How to Accept Divine Judgment

‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!’

These words are spoken by mourners in the time of their greatest sorrow, after the passing of a close relative, as a declaration of faith that despite all the pain, they have no complaints against Hashem. Even at the darkest hour, a Jew knows how to accept divine judgment and receive Hashem’s decree with complete faith.

The first person to utter these words was Job. Job was a very righteous man, “a God-fearing man who turned away from evil.” He was blessed with great wealth, as well as seven sons and three daughters, and he always praised Hashem and thanked Him for his wealth and good fortune.

Then, one day, Hashem challenged him with an immense test. In a single day, Job lost all his sons and daughters, and all his possessions. A series of people came to inform him of one tragedy after another until the entire picture became clear.

“Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground, and worshipped. He said, ‘Naked I emerged from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’”

The Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin ch. 6) relates how one of the children of Rabbi Abahu passed away.

“His students, Rabbi Yonah and Rabbi Yomi, came to comfort him, but out of respect and awe for him, they did not speak. He said to them: ‘Let the sages say some words of Torah.’ They replied: ‘Let our master speak.’ Rabbi Abahu told them: ‘After judges sentence a person to death and execute him, the relatives of the executed must, a short while later, come to the court and inquire after the welfare of the judges and witnesses, “to show that we have nothing against you in our hearts, for you pronounced a true judgment.” And if this is the law in a lower court, how much more so when this concerns the heavenly authority of Hashem, in Whom there is no falsehood or deceit, no deception or favoritism or bribery ... how much more are we obligated to accept upon ourselves the measure of judgment!’”

Accepting divine judgment involves absolute certainty that Hashem is “a God of faithfulness Who does no injustice; just and correct is He,” even though we, as flawed human beings, cannot possibly fathom His deeds. Just as a small child cannot understand why his father acts as he does, so too we as Hashem’s creations cannot understand why Hashem rules as He does. “For as the heavens are above the earth, so are My ways above your ways, and My thoughts are beyond your thoughts.”

Ibn Ezra writes: “’You are children of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves...’ in excessive mourning. Once we appreciate that we are Hashem’s children, and that He loves us more than a father loves his son, we will accept that whatever He does is for our good, even if we do not understand it, just as small children do not understand their father’s actions but nonetheless trust him. We are a holy people and not like all other nations. Therefore, we should not act as they do.”

Excerpt from a letter of condolence written by Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz to his bereaved sister-in-law:

Should a blind person complain to the person guiding him that he is not being led down a straight and level path? His guide can see [and knows why he takes the path he does; there is a reason for it that the blind person cannot perceive]. In comparison to Hashem, we are all like blind people, and Hashem is our guide who sees to the end of all generations. Why, then, should we cry and wail when someone dies?

And then, there were no more questions...

A student of the Ramban fell gravely ill, and the Ramban came to visit him. When he saw that the end was approaching, he said to his student: “Listen, my son, to what I am about to tell you. In the upper world there is a great hall where the thrones of judgment are located, and the Divine Presence can be found there. I am now giving you an amulet which will open all the gates of the Heavenly halls before you, until you reach this hall. There, you will ask several profound questions that I have regarding the Jewish people.”

The Ramban then gave his student the questions in writing along with the amulet and asked him to return to him in a dream after his passing and give him the answers he would hear there.

Not long afterward, the student passed away. One day, the Ramban was sitting by his window studying Torah, when suddenly, the image of his student appeared before him. The student said to him: “My teacher, everywhere I went I displayed the amulet and the gates opened before me, and I was given permission to ascend higher and higher, until I reached the hall you told me about. And when I wanted to ask the questions that my teacher and master had prepared for me, I immediately saw that all the questions do not exist in the world of truth, where everything is understood.” (Me'am Loez Shoftim, p. 81)