Expert: Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner - 3/29/2006

Question
Thank you for your thoughtful answer; I hope you will consider a further inquiry.

You state that "there is a universal force for good, call it/him/her God."  Let us assume that this is true.  (I tend to believe it to be so, even though I cannot avoid questioning things).  

You also say that "we are expected to do all that we can possibly do, take responsibility for all that humanity can do to make the world right -and then, and only then, should we expect any action from God."  

A central theme of your analysis is that humanity ought to be something that it is not.  Human behavior is hard to predict on a small scale, such as any one person's conduct, but easy to predict on a large scale, such as the conduct of nations.  The warring nature of humanity you mention exists today, will likely exist tomorrow and has existed for thousands of years. To call this history anything other than the nature of humanity (such as "the long list of bad choices mankind has made) would be, I think, splitting hairs and misleading.  

So, in fact, humanity has essentially never done all it can do to make the world right...and to argue that it can or that it will is to presume that thousands of years of history will suddenly reverse itself.  I concede that this is possible, but suspect that most would agree it is quite unlikely.  

If, then, God created humanity, and humanity has a warring and self-predatory nature, WHY would we think that humanity must be something that it is not in order to win God's intervention?  

You note that the concept was taught to you...did the teacher provide some reasons as to why the concept is true that humanity must do all it can before God will make the world better?  Is the concept not just another way of avoiding the question -- replacing "God works in mysterious ways" with "God will help us if and only if we become something that we are not?"

Thank you again so much for your time.  I truly do not wish to offend with my questions and mean them from the heart; I apologize if I come across too harshly.  

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Followup To
Question -
I am a 35 year old male, born to two Conservative to Reformed Jewish parents.  I'm a lawyer and volunteer EMT, as well as a father to two boys, one disabled by autism.  

It is my understanding that in the history of the world, more people have been murdered in the name of God than for any other reason.  I see a blurry line, if any, between Christian and other religious fundamentalists in the US and the fanatics who crashed planes into our buildings.  I accept that religions can also have positive effects, but wonder if they are more than offset by this history.  

My question is, how can it be that God 1) exists, and assuming he exists, he is also 2) all powerful, in light of the state of the world?  Why does he let innocent children starve or be beaten to death?  Why does he permit Osama Bin Laden to live...and why did he permit 9-11 in the first place?  Perhaps most pressingly, why did God permit the Holocaust?  If a member of your family were to (God forbid) pass away young and senselessly (and we know that it happens to others every day), why would God permit it?

It seems to me that perhaps God exists, but if so, he seems to not be all powerful.  Or perhaps he does not exist at all.

This troubles me, as does the related question of: How can all of the religions of the world be right and if they are not all right, how does one tell if one is born into one that is wrong?

I have discussed my primary question with several people; the discussion inevitably leads to "God works in mysterious ways."  That isn't good enough.  When people lacked an explanation for why the sun rises each day, they fell back on that line...we ought not to do the same; rather, we ought to insist on a better answer.

Do you have one?  What are your thoughts on this?  

Answer -
Dear Joathan,

Thanks for writing. It would appear that you have a full plate from which to ask about the "justice" or "goodness" of God in this universe.

I begin with a different premise that the one you suggest - and many others accept. I believe that there is a universal force for good, call it/him/her God.

However God has provided us as human beings with the capacity to be in control of much of our lives. The Holocaust was the result of human beings who refused to become "involved" to say nothing of profiting from that travesty.

As one of my teachers taught us, we are expected to do all that we can possibly do, take responsibility for all that humanity can do to make the world right - and then, and only then, should we expect any action from God. Frankly, we rarely if ever reach that stage in human history. We truly are responsible for all that has happened - not God.

Regarding medical tragedies, crises, questions, etc. can we wonder what would have been achieved with human creativity and resources if we had spent them on medical research instead of warplanes, ships, etc. The list goes on without end.

God is not mysterious. Human lack of compassion and our refusal to step up to the plate - that is mysterious, and it is also reprehensible.

Rabbi Dov  

Answer
Dear Jonathan

Passover is almost here and I must admit that I am pressed, but I wanted to respond albeit briefly.

My teacher was not avoiding the answer. He was emphasizing that we humans must first do all that we can, rather than do as too many do: wait for God to act and to blame God for not acting, for creating us badly, for being. . . .

I do believe that human nature can be ultimately altered - perhaps not completely overturned - but sufficiently so that human history does not have to suffer additional wars, tragedies, disease, etc.

We have the capacity to change. That is my belief.

Rabbi Dov