Q&A: Regarding the Book on Jewish Law
Regarding the Book on Jewish Law.
Question
I heard a lecture about “the righteous who suffers and the wicked who prospers.” It was said there that there are people who, since they performed a few commandments in this world (honoring parents, circumcision), and since God is a king of justice and judgment, He must give them reward; therefore He gives them reward in this world and destroys them from the World to Come. According to your claim, a secular person today does not fulfill commandments and does not commit transgressions, since he is not doing so for religious reasons.
If so, why would he need to be paid any reward? After all, he did not fulfill a commandment. Is my question clear?
Answer
First, the reward is not paid for performing commandments. See Rabbi Asher Weiss’s lecture about this (which was discussed in the following columns):
But I didn’t understand what makes you think that the secular person will receive reward?
To me that sounds like a forced excuse. The ideas don’t add up, so they push the testimony off to the World to Come.
I don’t think anyone can know what happens in the World to Come or why righteous people suffer while wicked people succeed.
In my opinion, they expound this so that people will keep observing commandments and not follow the path of the wicked.