When the Illness Isn’t Getting Better

Q: How can a person deal with an illness if his situation is not getting better?

A: Even greater than the person who thanks Hashem after his recovery is the person who continues being grateful while he is suffering.

It says in Avos (5:23), “L’fum tza’ara agra — the reward is according to the distress.” The more difficult something is, the greater the reward. If you come from the outside world where you weren’t raised in a Torah environment and turned yourself into a real Torah Jew, your reward is very great because it’s more difficult for you.

Just recently a man told me his story. His parents were not shomer Shabbos. They lived some place on Long Island. Today, he’s among the shlomei emunei Yisrael. This man was redeemed from Mitzrayim. The truth is that his situation was more difficult than yetzias Mitzrayim because in Mitzrayim they were loyal to all the traditions that the Avos had taught them. But this man was living in complete darkness and impurity, so it’s more than yetzias Mitzrayim.

I remember another man who was a chotei. He went to parties, to dances. He went to sleep late every night. One morning he got up and fainted. The doctors diagnosed him with tuberculosis and sent him to a sanatorium. For six months he sat by himself trying to get healed. And he got thinking. Eventually, he became a genuine ba’al teshuvah and started learning — so much that he became a rabbi. A real story. He has children who are b’nei Torah, tzaddikim gemurim, mashpi’im. It’s a remarkable story.

A boy had a bar mitzvah, but not one person from his family attended. They weren’t interested. So he came alone to the shul and read his haftorah. That boy will become a great man someday if he understands what he went through. “L’fum tza’ara agra.”

Even if something bad, chas v’shalom, happens in life, a person shouldn’t feel it’s no use living anymore: “I give up, I’m a wreck, I’m broken, I’m ruined.” No! Utilize it. Say your tefillos and your berachos with much more care. Those tefillos are special achievements. They are achieving for you much more success than you can ever dream of.

Therefore, if a person can sing to Hashem during distress, he has achieved the greatest level. Of course, it’s easier said than done. But it’s easier done when said. Say it again and again. Say your tefillos. Say your berachos. Say them with all your heart, with all your mind. In the middle of a toothache, say, “Thank You, Hashem.” How can you genuinely thank Hashem at such a time? Because it’s only on one side; it could have been on both sides. There’s so much to be grateful for. Just because one thing is out of commission, be thankful that everything else is working properly.

If a person suffering has the attitude that he’s mekabel yissurim b’ahavah — accepting his suffering with love — how great he is! It’s a tremendous achievement! The time will come when he’ll go to the place where he’ll see the fruit of his efforts. He’ll see the great return on his investment. And he’ll congratulate himself that he made such an acquisition with his free will in this life.