Thinking About Good and Evil: Jewish Views from Antiquity to Modernity

Rabbi Allen (Perspectives on Jewish Law and Contemporary Issues) examines Jewish responses to the question of why God allows evil to exist and innocents to suffer in this illuminating analysis. By surveying writers from rabbinic times to the present—among them Baruch Spinoza and Neil Gillman, as well as obscure-but-important philosophers Samuel Alexander and Martha Nussbaum—Allen produces a nuanced, vital exploration. For instance, Spinoza found the question of innocent suffering to be “an absurdity” because he believed God and the laws of nature to be the same; and for Nussbaum, God is not a “transcendent being” judging from on high, but “the scaffold supporting the moral basis of life that allows humans to become dignified beings.” Impressively—after listing the 35 Jewish answers to why evil exists and the 22 reasons given for suffering—Allen offers a new perspective: that while God is beneficent and omnipotent, God is not omniscient and therefore unaware that some evils exist. Allen’s work as a congregational rabbi enables him to imbue this sophisticated yet accessible guide with heartfelt emotion. This remarkable guide will be of interest to any Jewish reader contemplating God’s role in suffering. (May)