In Vayikra Rabbah 17, a fascinating midrash – that's a story that unpacks the deeper meaning of a biblical text – explores this very idea. Specifically, it looks at whether God inflicts suffering on people directly, or if there's a buffer, a prelude, if you will.

Rav Huna, quoting Rabbi Yehoshua bar Avin and Rabbi Zekharya, son-in-law of Rabbi Levi, in the name of Rabbi Levi, presents a powerful concept: "The Merciful One does not afflict human beings first." It's a bold statement, isn't it? Where does this idea come from? The midrash turns to the story of Job.

Remember Job? The famously righteous man who loses everything? The text in Job 1:14-15 tells us, “The oxen were plowing [and the donkeys grazing beside them, and Sheba fell upon them and took them].” The midrash points out that before Job himself is afflicted, God takes away his possessions. Why?

The midrash suggests something quite beautiful: that God showed him a sample of the World to Come, the Olam Ha-Ba. How so? It connects Job's story to Amos 9:13, which speaks of a future where "the plowman will encounter the reaper." In other words, a time of such abundance that the harvest comes immediately after planting. The very fact that the donkeys were grazing in a field that had just been plowed, suggests a taste of that future abundance.

But tragedy strikes. “Sheba fell upon them and took them; [they smote the lads by the sword]” (Job 1:15). Rabbi Avin bar Kahana paints a grim picture: the attackers traveled a great distance, and the young men who were captured died only after being dragged along.

And then, the lone survivor. “Only [rak] I, alone, escaped to tell you” (Job 1:15). Rabbi Yudan points out that the word rak, "only," usually indicates a limitation. But in this case, it's even more tragic. The survivor himself was broken, stricken. Rabbi Yudan says that the moment he delivered the news, he died. Can you imagine the weight of that?

The blows keep coming. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman explains that when Job heard about the Chaldeans' raid (Job 1:17), he was ready for war! "Because I feared the great horde and the contempt of families breaking me" (Job 31:34). He knew the Chaldeans were a force to be reckoned with, "a people that was not" (Isaiah 23:13) – meaning they only came to inspire fear. But then, a fire from heaven (Job 1:16), a voice from heaven (Daniel 4:28). What could he do? All he could do was mourn.

The midrash then connects Job's suffering to other instances in the Bible. Remember the plagues in Egypt? "He delivered their livestock to hail, their cattle to bolts of lightning" (Psalms 78:48). Then, "He smote every firstborn in their land" (Psalms 105:36). First the property, then the people.

The same pattern emerges with Maḥlon and Kilyon in the Book of Ruth. Their property suffers first, and then "both of them, Maḥlon and Kilyon, died" (Ruth 1:5).

Even with leprosy, the midrash argues, there's a progression. It starts with the house, then the garments, and finally the body (Leviticus 13 & 14). Each stage offers a chance for repentance, for turning back, before the affliction worsens.

So, what does this all mean? Is God somehow…hesitant to inflict pain directly? Does He offer warnings, opportunities for change, before things get truly dire?

This midrash in Vayikra Rabbah 17 doesn't offer easy answers. But it does offer a framework for understanding suffering. It suggests that even in the darkest of times, there might be a glimmer of mercy, a chance for redemption, woven into the fabric of the universe. It invites us to look closely, to pay attention to the warnings, and to remember that even when things seem chaotic, there might just be a deeper, more compassionate order at play.