Why Does the Chosen People Suffer More Than Anyone?

How can it be that the people chosen by Hashem as His treasured people receive more blows than any other people in history?

This is a question that Jews have asked throughout the ages. When Hashem appeared to the judge Gideon, he asked, "And Gideon said to Him, 'Please, my lord, if Hashem is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders, which our fathers told us about, saying, didn't Hashem bring us up from Egypt? And now Hashem has abandoned us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.'" Hashem replied, "Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian." So too, at the end of days, Hashem will reveal Himself to the Messiah of Israel, bringing us the redemption from all the years of exile and servitude that our nation has endured, and then Israel will enjoy success, contentment, and peace.

But why does Hashem make things harder for Israel than for all other nations?

The Torah teaches us that Hashem loves us as a father loves his children: "You are children to Hashem, your God" (Deuteronomy 14:1), and it is also said that we are the chosen people among all the nations: "Hashem your God has chosen you to be His treasured people from all the peoples on the face of the earth. It is not because you are more numerous than all the peoples that Hashem desired you and chose you, for you are the fewest of all peoples" (Deuteronomy 4:4), "For you are a holy people to Hashem, your God" (Deuteronomy 4:4).

Why then does Hashem bring so many sufferings upon His chosen people?

The holy Torah also answers this:

"Every commandment that I command you today, you shall be careful to observe, so that you may live... and you shall remember all the way which Hashem, your God, has led you these forty years in the wilderness... to let you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of Hashem man lives... and you shall know in your heart that as a man chastises his son, Hashem, your God, chastises you. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of Hashem, your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him, for Hashem, your God, is bringing you to a good land" (Deuteronomy Chapter 8). The Torah describes the sufferings of the Jewish people as trials of love, stemming from the desire of a father to correct his children and lead them to a good path, which will bring them great goodness. Thus, Hashem chastises the Jewish people with the intention of correcting their souls in every generation, whether in this life or in previous reincarnations, to bring them to the highest place in the world to come, the place reserved for the children of Israel in the Garden of Eden. As the sages said: "All of Israel has a portion in the world to come" (Sanhedrin 10). In order to achieve such a great eternal goal, sins must be corrected, and souls must be elevated to the level they deserve, which is why Hashem scrutinizes us more than all other nations. Just as a surgeon repairs the body, so does Hashem repair the souls.

Our sages gave an analogy for this: Imagine two patients, one dying and facing death, and the other destined to survive and live. The doctor treating both tells the first patient, who is dying, that he can eat and drink whatever he wants, and does not give him shots or bitter medicine, nor causes him any pain. However, with the patient who is destined to survive, the doctor forbids many foods, requires them to take bitter medicine, receive injections, and undergo surgery and suffering. This patient asks the doctor, "Why are you treating me unjustly and showing more mercy to the first patient?" The doctor replies, of course, that the first patient is going to die no matter what, so there is no point in subjecting him to procedures and restrictions for his recovery, because there is no cure for his condition, while the other patient is going to live, and thus we repair his body. For the same reason exactly, a father disciplines his son, but would not try to educate the neighbor's children.

This world is a temporary world, before entering the next world, which is the true world. In this world, Hashem sometimes acts as a surgeon who must heal the souls and correct their sins from previous incarnations. For His Jewish children, who are destined to live eternal lives in the Garden of Eden at the highest level possible, Hashem cares diligently, but for the gentiles who are not close to Hashem, He is not so particular in correcting them.

Nonetheless, we must remember that just as a father never stops loving his son, even when the son sins and rebels, so Hashem does not forsake His chosen people, even when we sin and fall. As the Torah says: "Then this people will rise up and stray after the foreign gods of the land, where they are going to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them... Yet in spite of all this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor abhor them to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am Hashem, their God" (Deuteronomy 31). For this reason, Israel has survived all persecutions in the world, and although we are the most persecuted and dispersed people in the world, miraculously, we are also the most enduring. It is a fact that even the greatest empires in history tried and failed to destroy us: Egypt, Amalek, Persia, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Nazi Germany, and today, Arab nations seeking our destruction. In the Passover Haggadah, we read every year that "in every generation, they stand against us to annihilate us, but Hashem saves us from their hand." None have succeeded and none will succeed in destroying the people of Hashem, because despite our sins, Hashem guards us as a loving father who never gives up on the well-being of his beloved son.

And what would happen if Hashem did not cause the nations to hate us? By nature, Israel would have assimilated and disappeared among the many peoples throughout history. The hatred of the nations, as difficult as it is, actually preserved our Jewish identity and our holy Torah for 3300 years. We have been separated from all the nations, and thanks to this, we have managed to maintain the sanctity of our souls. Without this fact, it is likely that neither I nor you would be Jews today.

But we do not have to suffer.

In the "Ki Tavo" portion, the blessings and curses set upon Israel are described. If they rebel against Hashem, Heaven forbid, they will lose and suffer, but if they uphold the Torah, they will attain spiritual and material success more than any other nation on earth! Thus, the Torah has promised us (Leviticus 20:26) "And I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine" - Our sages explained in the Talmud that if you separate from them, you are Mine, but if not - you belong to Nebuchadnezzar and his followers (Rashi explained the verse this way too). As long as the Jewish nation cleaves to their God, even the great nations of the world will not be able to harm them, and they will succeed and enjoy more contentment than any other nations. But if the people of Israel try to resemble the gentiles, they will be given into their hands. There was a time not long in history when educated Jews wanted very much to resemble Germans, imitating them in speech, dress, and actions. Then, they became theirs, and the Germans meticulously sought them out to four generations back. If we only fulfill what the Torah says: "A people who dwells alone and is not reckoned among the nations" (Numbers 23:9), we will merit true salvation, and the blessings we receive will have no limit or measure. But it depends on us.

This is an eternal divine promise that if the people of Israel return to repentance and merit preserving the Torah, they will no longer see troubles, neither from enemies nor other difficulties, but will achieve wealth, success, and peace. Unfortunately, since the destruction of the Temple, the children of Israel have not merited repentance, and thus Hashem must continue to correct us in every generation until the advent of the redemption. With the coming of the Messiah, Israel will merit complete repentance, and then they will also enjoy all the blessings written in the Torah. We have a reason to strengthen ourselves in these days, to reinforce the people of Israel and hasten the redemption. Let us increase our prayers for the peace of Israel and its deliverance.