Acceptance of Suffering

Greater is learning Torah than the priesthood and than royalty, for royalty is acquired by thirty stages, and the priesthood by twenty-four, but the Torah by forty-eight things. By study, Attentive listening, Proper speech, By an understanding heart, By an intelligent heart, By awe, By fear, By humility, By joy, By attending to the sages, By critical give and take with friends, By fine argumentation with disciples, By clear thinking, By study of Scripture, By study of mishnah, By a minimum of sleep, By a minimum of chatter, By a minimum of pleasure, By a minimum of frivolity, By a minimum of preoccupation with worldly matters, By long-suffering, By generosity, By faith in the sages, By acceptance of suffering. [Learning of Torah is also acquired by one] Who recognizes his place, Who rejoices in his portion, Who makes a fence about his words, Who takes no credit for himself, Who is loved, Who loves God, Who loves [his fellow] creatures, Who loves righteous ways, Who loves reproof, Who loves uprightness, Who keeps himself far from honors, Who does not let his heart become swelled on account of his learning, Who does not delight in giving legal decisions, Who shares in the bearing of a burden with his colleague, Who judges with the scales weighted in his favor, Who leads him on to truth, Who leads him on to peace, Who composes himself at his study, Who asks and answers, Who listens [to others], and [himself] adds [to his knowledge], Who learns in order to teach, Who learns in order to practice, Who makes his teacher wiser, Who is exact in what he has learned, And who says a thing in the name of him who said it. Thus you have learned: everyone who says a thing in the name of him who said it, brings deliverance into the world, as it is said: “And Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name” (Esther 2:22).

And if he did attribute his suffering to dereliction in the study of Torah, and did not find this to be so, he may be confident that these are afflictions of love, as it is stated: “For whom the Lord loves, He rebukes, as does a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:12).

So too, Rava said that Rav Seḥora said that Rav Huna said: Anyone in whom the Holy One, Blessed be He, delights, He oppresses him with suffering, as it is stated: “Yet in whom the Lord delights, He oppresses him with disease; to see if his soul would offer itself in guilt, that he might see his children, lengthen his days, and that the desire of the Lord might prosper by his hand” (Isaiah 53:10). This verse illustrates that in whomever God delights, he afflicts with illness.

I might have thought that God delights in him even if he does not accept his suffering with love. Therefore the verse teaches: “If his soul would offer itself in guilt.” Just as a guilt-offering is brought knowingly, as it is one of the sacrifices offered willingly, without coercion, so too his suffering must be accepted knowingly.

But the LORD chose to crush him by disease, That, if he made himself an offering for guilt, He might see offspring and have long life, And that through him the LORD’s purpose might prosper.

And if one accepts that suffering with love, what is his reward? As the second part of the verse states: “That he might see his children, lengthen his days.” Moreover, in addition to these earthly rewards, his Torah study will endure and his Torah study will be successful, as it is stated: “The purpose of the Lord,” the Torah, the revelation of God’s will, “might prosper by his hand.”

With regard to the acceptance of affliction with love and what exactly this entails, Rabbi Ya’akov bar Idi and Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina disagree. One of them said: Afflictions of love are any that do not cause dereliction in the study of Torah, i.e., any which do not afflict his body to the extent that he is unable to study Torah, as it is stated: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, and teach from Your Torah.” Afflictions of love are when You “teach from Your Torah.”

And one said: Afflictions of love are any that do not cause dereliction in the recitation of prayer, as it is stated: “Blessed is God Who did not turn away my prayer” (Psalms 66:20). Despite his suffering, the afflicted is still capable of praying to God.

4. Certainly, at the moment of self-transcendence—that state in which one becomes totally absorbed in the ultimate goal, which is entirely good, entirely one—the suffering is genuinely nullified, as mentioned above. However it is impossible to always remain <on the same spiritual level>, in a permanent state of self-transcendence, since that would entail going beyond the bounds of the human experience. Self-transcendence must therefore be in the aspect of running and returning.

Thus when the conscious mind returns from the state of self-transcendence to the brain, which is the seat of consciousness, the mentalities—the vessels—are unable to hold the [higher] consciousness of the self-transcendent state. This is because <this [higher] consciousness> is the aspect of Ein Sof, which is the aspect of the ultimate goal: entirely one, entirely good. As a result, the brain feels the pain of the suffering, since it is in the brain that all the sensations of pain and torment are primarily felt, God forbid. Neural passages extend from the brain to all the limbs, through which the brain senses the pain in whichever limb it is located.

Thus when the conscious mind returns from the state of self-transcendence to the brain, which is the seat of consciousness, the mentalities—the vessels—are unable to hold the [higher] consciousness of the self-transcendent state. This is because <this [higher] consciousness> is the aspect of Ein Sof, which is the aspect of the ultimate goal: entirely one, entirely good. As a result, the brain feels the pain of the suffering, since it is in the brain that all the sensations of pain and torment are primarily felt, God forbid. Neural passages extend from the brain to all the limbs, through which the brain senses the pain in whichever limb it is located.

And know, that afterwards, when one[‘s consciousness] returns from the state of self-transcendence to the vessels—namely, the mentalities—the suffering becomes even more intense than before. It is like two people fighting and wrestling with one another. When one sees that the other is gaining the upper hand, he musters greater strength and attacks even harder. Similarly, when the powers of judgment see that a person wants to overcome his suffering and nullify it through total absorption in the ultimate goal, they muster greater strength and attack even harder. Thus later on, when one returns from the state of self-transcendence, the suffering is even greater than before. This is because [the powers of judgment] intensify their fight against him since he wants to escape from them, as explained above.

5. Afterwards, however, the suffering is lightened and one is consoled as a result of the enhanced insight into Torah that one merits by virtue of the suffering. This is because the suffering brings one to the state of self-transcendence, as explained above. Then afterwards, even though one returns from the state of self-transcendence, the trace that remains from this state produces enhanced Torah insight. The reason for this is that while one is in the state of self-transcendence, totally absorbed in the ultimate goal, one realizes that all suffering is very great good. This [realization] fills one with joy.

Joy is the vessel for receiving enhanced Torah insights. As our Sages, of blessed memory, taught (Shabbat 88a): At the time that the Jewish people declared “We will do and we will hear” (Exodus 24:7), 600,000 angels descended and placed two crowns on the head of each one, and when they sinned…. But in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will return [the crowns] to us, as it is written (Isaiah 35:10), “an eternal joy on their heads.” Thus we see that joy corresponds to “We will do and we will hear,” which relates to receiving the Torah.

It is through this enhanced insight into Torah, which one merits from the trace of the transcendent state, that the suffering is later alleviated. The reason for this is that [Torah insights] quench the thirst of the soul. The soul’s thirst corresponds to experiencing suffering. Salt makes one thirsty, and salt is the aspect of suffering, as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: Covenant is mentioned in connection with salt, and covenant is mentioned in connection with suffering (Berakhot 5a) .

The soul is the daughter of the intellect. This is because one’s soul is raised primarily by one’s intellect, which nurtures and improves it, as it is written (Proverbs 19:2), “Also, it is not good for the soul to be without awareness.” When the intellect is perfected, [the soul] bears fruit. But when one’s intellect is blemished, it is then the aspect of “a fruitful land became a salty waste” (Psalms 107:34). This saltiness is the suffering a person experiences when his intellect is imperfect; it corresponds to the thirst of the soul. Yet the abovementioned enhanced insight into Torah alleviates the suffering and quenches the thirst, as in “Let all who are thirsty come to the water” (Isaiah 55:1) .

This is the meaning of “Happy is the man whom You chasten, O God, and whom You instruct from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). Through the suffering one merits enhanced insight into Torah. And when a person merits Torah insights, it is a sign that he has achieved something on account of the afflictions and dealt with them in the proper way. It is a sign that by means of the suffering he has attained a state of total absorption in the ultimate goal, whose trace has made him worthy of enhanced Torah insights, as explained above.

Our Sages also teach (Sanhedrin 98b): Mashiach will suffer sickness on behalf of all Israel, as it is written (Isaiah 53:5), “He was stricken because of our transgressions.” As such, every tzaddik of the generation also suffers affliction for the Jewish people, to make it easier for them, for he is an aspect of the Mashiach, as above.

The matter is as follows: Each tzaddik of the generation is an aspect of Moshe. [Moshe] is an aspect of Mashiach, as it is written (Genesis 49:10), “Until Shiloh will come”—this is Mashiach. And ShILoH is numerically equivalent to MoSheH. Thus, the Sages of the Talmud called one another “Moshe,” as it is written (Shabbat 101b): “Moshe, you said it well.” {“The earth was without form and empty… but the ruach -spirit of God hovered over the water’s surface” (Genesis 1:2) .}

Thus, when one originates some insight into the Torah, these original insights are an aspect of Moshe-Mashiach. As it is written in the Zohar (I, 192b): “the ruach-spirit of God”—this is the ruach -spirit of the Mashiach; “hovered over the water’s surface”—this is the Torah. This is what we said, that the Torah insights which he originates are themselves an aspect of the Mashiach, for that is where his ruach -spirit hovers. This is “the ruach -breath of his mouth” (Psalms 33:6)—“a speaking ruach -breath” (Onkelos, Genesis 2:7).

In the Zohar it is written (III, 280a), “‘He was m’ChOLal (stricken) because of our transgressions’—he was made ChOL (unhallowed) because of us.” This is also the meaning of “he suffers sickness.”

This is what we said, that one has to explain the thing [he learns] in the language he understands. By doing this it takes on the aspect of chol. This is because explaining it in his own tongue is an unhallowed manner vis-à-vis the great holiness of the thing in its original form—in comparison to the way it emanated on high from the mouth of the tzaddik. As a result of this, he is m’cholal—he becomes chol. And in this sense, he suffers sickness in order to gain atonement for Israel.

Yet all of this is specifically “because of our transgressions.” As a result of our transgressions, we cannot perceive the things except in an unhallowed manner, as mentioned, and he suffers sickness. However, with regard to more exalted individuals, they have no need for this. For they perceive the things as they are, as they emanated from the tzaddik.

Additionally, it was taught in a baraita with regard to affliction: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: The Holy One, Blessed be He, gave Israel three precious gifts, all of which were given only by means of suffering, which purified Israel so that they may merit to receive them. These gifts are: Torah, Eretz Yisrael, and the World-to-Come.

From where is it derived that Torah is only acquired by means of suffering? As it is said: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord,” after which it is said: “And teach from Your Torah.”

Eretz Yisrael, as it is written: “As a man rebukes his son, so the Lord your God rebukes you” (Deuteronomy 8:5), and it is written thereafter: “For the Lord your God will bring you to a good land.”

The World-to-Come, as it is written: “For the mitzva is a lamp, the Torah is light, and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life” (Proverbs 6:23). One may arrive at the lamp of mitzva and the light of Torah that exists in the World-to-Come only by means of the reproofs of instruction in this world.

The Gemara continues to address the issue of suffering and affliction: Rabbi Yoḥanan’s student, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, fell ill. Rabbi Yoḥanan entered to visit him, and said to him: Is your suffering dear to you? Do you desire to be ill and afflicted? Rabbi Ḥiyya said to him: I welcome neither this suffering nor its reward, as one who welcomes this suffering with love is rewarded. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Give me your hand. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba gave him his hand, and Rabbi Yoḥanan stood him up and restored him to health.

Similarly, Rabbi Yoḥanan fell ill. Rabbi Ḥanina entered to visit him, and said to him: Is your suffering dear to you? Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: I welcome neither this suffering nor its reward. Rabbi Ḥanina said to him: Give me your hand. He gave him his hand, and Rabbi Ḥanina stood him up and restored him to health.

The Gemara asks: Why did Rabbi Yoḥanan wait for Rabbi Ḥanina to restore him to health? If he was able to heal his student, let Rabbi Yoḥanan stand himself up.

The Gemara answers, they say: A prisoner cannot generally free himself from prison, but depends on others to release him from his shackles.

Rabbi Elazar said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: I am not crying over my misfortune, but rather, over this beauty of yours that will decompose in the earth, as Rabbi Yoḥanan’s beauty caused him to consider human mortality. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Over this, it is certainly appropriate to weep. Both cried over the fleeting nature of beauty in the world and death that eventually overcomes all.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Is your suffering dear to you? Rabbi Elazar said to him: I welcome neither this suffering nor its reward. Upon hearing this, Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: Give me your hand. Rabbi Elazar gave him his hand, and Rabbi Yoḥanan stood him up and restored him to health.