Understanding God’s Mercy: How Judaism Explains Compassion and Human Suffering

In our world, unfortunately there are cruel people who show no compassion toward others. Even animals do not have mercy on their own kind (a cat, for example, feels no pity for another cat struck on the road). Mercy is something unique that was placed in the human heart by God Himself. He is the Father of all mercy, and all compassion flows only from Him. He gave an extra measure of mercy to the Jewish people. In the language of the Sages He is referred to as Rachmana — the Compassionate One, and the Torah describes Him as “slow to anger and abundant in kindness.” Likewise, Israel is described as being naturally “modest, compassionate, and kind.”

From this we learn that God must surely be far more compassionate than us, since He is the very source of mercy, and it is only through Him that we are able to feel compassion at all.

Any harshness or cruelty a person may mistakenly ascribe to God stems only from not understanding His ways. This world is hidden and incomplete; it is but a fragment of many lifetimes and cycles, the beginning and end of which we cannot see. When we arrive in the World to Come, the world of souls, and perceive the true reality, we will understand that God is indeed infinitely merciful and kind, beyond anything we could imagine.

God is the Giver of the Torah, about which it is written: “Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace.” It is the Torah that taught us “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “Do not put a stumbling block before the blind,” “Do not go about as a talebearer,” “Do not covet,” “Love the stranger,” and so on. All of our morality and compassion come only from Him.

Of course, no one would suspect that the holy Torah belittles those with disabilities, God forbid, since God Himself is the source of all love and compassion and surely loves and cares for all His creatures.

A passage in the Zohar

Still, some have struggled with a difficult passage in the Zohar (Parshat Emor 90a). There it tells of Rabbi Elazar, who was sitting in his father-in-law’s chamber seeking advice. A man with a defect in one eye passed by, and the father-in-law suggested consulting him. Rabbi Elazar declined, saying the man was blemished and therefore untrustworthy. The Zohar links this to the verse, “Any man who has a blemish shall not approach [the altar],” as if to say that holiness does not rest in a place of blemish. This teaching was even cited in Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 53:8).

We must understand that such passages in the Zohar deliberately conceal secrets and are rarely meant to be taken literally. To understand the Zohar requires a received tradition and guidance from scholars well-versed in the wisdom of Kabbalah. These words cannot be explained in a simple, surface way. This particular story is rare and very difficult, and even the commentaries found it puzzling, since it has no parallel in the Talmud, and we know that some Amoraim themselves were blind.

For example, the holy Rebbe of Munkacs, author of Minchat Elazar, openly admitted in his work Divrei Torah that he could not understand this passage in the Zohar at all, since throughout the generations there were many righteous individuals with physical disabilities [who were disqualified from Temple service as priests], and yet holiness most certainly rested upon them.

Indeed, the Torah itself tells us that Isaac our forefather lost his eyesight, Jacob limped on his leg, and even Moses, the greatest of prophets, was “heavy of speech.” Among the Sages, Rav Sheshet was completely blind, as was Rav Yosef, and yet they were towering scholars of the Talmud. Clearly, the Divine Presence rested upon them, for they were among the greatest of our nation.

It is therefore beyond doubt that a person with a disability can be righteous and have God’s Presence dwell with him. The Sages even said that a mamzer (a child born from a forbidden union) can become a great Torah scholar. Indeed, some blind rabbis merited prophecy and Divine inspiration.

Many rabbis through the centuries tried to explain the difficulty in the Zohar and offered different interpretations, but they all agreed that people with disabilities can absolutely attain holiness. On this, there is no dispute.

In my own humble opinion, Rabbi Elazar was speaking with Divine insight about that specific blind man, whose defect came as the result of a spiritual debt from a previous lifetime. It may be that this blemish was given to him in order to correct a past transgression, and Rabbi Elazar knew that he had not yet completed that rectification, so holiness did not rest upon him. Thus, he applied the verse “Any man who has a blemish shall not approach” as proof for this individual case. But this does not apply to all who are blind or disabled. After all, as we saw, even the forefathers and prophets had physical impairments, and there is no doubt about their holiness.

When we encounter difficult texts, we must not jump to harsh conclusions. Instead, we should remember the teaching of the Sages: “Judge every person favorably.” How much more so should we apply this principle to our own sacred tradition, which is rooted in mercy and compassion, from the Master of Mercy Himself, who taught us to show kindness to the downtrodden and the suffering. From Him we learned compassion.