"A man’s spirit can sustain him through illness; But low spirits—who can bear them?" (Proverbs 18:14)
The Vilna Gaon teaches based on this verse that when a person is always happy then his happiness will heal any sickness that befalls him.
(3/3) that when one has his hand held and understands that he is not suffering alone he will no longer will suffer as much. When a person feels empathy and closeness to others then their personal suffering subsides.
(1/3) The Gemara in Berachos (5b) (today's daf yomi) tells stories of Amoraim who got sick and were visited. When asked if they enjoyed their suffering (because suffering refines a person and gives him reward in the world to come), they all responded that they they did not want
(2/3) the suffering nor the reward for suffering. Upon hearing this, the visiting amora grabbed and the sick amora's hand and the sick amora was healed. while simple explanation of the gemara is that this hand-grabbing was a mystical healing method, perhaps another explanation is
(1/2) The verse in Isaiah (63:9) is written as "In all their troubles He was not troubled" (בכל צרותם לא צר). However, our tradition states that it should be read "In all their troubles He was troubled" (בכל צרותם לו צר). This teaches us that when a person knows he is not
"When pain, illness, disaster, or exile befall a person, know, that G-d loves him and is chastising him as a father chastises his son. If a person finds himself [frequently] in a state of tranquility and a lack of struggles, know, that G-d does not love him."
-Sefer HaYashar
(1/2) Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk would often say: "I am not afraid to go to hell. If I am summoned by the heavenly court to be sent to hell, I will ask the angel of hell if this decision comes from G-d. If the angel tells me it is, I will happily jump into hell with song and
(1/2) "And they rushed him [Joseph] out from the dungeon (Genesis 41:14)." The verse implies that Joseph himself didn't rush to get out of the dungeon but rather had to be rushed out by others. This is because, although he was elated to be freed, he knew the salvation was from
Kind David said "I have taught myself to be contented like a weaned child with its mother (Psalms 131:2)" which teaches us that a person must have trust in G-d just as a baby who trusts its mother. David believed this despite being a warrior who could kill 800 men with one arrow.
The hebrew word for "worry," דאגה, contains the first 5 letters of the alef beis except for the letter "ב" which represents bitachon. When there is bitachon, there is no worry.
-Rav Aryeh Levin z"tl
The main reason for the giving of the Torah is for us to put our trust in Hashem, because the foundation of everything is complete bitachon, and it is the foundation of all the mitzvos.
- Vilna Gaon, Mishlei 22:19
When it comes to yourself you must constantly remind yourself to have faith that G-d will help you. However, when it comes to your friend you must be like an atheist and do whatever you can possibly do to help him.
-Rav Simcha Bunim of pshischa
Yosef had the inner strength to leave his clothing behind and to run away from sinning with Potifar’s wife because when his brothers stripped him of his clothing when they threw him into the pit he understood that the embarrassment was sent to him from Hashem.
-Rav Moshe Wolfson