THE SAYINGS OF OUR FATHERS

A passage from Pirké Avot, In Hebrew.

אין בידינו לא משלות הרשעים
ואף לא מיסורי הצדיקים

It is not given to us to understand the happiness of the wicked nor the sufferings of the righteous.

If I've taken it upon myself to discuss this passage, it's because, like you, I've witnessed situations where the wicked had it easy while the righteous suffered.

And of course I asked myself why?
I asked people around me, people who knew more about our religion than I did, and the answer was the same.

The villain may be happy, but his happiness is short-lived. When his time comes, he will face whatever fate has in store for him.

The righteous man, on the other hand, doesn't worry about his present state. He knows that his suffering will eventually dissipate and be replaced by permanent happiness.

I don't find this explanation convincing.

I'm dealing here with two major subjects: HAPPINESS and SUFFERING.

What is happiness? It's a word unlike any other. It's a word that everyone wants to be associated with. Why is it so important? While some believe that happiness is the moment, others believe they'll find it in the future. For me, perfect happiness is loving what you do. Happiness is not expecting anything from anyone. Walt Disney said: « Dream your life in color, that's the secret of happiness ». It was King Solomon, in his proverbs, who warned us: "In the day of happiness, rejoice, in the time of misfortune, reflect".

As for suffering, I remember a saying in Jewish-Moroccan Arabic dialect that goes: If death exists, why suffering? My question remains: Why does it exist? Yes, I've heard a few answers, including: If it weren't for suffering, how would we appreciate joy? I'm tired of this dichotomy. I'd so much like to believe that in every misfortune, a little happiness slips through.

So, on the one hand, the wicked are happy and, on the other, the righteous suffer. We don't like either case until we understand why. We reflect and come to these conclusions: the wicked has no heart, he does evil around him and rejoices in it, while the righteous seeing this wickedness feels bad, he is sad and suffers from this misfortune. He prays and wishes for a change, while the other remains in his evil ways.

As Voltaire said: "One man's misfortune is another man's happiness". We have to believe that in all happiness, there is sometimes a little suffering. According to Aristotle, "virtue is not enough to ensure happiness; wickedness is enough to make one unhappy". And that's how our villain loses.

And that's what I've saved for the conclusion. I hope these words by the famous Friedrich Nietzsche and Victor Hugo will help readers to better appreciate: "May each be fortunate enough to find the conception of life that enables him to realize his maximum happiness". « True happiness is you, your voice, your gaze, everything that charms me and intoxicates me ».