We are sure we are not alone in attempting to understand the atrocious news of the past few days. Two young people viciously killed by an Arab coworker in an execution-type assassination, each one parenting young babies and children with their entire lives ahead of them. Why? Do any of us have the power to make any sense out of this?
And then several days later, 20 people are killed in a horrendous car crash. We cannot conceive of how the news was delivered to the parents of four daughters killed at the same time. Do they have any reason to go on with their lives? How can they? The tragedy is just too overwhelming to wrap our heads around.
Few of us can fathom such sorrow. Even for those of us who daven and believe in Hashem, it has to, for at least a few moments, shake our emunah.
But in truth, this is not just true now—it has always been true. “Why” is not just a question now—it has always been the question. We go on, we have no choice. Along the way we do some amazing things—like invent cell phones, which were only science fiction not very long ago. Or, as will soon happen, repair the Hubble gyroscope, which was sent into the earth’s orbit more than 30 years ago. How much is being done each day in cancer research, Alzheimer’s studies, causes of mental illness, etc.? We are accomplishing more, controlling things that were never thought possible, and we are not an inch closer to understanding why. From time immemorial, we have come up with no answers to these difficult questions. For some reason, we are obviously not meant to understand, and despite all of our efforts we will never be able to understand.
Why is there suffering? Why do people die? Why are there nations killing each other? These questions just keep repeating themselves. We are sure there will never be an answer. All we are left with is what we can understand—life. What this boils down to is that we need to focus on our lives the best that we are able. We need to work on the things that are under our control. We can do chesed, we can give tzedakah, we can show respect to our partners, our entire family and our peers. We are positively sure that the young couples killed in the accident in Schoharie, New York, did many right things in their lives. Just look at the fact that they hired a limo to take them to a party so they would not have to worry about anyone who was intoxicated driving them back. At least one of them was a teacher who gave her all to her students.
Our history shows us that millions of people have died just because they were Jewish in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This week they are predicting another powerful hurricane that will soon reach the Florida coast. Homes will be destroyed and, God forbid, lives could be lost. Does anyone understand why such an act of God has to happen? There is no way in a million years that one can say that the people affected by such a horror deserve it. Look at the awful earthquake that recently devastated the Philippines. People were buried. Vacationers in a hotel were gone forever. Can there be any plausible explanation for these catastrophes?
The answer to these difficult questions does not exist. Any rabbi will tell you that when he visits a shiva house and is asked the proverbial “why” that he will have no answer. He is as baffled as everyone else. We think it is time to recognize, even though at times like this it becomes that much more difficult, that life goes on without our ability to make any sense of it. That does not mean that we cannot make a difference. We need to continue to express our gratitude to Hashem. We need to help each other at these low times when we doubt so many things. In our emunah we need to realize that these atrocities are not meant to be understood by us. None of us is on a level to make any sense of it. We need to console each other and be there for each other and continue to believe, even when the times are most dark. It is truly a matter of emunah.
By Rabbi Mordechai and Nina Glick
Rabbi Mordechai and Nina Glick are living in Bergenfield after many years of service to the Montreal Jewish community. Rabbi Glick was the rav of Congregation Ahavat Yisroel as well as a practicing clinical psychologist in private practice. He also taught at Champlain Regional College. The Glicks were frequent speakers at the OU marriage retreats. Nina coordinated all Yachad activities in Montreal and was a co/founder of Maison Shalom, a group home for young adults with special needs. They can be reached at [email protected].
