Belief After the Holocaust
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67 Comments Posted
About Holocaust : Bitter in the world, sweetness in the afterlife.
God gave them ticket to heaven and i am still struggling for it.
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The Holocaust happened in countries where people knew not a true God.Yes, there was neither God nor consciousness in the hearts and minds of the evil doers. They are in denial of the universal God whose Laws the Jews represent .This representation all nations seek to annihilate.The Holocaust was a warning to humanity to alter her way or face destruction.Only aftermath of war and public humiliation could make such people face the horrors of their actions, repent and give recognition to the true God. Repent has come;recognition of Jewish holiness can only come when truth is revealed by the Jews. Alas ,Jews ignore this message and endanger themselves once again.
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God didnt do this as a punishment. The Germans did it out of HATE. Dont blame God. Because without him YOU are NOTHING. NOBODY is IMPORTANT without GOD.
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if G-d did something great we would rely on him too much, then we would become lazy and expect him to do everything for us, why are we living then, becasue G-d can not test us
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i think that GOD allows everything to happen for a reason...
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Yes, the Germans did it out of hate, as did other nations and peoples throughout history. But I think G-d works through them, and in the end it makes us stronger. Thank you for the beautiful explanation on what will happen to the Holocaust martyrs. It puts my soul at ease to know they gainesd eternal merit for their pain experienced here.
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when one door closes another door opens
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Why is there evidence of G_D's intervention in the lives of Jew's and the Jewish nation in the Torah but the silence of G-d during the holocaust?
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In general, through time G-d has become "quieter and quieter".
In Torah a number of people have the gift of clear prophecy (The prophet sees and hears a specific command, while awake.) That is G-d being about as loud as he will ever be. Better put: That is G-d being as concrete as he will ever be.
Later, in times of the commentaries, only a few prophets existed. Perhaps in sleep, they would see something, and it was not clear.
So G-d was talking more softly, or better put, The evidence of G-d, and his message was less concrete.
And then, (Book of Esther) G-d is even more hidden. There are no direct messages. There are not any prophets in the old sense. G-d is hidden, and his messages are like clouds and mist compared to concrete. That has been the case for many hundreds of years.
Without regard of earthy conditions we are to stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, hopefully higher (closer to G-d) than they, without the direct communication of prophecy.
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G_d was both silent and evident during the holocaust.
Silent, because He allowed evil of such ugliness that it flies in the face of everything we believe.
Evident, because we miraculously survived. Miraculously, the Germans failed to create an atomic bomb, despite the fact that they were the ones with all the scientists and laboratories to do so.
Miraculously, because the Germans failed to overrun Palestine, due to a freak victory of the greatly outnumbered British tanks in El Alamein.
Miraculously, because there is no natural way to explain why Judaism and the Jewish People continue to flourish, returning with ever greater dedication to their G_d and His Torah.
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Thank you for supplying answers to a question that has dogged me for years. I plan to share this article with others.
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Many of the greatest Torah scholars were lost, and with it their wisdom. If G-d had a plan for the Holocaust, why did he take mostly the observant Jews of Eastern Europe? The percentage of survivors is greater in Western Europe, and of course the American Jews, most of whom were not observant, were entirely spared. Yet because of the Holocaust, these non-observant Jews became the leaders of world Jewry, simply because hardly anyone else (except a few like the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of good name) was left.
A greater question is one asked by the great Rabbi Yitzchak: G-d has a covenant with us. He promised to protect us and to multiply us. But every time our numbers grow, a calamity comes to reduce us to only ten percent of our numbers, thus negating our growth. Why is G-d not keeping His Covenant with us?
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Why did all the jews have to die. Its so sad that so many innocent people had to die. The Holocaust shouldn't of happened. Bubt it did and our job is to prevent it from happening again
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Thank you this line. Its the best I have heard lately:
The question becomes rhetorical – not, “where was G–d during the Holocaust?” but rather, “where was man during the Holocaust?”
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Honestly, such humility was employed to write this chapter. If only all the world knew and observed the 10 Commandments!
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Thankyou for writing this. It has greatly helped. Jews, Catholics, Homosexuals,Gypies, everyone who died. All 11 million of them should not die for nothing. They died so that we shall learn and that it should not happen again. If everyone was like you then there would be no terror, war, suffering. We need to learn from this horror. Thankyou for spreading the thoughts.
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Could it be that G_d simply wanted to give a message to ALL of humanity, Jews included? What if the truth is hidden from those who think to themselves that they are wise, or more than the rest of humanity?
I received a thought not too long ago while contemplating that tragic event, I like many others wondered "How could G_d allow something like this to happen?" All of a sudden it dawned on me that there was a message for EVERYONE. That message was, no matter who you think you are, it is not for ANYONE to control other people, His love is for his creation, and NO ONE is above any other except G_d. Where was G_d while this was happening? He was the message in it!
If asked where I got this, my answer is simple, G_d told me.
Bottom line, your paper degrees mean nothing, your fancy clothing means nothing, your earthly riches and wealth are nothing. Love thy neighbor as thyself you are nothing more or less than the homeless on the street! That is the truth in a nutshell.
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G-d didn't "allow" it to happen. Man allowed it to happen. Man will always allow it to happen--that's whay we are men. G-d could not have prevented it any more than He could have come down in a flaming chariot and smote Hitler's head from his neck (it would have been pretty neat, though). Even G-d has rules to follow, is how I see it. That makes sense to me.
I think as a person of faith you are able--obligated, even-- to find the good in anything, no matter how ugly the thing in question. The SHoah provided just as many opportunities for mercy and bravery and faithfulness and kindness and redemption as it did for cruelty, cowardice, faithlessness and damnation. Personally, if I can't at least find the good in something, I'll always see the bad in everything.
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No, it is not true that one must be a believer in order to ask this question. I just play "let’s pretend" and put myself in your framework and ask the logical question:
It is YOU who believe in an all-good, all-merciful and all-knowing god.
It is YOU who need to do the mental gymnastics in order to live with this cognitive dissocense of knowing that genocide occurred right under the nose of your god and presumingly with his consent.
The answer is easy for me. I don't believe in any gods and therefore have no need to make excuses for his absence.
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I believe that God knew what he was doing when allowing that tragic event to occur. The real shame comes in the fact that most people merely stood by and allowed Hitler to continue with his regime. A powerful nation like the U.S. should have stepped in to put an end right at the beggining. Appeasing Hitler was a very wrong move on the League of Nations' part. I simply believe that if us people would have stood up for the innocent Jewish nation, then God would have possibly intervened in the situation; and millions of Jewish people would not have died. "I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you"~Bible (God reffering to the Jewish people)
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I'm not satisfied with the idea that God "allowed" the Holocaust to happen. Men did it, not Him. If He could "allow" that to happen, after all, there would be no limit to the lousy things that befall man and for which He could be concievably blamed, many of which are due to plain old living-in-the-real-world rotten luck or failure to act. That's a slippery slope that I don't think is fair to Him.
I'm also not satisified with the idea that G-d stood by twiddling his divine thumbs while it happened. G-d did intervene, by destroying the third Reich (and a hell of a job He did, too) for what they did. I forgot the legal principle, but destroying the Third Reich before they had implemented the Holocaust wouldn't have made any moral or logical sense. There would have been no lesson learned, nor moral to the story. You can't justifiably kill a thief before he breaks into your house. You have to time it. If you wait for the right time, you act justly. If not, you committ murder.
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Daniel,
If you want to bestow upon your god all the praise and glory then YES, your god is equally responsible for allowing the Holocaust to occur and any other human perceived evil.
You give your god the power of creating the earth and rendering ultimate justice but he doesn't have the power to stop an attempted extermination of his "Chosen People?" Of course he does. (given your teachings)
So, all you have left is that he allowed it to happen. Was it to teach the Jews a lesson? That's pretty drastic to kill 6 million for a lesson which no one is clear about.
Or maybe you just worship a deity who is not GOOD. That is a possibility given his record in the Torah.
It is much more plausible that your god doesn't exist which is why he remained silent while human beings were being starved then gassed in ovens.
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Elisha,
I'm not sure you understood my point--that God did not perpetrate the Holocaust. Hey, forget the Holocaust and talk about the next best horrible thing--cancer! The vegan eats right and exercises and does everything correct--as most Jews thought they were doing given their unique history. End result? the same--undeserved catastrophe on both counts.
And if He indeed allowed it to happen, then why? Sadism? To teach a lesson? I can't accept those reasons, because G-d is good, and Good wants the best from people despite whatever the circumstances. Personally, I wouldn't want to live in a universe in which G-d is a pedant or a sadist, otherwise I'd be wearing the brownshirt.
Or is it because His own rules (free will) prevented Him from pointing a divine finger and stopping it all in a flash of heavenly terror? This seems to be the most logical choice. Even if G-d allowed it, again, where was man? Blaming G-d lets mankind --YOU--off the hook. That's my point.
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Daniel,
I do not think that your god exists. This would be the ONLY rational explanation for his absense. I do not have to do all the mental gymnastics, as you mdo in your previous paragraph, to make excuses for god's absense during the Holocaust.
A being cannot be considered good or holy, in my opinion, if it had the power to stop evil and chose not to.
So, even if there ever becomes even the slightest bit of evidence of your god, as he is portrayed in the Torah, he is not worthy of worship to me anyhow because he does not fit MY criteria for being "good" .
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Elisha,
Take another perspective. If G-d has to stop one evil, He has to stop all evils (but not all evils are of the same degree). Evil acts are committed one at a time, one individual choice, at a time. If there was even one German camp guard or one Baltic auxiliary militiaman among hundreds of thousands who said to himself, "Enough, this is sick, I refuse to do this," then perhaps--and this is a loaded choice of words, I know--the Holocaust may have servied His purpose.
Your central argument has always been that God a) has the power to stop evil and b) deliberately chose not to. For my reasons above, I don't think that is accurate. After all, G-d, from your perspective, didn't stop the Holocaust from happening, but He did, from my perspective, destroy those responsible for it. Or maybe it was man that stopped the Third Reich--which is exactly what God wants of His creations. Again, it comes down to, "where was man"?
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Daniel,
I agree that the appropriate question posed should be "Where was man?" or the rest of the world when human beings were being slaughtered? (Because there is no god that exists)
Your god, or ANY god, for that matter, DID NOT prevent the Holocaust nor did your god destroy the THIRD REICH. Humans eventually destroyed them. Again, your god is absent. You can say ANYTHING was "gods will" in retrospect.
Just leave things in god’s hands and see NOTHING happen. (Hands that help are better than lips that pray)
Humans act and human beings need to take credit for their failures and their victories and not allow any god to absolve us from responsibility or credit.
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In perspective Elisha has a great point "if god has to stop one evil he has to stop all evil" and What Daniel says "A being cannot be be considered good or holy" however when he says that your god is not worthy of his criteria then what are your criteria is their god not good enough for you or ask yourself are you not good enough for their god. Your beliefs are your beliefs and what you believe in is what you believe in.
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The way I see it is that human beings are the instruments He uses to get things done that He would like to get done, but often aren't (free will and all that). You say, "Just leave things in god's hands and see NOTHING happen." Actually, I agree and totally understand your POV. But that's like saying that one's hands have no brain behind them. If you leave things only in human hands, the result is often counteproductive and destructive because human beings are so imperfect. It's a team effort.
I don't mind that you don't believe in my version of God--everyone has their own particular one. That's the way it's supposed to be, I believe. I'm sure that God believes in His version of you. The fun question is, what are your criteria for a God you could--maybe, possibly--be willing to believe in? And are those criteria fair, and logical? That's be a very interesting discussion. Ready here!
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I think the interpretation of Rabbi Dubov is a bit simplistic. To say that the Almighty created the destruction of six million Jews is untrue Another explanation could be that when man chooses to do evil and enough evil has already created hester panim allows more evil to be done. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik of blessed memory had a more nuanced interpretation of evil. As human beings we must use our God given intellect not to be seduced to a simple explanation. The Holocaust was created by men. God merely allowed it to happend because of hester panim. To say that God created the Holocaust is to deny Gods existence.
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You have Jewish name. Perhaps you have a Jewish mother, which would mean you have a Jewish soul.
You care about ethics. That is good.
The question is unanswerable, and the article fails to answer it.
I once wrote a letter to Elie Wiesel and received a note in return. But I did not dare to ask him the one question I wanted to answer: his permission to go on praying to the Gd who allowed the Holocaust to happen.
I cannot stop praying. Gd does too much for me personally for me to stop praying. But I also feel guilty about it, because it appears that the same Gd who helps me, failed to help six million others. It almost makes me complicit in what happened, even though I was an infant at the time.
Nonetheless, the fact is that a life of prayer to Gd enables us to do more than we otherwise could.
Perhaps the best stance would be to honor your own Higher Power, which could be your own soul or your guardian angel. It's hugely empowering.
Gd bless you.
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I do not find the question unanswerable, and I also therefore find your answer of the question being unanswerable unfulfilling. The answer, as was clearly justified by everything in this very article, is that that Halocaust happened because there was no God. "Where was God during the Halocaust?" That question does not prove in any way at all that atheists know, oh how do all of you people put it, deep deep down that God exists. It is merely an important question for anyone to ask, because if the Holocaust wasn't for sin, what was it for? Many would find it hard to believe that this genocide- this monstrosity- could be caused by an all-loving God. But that's where you are wrong: Where was God during the Holocaust? God is nonexistant, therefore the correct answer would be, "God is nonexistant and therefore takes no part in any atrocities, including the one that left 11-17 MILLION, completely innocent and religios Jews victimized. You are right about one thing, though. Where was man?
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Dear Rabbi Dubov,
I'm a Christian believer but I read many articles from the chabad ogganiziation with great pleasure, interest ,and understanding. I work in a clothing store that serves many hasidim, they are my friends and we have many wonderful discussions. The reason I'm commenting is because of the subject of "G-d's Decree" or God's will.. I guess my question is this. The many people who hid Jewish people in their homes during those terrible years... were they going against G-d's decree, the Jewish fighters in the Polish ghetto uprising were the going againt G-d's will. We know that to go against G-d's will is wrong, were these people in the wrong? I personally don't think so, fighting injustice has been a Jewish cause since the very begining.
Thank you very much for a very interesting article Tom Seery
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We should never judge G-d, as the people who were to blame were the world. They did nothing and watched this wicked deed being done before their eyes. They can never ever have peace in their life. I still have tears in my eyes when I see what the Nazis have done. The world has forgotten once again and being Jewish brings hatred once again. Why should the jews be blamed for every one else's problems. I believe in Gd and the suffering of the holocost was not his doing but the people that were silent in thiose years. When the messiah comes, he will deal with them.
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this is a cop out the fact of the matter is that if there were a god and he was as powerful and loving as you say he should have stopped the murder of Jews by the Nazis. Who could worship such a god who sits by and lets millions of women and children be murdered. He stepped in and help the Jews escape the Egyptian persecution and slavery why not during the Holocaust? Does he just pick and choose those he is going to help whenever he feels like it. 50 million people died in that war and god sits by and watches. Your explanation is a cop out along with the "free will" theory Christians like to throw at people when they have no explanation for the atrocities of man toward man.
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I remember someone who was untouched by the Holocaust but who was Jewish being upset that the miracles of the Exodus did not happen during the Holocaust. I told him not to forget that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 400 years (Genesis 15:13, Exodus 12:40-41) before being set free. Thus, the miracles did not happen until after many years of suffering and death. He told me that he wasn't aware of the 400 years and thought that they were freed after a very short time.
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The only one to blame for the Holocaust is God himself, if he exists, because he led us unprotected into a trap with this religion of his. The only other plausible explanation (and the more likely) is that God does not exist (as science tells us) and we have just deluded ourselves over the course of centuries which is ultimately the fault of the rabbis who spread this propaganda. In either case, God, either as a reality or as a notion, must be thoroughly rejected and thrown into the garbage can of history where he rightfully belongs after the Holocaust. He or it is a disgrace , not worthy of our belief or care. To do otherwise is a blot on the memory of those that suffered and died.
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God is the ultimate merciful lord. I am a hindu from India and whenever I see or hear about the holocaust, my heart literally bleeds and weeps for the people who suffered. But I am sure divine will willed something else.
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Among those Hitler executed were many half and even quarter Jews. If you had 1 Jewish parent (mother or father) you were doomed. So were those who had Jewish father who were murdered Jewish souls who receive a greater portion?
Surely you can see why this question is important. If you don't have a Jewish mother you aren't Jewish - but you can still die as a Jew. Does G-d view them as righteous Jews and not simply Gentiles? What is their portion?
I was hoping for something different in this article but it is more of the same: We don't know why this happened. It was evil. But we can't understand G-d's thoughts - his ways are higher than ours. Your analogy of the primitive in an operating room left one important fact out. The person doesn't actually die and can be shown to the primitive after the surgery. That is an important flaw in your logic.
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You are right. The god theory is a wishful delusion left over from ancient primitive times.
Even if I'd lower myself to worship something, I would never worship such a creature (the god) as depicted in the torah.
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Yesterday, I was reminded why God seems to hide Himself. The answer is free will. If we knew God existed, we might not have the free will to believe or not believe. We would be like robots who do everything that He asks of us. Unless, of course, free will is part of man's nature irregardless of whether or not we know He exists and could, therefore, still disobey. I knew my dad existed when I was a kid, but I was still disobedient at times.
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Insulting the Dead: The Real Reason Synagogues Are Empty
Today I heard another nauseating Holocaust story.
In this tale, guards woke the prisoners in the dead of night and assembled them at a pit. Prisoners who could not jump over the pit would die in it. Most prisoners died. The rabbi told a “freethinking” friend that “G-d” had ordained this. He made a “leap of faith” and survived. So did his friend.
“How did you survive?” asked the atheist. – “By holding onto the merit of my ancestors,” said the rabbi. “How did you survive?” – “By holding onto your faith, rabbi.”
It would be useful to hear from the dead Jews whether their ancestors didn’t have enough “merit” or they themselves had insufficient “faith”. Maybe they didn’t say “Amen” with enough fervour when they prayed. Perhaps they hadn’t been observant Jews, or at least been friends with rabbis.
Until we have that chat, let's stop insulting their memory with stories like this.
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There is no proof of G-d. But the Holocaust itself comes close to it. Only G-d can allow man to do great evil and even greater good.
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There are times when the person does die on the operating table. Causes of death can be the anesthesia, the patient not being strong enough, or because the surgery didn't work. Before going into surgery we are told the percentages. Those are real numbers, and you really need to pay attention when deciding if surgery is the best option.
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Perhaps the message from the Holocaust is to fight back against evil with all one's heart, soul and might. This is what Israel does and what all Jews must do everywhere. The experience of the Holocaust taught us this.
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may the love for all who perished keep alive the faitlh. may G-d protect us all.
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Moses did not have faith: he knew Hashem and spoke to him. He could tolerate tragedy because he was in constant dialogue with the Master of the Universe.
Assuming that the Torah is factual in this aspect, it explains why he remained loyal to G-d (and to the yoke of Torah). No "emunah" was necessary.
What about us?
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It makes no sense to profess love for and give praise to a god (assuming even there is one) that allowed t:he holocaust to take place under his nose. How can anyone warm up to a god who stood with his hands in his pockets while his people suffered and died? The hours spent praying to him could be more usefully spent reading a book, playing tennis. or engaging in one of a thousand other pursuits.
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Your question about loving G-d after the Holocaust is a most compelling one. I understand people's frustration with not getting a satisfactory answer here about "How G-d could have allowed the Holocaust to happen?" The reason is because we cannot and will not understand this until Moshiach comes. The point of this essay is to clarify why not knowing the answer to this question does not conflict with belief in G-d. This is because the believer doesn't expect to understand G-d's ways, knowing that G-d is infinite, hence incomprehensible to us. Our love for HIm is also not contingent on our ability to understand His ways. When we accept that somehow, everything G-d does is for good, we can both believe in and love him, despite not only "allowing" but being involved in the Holocaust.
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If I can't understand G-d and His requests, I will not hold my breath for any moshiach and his representitives.
Moshiach is just another carrot and stick technique to get one to believe. Just keep waiting. Keep hoping. . .. . lol.
When you are desperate, you will strive for the hope of the supernatural. Only you, as a human, have the power to change things.
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hi im a sophmore and i would like to no if jews have a specific .... day that they celabrate for holocaust. like our memorial day. and if so what do they call it and what do they do?
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On the contrary, it is because of faith that people feel they have an obligation to take actions to change things for the betterment of the world and mankind. Without faith, there is no real reason to act.
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When you are praying you are not acting. Exactly the opposite actually. You are hoping someone (your god) will act FOR you. Praying is an immature response to problems.
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Your essay was a very interesting thought-provoking read (despite what I write below)
You claim to know much about the nature of G-d and what G-d wants for our lives, but your understanding ends when a logical contradiction is pointed out. Instead of reevaluating your assumptions, you fall back to: "the ways of the Lord are mysterious." - everything can be wiped away with a simple waive of the hand - It's a permanent immunization against all arguments.
How is it possible to resolve the following set of claims about the nature of G-d: G-d knows everything, G-d sees the future, G-d can do anything, G-d is Benevolent, Suffering Exists
The fact that "G-d" allowed / allows millions to die is horrible ways (Not just Jews, but also people in The Congo, Rwanda, Cambodia, etc) either means that the previous claims about the nature of G-d are mistaken or he is a sadist.
Perhaps we have different ideas about what constitutes "benevolent" ???
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The article asks the question but does not answer...Why the pain and suffering? The patient was asleep, the holocaust victims witnessed and experienced horror. If 6 million Jews all died in their sleep one night in 1940, we would all surely believe something divine had occurred, they have perhaps been summoned and have gone to a better/higher place. but that is not how it happened. What is the point in making 1 million innocent children suffer? That is the painful question. Also, if G-d intervened in Egypt, why not here? I hope we will learn or discover an answer one day.
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It comes down to the Covenant with Israel. Obviously G-d broke it as evidenced by the holocaust and the slaughter of the holy sages of Europe and the cruel murder of the innocent.
The question remains why? Is the answer the birth of Israel? Is the answer that Jews must stand up and fight with all their might against anti Jewish hated as the partisans in Poland and Russia?
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The birth of the modern state of Israel was after the Holocaust, you are trying to say an event was in reaction to something that had not yet happened.
Why chose the Holocaust as your sign? Why not the inquisition, or any of the pogroms? The fact is G-d hasn't given up on us, nor have we given up on Him. The covenant stands, we are still connected to HaShem.
You ask why does anti-semitism exist. I don't know, nor do I care. That it does and must be dealt with does matter, but the cause is unimportant.
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I am a Catholic and for years have been tying to find some understanding of the unspeakable piece of history. That took place during my life time.I am almost 70 years old. My problem is that as far as anybody knows the Jewish people are still the chosen ones of G-d.So why them?
Your essay is the first answer that has made sense to me.
Thank you,
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Sorry your question has gone unanswered for so long.
Firstly, the Shoah is not the only tragedy in Jewish History. We had two temples, both were destroyed. The inquisitions destroyed communities in Spain, Portugal, Southern France, and S. America. Pogroms were organized in Russia, and other Eastern European areas as well as the Mideast, including Chevron. The Shoah was unique in that it was so well organized and mechanized, and lasted so long.
So the first date set aside for mourning is the date the Temples were destroyed, Tisha b'Av. (9 Av). Search chabad.org for Tisha B'Av and an associated date, 17 Tammuz for more information.
A second date for the Shoah has been designated, 27 Nissan. It is a compromise date, and some don't do much to observe it, preferring to reserve 9 Av for all communal mourning.
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If there is no G-d we should feel very lonely here upon this very small earth.
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I am deeply disturbed by the events of the Holocaust and they have come into focus as result of studying the Torah and seeking to find the G-d of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, of Israel, His ways, His dealings with human beings, His chosen people the Jews. I am ashamed to ask why because He is Kadosh there is no evil in Him. My prayer is that the promises to Bless Israel will soon be fulfilled. If this destruction was only unchecked evil and not chastisement of a people who broke the Covenant of Sinai then the enemies of Israel and all who have hated her have nothing to fear but they have a lot to fear when justice though delayed will bring retribution to a future generation for the murders committed by their forefathers and all who were complicit amongst the nations during the Holocaust.
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It is not an answer that I must believe there is G-d to ask the question where was he during the holocaust . The question remains valid on its own.
G-d showed himself in Biblical times that were less brutal , to save his people. The miricale of the Chanukah Lights?
But where his he when babies skulls are being crushed agaisnt walls ? And he is mocked by the Nazis as they wantonly torutre ,rape and kill his people.
Furthermore most 99.999 go unpunished in this lifetime.
We know that Jews do not believe in a never ending hell so...
And now will come we can not understand his ways answer .
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This is very disappointing to me, a Holocaust survivor. The abominable cruelties starkly show the absence of mercy, where was El Male Rahamim? The reasonable answer is he/she/is/? was and is not there. If God exists why is faith so resistant to the God-given Reason.
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No one can answer your pain, even after 70 years. But if what you call "the reasonable answer" were true, then there would be no reason for outrage, no reason for horror, no hope for the future.
For, if "the reasonable answer" were true, what wonder is there that whoever is stronger swallows the weaker alive and whoever is cruel will vanquish the meek? Why should not one race proclaim itself superior to all others? And what purpose is there to life anyway? Why the indignation? Why the horror?
As for me, I would rather remain unreasonable and believe that there is Judge, there will be justice, and we are the witnesses who must demand that justice.
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Thank you for taking the time to reply. There is hope when people do not waste time praying and puttting their trust in something that clearly does not work. There is hope when you find out what works and put your efforts there -- the IDF works!.
If it makes you feel better to use reason to be unreasonable ... that's fine with me. But do not mislead others in being passive as many rabbis did during the Holocaust saying "do not do anything to antagonize the Germans ...but trust in God". We know what happened., The ones who increased their survival chances and died with dignity are the ones who took matters in their own hands. They did not wait for the mercy that never came.
So go ahead with your soothing beliefs but "next time" have a weapon in your hands, fight like helll and die with dignity if necessary -- That willl make you and others (except the anit-semites) feel MUCH
better.
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I won't try to answer your pain either, but perhaps we can learn from your point.
The secular people also tried to not antagonize the Germans, and they also ended up in the camps. So perhaps the key is to use both methods. Keeping our faith, and acting on it, does not preclude us from also doing what is necessary, including picking up weapons, There are plenty of religious soldiers in the IDF, and I don't find their position an oxymoron. To the contrary, I feel this will make the IDF a better force, both practically and morally.
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Thank you Sarah for also adding your thoughts. Rabbi Tzvi Freeman and I agree that it is unreasonable but comforting to believe in merciful/just/etc "director' in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. So we can all live with our opinions being careful to distinguish delusions from reality -- when it reallly matters.
BTW my point is not about being secular or religious but rather about putiting your effiorts on something that works. Unfortunately the belief in El Ma Le Rahamim does not work for me.
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