We have been learning that, in truth, while we don’t really have to work, we work for two reasons:
- To be tested
-Because G-d wants us to keep busy
The Hovot HaLevavot tells us though, that there are those who’ve passed their tests and proven their loyalty. They won’t get into trouble if they aren’t busy, and so they can have a life devoted to spiritually without working.
But he asks a question: We often see very righteous people suffering with parnasa and other life challenges, and then we see seemingly wicked people living the life of Riley! Why is that?
The Hovot HaLevavot says this in truth is an age-old question called
צדיק ורע לו, רשע וטוב לו
Why do the righteous sometimes have it bad and the wicked prosper? There are no simple answers, he says. These are G-d’s hidden ways. But the Hovot HaLevavot goes on to suggest 5 reasons for why the righteous might suffer, and 6 reasons for why the wicked can have a good life. We need to understand this because when we see the righteous suffering, it shakes our Emunah.
So we need these outlooks.
The first two reasons the righteous suffer are related:
1- Everyone, even the greatest of people, has sinned. Therefore Hashem will cleanse him of his sins in this world. That’s the way it works. We are shortsighted because we see only what happens in this world.
2- For a person who suffers and accepts his suffering properly, this is a great source for Olam Habah. As it says in Devarim:
“להיטיבך באחריתך
“To do good for you in your end.״
These are important points. We are so short-sighted. We only see what goes on in this word. We have to reiterate this constantly.
Chafetz Chaim gives a beautiful mashal to explain:
There was a man who worked at his local shul as mesader, giving out the aliyot. There are many different honors to dole out: opening the hechal, taking out the Sefer Torah, special aliyot such as shishi, etc. People of means often get aliyot out of respect. Scholars get aliyot as well.
This man was once was guest at a different shul. He spent his time looking around the shul, trying to guess who’d get which honors. He was imagining what he would do if he was in charge. He guessed based on what he saw, but nothing turned out the way he expected it. (e.g. the man holding a siddur upside down got an aliyah.) He was so confused. Afterward, he asked the actual mesader of the shul why the aliyot were given out that way, and said he wouldn’t have done it like that.
The mesader asked the guest how long he’d been at the shul. When the guest responded that he’d been there for only the weekend, the Mesader was bewildered. “How can you ask questions?” He exclaimed. “You just got here! You don’t know that this man has a yarzheit, that guy had one last week etc ...”
The Chafetz Chaim tells us we are the guest, only here for that weekend. How can we ask questions? This is only the anteroom. We don’t know what this man did when he was young or what he’ll do when he gets old. We don’t know anything! We have to just believe, even though sometimes it doesn’t seem right.