Jacob said: "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my justice has passed away from my God" (Isaiah 40:27). This was Israel speaking — the whole nation's complaint condensed into one verse. The Holy One is not paying attention. He has forgotten us. Exile has gone on too long.
Rabbi Shmuel reframes the complaint with a question from Lamentations: "Why should a living man complain about his sins?" (Lamentations 3:39). The answer is: he shouldn't, because the complaint that comes from your own sins is a complaint you have no standing to make. But the rabbis were not heartless — they acknowledged the distinction between suffering that comes from your own choices and suffering that feels disproportionate to anything you've done. The first requires repentance, not complaint. The second requires patience, and maybe prayer.
Rabbi Shimon goes further: "Why should a person complain? Is it not enough that he is alive and sees this sun?" The point is not toxic positivity — it's perspective. The exile is real. The suffering is real. But the capacity to question God, to bring the complaint before the heavenly court, to use Isaiah's words to frame your grief — that capacity itself requires being alive. The very complaint is the evidence of the life that makes the complaint possible. Jacob was not forgotten. The fact that he could say "I have been forgotten" was proof that something was still listening.
Chapter (60) 61: Torah [1] And Joseph was brought down to Egypt (Genesis 39:1). This is what scriptures say: "Good is the man who sits alone and is silent, for he will bear the yoke upon himself. He will put his mouth to the dust and hope that there may be hope, because the Lord will not cast off forever" (Lamentations 3:27-29). "Good is the man" [who bears the yoke] "in his youth". Blessed is he who accepts suffering in his youth, for his end will be peaceful. Job's friends also said to him: "Why do you complain about the suffering that has come upon you? Rather, your end will be peaceful," as it is said: "Your beginning was small, but your end will be very great" (Job 8:7). The suffering that you are experiencing now will save you from Gehenna (Hell), and you will rest in Gan Eden (Paradise), as it is said: "And he also brought you out of distress into a broad place where there was no constraint" (Job 36:16). This is to save you from the narrow mouth of Gehenna, which is narrow from above but wide from below, as it is said: "The earth is dark and barren, like a shadow" (Job 10:22). The wicked are like birds in Gehenna, because there is no air or land there. Therefore, it is wide and not constrained below, and not only did the suffering that came upon you save you from Gehenna, but you rest in Gan Eden, as it is said: "And your table will be full of fatness" (Job 36:16). Therefore, "Good is the man" [who bears the yoke in youth] and so on. [Pirkei Avot 3:5] [2] And so all the righteous suffered in their youth and ultimately found comfort. Abraham suffered greatly in his youth, was thrown into a fiery furnace, and was cast out of his father's house. Sixteen kings came against him, and his wife was taken from him by both Pharaoh and Abimelech. He was tested with his only son, Isaac, but in the end found peace, as it says "And Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Isaac also suffered greatly in his youth, as Ishmael took an arrow and tried to kill him. It says, "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac" (Genesis 21:9). "Playing" means he took an arrow and tried to kill him. Furthermore, his father Abraham was going to slaughter him, and then famine came, as it says, "Now there was a famine in the land" (Genesis 26:1). Isaac went to Abimelech and became the target of jealousy, as it says, "And the Philistines envied him" (Genesis 26:14). They told him to leave, and he went and settled in Gerar, where he disputed with the shepherds. But ultimately he found comfort, as it says, "Therefore he called it Rehoboth, for he said, 'For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land'" (Genesis 26:22). Similarly, Jacob suffered greatly, as Esau pursued him, and he was enslaved by his sons. He was pursued by Laban and punished through his daughter. His son was sold, and in the end he found peace, as it says, "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years" (Genesis 47:28). Joseph was deeply pained when his brothers despised him, threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and he was imprisoned. As it is written, "They afflicted his feet with shackles; iron pierced his soul until his word came to pass and God's word proved him true" (Psalms 105:18-19). Joseph remained silent, as it is written, "He sits alone in silence" (Lamentations 3:28). In the end, he was redeemed, as it is written, "He will not abandon forever, for He desires to show kindness" (Lamentations 3:31). And it is written at the end, "Hurry and go up to my father" (Genesis 45:9). [3] Another interpretation: "And Joseph went down to Egypt." (Genesis 39:1) It is said in scriptures: "He (God) has withdrawn you (Israel) from the land of the living." (Hosea 11:4) This refers to Joseph, as it is said, "There were certain men who were defiled by a human corpse." (Numbers 9:6) If not for the fact that Israel had to go down to Egypt due to Joseph's story, they would have been worthy of descending to Egypt in chains, just as they descended to Babylon, as it is said, "You should know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land not their own, and they will be enslaved and oppressed there." (Genesis 15:13) But because God loved them, He caused them to descend to Egypt in a pit and brought about the story of Joseph's sale so that they would descend of their own accord. Our sages say in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha that this was due to the coat of many colors that Jacob added to Joseph's clothing. His brothers were jealous of him and sold him to Egypt, and they also descended there after him, as it is said, "And Israel loved Joseph and made him a coat of many colors." (Genesis 37:3) The coat of many colors had an argaman (purple) stripe that reached the palm of his hand. Alternatively, it was the coat of many strips of parchment (shetarot) that his brothers wrote on concerning him, debating which type of death to kill him with. One said burning and one said killing, as it is said, "And they saw him from afar and plotted to kill him." (Genesis 37:18) The coat of many colors was stripped off of Joseph after they sold him, as it is said, "And they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him." (Genesis 37:23) They debated amongst themselves who would take him and bring him to their father Jacob. Once they made their peace, Judah suggested that they sell him, and they sent him down to Egypt with his coat, as it is said, "And they sent the coat of many colors and brought it to their father." (Genesis 37:32) Judah went and said to him [Joseph], "Please recognize [me], and let me know [who you are]." And [Joseph] said [to his brothers], etc. (Genesis 44:32-33) The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Judah, "You have spoken well to your father, [when you said] 'Please recognize [me],' for you also have [a lesson] to hear, as it says [about Tamar], 'And she said, 'Please recognize [this],' etc." (Genesis 38:25). And Judah recognized [Joseph], etc. (Genesis 44:33) Jacob said to him, "I know who did this to my son, a wild animal devoured him" (Genesis 37:33). "I know that you gave the advice," [said Jacob,] as it says, "And Judah said to his brothers, 'What profit is there...'" (Genesis 37:26), for no harm comes from a lion. And who is this Judah? As it says, "Judah is a lion's cub" (Genesis 49:9). "You have torn Joseph," [said Jacob,] "and ascended to the throne," as it says, "A lion's cub, Judah, you have risen" (Genesis 49:9). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Judah, "You have no children, and you do not know the pain of having children. You deceived [your father] and said, 'A wild animal devoured [Joseph].' Now you will know what the pain of having children is." And what is written after [Jacob's rebuke]? "And it was at that time that Judah went down [from his brothers]" (Genesis 38:1). And this also applies in the future, "A son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and a father shall not bear the iniquity of the son" (Ezekiel 18:20).
