Tranquility and Travail

Common sense would seem to dictate that the world should be run simply and clearly: good people should be rewarded and bad people should be punished. However, that’s just not the way things are. Naturally, we wonder why. Why did that wonderful person go through such yisurim? Why do innocent children die? And why do evil people sometimes seem to get off easy? This question is as ancient as the world itself. Dovid Hamelech addressed it in chapter 73 of Tehillim, saying that this question often knocks people off their feet and drives them off the path of Hashem. Shlomo Hamelech writes repeatedly in Koheles that this is one of the main reasons why people sin, since the difference between good and bad is not apparent to them in this life. And this was one of Moshe Rabbeinu’s main questions to Hashem. Indeed, throughout the millennium, this gnawing question continues to frustrate and discourage people from serving the Creator properly. However, while we cannot fully understand G-d’s ways, Tanach and the statements of Chazal do offer glimpses into the ways of Divine providence. There are answers to much of the mystery. This comprehensive and easy-to-read book, written by a master mechanech and bestselling author, shares core information and key insights from Torah sources. Every Jew should be at peace with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, with the full knowledge that He knows perfectly well what He needs to do, and that — ultimately — all is for our good. In difficult times, this fascinating book is indispensable. Rabbi Dovid Sapirman is a former talmid of the Philadelphia, Ponovezh, and Lakewood yeshivas. During his fifty years in the field of chinuch, he has been a melamed, maggid shiur, mashgiach ruchani, and public speaker and has worked extensively in kiruv rechokim and kiruv kerovim. In 2009, Rabbi Sapirman founded the Ani Maamin Foundation, dedicated to offering chizuk in emunah to bnei Torah of all ages and backgrounds. Since its creation, the foundation has held presentations for over 50,000 people around the world, created three popular CD series on inyanei emunah, and published the bestselling Emunah: A Refresher Course (Mosaica Press, 2015). Rabbi Sapirman is the author of The Unbroken Chain: The Oral Torah System from Sinai (Mosaica Press, 2019). He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his family.