Do People Return to Faith Just Because of Hardship and Suffering?

Lior asks: "It appears to me that people return to faith only due to material suffering, illnesses, poverty, etc. So perhaps it's enough to just have good and comfortable lives?"

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Hello and blessings,

You'll find in Hidabroot plenty of testimonies from people who returned to faith despite being at the top, choosing to do so only after they found no satisfaction in material success, and their soul yearned for a spiritual answer.

Intellectuals, scientists, and thinkers have returned to faith, not because of difficulties and suffering, but out of desire for spiritual meaning in their lives that material things couldn't provide. Philosophers such as Dr. Daniel Shelit and Benny Levy returned to faith, as did Prof. Yirmiyahu Branover, Prof. Doron Aurbach, physicist lecturer Eric Noh, Prof. Gerald Schroeder, Haim Ziegler, and others who returned to faith.

Famous actors in Israeli society chose to return to faith, and they did so in search of truth and spirituality, not due to material lack. Among them, we can find the famous Rabbi Uri Zohar, as well as Shuli Rand, Evyatar Banai, Yehuda Barkan, Ika Zohar, Evyatar Lazar, Hanan Lederman, Doron Sheffer, and more.

Successful singers who returned to faith like Adi Ran, Gad Elbaz, Eti Ankeri, Evyatar Banai, Ariel Zilber, Haduva Levy, Yechiel Erez, Benny Elbaz, and others. Highly successful businessmen like Shlomo Kalish and Rami Feller who returned to faith.

Here, for example, is a filmed interview with a returnee named Avichai Cohen, who was a successful model. Recommended to watch:

https://www.hidabroot.org/he/video/64312

We see that even very successful and famous people, who have reached the pinnacle of material enjoyment in this world, did not find their happiness in it until they sought spirituality and found it in their Jewish identity.

There is a spiritual hunger in all human beings that cannot be satisfied by material things. We are different from animals, who can find all their happiness in this world. Humans strive for more, so no matter how many material pursuits we have in life, or how many times we achieve the material success we desire, we will always return to the starting point. We will never be truly happy until we satisfy the spiritual hunger within us.

Our sages compared this idea with a story about a farmer who married a princess, trying to please her by offering chickens, goats, and even the most expensive cattle, but nothing satisfied her, for she was a king's daughter and her heart yearned for royal matters. Likewise, the soul within us, because it originates from a higher and spiritual source, cannot be satisfied with any worldly pleasures. Only mitzvot and the sacred Torah can truly make it happy because they come from a higher source and can connect it to the Creator of the world.

Please search Google for the booklet "Critical Conversation" which describes the spiritual search through a logical approach, via a dialogue between a person and God.