Why the Wicked Prosper and the Righteous Suffer
We can’t fully grasp Hashem’s ways – especially when success and suffering seem unrelated to our actions. Some live carelessly yet appear to enjoy more ease than those who strive toward responsibility and personal accountability. The following insights offer a framework for grappling with the unknowable. Still, we must first acknowledge the limits of human understanding: Chazal teach, “It is not within our ability to comprehend either the tranquility of the wicked or the suffering of the righteous” (Avos 4:15). Chovos HaLevavos writes (Shaar HaBitachon, Chapter 4):
If one asks: Behold, we see some tzaddikim who do not receive their livelihood except after hard and strenuous toil, while many transgressors are at ease, living a good, pleasant life?… Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu commented on this in the Torah, saying (Devarim 29:28), “The hidden things belong to Hashem”… and the wise man said in connection to this, “If you see the oppression of the poor, and perverting of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter” (Koheles 5:7), and the verse says: “The Rock, His deeds are perfect for all His ways are justice” (Devarim 32:4).
Let’s begin by examining the primary sources of life’s challenges. To clarify, we are not referring solely to nisyonos (“Heaven-sent tests designed to foster spiritual growth”) but also to experiences that stem from self-inflicted wounds. In general, many of life’s challenges arise from one or a combination of the following sources:
Agents of Adversity
- Root of the Soul
Earlier we established that each person possesses a unique purpose in this world, known as their tafkid. In pursuing and fulfilling this mission, we facilitate the “repair” or “rectification” of our soul, a process referred to as our tikkun. Our tikkun is synchronized with our mazal – the confluence of conditions and circumstances that exist to protect and promote it. Our talents and strengths – and many of life’s challenges – are tailored to optimize the soul’s path toward perfection. Thus, an ordeal of this type results not from a transgression but from a flaw that requires correction (or a hidden potential that needs to be revealed) and that can only be facilitated through a specific nisayon.
The Ramchal explains that the challenge given to each person is decreed with ultimate precision to perfect the soul (Derech Hashem 2:3:1). He writes, “How (mazal) comes about – that particular challenges are meted out to particular individuals – depends on the spiritual roots of each person” (Derech Hashem 2:7:1).
However, not all difficulties are tied to this lifetime alone. A tikkun is sometimes required to repair damage from a previous incarnation, or gilgul. Gilgulim refers to the recycling of souls through successive lives, known as gilgul haneshamos – literally, “the transmigration of souls.” The Chafetz Chaim states that most of our questions about hardships would be answered if we fully understood the concept of reincarnation (Chafetz Chaim Al HaTorah, Parshas Vayeishev).
- Awake and Atone
When we transgress, either willingly or unknowingly, our soul becomes tarnished, and Hashem allows us to cleanse ourselves of these spiritual blemishes. The Ramchal writes:
“The Highest Mercy therefore decreed that some sort of purification exist. This is the general category of (affliction)… to dispel the insensitivity in man, allowing him to become pure and clear… prepared for the ultimate good at its appointed time” (Derech Hashem 2:2:2).
He explains that affliction may come to an individual to make him examine his deeds and motivate him to repent, or it may serve as atonement for sin. He highlights that punishment was created to exist only in the absence of teshuvah, emphasizing that what Hashem desires is for us not to sin in the first place; however, if we do sin, we should repent.
Teshuvah digs out the blemish, refining the soul and creating change within us; as such, the growth potential is nearly limitless. If we do not repent, we can still be purified through punishment, but absent teshuvah, the suffering may be greater – both quantitatively and qualitatively. The ordeal or affliction may continue longer (quantitatively increasing the punishment), and our lack of awareness means we have no context for the pain, so it is felt more intensely (qualitatively speaking).
Since we can handle only so much, there is a limit to the damage that Hashem can help us undo. Whatever impurities remain need to be addressed after death. Yet there are constraints here as well. The purification process cannot change a soul’s essence. Referring to the World to Come, Shlomo HaMelech writes, “If it is bent, it cannot be made straight, and if something is missing, it cannot be replaced” (Koheles 1:15). The opportunity to make repairs is found only in this world (Eruvin 22a).
In the next installment, we’ll continue exploring the primary sources of life’s challenges.
To be continued.
