Haazinu and the Problem of evil / האזינו און די פּראָבלעם פֿון בייזס

This is a weekly series

of parsha dvarim (Tōrah commentaries) written by an orthodox atheist transsexual anarchist, with guest posts from comrades. It's the work of each generation to extricate meaning from our cultural and religious inheritance, and it's crucial that we resist the narrative that Zionism owns Judaism. We aim to offer comment which is true to the pshat (i.e. engages with the plain meaning of the text, especially when it's difficult) and uses Tōrah like a light to reflect on our modern times.

An appeal

My friend Kamal needs help. He is trying to support his family in unbearable conditions in Gaza. Please do what you can by donating and sharing.

Content note

Post-Holocaust theology; genocide in Palestine

This is the pentultimate parsha in the Tōrah cycle: Mōshe Rebeynu's poem.

The poem is an answer to the question of misfortune. Why are bad things happening to me? You misbehaved. And to other innocent people? They are not innocent. Mōshe knows that we will err and turn our faces away from Hashem, who will in turn turn away from us. The poem is the witness: I told you this would happen. We are left with the problems of theodicy.

The problem of evil and the Epicurean paradox

Even a cursory glance at the world presents us with an evidentiary problem: given observance of evil, G-d cannot be all-knowing and all-powerful and good. Usually this paradox is solved by placing limits on G-d's power or knowledge; or, by making a double-speak argument that evil is necessary and therefore good. We operate under the assumption that G-d wants good and despises evil: but for G-d to want anything—to desire something, which necessitates that it does not currently exist, that there could be a distance of time or space between what G-d wants and what G-d creates—implies that G-d is not all-powerful. A counter-argument could be that G-d doesn't care about humanity, or that everything—including suffering—are exactly as G-d intended. Both of these "solutions" mean that G-d is not good.

Why do I care about this as an atheist? Because it has immense moral implications for human action, whether we believe in Hashem or not. Bad actions and inactions are justified with theology. People use Hashem's alleged goodness as a comfort and a crutch: it's intellectually lazy and dishonest. There is no goodness in suffering.