In perhaps one of the most startling moments in the Bible, Moses confronts G-d about the treatment of the Children of Israel at the hands of their slavemasters the Egyptians; “Why have you done evil to your people?” he exclaims.
I remember as a child feeling very startled at this. How could Moses of all people have the chutzpah (or rather, the holy chutzpah) to talk to G-d like that? Aside from the very boldness of the statement, one could also as how could Moses, who had access to the highest levels of divine knowledge and was the greatest prophet who ever lived, doubt G-d (well, G-d forbid)? He of all people should have known there is a Divine purpose to everything, even the greatest suffering.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe says that Moses (as we can expect) was correct in his statement, which was more of a plea than a criticism. While Moses himself inhabited the highest level of Divine Wisdom, he also fulfilled the role of the shepherd of the Israelites. The ordinary people did not know necessarily why they were suffering, and they were struggling day to day with their belief in deliverance. Yes, Moses himself knew there was a purpose, but what about that individual slave who bore whippings and forced labor each day and whose faith might be faltering. Moses’ job was to act on behalf of his People and his question asked out of compassion for them.
This leads to the second point. The question was a plea for deliverance. It was if to say “It has gotten to the point where everyone is asking ‘Why is G-d doing this.’ So you must do something. You must bring deliverance from slavery and Egypt now.” Moses’ plea led to the Ten Plagues and the miracles that brought us out of Egypt.
When things happen to us, we can be philosophical. We can say it was for our own personal growth and benefit. We can look at suffering as character building; “That which does not kill us makes us stronger” as Nietzsche said. However, we cannot say this about the other person’s suffering. About someone else’s suffering, we must say “Ad Mosai! Until When, Hashem? How long will we suffer with our problems? When will you bring us out of this final Exile and when will you send Moshiach to build the ideal existence you promised?”
If enough of us ask this question, we will see the miracles and wonders which are said to be even greater than those that brought us out of Egypt.