[Avodah] Rav Sharki on university students

[via Avodah]

From: Micha Berger via Avodah  <avodah at lists.aishdas.org>


>>Two bundles of goods
>>may exist without one being  fully better or worse than another.
>>So, for example, excising evil  would also excise free will. Would God
>>really want that?  [--RDR]

Well yeah, that's a frequently given piece of theodicy. A world  without
Nazis is a world of robots, not people. There would be no moral  agents
for good to happen to. And thus no real good in the universe at  all.

But it only explains the evil people do. Not congenital birth  defects
and other such natural evils. 
 

Micha  Berger              
micha at aishdas.org         





>>>>>
 
I think these are two different categories -- "evil" and "suffering."
 
Properly speaking "evil" only refers to something that has a moral  
dimension.   The question of "Why does G-d allow evil?" has an  obvious answer -- 
to allow scope for bechira, for free will.  That doesn't  fully answer the 
question, of course.  We see many cases where He thwarts  the nefarious plots 
of our enemies, which leaves us with aching questions in  those cases when 
He seemingly stands by and does /not/ thwart their plots  --  the Holocaust 
being the most wrenching example.  There are a lot  of answers but perhaps 
none that are fully satisfying to us.   Ultimately we just have to accept that 
we are limited creatures and can  never fully fathom His mind.
 
The second category, what you call "natural evils," really should not be  
called evil at all (unless you want to impute evil motives to the Borei  
c'v!).  Rather, here the question is "Why is there suffering in the world?"  
This is a different question from the question of why does He allow evil  
people to commit evil deeds.  Again there are many different answers, some  of 
which apply to different situations.  Atonement for sin and purification  of 
the soul are just two reasons but there are many others we can think of, as  
well as Divine reasons we can't think of.
 
"Evil" and "suffering" can overlap, as when evil people cause other people  
to suffer, but they are still two different categories.
 
BTW the idea that a benevolent G-d "couldn't" or "wouldn't" do this or that 
 is an arrogant and ignorant idea, the product of puny human  minds.  And 
compared to our Creator, even the most brilliant human mind is  puny. 
 
Today my Creator gave me a toothache and a painful flare-up of  arthritis.  
But He also gave me fresh air to breathe, bright red flowers in  my garden, 
a beautiful blue sky, food, water, shelter and clothing, a dentist,  Advil, 
and also wine, coffee and chocolate.  I did not want to question  whether I 
really deserved the chocolate, the coffee and the flowers so I  refrained 
from asking whether I deserved the toothache and the arthritis,  although I 
did ask Him to take them away. 

--Toby  Katz
t613k at aol.com
..
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