The Holy One, blessed be He, has given three precious gifts to Israel, and none of them has He given except through suffering.
They are: the Torah, the land of Israel, and the world to come. How do we know that the Torah was given through suffering? As it is written: “Blessed is the man whom You chastise, O Lord, and who teaches him out of Your law” (Psalm 94:12). And the land of Israel? For it is written: “As a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you” (Deuteronomy 8:5), and immediately after that it follows: “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land” (Deut. 8:7). And the world to come? For it is written: “For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life” (Proverbs 6:23).
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The statement by R. Simeon b. Yochai in Berachot 5a about the three great gifts that God has given to Israel belongs to those short rabbinical formulations in which a whole world of theology and experience is condensed. The Torah, the land of Israel, and the world to come are mentioned as three precious gifts, but it is immediately added that none of these gifts was given without suffering. This is not a minor detail, but the key to understanding the entire passage. The rabbis substantiate their argument with three texts from the Tanakh: Psalm 94:12, Deuteronomy 8:5, and Proverbs 6:23. Each of these verses shows that suffering is not a mistake in God’s way, but a necessary dimension of formation, growth, and destiny.
Psalm 94:12 says, “Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord, and who teaches him out of Your law.” In the rabbinic tradition, chastening does not mean punishment, but formation. The Torah is not a possession that one acquires, but a path that one walks, and that path forms the person. The gift of the Torah therefore requires discipline, self-examination, and a willingness to abandon old patterns. Rashi notes that discipline makes a person fit to bear the Torah; the Midrash compares the Torah to fire that warms and illuminates, but can also burn if approached without reverence. The Torah is a gift, but a gift that changes people, and that change is never without pain.
Deuteronomy 8:5 connects suffering with the land of Israel: “As a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.” The context is the desert, the place of hunger, thirst, and uncertainty, but also of manna, water, and closeness. The desert is not a punishment, but a pedagogy. There, Israel learns trust, dependence, and obedience. For R. Simeon b. Yochai, this is proof that the land cannot be received without suffering. The entry is through the desert, and the desert shapes the people into a community that can sustain the land. Nachmanides emphasizes that the land can only be received by a people who have learned to live by God’s word. The land is a gift, but a gift that requires maturity.
Proverbs 6:23 finally says: “For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is a light; the reproofs of discipline are the way to life.” The rabbis read this as a reference to the world to come. The way to life is not a path of ease, but one of moral formation, struggle against evil, and faithfulness to God’s commandments. The discipline mentioned here is not discouragement, but a signpost. The world to come is a gift, but a gift that requires a path of righteousness. Man is formed by the commandments, and that formation is the way to the life that is to come.
When these three texts are read together, it becomes clear why all three gifts are accompanied by suffering. What is truly valuable shapes human beings — and shaping never comes without pain. The Torah shapes the heart, the land shapes the people, the world to come shapes life itself. In this rabbinic logic, suffering is not a punishment, but a transformative force. It makes people receptive, humble, open to God. The gift is great, and therefore the preparation is intense.
Throughout the centuries, Jewish interpreters have always read these verses as signs of God’s presence. The Midrash says that God disciplines those whom He loves. Maimonides emphasizes moral formation: discipline is the path to virtue. The desert is not a punishment, but a school of learning. The Torah is not a burden, but a source of wisdom. The world to come is not a reward, but the completion of a journey that is traveled through life.
The question of what one gains from this passage is not difficult to answer. It reminds us that the greatest gifts are never cheap. The Torah demands dedication. The land demands responsibility. The world to come demands a life focused on justice and truth. The passage corrects any tendency to take God’s gifts for granted. It reminds us that the path of Israel has always been a path of formation, and that suffering in it is not a sign of absence, but of closeness. The suffering that accompanies these gifts is not destruction, but preparation. It makes man fit to receive what would otherwise be too heavy.