Question:
I was very impressed with the article about the Kabbalist, Rabbi Eliahu Leon Levi, especially his teaching that sufferings derive from transgressions and improper midot. For unfortunate people like me who still live in galut, and can’t meet with Rabbi Levi personally in Israel, how can we know the specific cause of our troubles, so that we can correct them?
Answer:
First of all, you can come to Israel and meet with Rav Leon in person. If this is impossible, here is a short prayer that Rav Leon advises students to say whenever a misfortune befalls, whether it be an illness, G-d forbid, or something as small as forgetting your eyeglasses at home.
Whatever tribulation that besets you, or your wife, or your children, G-d forbid, or upon receiving an economic blow that causes you loss and chagrin, say this:
“Please, Hashem, I realize that this suffering has befallen me because of my wrongdoings. Though I don’t know which of my errant deeds has brought this upon me, forgive me, and heal me, and help me to attain perfect repentance before You.”
In the book, “Shomer Emunim,” Rabbi Aharon Rota recommends saying the following prayer over sufferings that befall an individual, whether large, G-d forbid, or small.
“I believe with complete faith that this tribulation and suffering that has befallen me is a result of Hashem’s direct Providence over my life, and I accept it upon myself with love, and I recognize that this has happened because of my many sins, and that you, Hashem, are righteous and just in everything that has befallen me, for You, Hashem, have acted in truth, for I have acted improperly. May it be Your will that these sufferings be considered as an atonement for my many sins, and may they also lessen the pain of the Shechinah and your nation Israel in exile.
“Behold, from the standpoint of strict justice, I am required to specify my transgression, and confess my sin in sorrow, and return to You in penitence over the wrongdoings that have caused these sufferings to come upon me. But it is revealed and known before You that I don’t know the exact cause. Therefore, may it be Thy will, my Father in heaven, that You erase and uproot the transgressions that caused me these sufferings, and that all of the harsh decrees be sweetened, mine and those of the nation of Israel, and that all of the circumstances and their roots be transformed into blessings of goodness, that Your good and revealed kindnesses may grace us and all of the House of Israel forever. Amen.”
Rabbi Rota writes that if a person makes a habit to say this prayer, it will sweeten all of the judgments against him, whereby the sufferings will serve as atonements for his sins, especially is he says the prayer regularly, even over small matters, it will bring great satisfaction to Hashem and joy throughout all of the upper worlds, because it is Hashem’s way to test an individual regarding his faith, and by strengthening oneself in one’s faith in G-d, even in the face of hardship, then even if harsh decrees have been slated to be his lot, they will be sweetened.
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