FROM THE RECENTLY PUBLISHED ‘REBBE NACHMAN’S SOUL’, ADAPTED FROM HIS AUDIO SHIUR ON SICHOS HARAN 49

Accepting Suffering with Love

In Parshas Va’eira, even the frogs understood that they were carrying out Hashem’s will. Chazal teach that they knew their mission—to bring suffering to Egypt—and they fulfilled it completely, even jumping into the Egyptians’ ovens. Going into an oven is a terrible death, but doing it willingly, because Hashem commanded it, is true self-sacrifice. The frogs remind us that serving Hashem is not about comfort or understanding, but about doing His will, even when it’s hard.

The three prophets and their test

Rabbeinu zal quotes the Gemara that says that the three prophets, Chananya, Mishael and Azariah, were subjected to a number of tests, including being thrown into a fire from which they were saved. Fire is a horrible type of death, but still, the person who is consumed by fire does not really suffer for very long. It is still a quick death compared to slow torture. Rabbeinu zal teaches an important lesson based on the difference between an unnatural, sudden death and slow torture.

The Gemara says that the king, Nevuchadnezzar, tried to get these three prophets, the friends of Daniel the prophet, to worship an idol. He had summoned all the people in his kingdom to worship idols, with the purpose of threatening these three with death if they refused. The Zohar HaKadosh says that they told the king, “We refuse to accept your order, and we have learned a lesson from those who preceded us.” Who were they referring to? The Zohar HaKadosh says it was the frogs (Zohar Chadash, Midrash Rus 94a).

The second of the Ten Plagues in Egypt consisted of frogs. The pasuk says that Egypt was filled with these frogs and their disgusting noises. Not only did they fill the homes of the Egyptians but they entered their ovens (Shemos 7:28). These were not plastic but actual, live frogs that had their full senses, and they knew what they were doing. They knew they were serving HaShem, fulfilling His command to torture the Egyptians, and they went as far as jumping into the ovens. Being thrown into an oven is a horrible death, but going in there willingly because of HaShemʼs command is a tremendous sacrifice.

Learning mesirus nefesh from frogs

The three prophets said that they learned from the frogs in Egypt what it means to sacrifice oneʼs life for the sake of HaShemʼs command. The Gemara states that they rebelled against the king and accepted death by fire rather than worshipping an idol. This is the statement in the Tanakh (Daniel 3:15-18). However, the Gemara says, this was not the end of the story. In the end, these heroes who were willing to give up their lives for HaShem were saved by an angel who cooled off the fire (Pesachim 118a).

They did not accept the decree after figuring that they would be saved; they went with the intent of dying. However, they did so only because fire is a horrible but quick death. It is not prolonged torture. If, instead, the king would have subjected them to slow and lengthy torture, they would have had to give in. There is a limit to how much physical torture a human being can bear.

Chananya, Mishael and Azariah were great in their actions. They were willing to go into the fire, but only because they assumed that they could take it physically. It is a very heroic act of self-sacrifice. Had they been subjected to torture, however, they would have had to surrender and, chas veshalom, bow to this idol. This is an actual quotation in the Gemara (Kesubos 33b).

Many Jews have withstood torture

Rabbeinu zal says that this is not meant to be taken literally, but theoretically. He says that there are, in fact, Jews who are so pure and devoted that they would be willing to endure unlimited torture rather than surrender their faith. Just before Rabbeinu zal’s time, there were many pogroms in which Jews were given the choice of renouncing their religion or dying by torture. There were a number of Jews who endured all the tortures that the king and the vicious leaders could conjure up, yet they still did not surrender their faith (The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Khmelnitsky massacres of 1648, etc.).

In the recent past (Ivan Gunta, the Haidemak revolution against Poland in 1768) too, we find Jews who went through different types of torture and likewise did not reject their faith. Rabbeinu zal says that one should not think that the Gemaraʼs statement means that it is impossible. Of course, not many could do it, but it is possible for a Jew to go through every type of torture conceivable and accept it without giving up one iota of faith.

We find this also with the Asarah Harugei Malkhus, the ten sages, including Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon (Avodah Zarah 18a) and Rabbi Akiva (Berakhos 61b), who were tortured to death by the Romans. They withstood this torture with a smile, with happiness. They would never have surrendered no matter how long the torture took. Rabbeinu zal said that it is possible for a Jew to serve HaShem despite whatever torture is inflicted upon him. Ashrei to those who die al kiddush HaShem.

This statement also contains a hidden message. There are times when a person may not be subjected to torture, but he is subjected to yissurim, pain and affliction. We see certain people who are prone to sickness, financial setbacks, and suffering in the family. It seems that their whole lives are filled with one suffering after the other, yet they always have the same smile on their face with the words, “Barukh HaShem,” on their lips. They are going through Rabbeinu zal’s example of suffering, of lengthy torture, and never say a word against HaShem. They accept their lot with simchah and ahavah. It is about those people that Rabbeinu zal says: “Ashrei lahem.” Ashrei to those Jews who are pure and with simchah, because the highest, most exceptional level in Gan Eden is waiting for them.