So too, Rava said that Rav Seḥora said that Rav Huna said: Anyone in whom the Holy One, Blessed be He, delights, He oppresses him with suffering, as it is stated: “Yet in whom the Lord delights, He afflicts with illness." (Isaiah 53:10).
But the LORD chose to crush him by disease, That, if he made himself an offering for guilt, He would see offspring and have long life, And that the LORD’s purpose through him might prosper.
I might have thought that God delights even in someone who does not accept their suffering with love. Therefore the verse continues: “If his soul would offer itself in guilt.” Just as a guilt-offering is brought knowingly, so too suffering must be accepted knowingly.
And if one accepts that suffering with love, what is their reward? As the verse continues: “He would see offspring, and have long life.” Moreover, his Torah study will endure through him, as it is stated: “the LORD’s purpose through him might prosper.”
פְּלִיגִי בַּהּ רַבִּי יַעֲקֹב בַּר אִידִי וְרַבִּי אַחָא בַּר חֲנִינָא. חַד אָמַר: אֵלּוּ הֵם יִסּוּרִין שֶׁל אַהֲבָה — כׇּל שֶׁאֵין בָּהֶן בִּטּוּל תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אַשְׁרֵי הַגֶּבֶר אֲשֶׁר תְּיַסְּרֶנּוּ יָּהּ וּמִתּוֹרָתְךָ תְלַמְּדֶנּוּ״.
Rabbi Ya’akov bar Idi and Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina disagree. One of them said: Afflictions of love are any that do not cause dereliction in the study of Torah, i.e., any which do not afflict his body to the extent that he is unable to study Torah, as it is stated: “Happy is the man whom You afflict, Lord, and teach from Your Torah.” (Tehilim/Ps. 94:12) Afflictions of love are when one can still learn Torah.
And one of them said: Afflictions of love are any that do not cause dereliction in the recitation of prayer, as it is stated: “Blessed is God Who did not turn away my prayer” (Psalms 66:20). Despite suffering, the afflicted is still capable of praying to God.
Rabbi Abba, son of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, said: My father, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said as follows: Both, even afflictions that cause dereliction in the study of Torah and those that cause dereliction in the recitation of prayer, are afflictions of love, as it says: “For whom G-d loves, G-d rebukes, just as a parent does their child” (Proverbs / Mishlei 3:12). Inability to study Torah and to pray are among these afflictions.
אֶלָּא מַה תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר ״וּמִתּוֹרָתְךָ תְלַמְּדֶנּוּ״ — אַל תִּקְרֵי ״תְלַמְּדֶנּוּ״, אֶלָּא תְלַמְּדֵנוּ. דָּבָר זֶה — מִתּוֹרָתְךָ תְּלַמְּדֵנוּ.
What then, is the meaning when the verse states: “And teach him from Your Torah”? Do not read this as "...teach him" (Telamdenu), rather, read it as "teach us" (telamdeinu). You teach us the value of this affliction from Your Torah.
קַל וָחוֹמֶר מִשֵּׁן וָעַיִן.
This is taught through a kal vachomer inference from the law concerning the tooth and eye of a slave.
For example, the laws and stringencies of Shabbat are greater than those of Yom Tov (Jewish holy days). The Torah states that it is forbidden to instruct a slave or a child to violate Yom Tov. If this is true for Yom Tov, then all the more so, kal vachomer, it is forbidden to instruct them to violate Shabbat.
Or by contrast, the Torah indicates that it is permitted to offer sacrifices on Shabbat, a day which has greater status and restrictions than Yom Tov. If sacrifices are permitted on Shabbat, then all the more so, kal vachomer, they are permitted on Yom Tov.
Kal vachomer: The tooth and eye are each a single limb of a person and if a master damages either, the slave thereby obtains his freedom. If so, then where suffering purges a person’s entire body, all the more so that one person shall attain freedom - i.e., atonement from sins.
וְהַיְינוּ דְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ, דְּאָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ: נֶאֱמַר ״בְּרִית״ בְּמֶלַח, וְנֶאֱמַר ״בְּרִית״ בְּיִסּוּרִין, נֶאֱמַר ״בְּרִית״ בְּמֶלַח, דִּכְתִיב: ״וְלֹא תַשְׁבִּית מֶלַח בְּרִית״ וְנֶאֱמַר ״בְּרִית״ בְּיִסּוּרִין, דִּכְתִיב: ״אֵלֶּה דִבְרֵי הַבְּרִית״, מַה ״בְּרִית״ הָאָמוּר בְּמֶלַח — מֶלַח מְמַתֶּקֶת אֶת הַבָּשָׂר, אַף ״בְּרִית״ הָאָמוּר בְּיִסּוּרִין — יִסּוּרִין מְמָרְקִין כׇּל עֲוֹנוֹתָיו שֶׁל אָדָם.
And that is the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, as Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: The word covenant is used with regard to salt, and the word covenant is used with regard to afflictions. The word covenant is used with regard to salt, as it is written: “The salt of the covenant with your God should not be excluded from your meal-offering; with all your sacrifices you must offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13). And the word covenant is used with regard to afflictions, as it is written: “These are the words of the covenant” (Deuteronomy 28:69). Just as, in the covenant mentioned with regard to salt, the salt sweetens the taste of the meat and renders it edible, so too in the covenant mentioned with regard to suffering, the suffering cleanses a person’s transgressions, purifying him for a more sublime existence.