Seeking Physical Relief and Reward

It is not unusual for people to share with me their pain, their secrets, their complaints against G-d. This is an honor. Being with people in hard times is sad, and yet it is a rich and meaningful time of connection.

It is my inclination as a person, and as a rabbi, to stick up for G-d, and to believe that things are the way they are meant to be. This answer does not sit well with most people - even when I say it not about their situation, but about my own.

I was taken by a different approach that I read today. Before quoting that which I wish to share with you I need to tell you some background information and a pre-story story. Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev was known as a great lover and defender of the Jewish People before G-d. He was a pure and holy man and in a unique position to be able to speak harshly to G-d and insist that He let up on the suffering of His people.

There is a tradition that if one is ill it is a segulah to say the name of Rav Levi Yitchak ben Sarah Sasha. A dear rebbe and mentor of mine, Rav Pesach Oratz Z"TL, told me of when he had a heart attack. In the hospital he was told that he had to have heart surgery right away. He was unsure. He quietly prayed to G-d and evoked the name of Rav Levi Yitzchak. Rabbi Oratz met with the top doctor, the one who would do the surgery. The doctor said to him, "I'm Jewish and it doesn't mean anything to me, but another doctor suggested that I share that with you. And also, I'm told that I'm a direct descendant of a Rabbi named Levi Yitzchak the son of Sara Sasha." Rabbi Oratz agreed to have the surgery on the spot.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev overheard a man relating a tale of woe to a maggid. The man said that he had been doing his best to live according to the Torah but had suffered enormous tzoros; he was sick, financially destitute, and distressed by problems with his children. "Where is G-d's justice? he asked. "Is this my reward for doing His will?

The maggid responded that G-d's judgment is always perfect, and that the reward for mitzvos is a spiritual reward, to be received in the Eternal World.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, who was an advocate par excellence for the Jews, interrupted, saying to the maggid, "You have no right to say that! This man came to you with a complaint against G-d. If you are going to act as the judge in the case, you must be unbiased. A judge who receives gifts from one of the litigants is disqualified. G-d has given you life, health, and everything you own. You are therefore disqualified from hearing this case, particularly from deciding in favor of the One to whom you are indebted. This man's claims remain unanswered. My opinion is that if he has suffered physical tzoros, he is entitled to physical relief and reward."

- From Smiling Each Day by Rabbi Abraham Twerski, page 320