Evil in the World: Our Response to Suffering

1
CALEV BEN DOR
Evil in the World Our Response to Suffering
Acceptance with Love
The time the Romans took out Rabbi Akiva in order
to execute him, was also the time for reciting
the Shema. Even as they were torturing him, he
accepted upon himself the yoke of heaven. Akivas
students said to him Rebbe even this much?.
He responded "All my life I was worried about the
verse, 'with all your soul,' (which the sages
expounded to signify), even if He takes away your
soul. And I said to myself, when will I ever be
able to fulfil this command? And now that I am
finally able to fulfil it, should I not? Then he
extended the final word Echad ("One") until his
life expired with that word.
???? ??????? ?? ?' ????? ?????? ??? ?"? ??? ????
?????? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???
????? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ???
?? ??? ????? ????? ?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ????? ????
?? ????? ????? ??? ??? ???? ???????? ?????? ???
???? ?? ??????? ??? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????
????. ???? ?? ??? ????? ?????, ?' ?????, ?????
????? ?"???"
When they arrested R. Hanina Ben Teradion, a
decree was imposed upon him to be burnt together
with his scroll. He recited the verse the Rock
His work is perfect. His wife recited the verse
A God of faithfulness and without deceit. Their
daughter recited the verse great in counsel and
mighty in deed, Your eyes are watching over the
ways
???? ????? ????? ???? ????? ?? ???? ??? ???
(????? ??, ?) ???? ???? ???? ???' ????? ????
(????? ??, ?) ?? ????? ???? ??? ??? ???? (??????
??, ??) ???? ???? ??? ??????? ??? ????? ?????? ??
?? ???? ???'
Religious Challenge / Protest
Your Brothers blood cries out to me / against me
from the ground Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said It
is difficult to say this thing, and the mouth can
not utter it plainly. Think of two gladiators
wrestling before the king had the king wished,
he could have separated them. But he did not so
desire, and one overcame the other and killed
hum, he the victim crying out before he died
who will plead my case against the king
(Bereshit Rabbah 22)
"??? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ?? ?????" - ??? ?' ?????
??-????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ????
??????? ???? ?????? ????????? ???? ????. ???? ???
???? - ????. ??? ??? ???? ?????. ????? ??? ??
???? ?????. ???? ???? ????? ?? ???? ???? ?????
????? ?? "??? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ?? ?????".
Today is judgment day. David proclaims in his
psalms today all Your creatures stands before You
so that You may pass sentence. But I, Levi
Yitzchak, son of Sarah of Berditchev, I say and I
proclaim that it is You who shall be judged
today! By Your children who suffer for You who
die for You and the sanctification of Your name
and Your law and Your promise (from Elie Wiesel
Souls on Fire)
2
Ambiguity (Submission, Anguished Cry or Silence?)
?. ???????? ??????? ???-??????
?????????.?.  ??????????, ????-???
??????? ?????-???????? ??????? ????????.?  ???
???, ???????? ?????--??????-??????????
???????????, ????? ?????? ?????????? ?????????,
????? ?????.?  ??????-???, ????????? ????????
???????????, ?????????????.?  ????????-?????
????????????? ????????, ??????
????????.?  ???-????, ??????? ????????????--???-?
???? ???????.
1 Then Job answered the LORD, and said2 I know
You can do every thing, and that no purpose can
be withheld from You.3 Who is this that hides
counsel without knowledge? Therefore Ive
uttered that which I didnt understand, things
too wonderful for me, which I didnt know.4
Hear, I beseech You, I will speak I will
demand of You, and declare You to me.5 I had
heard of You by the hearing of the ear but now
my eye sees You6 Wherefore I abhor my words,
and repent, seeing I am dust and ashes
John Briggs Curtis argued that the only plausible
object consistent with Job's speeches is God
Himself. Curtis points out that Nichamti, in the
Nifal normally expresses regret, not repentance,
and can also mean 'I feel sorry'. He takes Afar
VaEfer' as 'man's frailty before the divine'. He
accordingly understands Job as saying 'Therefore
I feel loathing contempt and revulsion towards
you God and I am sorry for frail man. Walter
Michael goes a step further, pointing out that
the object suffix 'kha' (you) that accompanied
the two preceding verbs suggests an ellipsis
'with the hearing of my ear I have heard You, but
now my eyes have seen You, and therefore I
despise You. Like Curtis, Michel believes that
only Job's rejection of the deity of the God
speeches preserves his integrity. In a recent
commentary, Yair Hoffman acknowledges that Job's
answer is ambiguous 'it makes no sense for
someone to express full repentance in such
evasive language. In formulating Job's answer in
this manner, the author must have intended to
leave open the question as to whether Job was
really convinced by God's inconclusive speech,
and throws the ball back to each one of us.
There is an even more dramatic ambiguity in the
final clause 'VeNichamti Al Afar VaEfer' is
usually translated as 'I repent in dust and
ashes'.dust and ashes occurs just three times in
the Hebrew Bible twice in Job and once in
genesis. This is its context as Abraham asks to
spare SdomAvraham, like Job, challenges God to
act justly. He is aware that he is 'dust and
ashes' of no inherent worth to the Creator of the
Universe, but he nonetheless speaks and God
nonetheless listens. If afar VaEfer is a code
phrase for Avraham, we have an alternative for
Job's final words. Rather than saying 'I am
sorry, sitting on the ash heap,' Job says 'I am
sorry about Avraham' or 'I recant my belief
concerning Avraham. (Kevin Snapp, a Curious
Ring in the Ears)
??? ????? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ????? ????? ????
??? ?? ???? ??????. ??? ??????? ??? ???????
???? ??????? ??? ????? ???"? ?? ???? ??? ????.
?"? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ????.
Then said Moses, "Lord of the Universe, you have
shown me his Torah, show me his reward." "Turn
around," said He and Moses turned around and saw
them weighing out his flesh at the market-stalls.
"Lord of the Universe," cried Moses, "such Torah,
and such a reward!" He replied, "Be silent, for
such is my decree. (Menachot 28b)
3
CALEV BEN DOR
Emotional Identification not Theological
Justification
??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?' ????? ?"? ??????
???? ?????? ?"? ?? ?? ??? ???? ?"? ?? ?? ??? ???
??? ???? ???????. ?' ????? ??? ?? ????? ?' ?????
?"? ?????? ???? ?????? ?"? ?? ?? ??? ???? ?"? ??
?? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ?' ?????
?????? ???? ??? ???? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ???
?????? ??? ?? ????? ??? ????? ??? ???? ?? ???
???? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ???? ??
??? ?' ?????? ?"? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???
???? ????? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ???
????? ??? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??????
??? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??????? ??? ?"? ???? ?????
???? ????? ?? ????? ?"? ?? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????
??????? ????? ???? ?"? ?????? ???? ?????? ?"? ??
?? ??? ???? ?"? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???? ??????? 
(????? ?"?)
R. Chiyya b. Abba fell ill and R. Yochanan went
in to visit him. R. Yochanan said to R. Chiyya
b. Abba Are your sufferings welcome to you? R.
Chiyya b. Abba replied Neither they nor their
reward. R. Yochanan said to R. Chiyya b.
Abba Give me your hand. R. Chiyya b. Abba
gave him his hand and R. Yochanan raised him
up out of his sick bed. R. Yochanan once fell
ill and R. Chanina went in to visit him. R.
Chanina said to him Are your sufferings welcome
to you? R. Yochanan replied Neither they nor
their reward. R. Chanina said to him Give me
your hand. R. Yochanan gave him his hand and
R. Chanina raised him. Why could R. Yochanan
not raise himself? They replied The prisoner
cannot free himself from jail. R. Eleazar fell
ill and R. Yochanan went in to visit him. He
noticed that he was lying in a dark room so he
bared his arm and light radiated from it.
Thereupon he noticed that R. Eleazar was weeping,
and he said to him Why do you weep? Is it
because you did not study enough Torah? Surely we
learned The one who sacrifices much and the one
who sacrifices little have the same merit,
provided that the heart is directed to heaven
Menachot 110b. Is it perhaps lack of
sustenance? Not everybody has the privilege to
enjoy two tables both learning and wealth in
abundance. Is it perhaps because of the lack
of children? This is the bone of my tenth son!
He replied to him I am weeping on account of
this beauty that is going to rot in the earth. He
said to him On that account you surely have a
reason to weep and they both wept. In the
meanwhile R. Yochanan said to him Are your
sufferings welcome to you? R. Eleazar replied
Neither they nor their reward. R. Yochanan said
to him Give me your hand, and R. Eleazar gave
him his hand and R. Yochanan raised him.
Examining how the Rabbis sought to handle this
problem, is a more about religious anthropology
than philosophical theology. For some, suffering
is bearable if it results from the limitations
of finite human beings, but it becomes terrifying
and demonic if it is seen as part of the scheme
of their all powerful Creator. Others would find
life unbearably chaotic if they could not believe
that suffering, tragedy and death were a part of
Gods plan for the world (David Hartman).
4
Changing the Question Not Why but What Now?
Man is born as an object, dies as an object but
it is within his capacity to live as a subject.
According to Judaism, mans mission in this world
is to turn fate into destiny an existence which
is passive and influenced, to an existence that
is active and influential an existence of
compulsion, perplexity and speechlessness, to an
existence of will and initiative. (Yosef Dov
Soloveichik, Kol Dodi Dofek, The Voice of my
Beloved Knocks)
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing
the last of the human freedoms to choose ones
attitude in any given set of circumstances, to
choose ones own way.One could make a victory of
those experiences, turning life into an inner
triumph, or one could ignore the challenge and
simply vegetate, as did the majority of the
prisoners. (Victor Frankl, Mans Search for
Meaning)
One can either be a victim of fate or an
initiator of destiny (Esther Wachsman)