Asking the wrong question | Why vs.What for?

We are all looking for answers in our lives, particularly when things go wrong. So long as everything is going well, we tend to simply accept the natural course of things. It's as if everything good in our lives is expected, while bad things demand an explanation.

Looking back on the history of Israel, I often ask myself why did the chosen people have to endure so much evil and so many tragedies? Human understanding has no logical answer to this question. But perhaps we're asking the wrong questions.

A few weeks ago, Rona Ramon made me aware of the difference between lama and le'ma, "why" versus "what for". In one of her last interviews, the wife of Israel's first astronaut said that "it became clear to me that the question lama was pulling me under. There was no answer as to why my husband Ilan and my son Assaf lost their lives. I wouldn't find any answer to that question. That is why I am asking: le'ma? For what reason did this happen to me?"

In mid-December, Rona died of cancer at age 54. She leaves behind three children. In february 2003, her husband, Ilan, was killed when the Space Shuttle Columbia burnt up on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. He was just 48-ears-old. Six years later, her oldest child, Asaf, died at age 21 when his Israel Air Force jet crashed during a training exercise.
The tragedy deeply moved Israeli society. "I would like to understand what for."A play on words, as can often happen in Hebrew. Vowels are expressed simply by means of marks under the letters, such as is the case with lama and le'ma.
To the question of Why? Rona found no answer, but, there was an answer to the question What for? The Ramon foundation that she founded supports the young generation in the Land, in particular in the field of science through the Ramon SpaceLab.

Why me? The question of why only serves to drag us backwards, looking for causes in the past, bemoaning our fate and wallowing in self-pity. The why has us searching for reasons for our actions, or lack of action. A why only rarely leads to satisfactory answers, because question is turned towards the past.

What for? A what for directs our eyes forward. As a result, we are not putting ourselves in the center, but rather focusing on the purpose. Even if both questions sound similar, and can sometimes have the same answers, the emphasis is different. In what for there is power, as it is not asking for reasons, but rather for an objective. And that gives hope and encourages us. A what for? helps us to move on.

So for what reason did Israel have to endure so many tragedies both in the times of the Bible and following the rise of the Church? For what reason was Joseph thrown into the pit by his brothers and sold to the Ishamaelites? Are people affected by tragedies cursed people, or strengthened people? Did Israel and Joseph give in to self-pity, or did they look to the future?

Both placed the purpose of their suffering as their focal point and did not look back. Lot's wife destroyed her future because she looked back. Directing our eyes forward gives us hope and encourages us. Joseph's detours brought him to his goal, to the right-hand of Pharaoh. Thus he was in a position to first rescue the gentiles from starvation, and, in the end, save his own family. From Israel, faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sprang forth and culminated in the coming of the Messiah.

Israel's existence glorifies God, but it angers God's enemies. As a result of this spiritual tension, the nation of Israel has suffered throughout the generations. But the trade-off has been that hope and truth pointing to the existence and faithfulness of God have remained alive in the world. If Israel had had a boring and radiant life without any problems, then none of us would have asked the question: What for?

The question here is how one formulates the question.

Aviel Schneider - Israeltoday