Welcome to the Daily Chizuk. The Pasuk (verse) says in Bereshit, “And Hashem saw all that He created, and it was very good.” The Midrash (rabbinic teaching) says that the word “good” in the Pasuk refers to the beautiful world that Hashem made for us to enjoy, and the words “very good” refer to the affliction that we have. The Midrash asks, “Are afflictions really very good?” It answers, “Yes, because it is through Yisurim (afflictions) that we are able to attain Olam Haba (the next world).” And so said Shlomo HaMelech in Mishlei: “The path to eternal life is through afflictions.” In truth, every little inconvenience in life counts as an affliction. The bigger the affliction, the more valuable it is. But when a person doesn’t complain, they are worth so much more.
There was a great Rabbi, Rabbi Akiva Eiger. He was the Gadol HaDor (leader of the generation) in the early 19th century. He was so deep. If you study his writings, you need to spend hours trying to figure out his penetrating explanations of the Gemara. He wrote Sefarim (books), and he gave the world tremendous gifts. One time, his son-in-law, the Chatam Sofer, was talking to his students and mentioned the name of his father-in-law, Rabbi Akiva Eiger. The Chatam Sofer ripped his shirt in anguish. He said, “You can’t imagine the suffering that my father-in-law went through. Every day of his life, from the age of 16, he was bearing horrible suffering.” Before he died, he had one request. He said, “I only want you to write one thing on my tombstone. I don’t want all the superlatives. Don’t write Gadol (great one), Gaon (great scholar), Adir (mighty one). Just write, ‘Saval Yisurin kol yamav’—that I had suffering my whole life.” They asked him, “Rabbi, that’s it? What about all your accomplishments for the Jewish people? What about all of your diligent Torah study and acts of chesed (kindness)? You only want us to write about your suffering?” He said, “That is my biggest accomplishment: that I had so much suffering, and I never questioned Hashem. This is my ticket to Olam Haba. With that, I can go to the next world and say confidently that I accepted all of Hashem’s decrees with love.”
The Maggid of Yerushalayim, Rav Shabtai Yudelevitch, once told the story of a man who had a life of suffering. He had a difficult time making a living. He had family problems. One day, he told his wife that he was going to the great Tzadik (righteous person) and Kabbalist, Rabbi Shalom Sharabi, to ask why Hashem was doing this to him. He traveled to the rabbi’s house, and the rabbi’s wife told him to have a seat in the waiting room. While he was sitting there, he dozed off and started to dream. In his dream, he saw himself in front of the heavenly court for his final judgment. There was a big scale, and a voice called out, “Let all of Mr. So-and-so’s Averot (transgressions) go on the scale.” Thousands of people and thousands of black angels started piling onto one side. Then a voice said, “Let all of Mr. So-and-so’s Mitzvot (commandments) go on the scale.” Thousands of white angels started getting onto the other side, and the scale started to tilt a little. But even after they all got on, the bad side clearly outweighed the good. Then a voice said, “Let all of Mr. So-and-so’s sufferings come out.” Thousands more beautiful white angels came out and were piling onto the good side. The scale was balanced, and the angels were dancing out and almost tilted towards the good. But the angels stopped coming. The man saw that it looked like he was going to receive a guilty verdict, so he started to yell, “More suffering, more suffering!” The Rebbetzin (the rabbi’s wife), hearing the loud yelling, came in and said, “Is everything okay?” He said, “Everything is fine. I don’t need to see the rabbi. He already sent me the answer.” Yisurin are very valuable. Although we are taught to pray for them to go away, that’s only because we’re afraid we won’t be able to handle them. That’s why we’re afraid we won’t be able to handle them. But if someone ever has to endure any type of suffering, they have to know it’s not only tov (good), it’s tov me’od (very good). Have a great day.