Ekev

Parashat Ekev 5783



Finding Meaning in Suffering

The passuk in Parashat Ekev says “Just as a father punishes his son, so too Hashem your G-d punishes you”. 

Many ask: Why do bad things happen to good people? We constantly see many righteous individuals who suffer a lot during their lives, in all sorts of areas, and we wonder why?  What did they do to deserve such terrible suffering? At the same time many less righteous individuals seem to live easy lives, free from pain and suffering. And again we wonder, why do they deserve to live an easy and painless life?

These questions were first posed by Moshe Rabbeinu, in Parashat Ki Tisa. Hashem answered him that it is impossible to understand the happenings of this world, because we cannot see the full picture. Therefore, it is virtually impossible to understand the happenings of this world, where so much is a consequence of previous events, or in preparation for future events, that are yet to occur.

Our task is not to try to understand the happening of this world, but to work on internalising that whatever happens to us or to others is from Hashem. And since it is from Hashem, we must understand and internalise that it is for our ultimate good, because Hashem is our father and wants what is best for us. 

The Cure that Precedes the Illness

The following incident illustrates this: There was a young boy during the Holocaust who was involved in an accident and suffered an injury to his hands. After being taken to a doctor, the doctor grafted skin from the boy’s leg to repair the damaged skin on the palm of his hand. Unusually, hair grew on the grafted skin, which was a source of embarrassment to the young boy. 

Several years passed, and the young boy who was now a young man was trying to escape Nazi Europe together with his sister. At one checkpoint the young man was stopped. The young man pleaded that he should be allowed to proceed, and the Nazi official retorted “When you grow hairs on the palm of your hand, I’ll let you both go”. This young man opened his hand, and showed the Nazi official the hair growing there, and the shocked Nazi let both the young man and his sister proceed. 

We see from here that although the accident was undoubtedly painful, the accident itself ultimately facilitated the escape of two young people from Nazi Europe. This is just one small example where we see that many seemingly “bad” happenings are ultimately for our benefit and good.

Anger and Idol Worship

Chazal teaches us that a person who gets angry is considered as if he is guilty of idol worship. This statement sounds difficult to accept; of course, it is deplorable to get angry, but what connection does this have to idol worship, one of the three cardinal sins?

And the answer is that if a person would realise that whatever triggered off his anger was all sent from Above, and meant to happen to him for his ultimate good, how could he become angry? Becoming angry displays a lack of emunah which itself is akin to idol worship.

 May we all merit living with emunah and the understanding that whatever happens is for our ultimate good.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Gad Bouskila