Why We Suffer: Meaning in a Broken World |
Suffering must never be trivialized. The devastation of loss, the relentless burden of chronic pain, the hollow ache of loneliness, and the raw urgency of hunger are not abstractions—they are lived realities. Guilt and shame cling stubbornly to the soul, while unmet needs drain the spirit of strength. Judaism does not deny this suffering, nor does it soften its edges. Instead, it offers something far more demanding and far more profound: illumination. Pain, in the Jewish tradition, is not chaos—it is a forge, where the raw material of human experience is refined into enduring light.
For millennia, the Jewish people have lived within a sacred tension: chosen to be a “light unto the nations” (Isaiah 49:6), yet bound to the weighty moral demands of the Torah. When our lives align with the Divine will, a deep inner harmony emerges—a sense of peace that transcends circumstance. But the path is rarely straight.
When we falter, G-d’s mercy does not descend as wrath. Rather, as Rabbi Abner Weiss taught, it often appears as a withdrawal of protection. Exposed to the world’s sharp realities, we are forced to confront ourselves. These moments are not abandonment; they are........