QUESTION:
The Gemara has an argument if suffering befalls people due to sins or not. According to the first view in the Gemara, there can be suffering even without sins, and according to the second view all suffering is due to some sin. According to what the Rav said in the previous response [13766] about why tragedies befall us, it seems that suffering always comes because of some sin, so what are the two differing views in the Gemara if suffering comes because of sin or not?
ANSWER:
In every machlokes in the Gemara, each Sage will say a view based on the personal cheilek in Torah that he reached. This is a great rule to know about every machlokes found in Torah [in the Gemara].
With regards to the current question:
The first view in the Gemara which maintains that suffering comes even without sin is a view that is speaking about the “root” of suffering. At the “root”, suffering can come even without sin, because all suffering is rooted in the very first deficiency (or removal of Hashem’s infinite light) which is the root of all deficiencies in Creation: the tzimtzum (when Hashem contracted His infinite light). That paved the way for anything evil in Creation, beginning with the “seven kings of Edom” and their deaths, as the Arizal speaks about.
The second view in the Gemara which maintains that all suffering is a result of sin is speaking about the “branches” of the concept of suffering, which manifests on our world, and when we view the matter of suffering from the view of the “branches”, suffering is due to sins.
With regards to the current question:
The first view in the Gemara which maintains that suffering comes even without sin is a view that is speaking about the “root” of suffering. At the “root”, suffering can come even without sin, because all suffering is rooted in the very first deficiency (or removal of Hashem’s infinite light) which is the root of all deficiencies in Creation: the tzimtzum (when Hashem contracted His infinite light). That paved the way for anything evil in Creation, beginning with the “seven kings of Edom” and their deaths, as the Arizal speaks about.
The second view in the Gemara which maintains that all suffering is a result of sin is speaking about the “branches” of the concept of suffering, which manifests on our world, and when we view the matter of suffering from the view of the “branches”, suffering is due to sins.
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