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When I was a kid, I was sure the everything was my fault. If the Washington Commanders lost, it was because I didn’t listen to my parents. If a rainstorm cancelled a picnic on Sunday, it was because I wasn’t paying attention in class. And if a war was raging in Vietnam - well, that probably wasn’t my fault, as I hadn’t done anything that terrible. But you get the idea.
In antiquity, various types of suffering were also thought to be the consequence of sin. This creates a serious problem, as when a person is suffering, it’s because he/she committed a sin and, therefore, deserved it.
Our sages were not ready to give up the idea of a connection between personal conduct and one’s personal situation entirely. But they qualified this so that the connection was not direct, but indirect. Suffering often pointed to a need to alter one’s behaviors, but a person did have an opportunity to change his/her fortune. Consider this passage from the 9th century CE Midrash Tanchuma (Buber edition, Metzora 13:2):
G-d warns the Jewish people and first afflicts their houses, so that they will repent. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 14:34): When you enter the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I inflict mold damage upon a house in the land you possess, For him to repent is preferable; but if not, one is afflicted in his clothing, as stated (in Lev. 15:2): When the plague of leprosy is in a garment. Then if he does not repent, he is afflicted in his body. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 13:40): When someone suffers from baldness of the head. For him to repent is preferable, but if not, he is afflicted with boils, as stated (in Lev. 13:18): And when a person has boils on his/her skin. For him to repent is preferable, but if not, he is afflicted with five ailments: Swelling, soreness, bright spot, scab, and plague spot. And why all this? Because he did not repent.
Now, is it possible to make sense of this for us as moderns, without resorting to my childhood idea of “everything is my fault?” I think it is. When we see, over and over again, that homes built too close to the water suffer from flood damage, it’s a warning that we need to rethink our construction practices. When we think about discolored garments, maybe it’s a warning about the environmental damage of “fast fashion”, the practice of producing cheap garments which are then discarded very rapidly into our landfills. And when we observe changes in our hair and skin, it’s a warning to seek professional help as these can be leading indicators of disease.
As to whether 33 years of being a rabbi has caused my “eruption” of gray hair, I’ll leave that question for the arrival of Elijah the prophet.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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