The pasuk in our parsha states: “You should know in your heart that just as a father will chastise his son, so Hashem, your God, chastises you.” It seems, perhaps, from this pasuk that when Hashem brings affliction, He does so with mercy. In what way, however, is Hashem’s mercy demonstrated when He might send hardships upon a person?
Rabbeinu Yonah’s teaching (Shaarei Teshuva 4:13) may explain this. He says: “[When] a person [experiences suffering, he] must understand and know that the troubles that find him and the affliction that he endures are not equal to [what he actually deserves, considering] the magnitude of his transgressions and the multitude of his sins. Rather, Hashem, blessed be He, chastises him as a father chastises his son [and does not punish him to the full extent of his sins], out of Hashem’s mercy on him, as it is stated: ‘You should know in your heart that just as a father will chastise his son, so Hashem, your God, chastises you.’ [Our sages,] of blessed memory explained [in light of the words ‘You should know in your heart,’ that Hashem is saying:] ‘Your [own] heart knows [all] the deeds that you have done, and [you also know] the [amount of] affliction that I brought upon you [as a result, and you therefore recognize] that I have not chastised you in accordance with [the full measure of] your [sinful] deeds; [rather, the punishment was delivered with mercy, like a father who punishes his son].’ It is [further] stated (Iyov 11:6): Know, then, that God exacts from you less than your sins!’”
We perhaps see from Rabbeinu Yonah that even when Hashem must bring hardships upon a person, His kindness is all the while present, for He delivers the given suffering(s) in a measure less than what is truly deserved,which may teach us that when a person might experience tribulations, it really could have—and technically speaking, should have—been worse.
The pasuk (Eicha 3:39) states: “Of what shall a living man complain?” At first glance, the word “living” may seem superfluous, since, after all, it seems obvious that only a living man can complain and not a dead man. The midrash (Eicha Rabbah 3:40) explains that this pasuk comes to teach us that “It is sufficient that he is alive.” The Yefeh Anaf explains that this means that even if a person experiences many troubles, in truth it would have been fitting that his very life be taken away.
We perhaps see from the Yefeh Anaf that a person who experiences troubles and pain is being treated with mercy by Hashem since, in truth, his tribulations could/should have been much worse; in fact, he may have been truly deserving that his very life be forfeited on account of his wrongdoings.
For one who experiences troubles, the belief and knowledge that things could/should have been worse can, perhaps, provide a source of comfort. And attaining this belief may be within our grasp, as Rav Henach Leibowitz seems to point out, that based on the sources above, we learn that when a person is undergoing tribulations, it’s within his ability to understand and truly feel that Hashem is treating him with kindness, realizing that according to his sins, he is deserving of much more than what he is dealing with now. It is implicit from Rabbeinu Yonah’s words, that even Iyov who underwent extremely difficult hardships was expected to realize and feel that according to his sins, he really deserved to endure much more than what he experienced (see Chidushei HaLev, Eikev).
This can show the great potential of a person, in that even when Hashem brings upon a person suffering similar to Iyov’s, he can, perhaps, reach the realization and truly feel that his difficulties could have been even worse and that Hashem is thus acting with kindness towards him.
Binyamin is a graduate of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, and Wurzweiler School of Social Work.
