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What is the purpose of suffering in Jewish life? The shiur identifies three levels: empathy for others' pain (exemplified by the requirement to give tzedakah after a fast), recognition that suffering demands introspection and repentance, and the opening of oneself to connect eternally with Torah (תורה), Eretz Yisrael, and Olam Haba. Rabbi Zweig contrasts two responses to terminal illness to illustrate how suffering can either drive self-indulgence or spiritual transformation.
Rabbi Zweig opens by acknowledging that suffering, while universally unpleasant, is an inescapable dimension of Jewish experience. He frames the discussion with Rabbeinu Bachya's outline: suffering atones for sins, prepares the righteous for the World to Come, includes "afflictions of love" (yisurim shel ahavah), and can affect body or property. The enigma addressed is why the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper. The shiur begins with two real-life stories. In the first, a young woman dies suddenly, leaving a husband and children. At the shiva, one visitor remarks that the "message" she took from the tragedy is not to postpone her trip to Europe—a response focused entirely on self-gratification. In the second story, Rabbi Zweig visits a terminally ill young woman with cancer, affluent and well-traveled, who reflects on the last year and a half of her life. She tells him that despite the imminent loss, the suffering brought her closer to her husband and children and gave her life real meaning. When asked if she would choose the cancer and early death over continuing her previous lifestyle, she unhesitatingly says yes—the suffering was worth it for the growth it brought.
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Parshas Chayei Sarah
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