Accepting Suffering with Love: Benefits and Consolations for the World to Come

Ideally, a person should not ask for suffering, but once it arrives, one should accept it with love, knowing that it is for their benefit.

Our Sages said (Pesikta Ch. 47): "Blessed is the person whom suffering has touched, who suppressed his compassion and anger, and did not question the measure of judgment"!

A parable about a Jew who rented an apartment from a nobleman for three hundred rubles per year. The Jew would transfer the rent to the nobleman on a fixed date every year. One day, the nobleman traveled to a distant country, and before departing, he appointed one of his clerks to be responsible for his property. This clerk was an antisemite, and when the opportunity to harass the Jew came to him, he didn't hesitate to do so. Immediately after being put in charge of the property, he informed the tenant that the rent had been raised to five hundred rubles per year. When the time for payment arrived, he sent for the Jew early in the morning and demanded full payment. The Jew had only four hundred and eighty rubles at the time, so he asked the clerk to wait a few days until he could complete the amount. The clerk, who was, as mentioned, a wicked man, demanded that the entire payment be made that day! When evening came and the Jew could not find the missing twenty rubles, the villain ordered him to be given twenty severe and faithful lashes—one lash for each ruble! Indeed, the Jew was severely beaten and returned to his home groaning and bruised.

When the nobleman returned home, the Jew told his wife: I am going to the nobleman to tell him about the clerk's actions! The nobleman heard the matter and was very angry. He also had compassion for the Jew, whom he cherished and valued greatly. The nobleman said to the Jew: I hereby inform you that for each lash the clerk gave you, he will be required to pay you one hundred rubles! In total, you are owed two thousand rubles from him. And since the clerk recently acquired a courtyard worth four thousand rubles, I am providing you with a deed confirming that half of the courtyard belongs to you from this day forward!

When the Jew returned home, his wife saw that his face was downcast and angry. When she asked him what the nobleman had said to him, he showed her the deed he had received for half of the clerk's courtyard. "Why then is your face fallen?" asked his wife, "On the contrary, you should rejoice in the precious gift you received?" Her husband replied: "The pain of the blows that the clerk gave me I no longer feel today, so it would have been better if he had beaten me forty lashes then, and I would now own the entire courtyard. That's why my heart is sorrowful..."

The Chofetz Chaim told this parable in the name of the preacher, and explained: This is how it is regarding a person's suffering in this world. When suffering comes upon a person, they are greatly distressed and do not want to endure it, but when they come to the world of recompense and receive much reward there for every hour of suffering in this world, then they will rejoice and exult over every pain and ache that was their lot.

"Remember the days of old" - Moses said to Israel:

"Whenever Hashem brings suffering upon you, remember how many benefits and consolations He will give you in the World to Come"!

(Sifri Haazinu)

Seven Healing Remedies

The "Shevet Musar" (in his book Maase Eliyahu 1) wrote a story: There was a wise doctor whom the king became angry with and commanded his servants to put him in prison in a place as narrow as a grave, chain him with copper shackles, and place an iron yoke on his neck. He ordered that they strip off his clothes and dress him in rough wool, and commanded to give him his daily food - barley bread, a handful of salt, and a jug of water. The king commanded those appointed over him in prison to listen to his words and tell the king, for he was a great sage and did not speak anything except with wisdom.

He sat many days in prison and did not speak at all, but sat in silence. After some time, the king ordered the sage's relatives and acquaintances to visit him in prison and speak with him, hoping he might speak in their presence. They entered and said to him: "Our master, we see your soul's distress in this prison where you are bound, with these chains on your neck and the copper shackles on your feet, and you are hungry, thirsty, and naked, and all these afflictions have surrounded you, and we are amazed how your radiant face has not changed, and how your flesh has not wasted away, and how your strength has not failed?!" He told them: "I took for myself seven healing remedies, mixed them together, made a potion from them, and I drink a little from it every day, and this is what has kept up my strength and my face has not changed." They said to him: "Tell us about these ingredients, so if one of us ever faces such severe sufferings, we can make a potion so we don't die." He said to them: "The first remedy - trust in Hashem, that He, blessed be He, can save us from many and evil troubles and will save me from these and from the king's hand, for 'The heart of a king is in the hand of Hashem; He directs it wherever He pleases.' The second remedy - hope and expectation, which are lofty virtues for anyone surrounded by suffering, so they don't perish in their distress. The third remedy - I knew that my sin caused this, and I was caught in my iniquity, and I was the cause. Since this is so, why should I complain and why should I protest?! As it is said: 'Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God,' and our Sages said: 'There is no suffering without sin.' The fourth remedy - if I don't hope, what can I do?! Do I have anything in my power to do?! If it is the king's decree upon me to die - I will die before my time. The fifth remedy - I knew that for my benefit Hashem disciplines me, to cleanse me of my sins in this world, so that I may merit the life of the World to Come, as it is said: 'Blessed is the man whom You discipline, O Lord,' therefore I rejoice in these reprimands, and in the joy that I rejoice, I bring goodness to myself and to the world, for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: 'Anyone who rejoices in the sufferings that come upon him brings salvation to the world.' The sixth remedy - that I am happy with my portion and give thanks and praise for it, because I could be in worse troubles than these: if I am afflicted with iron chains - it could be worse, they could be beating me with whips or other torments. If my food is barley bread - it's possible they would not give me bread at all, neither wheat nor barley. And if my water is measured - it's possible they would not give me water at all. If my clothing is rough wool - it's possible they would leave me naked. The seventh remedy - I knew that the salvation of Hashem comes in the blink of an eye, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in kindness and truth, and He relents from evil. And He, blessed be He, will bring me out of my distress and heal my pain, therefore I endure everything with joy." And when these words were reported to the king, he released him from prison and elevated him above all the ministers who were with him.

The "Shevet Musar" concludes: What we learn from here is that whoever accepts with love whatever trouble and mishap comes upon him is found to always trust in Hashem, and it is as if he is performing a commandment without ceasing, because as long as he stands in trust, he is performing a commandment, and the merit of the commandment saves him. Also, by remaining joyful and trusting, he elevates and exalts the star of his destiny, and since he does not protest against his fate, his salvation is near. Therefore, everyone who fears God should accept Hashem's discipline with a pleasant countenance, for they are an atonement to merit him in the enduring world, and he should trust in his Creator who will choose what is good for him, for He is the Chooser, and on Him, blessed be He, he should cast his burden, and trust in Him at all times, and it is said (Psalms 31:25): "Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in Hashem"!