to come.

The Folly of Man Perverts His Way: The most common reason for suffering, especially in recent generations, and one that is most likely to lead a person away from the path of Torah and fear of Heaven, is hardships that come upon a person due to mistakes he makes in his dealings with himself and with others. This includes, for example, a person who quarrels with his wife every day when he comes home, who cannot later claim to Hashem that He gave him a bad wife who doesn't love him, since he himself caused all this trouble by fighting with her every day until she cannot stand to be in his presence. Similarly, a person who mismanages his financial affairs until he loses all his assets, cannot claim that Hashem decreed poverty upon him, since he brought poverty upon himself.

The best remedy to be saved from hardships is the study of Torah and fear of Heaven, and accepting commandments with precision and a whole heart. For anyone who accepts the yoke of Torah, the yoke of worldly concerns and suffering is removed from him, and he will return to Hashem. and he will merit to be saved from hardships. He will rejoice in everything that Hashem brings upon him until the day of his death, when he will come before the heavenly court with great honor, for he merited to overcome troubles and rise above the distractions and calculations of mankind. He has risen and been elevated to a very high level. Those who act with love and rejoice in their hardships, about them Scripture says: "Those who love Him are like the sun rising in its might."

Rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef courtesy of the "Daily Halacha" website