The Purpose of Suffering, Part 3

Sometimes, God brings suffering upon a righteous person as atonement for his entire generation. The Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto) writes in Derech Hashem (Part 2, Ch. 3): “It has been ordained that troubles and suffering may come upon a righteous person to atone for his generation. The righteous one is obligated to accept these sufferings with love, just as he would accept suffering that comes for his own sake. Through doing so, he brings merit to his generation and attains great spiritual elevation, becoming one of the foremost souls in the World to Come.”

Suffering for Future Good

“I thank You, O Lord, for You have afflicted me — for You have become my salvation.” (Tehillim 118:21)

At times, God sends suffering not as punishment, but as protection — to save a person from a greater misfortune, or to prepare him for future blessing.

The Talmud (Niddah 31a) illustrates this through a parable: Two merchants set out on a journey. On the way, one stepped on a thorn and injured his foot, cursing his bad luck for being delayed. Later, he learned that the ship his partner boarded had sunk. He then gave thanks to God, realizing that the pain had saved his life — “You were angry with me, but now You have comforted me.” (Yeshayahu 12:1)

Often, a small delay, inconvenience, or hardship spares a person from a far greater disaster — even when he never realizes it. “Even the one who experiences a miracle,” say the Sages, “may not recognize his own miracle.”

Hidden Goodness Behind Pain

The Ramchal (Da’at Tevunot 146) explains that even when the world appears abandoned, it is in fact guided with infinite wisdom and goodness: “The Creator never despises His handiwork, nor does He ever abandon the world. What appears to be concealment or neglect is, in truth, the unfolding of a hidden plan of goodness — designed to bring about the ultimate rectification of the world.”

He points to the story of Yaakov (Jacob) and Yosef (Joseph) as the perfect example. Yaakov's years of anguish over the loss of Yosef were not meaningless pain; they were the very path through which Yosef would rise to power in Egypt and later save his family from famine. When Yaakov exclaimed in sorrow, “Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man you had another brother?” (Bereishit 43:6), Heaven responded: “I am preparing your son to rule Egypt — and you call it evil?”

What seemed tragic was, in truth, the greatest good — but hidden beneath layers of divine planning. As Yosef himself later said to his brothers: “You meant evil against me, but God intended it for good — to bring about the saving of many lives.” (Bereishit 50:20)

The Tailor’s Parable

The Sha’ar Bat Rabim compares this divine process to a tailor cutting fine fabric. An onlooker might think the tailor is ruining a costly cloth, but the one who trusts the craftsman knows that only through precise cutting can a beautiful garment emerge.

So too, says the parable: When a person complains about God’s decrees, it is as though he snatches the scissors from the tailor and stops him mid-work — ending up with nothing but torn scraps. But one who trusts the process will one day wear the finished garment of beauty and blessing.

Every hardship — even one that seems cruel or senseless, is but a single cut in the divine fabric, shaping a greater design. What feels bitter today may, in time, reveal itself as the very act that saved, elevated, or prepared us.

As Yosef taught his brothers and as faith teaches us all: “You thought it was for harm — but God meant it for good.”