We continue with beautiful lessons from the sefer Gaon Yisrael bout Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach.
Rabbi Shloml Zalman once went through a very difficult medical procedure and the doctor asked him how he was feeling. His response was, “Yesh Li Yissurim/ I have suffering.”
The doctor told him that it would be more correct to say, ”Yesh Li K’Evim/I have pain,” But Rabbi Shlomo Zalman rejected this. He said he chose the word yissurim purposely in order to remind himself of the pasuk in Devarim (8,5)
כִּ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר יְיַסֵּ֥ר אִישׁ֙ אֶת־בְּנ֔וֹ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ מְיַסְּרֶֽךָּ
Like a man gives rebuke to his sin, God gives you Yissurim.”
He wanted to use the word yissurim in order to remind himself of where it was coming from- his Loving Father. This would cause the suffering to be easier.. He chose the word suffering instead of pain, in order to remind himself of this pasuk, that refers to God as the One who is training and rebuking His son out of love. He added that in Tehilim there is a word (118, 27)
אִסְרוּ־חַ֥ג בַּעֲבֹתִ֑ים עַד־קַ֝רְנ֗וֹת הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ
Tie the holiday down, with ropes
And the word for tie is similar to word Yissurim/ suffering.
When a person has yissurim, he actually feels a stronger connection to Hashem, because he is hoping for his salvation, and therefore he feels more connected.
On another occasion, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman was dealing with somebody who had a difficult challenge in life, then something changed in his life. The Rabbi went to the man and grabbed his arm. Afterwards, he pointed out to the man, “Why is it that when I grabbed your arm just now you felt it, but you don’t feel it when you’re wearing your watch.“ The answer is, because you are used to your watch, you don’t pay attention to it. But when I grabbed your hand, that was something extra ordinary. He said that when a person has suffering, it’s like God is grabbing his hand. This is why there is more of a connection to Hashem- because you are more aware of God in your life. That is why the Rabbi use the word yissurim when speaking to the doctor. We may not like this word, which means suffering, but Rabbi Shlomo Zalman said that it should remind us of the lessons of yissurim.
Another story in the book was one that I actually heard from Hacham Yehuda Ades. Hacham Yehuda Ades’ father Rabbi Yaakov Ades was one of the Roshei Yeshivot of Porat Yosef. At the end of his life, he had a stroke, and he had to either be in a bed or a wheelchair. He couldn’t do very much. Hacham Yehuda Ades asked his Rebbi , Rav Shlomo Zalman, “What does Hashem want from my father in this situation?”
Rabbi Shloml Zalman answered, “When a person in this situation has pure thoughts, he is connected to God in a very, very powerful way. This will lift up his whole life, even if he was already a great man (before he reached this level of connection). The suffering that he’s undergoing is the only way to bring him to the highest level of connection.”
Hacham Ades added a line that wasn’t in the book, “Who knows if one groan that he has now can retroactively purify his entire life.”
Nobody wants to suffer, but when a person is suffering we have to understand that the yissurim is something that connects a person to Hashem in a way that we can’t understand.
Therefore, although we say we don’t want it, as the Gemara says, “ I don’t want them, and I don’t want the reward, “but if Has’V’Shalom a person does have challenges and suffering in their life, they have to remember these important lessons.
In our final story, Rav Shlomo Zalman told a recently orphaned child, “We have to always remember that Hashem is a God full of mercy. He is the source of all the mercy in the world. Sometimes it takes time until we understand that. But what is clear, he says, is that there is nothing that is inherently evil in the world. Everything that Hashem does is for our own good and coming from his tremendous mercy.”
These are the thoughts that a person has to have during these difficult times. And Rav Shlomo Zalman didn’t just speak it, he lived it. He chose the word Yissurim, and said he was in a situation of suffering, rather than use the word pain, because the word yissurim reminded him that like a father rebukes his son, Hashem is chastising us.
We should all be zoche not to come to yissurim, but if, has v’shalom, we do, we should be able to learn how to grow and gain from them.
Have a wonderful day.