It seems to
me that, if we are unable to understand why it is that God can let good things
happen to bad people, and vice versa, we have exactly the same problem trying
to understand why good things happen even to good people. In order to do so, we
have to juggle with the following propositions:
- . We do not
receive any rewards from God in this world, i.e. in our own lifetimes.
- . There is
however a list of mitzvot for which God gives a reward in both this world and
the next.
- . A person’s
suffering in this world may be yissurin shel onesh (afflictions of
punishment) or yissurin shel ahavah (afflictions based on God’s love) in
order to improve the quality of that person’s enjoyment of the world to come (Berachot
5a).
- . God always pays
His debts and therefore rewards even the wicked for any good deeds that they
have done in their lifetime in order to deprive them of an eternal reward in
the world to come.
Adding this
all together, since we are required to give others the benefit of the doubt
when we judge them (Avot 1:6), it seems that we should be careful not to draw
any negative conclusions from the fact that good things keep happening to someone
in their lifetime. The moral is therefore clear: we should take care not to
judge others at all, and should be even more careful not to judge God.
