Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich starker ("That which does not kill me, makes me stronger") Nietzsche Most Jews would find this difficult, even while being true. It is a truism because suffering often has the capacity to build within us a resilience and determination. We learn from falling down and skinning our knee a valuable lesson. And yet, the reason why it is so problematic for Jews is that there are times when pain does nothing to enrich our character. It deprives us of joy and often compassion for the suffering of others, It can make us calloused and hard and perhaps suffer a worse fate than death, indifference. Maybe the most valuable commodity/trait we will ever possess is our pathos. When we lose that, there is only death.