A man is in duty bound to utter a benediction for the bad even as he utters one for the good ; as it is said, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. vi. 5) — "with all thy heart," i.e. with thy two impulses, with the good and the evil impulse ; "with all thy soul," i.e. even if He take thy soul; "with all thy might," i.e. with all thy wealth. Another explanation of "with all thy might [meodeka]" — with whatever measure [middah] He metes out to thee, do Thou return Him thanks [modeh].

For good tidings he says "Who is good and who bestows good" and For bad tidings he says "Blessed be the true Judge"!

A man should always accustom himself to say, "Whatever the All-merciful does, He does for the best." As when R.'Akiba was journeying by the way, he came to a certain town and asked for hospitality, but it was refused him ; so he exclaimed, "Whatever the All - merciful does is for the best." He went and spent the night in the field, having with him a cock, an ass and a lamp. A gust of wind came and extinguished the lamp, a cat came and ate the cock, and a lion came and devoured the ass ; but he exclaimed, "Whatever the All-merciful does is for the best." That same night a band of robbers came and captured the town. He thereupon said to them, "Did I not tell you that whatever the Holy One, blessed be He, does isall for the best!"

Three things Moses sought of the Holy One, blessed be He, and He granted them. He sought that the Shekinah should rest upon Israel, and He granted it ; as it is said, "Is it not in that Thou goest with us?" (Exod. xxxiii. 16). He sought that the Shekinah should not rest upon the other peoples of the world, and He granted it ; as it is said, "So that we are distinguished, I and Thy people " (ibid.). He sought that God should show him His ways, and He granted it ; as it is said, "Show me now Thy ways" (ibid. V. 13). Moses said before Him, "Lord of the Universe, why is there a righteous man enjoying prosperity and a righteous man afflicted with adversity ? Why is there a wicked man enjoying prosperity and a wicked man afflicted with adversity?" He answered him, "Moses, the righteous man who enjoys prosperity is the son of a righteous father ; the righteous man who is afflicted with adversity is the son of a wicked father ; the wicked man who enjoys prosperity is the son of a righteous father ; the wicked man who is afflicted with adversity is the son of a wicked father." The teacher stated above: "The righteous man who enjoys prosperity is the son of a righteous father ; the righteous man who is afflicted with adversity is the son of a wicked father." But it is not so ; for lo, it is written, "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children" (Exod. xxxiv. 7) and it is also written, "The children shall not be put to death for the fathers" (Deut. xxiv. 16)! We set these verses one against the other and conclude there is no contradiction ; because the former passage refers to those children who continue in their fathers' ways, and the latter to those who do not continue in their fathers' ways. But [we may suppose that] God answered Moses thus wise, "The righteous man who enjoys prosperity is perfectly righteous ; the righteous man who is afflicted with adversity is not perfectly righteous ; the wicked man who enjoys prosperity is not perfectly wicked ; the wicked man who is afflicted with adversity is perfectly wicked." This is opposed to the teaching of R. Meir ; for R. Meir said that God granted two of Moses' requests and refused one. As it is said, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious" (Exod. xxxiii. 19), i.e. although he may not be deserving; "And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (ibid.), i.e. although he may not be deserving. "And He said, Thou canst not see My face" (ibid. v. 20). It has been taught in the name of R. Joshua b. Karhah : Thus spake the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses, "When I was willing [that thou shouldest see My face] thou wert not willing ; so now that thou art willing, I am not willing."

And God Remembered Noah and Every Living Things and all the cattle (Ge, 8:1) Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; "Your judgements are like the great deep; man and beast You preserve, O God." (Psalms 36:7) Rabbi Ishmael interpreted: To the righteous who accepted the Torah which was revealed on the mountain of God You Show Righteousness (i.e. love) reaching unto the mountains of God; but as for the wicked, who did not accept the Torah which You revealed on the mountain of God, you deal strictly with them, even to the great deep. Rabbi Akiva said: He deals Strictly with the righteous, calling them to account for the few wrongs which they commit in this world, in order to lavish bliss upon them and give them a goodly reward in the world to come;He grants ease to the wicked and rewards them for the few good deeds which they have performed in this world in order to punish them in the future world,

If he attributed them to neglect of Torah without finding any justification, it is certain that his sufferings are chastenings of love..