Why "bad" things happen from the Judaic Path
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The age-old question, "Why do bad things happen to good people" is one that is addressed extensively in Jewish life and lore. However, you might note that in the Jewish world, the question is not "Why" but rather "When". We don't know why bad (or good) things happen (most of the time) but we do know that they will happen. Rabbi Harold Kushner, in his famous book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" addresses this issue and concludes that there are some things we simply do not have answers to. Additionally, the Jewish response to evil in the world, which is what underlies the question, is: "When these bad things have happened, what do we do about it?" We return the question, in typical Jewish fashion, with a question and ask: now that something bad/evil/wicked/horrible has happened, how are we going to respond? The "Why?" question is limiting and even degrading. It can stop a person from acting and even surviving. While many may be comforted by an answer like: "It is God's will." Many will find that answer completely unsatisfactory and consequently abandon God, faith, and even their people.
Wars, plagues, expulsions, unspeakable horror have been very much a part of the Jewish experience. The evil in our world has caused many in the Jewish world to see God as limited. The rabbis in the Talmud profess: "All is predetermined, and free-will is granted." Contradictory? Not really. "All is predetermined" means that things have a course to run, which we cannot alter. Having said that, "free-will is granted" means that within that course of life, we have choices and control over certain situations.
I can choose whether or not to drive without a seatbelt. However, if I get into a car crash, the likelihood of me surviving is far greater with that belt on. I can choose whether or not to drink alcohol. However, if I choose to drink repeatedly and regularly, I cannot expect that my body will be unaffected by the abuse I give it with the consumption of alcohol.
As (progressive) Jews, we are very reluctant to put God into the mix of evil in the world. While my more orthodox coreligionists may find the evil as a result of divine punishment and retribution, those of us in the progressive arms of Judaism ask not: Where was God in this episode, but rather, where was man? We know that we are ultimately responsible for the evil in our world. While some orthodox Jews have explained the Holocaust as a result of non-practicing Jews abandoning Judaism and God, the vast majority of Jews view the Holocaust (an ultimate example of evil run wild) as a result of man's inhumanity to man. The genocide in Darfur is not a result of God's punishment nor are the results of Hurricane Katrina. But our response is a reflection of how much God we want to bring into this world. In the words of Rabbi Harold Schulweis, we are not God but we can be godly.
Evil, quite simply, is. The question is: so what? So what are we going to do about it? Bad things happening to good people and good things happening to bad people will occur. Precious and effective teachers will get terminal cancer and die with years left in them of teaching. Sinister, convicted felons will survive with physical strength and health only to return to lives of crime after jail terms. God did not promise us justice in the world but he did demand it from us. In the Torah, we are commanded "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life." This has never been read literally in Jewish interpretation. After all, if a blind man pokes out one of my eyes, how to take "an eye for an eye"? Rather, the Torah teaches us that you are to exact justice (tzedek: balance/fairness/equity). Our rabbis read the text: The VALUE of "an eye" for an eye.
People being good and having evil in their lives - there is not necessarily a connection between the two. In fact, there isn't usually, which is why we drop the discussion there. Life happens. So what are we going to do about it?
L'shalom,
Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn
Wars, plagues, expulsions, unspeakable horror have been very much a part of the Jewish experience. The evil in our world has caused many in the Jewish world to see God as limited. The rabbis in the Talmud profess: "All is predetermined, and free-will is granted." Contradictory? Not really. "All is predetermined" means that things have a course to run, which we cannot alter. Having said that, "free-will is granted" means that within that course of life, we have choices and control over certain situations.
I can choose whether or not to drive without a seatbelt. However, if I get into a car crash, the likelihood of me surviving is far greater with that belt on. I can choose whether or not to drink alcohol. However, if I choose to drink repeatedly and regularly, I cannot expect that my body will be unaffected by the abuse I give it with the consumption of alcohol.
As (progressive) Jews, we are very reluctant to put God into the mix of evil in the world. While my more orthodox coreligionists may find the evil as a result of divine punishment and retribution, those of us in the progressive arms of Judaism ask not: Where was God in this episode, but rather, where was man? We know that we are ultimately responsible for the evil in our world. While some orthodox Jews have explained the Holocaust as a result of non-practicing Jews abandoning Judaism and God, the vast majority of Jews view the Holocaust (an ultimate example of evil run wild) as a result of man's inhumanity to man. The genocide in Darfur is not a result of God's punishment nor are the results of Hurricane Katrina. But our response is a reflection of how much God we want to bring into this world. In the words of Rabbi Harold Schulweis, we are not God but we can be godly.
Evil, quite simply, is. The question is: so what? So what are we going to do about it? Bad things happening to good people and good things happening to bad people will occur. Precious and effective teachers will get terminal cancer and die with years left in them of teaching. Sinister, convicted felons will survive with physical strength and health only to return to lives of crime after jail terms. God did not promise us justice in the world but he did demand it from us. In the Torah, we are commanded "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life." This has never been read literally in Jewish interpretation. After all, if a blind man pokes out one of my eyes, how to take "an eye for an eye"? Rather, the Torah teaches us that you are to exact justice (tzedek: balance/fairness/equity). Our rabbis read the text: The VALUE of "an eye" for an eye.
People being good and having evil in their lives - there is not necessarily a connection between the two. In fact, there isn't usually, which is why we drop the discussion there. Life happens. So what are we going to do about it?
L'shalom,
Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn
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