The Hidden Gift of Suffering in Judaism: How Pain Purifies the Soul

While challenges can be deeply distressing, suffering in this world spares us from the strict judgment that takes place in Heaven after death. It prevents the soul from needing purification in the World to Come and instead merits it to enter directly into Gan Eden to delight in true eternal joy.

The Chofetz Chaim explains: “When a person passes away and the soul rises above, his merits and sins are weighed. Suffering tips the scale toward merit, for through suffering many sins are atoned for. The person remains righteous, and he rejoices and gives thanks to God for everything he endured.” (Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaKohen of Radin, Chomot HaDat).

It is told that the Vilna Gaon once gave a long lecture to his students about Gan Eden and Gehinnom. One of the students became so frightened by the punishments of Gehinnom that he fell ill. The Gaon went to visit him and reassured him: “Everything I said about Gan Eden and Gehinnom is true. However, I forgot to mention that suffering in this world atones for many sins.”

Yitzchak our forefather asked for suffering, to be spared from judgment in the World to Come. The Chofetz Chaim in Shem Olam writes: “The Midrash teaches that Yitzchak, who knew well how dreadful divine judgment is in the future, requested suffering. God replied: ‘By your life, you have asked for something good, and I will begin with you,’ as it is said: ‘And it came to pass when Isaac was old, his eyes grew dim so that he could not see’ (Genesis 27:1).”
Yitzchak knew the weight of the judgment above, and he therefore requested suffering, and his request was accepted. (Of course, only a tzaddik like Yitzchak could make such a request, knowing he could withstand it.)

The Chofetz Chaim added: “I heard from a faithful elder, who heard from Rabbi Yaakov Moshe, who in turn said in the name of the Vilna Gaon: Were it not for suffering, we would have no standing in the World to Come.”

A Vision of Judgment

Rabbi Shabtai Yudelevitz told the following story: 

There was once a man constantly beset with illness, financial hardship, and misfortune. Worn down, he decided to seek guidance from Rabbi Shalom Sharabi, the saintly kabbalist. When he arrived, he was told to wait until the Rabbi was available. Exhausted, he sat down and fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream he saw himself walking along a desolate path in Heaven. Suddenly, great chariots filled with shining white angels raced past him, followed by many more chariots of angels — some radiant and mighty, others frail and small. Then came an endless line of terrifying black angels.

Curious, he followed until he reached a vast square where all the chariots had stopped. At the center stood enormous scales of judgment. He was told that the white angels are born from a person’s mitzvot, the black from his sins. A complete mitzvah creates a large, strong angel, while a mitzvah done incompletely produces a weak, imperfect one. The same applies to sins: deliberate sins create heavy, imposing black angels, while sins committed unintentionally create weaker ones.

When he asked whose judgment was being held, he was horrified to learn that it was his own. He saw the scales tipping toward the black angels, his sins outweighing his mitzvot. Terrified, he heard a heavenly herald cry out: “Are there any angels left?” The answer came: “No!” Then the herald asked: “Did this man suffer in his lifetime? If so, let his suffering be added to the side of merit.”

Immediately, a massive chariot of angels appeared, created from his earthly suffering. With each one added, black angels were removed from the scale. The balance began to shift, but still tilted slightly toward the side of sin. Seeing this, the man cried out in desperation: “Give me more suffering!”

With that cry he awoke. Shaken, he told the Rabbi’s household: “I no longer need to speak with the Rav. I have received my answer from Heaven.” (Yalkut Lekach Tov, p. 251)

The Value of Suffering

We learn to be grateful for the suffering that spares us Gehinnom and grants us Gan Eden. “For there is no righteous man on earth who does only good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). If suffering atones and brings eternal life, then suffering is for our good. Better to endure pain in this world than the far harsher pains of the next.

The wicked, however, who prosper without suffering, should worry. The Torah says: “He repays His enemies to their face, to destroy them” (Deuteronomy 7:10). Rashi explains: God repays the wicked in this life for any good they did, so they will be erased from the World to Come.

In the Talmud (Yevamot 105b) we read that after a sage named Avdan was punished harshly for a small sin, Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: “Blessed is God, who embarrassed Avdan in this world” — meaning, better to suffer here than in eternity.

A Final Story

Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky told of a man suffering terribly on his deathbed, hooked up to machines keeping him alive. Seeing his agony, the doctor — deciding there was no hope, disconnected the machines. Soon after, the man died.

Days later, the deceased appeared to the doctor in a dream:
“I was meant to live four more days, to endure suffering that would purify me completely. Then I would have entered Gan Eden clean and free. You shortened my suffering, and now I must endure a much harsher purification in Gehinnom for the sins left unatoned. You took from me my greatest gift.”

The doctor awoke in terror from the dream, and repented fully. (Lishchno Tidreshu, Vol. 1)

If we understand how suffering benefits us by atoning for sins and granting us eternal closeness to God, we will bear it with greater strength.

Suffering that cleanses sin is “Suffering of Love”, for it draws us nearer to God. “Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov said: As long as a person lives in ease, none of his sins are atoned for. Through suffering, he finds favor before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written: ‘For whom the Lord loves, He chastises’” (Sifri, Devarim, Va’etchanan 6:5).