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Question 86: A friend gave birth to a baby with a rare condition that has rendered her severely handicapped. She is not expected to live much past her tenth birthday. I just can't understand why God does that. If life has a purpose, what is the purpose of such a short and sad life?
Answer: Every birth is a gamble. A soul enters the world innocent and pure. But it may not stay that way. This world is maze of diverging pathways, both good and evil, and the choice is ours which way we go. Once a soul enters a body, it is free and therefore vulnerable to corruption. While acts of good elevate the soul, every act of evil makes a blemish on the soul.
Some
souls are so pure, it simply isn't worth the gamble. These souls are too
precious to risk being compromised by life in a body. They are too high to come
down to this world. But the other option, not to be sent down at all, to never
reach this world, would mean that we would miss out on meeting these holy and
lofty souls and hearing their message.
So these souls do come down. But in
order to be protected from the potential evils of an earthly existence, they are
sent down into a body that will not compromise their holiness. They enter this
world in a form that is above sin, above evil. From a purely physical
perspective we call them disabled or handicapped; from the perspective of the
soul they are protected. They will never sin. Their sojourn in this world is
often brief, and in terms of this world may seem sad. But they have retained
their purity. And they have fulfilled their mission.
These special souls remind us that
true love doesn't need a reason. We often love others for what they give us - we
love our children because they are cute, smart, and high achievers; we love our
spouse for the pleasure and contentment they give us; we love our parents
because they care for us. This is love, but it is not pure.
When a child is born that will
never achieve worldly success, cannot provide the usual source of pride for her
parents, all extraneous reasons to love her fall away and what's left is the
purest love that there can be. These children are lovable not because of what
they do for you, and not because of what they will one day become, but simply
because they are.
These pure souls remind us what
love should be. Only such a pure and holy soul can elicit such a pure and holy
emotion. We can only stand in awe of them, and the parents and friends who care
for them. And we can only thank them all, for giving us a glimpse of what true
love really means.
Rabbi Aron Moss
Sydney, Australia
