Many Are the Afflictions

 Many Are the Afflictions

I tried to walk clean, but the body screamed louder,

Every step toward bestowal made the weight heavier, prouder.

When I worked for myself, the road felt wide and smooth,

But aiming at You lit a fire the ego couldn’t soothe.

Each time I chose truth, the wicked woke up inside,

“What’s this work for you?”—the same old knife in my side.

Day turns to light, and the shadow grows tall,

One mitzvah forward—then I’m split again, half and all.

The evil doesn’t rush me; it’s measured and slow,

Revealed only as much as the good I can show.

You don’t break me at once—you know what I can bear,

You hand me heavier weights because You know I’ll care.

I thought I was failing, the work harder each day,

But You were training my vessels, shaping the way.

The pain was the Kli, the lack was the cry,

No light without hunger, no soul without why.

I begged You to save me, to end this fight,

But You waited for wholeness—left, right, then light.

Not cruelty—precision, not silence—design,

Each prayer stored safely, counted in time.

I wanted peace now, to finally rest,

But You said, “This world too must be dressed.”

Not only bestowal, not only the next,

But even reception corrected, annexed.

So if I suffer, it’s proof I’m in,

You only expose what I’m meant to mend.

Many afflictions—but none are in vain,

You deliver me fully… through every pain.