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Is it Okay to be Angry with G‑d?


By Tzvi Freeman

This response was written in the wake of the Mumbai massacre of November, 2008.

Let's say I promised my kids to take them on a trip. But there are conditions. If any of them does not behave, that child will be left behind.

And then, when we all pile into the van, there's one child missing. When asked, I only say, "Sorry, he can't come."

Now let's say nobody saw that child do anything wrong. Quite the contrary, we all saw he was helping everyone else do what they needed to do to go on the trip. But for some reason I can't explain to my kids, I have to leave him behind. And then my children say, "Dad, it's not fair! Why are you doing this? We're not going without him!"

Tell me: Should I be angry? Or should I be proud?

And if the lives of a couple who gave everything they had for others are brutally destroyed and their child orphaned, does our Father Above expect us to sit complacently and say, "Well, He must have His reasons"? Or does He await us to storm the heavens and scream, "How could You do this to Your people? Is it for this that You sent them to a foreign land? You promised us a messiah and this is what we get!?"

We have a relationship with Him. We are allowed some outrage. It's expected of us. If you have nothing to do with one another you are afraid of putting your feelings out in the open. But when you trust one another, when you are bonded together as one, when you have traveled an arduous journey together for four thousand years, when you have walked through fire and storm, defied the sword and the torch for Him, spilled your blood again and again for Him, risen to heaven in noxious smoke simply because you belong to Him, then you have the right, the need to yell out, to demand, "What's going on?! How long can you keep this up for?"

And then, only then, can we hear His voice whispering, "Trust me. I had to do this. It will be good. Very soon. Then you will understand. Then you will see."

May we see very soon, sooner than we can imagine.
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Latest Comments:
Posted: June 27, 2011
Too much suffering
I too have concerns and anger towards the Creator of cancer, starvation, earthquakes and the other sundry horrors of the world.

I have already had a very large share of tragedy in my own life. Sometimes I have rage against G-d and I hate Him completely.

Paying for past lives' sins does not make sense, because what made us do our past life's actions- the life before that?

G-d created us fragile, vulnerable, needy and lacking. Then He hits us with so much damage and then we die.

When I look at the beauty of nature I see HaShem's love and compassion. When I look at the pain and suffering of living creatures, I see His own hate and cruelty. If He created us in His image then He too must have a Yetzer Hara.

Whilst I am angry with G-d, I also have an intense love relationship with Him. At least I'm still talking to Him. I guess that's something.

The only sense I've been able to make of G-d is that He is not a refuge IN the world, but a refuge FROM the world.
Posted By Ezza Amitai, Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Jan 19, 2010
the holy one's personal name is
The causative of the verb "to be" or other words, IS THAT CREATES IS is the personal name of the holy one. One of it's nicknames was "the abode." It is obvious that we live within the holy one, within the law, and within the what matters and energies that comprise the whole wholly one that is omnipresent ONE.

We at birth have the good inclination and the bad inclination (I prefer the un socialized inclination)0. We learn from parents and other elders, then we teach our children when each is appropriate.

Understand as Jewish mystics do, Judaism is an Asiatic religion.

It is more akin in conceptual premises to Taoism than it is to Christianity and Islam. Those religions evolved beyond their Asiatic origins. They became creedal.

We are the agents of change in the house of the lord; we inhabit the one and only abode.

My pa was a religious man and a mathematician; he taught me only one infinity and eternity can exist. Mathematics is torah too. All knowledge is torah.
Posted By Mr. Thomas Weatherly

Posted: Jan 19, 2010
Thank you
Beautifully written as always.
Posted By Anonymous

Posted: May 12, 2009
Understand how holy one acts
The holy one does act to end suffering. The holy one acts through us if we listen an obey; it is our acts that prevent children from being parentless, our acts that feed the hungry, our acts that stops cruelty, our acts that bring the good into the world. We are the agents for change of the holy one. If there is suffering, it is our neglect of our true work. More people in Germany either worke cruelty on the world or did not resist the cruelty of the others. It would not have happened without human complicity. We are the agents of change commissioned by the holy one.
Posted By eliyahu ben avraham/Thomas Elias Weatherly, Huntsville, Alabama

Posted: May 11, 2009
Resonse to Richard/David
God is testing us? "So, why couldn't He have given us a written exam?"

I tend to agree with conclusion No. 1 above--that G-d is not all-powerful, in reality. G-d created the laws of physics and thermodynamics and chemistry and gravity (and free will? okay, it's not a physical law, but it is a law of human nature) and cannot simply violate them at will, but He can make the occasional exception, since He is G-d. That these laws, like free will, even He is compelled to obey makes more sense to my tiny brain and is more compatible with the concept of His goodness. I love my kids, but I can't change fire into ice, or bullets into M&M's, to spare them hurting themselves or from being hurt--they have to learn, no?

David, certainly the Jews of Germany were more German than German, but what about the more orthodox Jews of Poland and Russia, who lived as outcasts from their host societes? Did they need a similar lesson, or was their fate a matter of bad luck and geography?
Posted By Richard, Forest Hills, NY

Posted: May 11, 2009
God means to teach us a lesson for all time
Sometimes, the only way to bring an important lesson to our generation and to future generations is by God allowing such an horrific thing to happen. God is the God of history, the present, and the future. Sometimes, if we in our generation are not understanding the ideas that we need to understand properly, instead of teaching the lesson to us in a sweet and pleasant manner, tragedy is the only thing that will bring the lessons home properly. The Holocaust is a classic example. To say simply "We cannot know why..." is to miss the main point. Not that we can no the specifics to every question, but we can know and learn certain general lessons. For one example, the holocaust teaches that there is no ultimate hope in the Jews dwelling in the golus. For Germany was a haven for Jews for many years--the German Jew wanted to more German than the average American Jew wants to be American. They called themselves "Jews of Mosaic persuasion."

God had to teach us via tragedy.
Posted By David, Baltimore, USA

Posted: May 11, 2009
Given human suffering due to evil performed by man, and that due to natural diasters/illnesses it ineed be concluded that God, 1. is not all powerful; 2. does not care or 3. has reasons we cannot understand. Number 3. is the fall-back position but begs the question of why then we think we understand so much else in the bible.
Posted By Richard Tenser

Posted: May 9, 2009
For Richard -
That I believe is a superficial interpretation. Surely man taking the case of G-d, even mistakenly, cannot be a cause of anger for our infinitely merciful Creator. Pinchas committed murder in defense of G-d. There must be a more salient reason for such a strong emotion. Plagues were initiated from that Emotion. Clearly in my last response I was not justifying G-d's behavior, I was merely suggesting that suffering initiates a process in which one has to deal and engage in a dialog with G-d to make sense of the event through stages of denial, anger, bargaining and ultimately acceptance. It is important to examine all alternatives and reasons for events otherwise life is meaningless. Just as G-d and His Torah is a standard that everything is measured against, so should our outlook be and not ascribe wrongdoing and lack of justice to G-d. If that is justification, then I suppose G-d can be angry with me
Posted By Anonymous, Fairfax, VA

Posted: May 8, 2009
For Richard
Read the story of Job again. On the contrary, G-d was upset at Job's friends for attempting to justify Him.
Posted By Tzvi Freeman, Thornhill, Ontario

Posted: May 7, 2009
--who do you think..to question me
As it says sometimes..you can't handle the truth. In my opinion, I believe we get answers when we are ready. G-d being infinite, is also the most humble to His creations because He wants us to be that way. When you are ready, you will be answered. I've had two life threatening conditions and I am dealing with one now. I argue with G-d everyday, but I realize there are reasons for everything and as I go through things, I do get answers. Maybe not the ones I want, but they make sense. G-d will not provide reasons unless you can handle the reality and luminance of the Truth. There are times I feel at a great distance from G-d but I know this is my Yetzer HaRa (evil inclination). We need to not judge G-d, but if we do, we need to imitate His action. Judge for the best!
Posted By Anonymous, Fairfax, VA



 


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