Three Precious Gifts

You must thus meditate on the fact that just as a man might chastise his child, so God your Lord is chastising you. God your Lord is bringing you to a good Land - a Land with flowing streams, and underground springs gushing out in valley and mountain.                                                  Deuteronomy 8:5,7

          Our verses constitute the proof text for a teaching of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai:

It has been taught: R. Simeon bar Yoḥai says: The Holy One, blessed be He, gave Israel three precious gifts, and all of them were given only through sufferings. These are: The Torah, the Land of Israel and the World to Come. How do we know this of the Torah? — Because it is said: “Happy is the man whom You chasten, o Lord, and teach him out of Your law.” [Psalms 94:12]  How do we know this of the Land of Israel? — Because it is written:  “Just as a man might chastise his child, so God your Lord is chastising you,” and after that it is written: “God your Lord is bringing you to a good Land.” [Deuteronomy 8:5,7] How do we know this of the World to Come? — Because it is written: “For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light, and reproofs of sufferings are the way of life.” [Proverbs 6:23]                         Babylonian Talmud, B'rachot 5a

            On the simplest level, Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai is teaching us that those things which are truly worth having are worth suffering for to achieve.

    Rabbi Kook, in his brilliant commentary, reveals a much deeper understanding of bar Yoḥai’s comment.

     Rabbi Kook explains that those things which are natural can be achieved without suffering.  However, whatever is above nature cannot be achieved without suffering, because the human body is limited by its natural aspects. Thus, Maimonides describes a prophet’s body as almost being torn apart during prophecy, because prophecy is a super-natural event.

       Man is composed of intellect, body and soul. The three presents correspond to these three spheres of man’s existence.

      To truly achieve Torah is to link with the divine intellect. Since this is super-natural, Torah can be fully achieved only through suffering.

      The Land of Israel is a physical land, but also has a super-natural aspect. As our Sages teach us, (western) Eretz Yisrael is the only land worthy of the Shechinah (divine presence). Thus, the Land of Israel can be achieved only through suffering.

       The World to Come is the ultimate super-natural reward for the soul, and it too can be achieved only through suffering.