Diagnosed with a painful muscular disease when he was nine years old, Ralph Mahana realized from a young age that he had a choice to make: fall into self-pity and depression, or live a full and happy life, focusing on his blessings and on the many benefits that yissurim, suffering, brings to a person.

In this small – but very, very big – book, Ralph shares those benefits with us. How yissurim are a confirmation of G-d’s love for us. How increased effort means increased reward, in this world and the next. How suffering helps build our place in Olam Haba, the World to Come.

Ralph has sought out many great Torah personalities, both in America and Israel, and he shares the wisdom they have taught him and the inspiration they’ve given him, as well as effective tools for coping with painful challenges.

This is not a story of sickness and sadness. It is a testament to the power of emunah and bitachon, and to the power of an individual Jew – of all of us – to rise above challenges.