Suffering & Evil in Judaism
When Bad Things Happen To Good People
Questions like "why did this happen to me?" focus on our past and our pain. Perhaps more helpful are questions that open doors to the future: "Now that this has happened, what shall I do about it?"
Read moreTexts and Traditions
Reward and Punishment
A concept that accounts for suffering, but raises lots of other problems.
Book of Job
An ambiguous divine speech is the subject of great scholarly debate.
The Covenant
At Sinai, the Israelites accepted the punishments that would result if they betrayed God.
Saadiah on Suffering
If suffering is beneficial, then the existence of evil is not a problem.
Suffering and Evil 101
Theological responses to individual and communal tragedy.
Modern Insights
The Uniqueness of the Holocaust
Can the Holocaust be integrated into traditional theological discourse?
Responding to Modern Suffering
Jewish theological discourse after the Holocaust.
How Do We Respond to Tragedy?
First we cry, then we act.
WTF and other Essential Prayers
Sometimes the world is upside down, and the troubles pile over the goodness.
Free Will Defense
The deviant use of human freedom, not God, is the source of evil and suffering.
Controversies
Satan
The word Satan simply means an adversary and is used in the Bible for any opponent or enemy.
Karet
What does it mean to be 'cut off' from the Jewish people?
Mysticism and Evil
According to the kabbalists, evil is a bi-product of the relationship between humans and the sefirot.
Assisting a Perpetrator of an Evil Deed
Rich interpretation of the biblical injunction to not place a stumbling block in the path of the blind.
Yetzer Hara & Yezter Hatov
The bad inclination and the good inclination in Jewish thought.
Books
Evil and Suffering in Jewish Philosophy
By Oliver Leaman
Responses to Suffering in Classical Rabbinic Literature
By David Kraemer
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
By Harold Kushner
Why Me God? A Jewish Guide for Coping & Suffering
By Lisa Aiken
Quiz Yourself
Jewish thinkers throughout the ages have asked: Why do bad things happen to good people?