Why So Much Suffering?

Every day at 8 p.m. the main news broadcast begins, and time after time it reminds us that there is a great deal of grief in the world. If God is good, if He created the world and humanity out of love, then why is there so much suffering, misfortune and hardship in this world? Why couldn't a reality have been created in which everyone is healthy, wealthy and happy? The sources consider several fundamental answers to the question of the purpose and meaning of human suffering.

The first answer is that suffering serves as atonement for sins and as a correction of the soul. Hardships come into a person's life because of wrongdoings committed either in this life or in previous incarnations. From the standpoint of Judaism, suffering in this transient world is a great mercy of the Creator, Who in His infinite foresight knows that it is better for a person to endure pain here than to suffer or lose his reward in the eternal World to Come.

As the Ramban wrote, even if a person suffered all his life, like the biblical Job, it would be a blessing compared with the spiritual damage to the soul in the world of eternity. Suffering "purifies" the soul, allowing it to attain perfect bliss in the other world.

An analogy to help understand this: The process is like a method of treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder through deep hypnosis. The patient is made to relive the most terrifying moment of battle. From the outside the doctors seem cruel, since the person trembles with horror, but in fact this is an act of healing: through this ordeal the person is freed from repressed traumas and regains his quality of life. What seems like torment in the moment is a necessary path to long-term salvation.

The second answer says that suffering elevates and develops a person. The Hebrew word for "trial" (nisayon) is related to the word for "banner" (nes) — a symbol of rising toward a new goal.

• Strengthening the "muscles of the soul": Trials are like heavy weights. By lifting them, a person strengthens his will and character. The Creator does not send trials a person is unable to bear; if a difficulty has come, it means that hidden within the person are the strengths that will allow him to overcome this barrier and reach a new level of self-knowledge.
• Leaving the "bubble" of comfort: When everything is going well, a person often withdraws into himself and forgets the meaning of existence. Suffering forces him out of his comfort zone, makes him reflect on the purpose of life, turn to God in prayer, and begin to improve his deeds. Sometimes this is the only way to redirect a person's life from a false, harmful path onto the right road.

The third answer acknowledges the limits of human reason. For a small human being standing before the Creator of the entire Cosmos, it is entirely natural to say: "I do not know." We see only a small part of the picture; the "backstage" of the world is hidden from us, and full clarity will come only in the World to Come.

The Book of Job describes a man who lost everything: his property, his children and his health. When he demands an explanation, God's answer rests on the idea that justice exists but is beyond human comprehension.

• Trying to explain the reasons for suffering to a person is like trying to explain to an infant who cannot yet speak why the doctor is giving him a painful injection.
• God asks Job: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" Man was not present at the planning of the grand architecture of the Universe and cannot judge the appropriateness of its details.

In the Divine plan, each person's path is carefully calibrated for his own eternal good. This plan takes into account the "baggage" of past incarnations and even the tasks the soul itself asked to be given before descending into this world. When Job was granted a prophetic vision, he understood that behind earthly hardships stands an infinite purpose — the incredible delight that awaits the righteous in eternity. As the prophet Isaiah said: "No eye has seen... what He will do for the one who waits for Him."