The Zohar explains that the righteous sometimes die before their time (and suffer seemingly unfairly that way) because they\u2019re negatively affected by the sins and sinners of their generation, or so as to not sin themselves one way or another at a later point. And the wrongful sometimes succeed either because God knows that they\u2019ll eventually repent and become righteous, because they\u2019ll eventually have righteous descendants, or because they\u2019ll do (or will have done) a momentous mitzvah that deserved so great a reward (Zohar 2, p. 10b).<\/p>\n
And Ari explains it in terms of one\u2019s actions in this life as opposed to those in past ones. If one is indeed righteous here and now and yet suffers it\u2019s because he hadn\u2019t yet rectified the sins he\u2019d committed in his past lives (Sha\u2019ar<\/em> HaGilgulim<\/em> 36).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (c) 2014 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n ———————————————————-<\/p>\n AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here<\/a> at a discount.<\/p>\n You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here<\/a> at a discount as well.<\/p>\n Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).<\/p>\n Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Zohar explains that the righteous sometimes die before their time (and suffer seemingly unfairly that way) because they\u2019re negatively affected by the sins and sinners of their generation, or so as to not sin themselves one way or another … Continue reading