Rav Yisroel Brog, well known rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Tiferes Avigdor in Cleveland, in an edition last year of Sichos Yisroel, which contain thoughts on the weekly parsha, addressed the idea that people nowadays frown upon the concept of punishment and accountability, preferring Easy Street.
“Now, the first thing you have to know is what is the Torah’s view on onshim (punishments) and yesurim (suffering)?” Rabbi Brog said. “In today’s world, the western society, they have a very negative view of onshim and yesurim. They don’t like pachad and yesurim. They like love. They’re into the love thing. Ahavah. You do bad? No sweat. Go to Uman, grow a pair of peyos, hide them under your yarmulke. When the time comes, Rav Nachman is going to come down, grab you by those swinging peyos and he’s going to pull you out of the deepest Gehennom and you’re good to go. Just keep coming back every year for the visit. It’s a pelah.”
Rav Brog remarked, “We live in a society that goes for that stuff. People actually believe in this rubbish, this nonsense. No one is getting you out of Gehennom except yourself: Maasecha yekorvucha umaasecha yerachakucha. Your own deeds will cause you to be near, and your own deeds will cause you to be far. Your actions are going to be what gets you out and what gets you in.”
Rav Brog added that, really, it’s an uncomfortable subject to speak about. “Should you tell children, or even adults that there’s a concept of onshim, and that there are consequences? Why don’t you emphasize the positive instead? Positive is so much nicer, so much more palatable. People like to hear the positive. ‘Everybody is going to make it!’ But people don’t realize that there is a place in the Torah for this. The Torah gave us 98 klalos in one tochachah and half a boatload of klalos in Sefer Vayikra.”
{Matzav.com}