Giving Us a Leg Up

Prepared for print by Rabbi Eran Feintuch

I once saw an interview of a veteran who lost both his legs in Vietnam. He wasn’t Jewish, but I was stunned by the Jewish tone of his words. He said that if some angel were to come offer him both his legs back, in exchange for giving up all he’d learned from life as a double-amputee, he’d tell the angel to get lost. What he’d gained, he attested, was much more valuable than what he’d lost.

He was a remarkable person, who really thought about his life. There was no solution to his plight. Yet rather than sink into despair and self-pity, he took the path of personal growth.

Life is full of suffering. Baruch Hashem, not all yissurim are as devastating as the loss of one’s legs. But pain, frustration, and disappointment are frequent visitors in our lives. How should we as Jews deal with yissurim in a growth-oriented way?

First of all, we must know that everything is for the best. Everything that happens in our lives is part of Hashem’s benevolent plan. That emunah helps us accept the yissurim and survive them with inner peace. But that’s only the first step. Hashem doesn’t just want us to survive the yissurim He gives us. He wants us to grow from them.