Why is There Suffering in the World

Rabbi Twerski took the subject of צרעת, leprosy, as an opportunity to discuss why there is suffering in the world.

It is known that when Moshe Rabbeinu was asking Hashem to reveal His ways, he asked for an explanation of why the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. This is expressed in Hebrew as צדיק ורע לו, רשע וטוב לו. Hashem said that He would not reveal that to Moshe.

In essence, the Torah is asking us to have the faith to accept that all of G-d’s ways are just. They are simply beyond our comprehension.

Foolish and perhaps arrogant people believe so much in their own intellect that if something happens in the world that they don’t understand, it is a sign that we have a cruel G-d, Heaven forbid.

The basic realization must be that His ways are not like our ways. This is why the great Tzaddikim always accepted terrible tragedies without even the slightest amount of questioning.

What we do know is that this is an imperfect world, and עולם הבא, the World to Come, is known as עולם האמת, the world of truth.

We are faced with many tests in life, and it is our unshakable faith in Hashem that allows us to pass these tests with flying colors.