Answer: Not always can we know why suffering befalls an individual and we cannot fathom Heavenly calculations. However, our Sages tell us (Berachot 5a) that if one sees that suffering is befalling him, one should inspect his actions, for most suffering one endures is as a result of one’s sins. Since most suffering that one endures is due to one of three reasons, we shall discuss them each briefly.
The first reason is atonement for one’s sins, for when one sins before Hashem, he must be punished for his actions. In general, the punishment is meted out in the World to Come. When one’s soul stands before Hashem in the Heavenly Court, he will give an accounting of all of his actions on this earth. Since one was able to overcome his Evil Inclination and do good in Hashem’s eyes but instead he strayed and chose to do bad, Hashem will indeed punish him. However, there are times when one is punished in this world, either because Hashem has mercy on him and chooses not to punish him the Eternal World where the punishments are much harsher and thus punishes the individual in this world or because he is receiving a Heavenly reminder to repent from his wicked ways, for Hashem does not wish for the wicked to die and only wants them to repent and live. Included in this kind of suffering is suffering in order to atone for sins committed by one’s soul in previous reincarnations, for based on what we have accepted from the Sages of Kabbalah, there is no doubt about the validity of the belief of reincarnation. Many people in this generation are reincarnations of individuals who have sinned in their previous lifetime and have returned to this world to mend their ways either through suffering or by repairing their sins, such as by returning a stolen object to its rightful owner and the like. We should rejoice about such suffering, for they are for one’s benefit and not to harm him; one should inspect his deeds to see what he can mend until the suffering leaves him.
Another reason for why suffering befalls a person is because sometimes Hashem wishes to test an individual because there may be prosecution against him in Heaven and the like. Hashem therefore sends a test in the guise of suffering, just as Hashem tested Iyov (Job) with tremendous suffering to see if his love for Hashem will remain strong or if he would, G-d-forbid, speak ill of Hashem and His supervision of the world. If one remains steadfast and is able to overcome the test that Hashem sends him, the suffering will leave him and he will merit much goodness in this world and the next.
The third and most common kind for suffering, especially in past generations which is especially liable to push one away from Torah and fear of heaven, is suffering caused by a person’s own mistakes regarding how he conducts himself and his behavior with other people. For instance, if one persistently fights with his wife immediately upon returning home every day, he will not be able to claim to Hashem that He has given him a bad wife who does not love him, for he has caused himself all of this trouble by quarreling with her every day until she can no longer stand to be with him. Similarly, if one treats his finances recklessly until he loses all of his assets cannot claim that Hashem has decreed that he live a life of poverty, for he has brought the poverty upon himself. Only if one conducts himself properly and in a way acceptable to other people and then loses his money can one know that this is truly from Hashem either in order to cleanse him of his sins and to arouse him to repent or in order to test him to ascertain if he will remain righteous even through poverty. Similarly, if one educates his children improperly by sending them to schools where their teachers are heretics and apostates, he cannot claim later that his children turned out evil, for this person has planted bad seeds and he should not be surprised if crooked and wicked fruits emerge as a result.
Sometimes, suffering befalls a person as a culmination of several of the reasons we have mentioned above, such as, in order to atone for one’s sins and test one’s belief in Hashem at the same time.
There are certain kinds of suffering which befall a person for other reasons which we cannot discuss at length. We shall only mention that there are very minute forms of suffering which befall a person for seemingly no reason at all, such as the sun beating down on one’s head while travelling and other such natural occurrences, and there is no one who can be saved from such suffering besides for extremely wicked individuals whom Hashem protects from any kind of pain and suffering in this world, even natural suffering, so that their reward will have been paid in full in this world and immediately upon their death, they have not even one iota of merit remaining for them and Hashem immediately banishes them from the eternal life of the World to Come (see Ramban, Sha’ar Ha’Gemul).
The greatest and strongest shield that one can acquire to protect himself against suffering is delving in Torah and fear of Heaven and accepting upon one’s self to observe the Mitzvot meticulously and whole-heartedly, for if one accepts upon himself the load of Torah, the burdens of livelihood and suffering are removed from him. In any case though, one must be content with whatever Hashem decides to send him and in this way, one will be able to appear before Hashem’s Heavenly Court with great honor by having merited overcoming all trials and tribulations and ascending high spiritual levels. Indeed, about such individuals who perform Mitzvot joyfully and are happy to receive suffering does the verse state, “And his beloved ones are like the sun emerging in all its might.”
