Suffering in Silence
When a person is plagued by hardships, he must accept them with love, for they atone for his sins. Accepting the relatively easier hardships obviates the need for difficult ones, rachmana litzlan.
A well-to-do man from Mexico came to inform me that he had broken his hand. “Why did this happen to me?” he cried out in accusation. “My hands are always involved in tzedakah and chessed; why did I deserve this?”
Not long afterward, a fire broke out in his home, consuming all of his possessions. Only by a miracle was his life saved.
The next time he came to see me, I told him, “See what you have caused by your grievances. Had you accepted your suffering with love, maybe Hashem would have nullified the decree that your house should burn down.”
One should always accept difficulties with love. He should believe that they are perfect atonement for all of his sins. He should be careful with his speech so as not to bring more difficult decrees upon himself.
