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00:30Some have said it is the single most important problem in religious philosophy.
00:52Now, religious philosophy deals with a lot of issues.
00:54How do you know there's God?
00:56How do you know there's Torah?
00:57But let's say a person believes in God.
00:59A person believes in Torah.
01:01You know, I have no problem with that.
01:03But the big problem that people do have is, okay, I believe in God.
01:07But God is supposed to be just and God is supposed to be kind.
01:11How can we live in a world where there is so much tragedy, where there is so much suffering,
01:17where bad things happen to good people and the other way around?
01:21Sometimes people who are evildoers, they prosper and life goes very well for them, at least for a while.
01:28And this is the problem known as theodicy.
01:31Why do bad things happen to good people?
01:33Why do good things happen to bad people and the like?
01:35Now, it is true that in the totality of Jewish theology, perhaps there are simple, relatively simple answers that one can talk about.
01:46There is, after all, a concept of a world to come.
01:48So even if in this world things are bad, but in the world to come there's going to be reward.
01:54Conversely, there is also a concept of reincarnation.
01:57Now, this was developed, those of you that were in Sfat, this was developed by the Kabbalists.
02:02It's not necessarily in the, certainly not in the Torah, it's not even in the Talmud,
02:05but there is an idea similar to Buddhism that basically says,
02:10sometimes you suffer in this world because of the sins that you committed in your past life,
02:17for which you need an atonement and the like.
02:20So we either could focus on the world to come or we could focus on reincarnation and past lives
02:25as part of a partial answer.
02:27But still, it is a very, very perplexing and a very, very difficult issue.
02:32Now, the first thing to know is that this was not an issue that only bothers modern man.
02:40In fact, Moses himself questioned the Almighty.
02:43If you remember in the book of Exodus, in one of the verses,
02:47Moses says to God, show me your ways.
02:52And the interpretation is he wanted to understand why do righteous people suffer
02:56and why do evildoers prosper.
03:00And the interesting thing is he asks God that question and God doesn't answer it.
03:05God simply says, I will be gracious to whom I choose to be gracious.
03:10I will be merciful to whom I choose to be merciful.
03:14In other words, you're asking me a question.
03:17I'm not going to answer it.
03:18This is the way it is.
03:20That's pretty frustrating.
03:21Moses is all the way up there with God.
03:23And in fact, this is the meaning of the Talmudic interpretation.
03:27There are 50 levels of understanding God.
03:30And Moses reached 49.
03:32The 50th level is exactly this particular question.
03:35There is an entire book of the Bible, not the Torah, but in the Bible,
03:41that is devoted to this theme of the suffering of the righteous.
03:46And that book is, of course, the book of Job.
03:49So I want to talk a little bit about the book of Job.
03:51It's a beautiful, magnificent literary structure.
03:55And Job is described as a man.
03:58By the way, he is not identified as Jewish.
04:02And many commentaries assert he was not Jewish.
04:04In fact, some commentaries assert he was just fictional.
04:07And the reason is because what Job is describing
04:10is not a particular problem of the Jewish people.
04:14It is a human problem.
04:16And Job, in some ways, is every man, no capital E.
04:20And that is why he is not described as Jewish.
04:22He is not described as keeping the mitzvot.
04:25He is described as God-fearing.
04:26So what is the storyline of Job?
04:28So the storyline of Job is there is this righteous man called Job
04:31who is perfect in his faith.
04:35He fears the Almighty.
04:36He gives charity.
04:37He tries to do everything that he can do.
04:40And he's living a good life.
04:42He's wealthy.
04:43He has a large family.
04:44He's well-respected.
04:45He's admired.
04:47He's a paragon of virtue
04:48and a foundation of his community.
04:52Now, we then switch the scene.
04:54Imagine this dramatically.
04:55We then switch the scene to heaven.
04:57And Job is not aware of this.
04:58We're aware of him.
05:00And God is holding a heavenly court surrounded by angels.
05:04As if God is the chief justice
05:06and there is this heavenly council of angels.
05:10And God says to the angels,
05:12Have you ever seen such a righteous person as Eve, as Job?
05:16Isn't he the greatest you've ever seen?
05:19So there is one dissenting voice
05:21and that dissenting voice is called Satan.
05:23This is very interesting.
05:25In the Christian tradition,
05:28Satan is a fallen angel.
05:31Meaning he's an angel that got kicked out of heaven
05:33because he rebelled against God
05:36and he became almost God's rival,
05:38whether it's the Antichrist or whatever it would be.
05:41In the Jewish tradition,
05:43first of all, I want to point out two things about Satan.
05:46Satan first appears in the book of Job.
05:48Satan is Satan.
05:49Number one, Satan is actually not a name.
05:53It is a function.
05:55He is called Ha-Satan.
05:57The Satan.
06:00And what is his function?
06:01It simply means the prosecutor.
06:03He is not a fallen angel.
06:05He's up there in the heavenly court.
06:06And he is literally what we would call the devil's advocate.
06:09When God says,
06:10Oh, this person deserves goodness and blessing.
06:15So the Satan is the district attorney
06:16that is supposed to point out the negatives.
06:20So Satan is a respected,
06:22not a person,
06:23a respected entity,
06:24meaning he's part of the heavenly judicial process,
06:27whatever that means exactly.
06:29And the Satan speaks up to God and says,
06:32Hey God,
06:33Job isn't as righteous as you're making him out to be.
06:36Of course he serves you
06:37because he gets a lot out of it.
06:39He's wealthy.
06:40He's respected.
06:41He has kids.
06:41Yeah, so of course he serves you.
06:44But start taking the stuff away from him
06:46and we'll see how righteous he is.
06:50So, as you're reading this,
06:52you get the impression,
06:53very, very odd literary conceits,
06:56that God and the Satan
06:58are engaged in a gambling bet,
07:01a wager.
07:02I bet you, God,
07:03if you start taking away stuff,
07:06Job is going to rebel against you.
07:08And God says,
07:10I accept the bet.
07:12It's kind of outrageous.
07:14And immediately,
07:15now Job,
07:15Job has no idea
07:16that there was a bet made about him.
07:19And God gives the Satan
07:21permission
07:22to start taking things away from Job.
07:27Now,
07:28but he gave him one condition.
07:29He said,
07:30don't kill him.
07:32Reason is very simple.
07:33The experiment cannot be successful
07:36if the subject dies.
07:38The experiment is designed to see
07:40how much bad stuff can I do to him
07:44before he rebels against me.
07:46But if you kill him,
07:47what do they say?
07:48The experiment was successful,
07:49but the patient died?
07:50It's not going to work.
07:52So he gave Job one instruction.
07:54Do what you want to him,
07:56but don't kill him.
07:58However,
07:59our sages add two other things.
08:01That besides Job's life,
08:03there were two other things
08:04that he was spared.
08:06He was spared the loss of his wife.
08:09His wife was not killed
08:10because that is equivalent,
08:11losing one's wife
08:12is equivalent to death.
08:14And God also spares Job's friends
08:17because a life without friends
08:19is tantamount to death.
08:22But be it as it may,
08:24Job is totally clueless here.
08:25He doesn't know what's going on.
08:27And all of a sudden,
08:29all sorts of things begin to happen.
08:32First, what happens is
08:33that a bunch of marauders
08:35take all of his flocks
08:37and they destroy his property.
08:38Secondly, he's reduced to poverty.
08:42Second, a house collapses
08:45on his children
08:45that are having a party.
08:46He has seven sons
08:47and seven daughters.
08:49Building collapses.
08:50He loses all of them.
08:53And thirdly,
08:54he gets afflicted
08:55with loathsome illnesses
08:57that are so repulsive
08:59that people cannot even stand
09:01being in his proximity.
09:03So he loses his friends
09:05at the same time.
09:06He loses his health.
09:08Right?
09:08He loses everything.
09:10And Mrs. Job
09:11has a very brief walk-on appearance.
09:13She only utters one line.
09:15She says to her husband,
09:17why don't you just curse God
09:19so he'll strike you with lightning
09:20and take you out of your misery?
09:23And Job utters the immortal words
09:25that to this very day
09:26we say at a funeral,
09:28God gives and God takes.
09:32God gives and God takes.
09:34May the name of God be blessed.
09:36Shall we accept the good of the almighty
09:39and not accept the evil?
09:42And in English,
09:43there's even an expression.
09:44I believe Shakespeare might use it.
09:45I'm not sure.
09:46The patience of Job,
09:48the person who is long-suffering,
09:50the person who is patient,
09:52right?
09:52The person who says
09:53whatever happens to me,
09:54I accept with equanimity.
09:57But I have to say,
09:59whoever coined that phrase
10:02only read chapter one
10:04of the book of Job
10:05and didn't keep on reading.
10:08Because then when we reach chapter two,
10:10something else happens.
10:12And that is Job has three
10:13very dear friends.
10:15And those friends come to comfort him.
10:19And the Gemari even says
10:20that they actually lived
10:21a very long distance from him.
10:24And in those days,
10:25there was no email
10:26or telephone
10:27or fast communication.
10:28How did they know to come?
10:31And the Gemari gives us
10:32an insight into friendship.
10:34They just had almost
10:35a telepathic sense
10:36that their friend needed help.
10:40Often, mothers and children
10:41have that type of relationship, right?
10:43Mom kind of knows
10:44when you're in trouble.
10:46How did she know?
10:47You know, just knew.
10:49The bond of souls
10:50can be so strong
10:51that even without email
10:53or Twitter or Facebook,
10:55there's just a sense of vibes
10:57that come from one end of the world
10:58to the other end of the world.
11:00He had friends like that.
11:02These were dear friends.
11:03And they came.
11:05And they sat with him
11:06for seven days
11:08and seven nights.
11:10And they didn't say a word.
11:13And this, their conduct
11:14finds its expression
11:16in the halacha.
11:17You know that when,
11:18God forbid,
11:20someone loses a relative,
11:21loses a parent,
11:22loses a child,
11:23loses a spouse,
11:24so they mourn for seven days.
11:26This is called,
11:26as you know,
11:27sitting Shiva.
11:29And they don't leave their house.
11:30People come to them
11:31to offer comfort.
11:33But do you know,
11:33there's actually a halacha,
11:35we don't always follow it
11:36for various reasons,
11:37that when you come
11:38to comfort a mourner,
11:40you don't initiate
11:41the conversation.
11:42Sometimes the mourner
11:43just wants silence.
11:44The mourner is not ready
11:46to talk.
11:46The mourner is not ready
11:47to hear words.
11:49And therefore,
11:50you sit in silence
11:51until the mourner
11:53initiates conversation.
11:56And that is derived,
11:57biblically,
11:58that is derived biblically
11:59from the behavior
12:01of Job's friends
12:03who sat with him
12:05seven days,
12:06seven nights.
12:07I'm not sure what that meant.
12:08It seems to be 24-7.
12:09They literally, you know,
12:09sat there, of course.
12:11Again, halachically,
12:12things are a little different
12:13because there's Shabbat.
12:14You know, okay,
12:15but obviously, as I say,
12:16these were not even
12:17necessarily Jewish people,
12:18so they weren't keeping
12:19all of these rituals,
12:20but this was the basic idea
12:21of comforting your friend
12:23in time of need.
12:25But apparently,
12:26it may have been
12:27a wrong strategy
12:27because during those
12:29seven days,
12:29Job was very silent.
12:31And you have to have
12:32the picture.
12:32I mean, he's lost
12:33all of his children.
12:34He lost all of his fortune.
12:36His body is covered
12:37with scabs
12:38and there's a loathsome smell
12:42coming from him
12:43and he can't even wear clothes.
12:45It's as if to say
12:45his skin is so sensitive
12:47that he's basically stripped
12:49to a loincloth
12:50and he's sitting in ashes.
12:53And his friends
12:54didn't talk to him.
12:55They were there,
12:56but they didn't talk to him.
12:58But at the end
12:59of the seven days,
13:01he erupted.
13:02This faithful, patient,
13:04long-suffering person
13:05erupted in a fit of anger
13:08and accusation against God
13:10in which he cursed
13:12the day that he was born
13:14and he demanded
13:17an explanation from God.
13:18Why did this happen?
13:21I was righteous.
13:22I was good.
13:23I kept my side of the bargain.
13:26Where were you?
13:28What are you doing?
13:30And from that point,
13:32the book switches
13:33from what you might call
13:34the story structure
13:35to essentially
13:37a philosophical debate
13:39in which each of Job's friends
13:41states a position
13:42to kind of justify God.
13:45Job refutes it.
13:47So you really have three rounds.
13:49What you have is
13:49friend one says something,
13:52Job responds.
13:53Friend two says something,
13:55Job responds.
13:56Friend three says something,
13:57Job responds.
13:58Then we have a second round,
14:00one, two, three,
14:02with responses.
14:03And then in the third round,
14:05you only have friend one and two.
14:08Friend three disappears.
14:09He seems to have left.
14:10And then there's a fourth friend
14:11that comes.
14:12And at the end of the book,
14:13you have God showing up.
14:15That's kind of the structure
14:16of the book of Job.
14:18And it's very, very complex
14:19and very rich
14:21and very deep.
14:22And if my words today
14:24encourage you to pick up
14:25the book of Job
14:26and try to study it,
14:27that would be very, very worthwhile.
14:30Because number one,
14:31it's very interesting
14:32to identify
14:33what are the distinct positions
14:35of the three friends.
14:37But number two,
14:38how those positions change
14:41in successive rounds
14:42of the debate.
14:43Because friend one's position
14:46in the second round
14:47is informed
14:49not only by Job's responses,
14:51but by what the other friends say.
14:53So each one
14:53will then incorporate
14:55elements of the other
14:56and build on each other
14:58and interact with each other.
15:01So it's a very, very fascinating
15:02literary structure.
15:04But it deals with
15:06a theological problem
15:07of first importance.
15:10So we don't have the time
15:12right now
15:13to distinctively identify
15:15what each of the friends
15:16are saying.
15:17But let me just say
15:18that we can summarize
15:19in a simplistic way
15:20that the friends
15:22are defending
15:23what you might call
15:25the conventional view
15:26of morality,
15:27which seems to be
15:30the one that's articulated
15:31in the Torah itself.
15:33You read the Torah,
15:35the five books of Moses.
15:36That came directly from God.
15:39And the Torah seems to say
15:40if you behave in accordance
15:44with God's will,
15:45you will have a good life.
15:47You will have rain,
15:49you will have prosperity,
15:51you will have health,
15:52you will have children.
15:54And if you don't obey
15:55God's law,
15:56you will have a bad life.
15:58And I want to emphasize
15:59the Torah does not talk
16:01about this
16:01in terms of the world to come.
16:03That's kind of, you know,
16:04our answer.
16:05The Torah talks about it
16:06in the here and now.
16:08I hope.
16:09Most of you said
16:10the Shema this morning.
16:12Right?
16:12But if you didn't know,
16:14be it as it may,
16:14you know what the Shema says.
16:16If you will keep
16:17my commandments,
16:18I will give you rain,
16:20I will give you prosperity,
16:21I will give you health.
16:22And if you don't keep
16:23my commandments,
16:25then bad things
16:26are going to happen
16:27to you in this world.
16:30So Job's friends
16:31are trying to defend
16:34the conventional morality.
16:37But they got a problem.
16:39Well, one second here.
16:40Do good,
16:42you're going to live good.
16:43Do bad,
16:44you're going to live bad.
16:46Hmm, Job's living bad.
16:48How could that be?
16:49He was doing good.
16:51So their response was,
16:53Hey, Job,
16:54it must be
16:55you're not as righteous
16:56as you thought you were.
16:57And their message was,
16:59basically,
17:00nothing bad happens to you
17:01unless you're a sinner.
17:04Sorry, Job,
17:05I guess
17:05you've got some sins
17:07that you have to work on.
17:09And it's fascinating
17:10how the tone escalates.
17:13Initially,
17:14it's a very gentle tone,
17:16meaning nobody's perfect,
17:17we all have flaws,
17:18perhaps you can look
17:19into yourself,
17:20improve yourself,
17:22become better.
17:23But Job doesn't accept it.
17:24Job says,
17:25you know,
17:25I've done nothing wrong.
17:27And the tone escalates.
17:29So by the end of the dialogue,
17:32Job's friend
17:33starts saying,
17:35there has never been a sinner
17:36as great as you
17:37since the beginning of the world.
17:38It's like,
17:39it turns into anger,
17:40which means
17:41there's a secondary aspect
17:42of the book of Job
17:43that besides the philosophical issue,
17:46it also deals
17:47with the psychological problems
17:49of how to be
17:51a support system
17:52for somebody in need.
17:54In other words,
17:54it's also because
17:55you basically think,
17:57in fact,
17:57I,
17:58the nature,
17:59again,
18:00I mean,
18:00hopefully you have not
18:01experienced this,
18:02but sometimes people
18:03are called upon
18:04to be caregivers
18:05for loved ones
18:07who are in extreme situations,
18:10whether it's Alzheimer's,
18:12whether it's cancer,
18:13whatever it would be.
18:15And you will often find
18:16a phenomenon
18:16that because of
18:19your helplessness
18:20in really being able
18:21to comfort them
18:22or help them
18:23or make them better,
18:25you will actually,
18:26paradoxically,
18:26you will feel anger
18:28at them
18:29for not responding
18:32to your help.
18:34In other words,
18:34I've seen cases
18:35where a person
18:36breaks down
18:37and starts screaming
18:38at a cancer patient.
18:40Say,
18:40why can't you get better?
18:42Why don't you, you know,
18:42respond to what I'm doing for you?
18:45Makes no sense.
18:47But psychologically,
18:48you can understand it.
18:49Because you get overwhelmed
18:50with your impotence,
18:51your inability
18:52to make a difference.
18:55And you see
18:55that psychological transition
18:58in the fact
18:59that Job's friends
19:00are getting progressively
19:02disgusted with him.
19:03In fact,
19:03I would suggest,
19:04although I did not see this,
19:05this is why in round two,
19:07I'm sorry,
19:08round three,
19:09you'll recall I mentioned
19:11only friends one and two
19:12are there.
19:13Friends three are not,
19:14friend three is not even there.
19:15I think the intimation is
19:17he just walked away
19:19in disgust.
19:20He says,
19:21I'm sick of this.
19:22I've given you my wisdom.
19:23I've given you my insight.
19:25You're not taking advantage of it.
19:27To hell with you.
19:29No,
19:29suffer.
19:31This is what can happen.
19:33So,
19:33I'm going to call this
19:35the conventional morality.
19:36And,
19:37and,
19:37and it doesn't mean that
19:38because it's not true.
19:39it's in the Torah,
19:39but we'll discuss this.
19:40And they're making the arguments
19:42that if God is a compassionate God
19:44and God is a just God,
19:46he would not allow bad things
19:48to happen to people
19:49unless they deserved it.
19:51So,
19:51if bad things happen,
19:53even though it looks like
19:54you don't deserve it,
19:55you apparently do deserve it.
19:56So,
19:57do tshuva,
19:57repent,
19:58become a better person
19:59and,
19:59and,
20:00and the like.
20:01By the way,
20:02there is a certain comforting aspect
20:03in the conventional morality
20:05because it's a way
20:06to immunize ourselves.
20:08In other words,
20:08I look at a person
20:09that's suffering.
20:10If I can say,
20:11oh,
20:12he's suffering
20:13because
20:14the bus turned over
20:16because the kids
20:17weren't keeping Shabbos
20:18or this happened
20:20or AIDS happened
20:21because this person
20:22was a homosexual,
20:24that kind of allows me
20:26to separate them from me
20:28and that allows me
20:31to go through life
20:32without this horror
20:34of something bad happening.
20:37This is why
20:37there is a human tendency
20:39sometimes
20:39to try to
20:40identify some blame
20:43that somebody has
20:44because then I can kind of
20:46take myself out
20:47of that predicament.
20:48Otherwise,
20:49life is very horrifying
20:50and terrifying
20:51if any moment
20:53things could happen.
20:54So,
20:54we'll call this
20:55the conventional morality
20:56and this seems to be
20:58the morality structure
21:00that's in the Torah itself.
21:01And yet,
21:03Job refuses to accept it
21:05because Job says,
21:07I've done nothing wrong.
21:08I have been righteous.
21:09I've looked into my deeds.
21:12They are not wanting.
21:14And this argument
21:15goes on and on
21:16and as I say,
21:16there are nuances
21:17that we're not touching upon
21:18between what the first friend says
21:20and what the second friend says
21:21and what the third friend says
21:22and they also modify
21:24their positions
21:25in the course of the debate.
21:26But,
21:27as I say,
21:28our focus today
21:29is the forest,
21:29not the trees
21:30and this is the basic idea.
21:31Okay.
21:32And Job keeps on saying
21:34to his friends,
21:35you guys are windbags,
21:36the actual word that he uses,
21:38you guys don't know
21:39what you're talking about.
21:40I want to hear from God
21:42why this is happening.
21:45Well,
21:45you know the old saying,
21:47be careful for what you pray for
21:49because you might get it.
21:51And at the end of the book,
21:54again,
21:54a very dramatic scene,
21:56all of a sudden
21:57there's a whirlwind,
21:59a tornado,
22:01very ominous.
22:03And the voice of God
22:05says to Job,
22:06I'm here,
22:07would you like to ask me
22:09some questions?
22:12And Job really doesn't ask
22:13anything at that point.
22:14God knows what the questions are.
22:16And God proceeds to show him
22:19the equivalent
22:20of a National Geographic special
22:24on the wonders of nature.
22:27In fact,
22:28those of you that
22:29are nature lovers,
22:32the last few chapters
22:33of the book of Job
22:34are one of the most outstanding
22:35and beautiful portrayals
22:37of the wonders of the universe
22:39that is found in the Bible.
22:41He shows Job the stars
22:44and the planets,
22:46the constellations,
22:48the mountains,
22:49the valleys,
22:50the ice of the polar areas
22:53and the magnificent emptiness
22:55of the deserts.
22:57He shows him the diversity
22:58of animal life,
22:59the hippopotamus
23:00and the elephant
23:01and huge animals.
23:03And each time
23:04there's a bit of a mocking tone.
23:06He says to Job,
23:07pretty good, Job, huh?
23:08Could you do better?
23:08Could you do this?
23:09Could you do this?
23:10He talks about
23:11different phenomena
23:12such as mountain goats.
23:14You know,
23:15mountain goats
23:15are always skipping around
23:16these sharp peaks
23:17and when they have to give birth,
23:20they have to give birth
23:21in exactly the position
23:22where the baby
23:23doesn't fall down the mountain
23:24and everything has to be timed,
23:26you know,
23:26very much exactly.
23:28And every time
23:29he says to Job,
23:30hey,
23:30pretty good, huh?
23:31Pretty good,
23:32pretty good,
23:32pretty good.
23:33Could you do better?
23:34He seems to be mocking Job,
23:36again,
23:37superficially.
23:38He seems to be
23:39bullying Job
23:40into submission
23:40and yet
23:42at the end of the book
23:44Job responds
23:46with only two words.
23:49Well, one word, actually.
23:51Nichamti.
23:52Now, I'm saying it in Hebrew
23:54because Nichamti
23:55actually has two translations
23:58and each translation
23:59is actually somewhat interesting.
24:02Nichamti means
24:03I have been comforted.
24:07God, you have comforted me.
24:09Oh, yeah,
24:09I forgot one thing.
24:11The one thing that God said to him was,
24:14Job,
24:15he gave him good news
24:16and bad news.
24:17Job,
24:18your friends are wrong
24:20and you're right.
24:22You don't deserve any of this.
24:24That's the good news.
24:26The bad news is,
24:28if I don't deserve any of this,
24:30why is it happening?
24:31In a way,
24:32if you were to tell me
24:33I deserved it,
24:34at least it would make sense to me.
24:36I'd have some answer.
24:37So God,
24:39at the same time
24:40that he validates Job's position,
24:42makes the problem
24:44a much greater problem.
24:47And that's when he shows him
24:48the National Geographic travel art.
24:51And Job's response is Nichamti.
24:53So Nichamti either means
24:54I am comforted,
24:58Nechama,
24:59or Nichamti means
25:02I regret my words.
25:04I regret what I said.
25:06I was wrong.
25:08And the big question
25:09that one has to ponder is,
25:12what was God's answer?
25:14Job has a very legitimate question
25:16and God acknowledged
25:17it's a legitimate question.
25:19Job said,
25:20a righteous,
25:22merciful,
25:22compassionate,
25:23and just God
25:24is not going to cause
25:26bad things to happen
25:27to people who don't deserve it.
25:29Why did this happen to me?
25:31The friend's answer was,
25:33you must have deserved it.
25:34That's the friend's answer.
25:36God says,
25:37friends are wrong, Job.
25:38You don't deserve it.
25:40So why?
25:42God shows him
25:43the wonders of nature.
25:45How is that an answer?
25:48And if it is,
25:49and Job says,
25:49seems to say
25:50it is an answer
25:50because Job says,
25:51I am comforted.
25:53And then the book
25:53kind of goes into
25:55a happy ending
25:56that Job,
25:57instead of,
25:58he lost seven children,
25:59God gives him back
26:0014 children,
26:01and Job even lives
26:02the proverb,
26:03not the proverbial
26:04120 years,
26:05he lives 140 years,
26:06as if to say,
26:07you know,
26:07there's like frosting
26:08on the cake there.
26:10What's going on?
26:12Well,
26:13this is a deliberately
26:14obscure book
26:14because this is
26:15the message of life
26:16and one can think
26:17about this
26:17and you can ponder this
26:18and you can
26:19cogitate
26:20and come up
26:22with your own
26:23understandings.
26:24Let me just mention
26:25three overlapping
26:26understandings
26:28of what God is doing.
26:30The first,
26:31which I'll mention
26:31quite quickly,
26:33is not accepted
26:34by the Jewish tradition,
26:35but in the interest
26:36of honesty,
26:37I will tell you
26:38that some
26:38biblical commentators,
26:40modern biblical commentators,
26:41utilize it.
26:42and they say,
26:43God is playing
26:45the bully.
26:46God is basically,
26:47I don't know
26:48if your parents
26:48ever told you,
26:49ever used this line
26:49on you,
26:50it says,
26:50you know,
26:51something like,
26:53you think this is bad?
26:54Wait what I'll do to you
26:55when you come home.
26:55You know,
26:55it's kind of more,
26:56so he's telling Job,
26:57don't mess with me,
26:59guy,
27:00because I can do
27:01a lot worse.
27:03He's kind of
27:04showing him his power
27:05and he is
27:06cowering him
27:07into submission
27:09by saying,
27:11as bad as you think
27:12it's gotten,
27:13I have the power
27:14to make it a lot worse.
27:16But again,
27:17the Jewish tradition
27:18does not accept
27:19this image
27:19of God as bully
27:20because we very much
27:23do believe
27:23that although God
27:25has accountability,
27:26God has justice,
27:28but God is also
27:29a God of love
27:30and a God of mercy.
27:32So,
27:32a second explanation
27:33is the following.
27:35God is trying
27:37to communicate
27:37to Job
27:38the complexity
27:40and the interrelationship
27:43of the universe.
27:45And that is,
27:46he says to Job
27:47the following,
27:48we as human beings
27:50exist in two dimensions.
27:54On one hand,
27:56we are isolated people
27:58with our own lives
28:00and our own deeds,
28:01our good deeds
28:02and our bad deeds.
28:03And as isolated people,
28:05we might expect
28:06to be judged
28:07in accordance
28:09with our behaviors.
28:11But in addition
28:12to the isolated,
28:14individual,
28:15autonomous status
28:16that we possess,
28:18we are also
28:19cogs in the universe.
28:20You know,
28:21Shakespeare once remarked
28:22that all the world
28:25is a stage.
28:27And it's been said
28:28that we are like actors
28:30in a cosmic play
28:32which started
28:34thousands of years
28:35before us
28:35and will end
28:38thousands of years
28:39or more
28:39after us.
28:41And we have
28:42a walk-on part.
28:43Now imagine
28:44if you were an actor
28:46in a billion-page play
28:49and you were given
28:51one sheet
28:52to memorize
28:53and the play
28:55basically says,
28:58enter stage right,
29:00slip on a banana peel,
29:02break your leg.
29:03you might go
29:06to the director
29:06and say,
29:08this is unfair.
29:10I have one line
29:10and I'm supposed
29:11to break my leg.
29:12Why is this happening?
29:14And the director
29:16might say to you,
29:17you're an idiot.
29:18if you understood
29:20the thousands of pages
29:21that came before this
29:23and the thousands of pages
29:25that came after this,
29:27you would understand
29:29that what happened to you
29:32had to happen to you
29:34to advance
29:36the overall plan
29:37of the drama.
29:41In a much more
29:42consequential way,
29:44what God is trying
29:46to communicate to Job
29:47in this context is,
29:50and again,
29:51this is highly abstract
29:51and I know
29:52it may not be
29:53emotionally satisfactory,
29:54I'll mention
29:55some other aspects
29:57as well,
29:58is that the events
30:01that befall us
30:02are not always
30:04a function
30:04of our individual identities,
30:07but they are
30:09responses and precursors
30:11to processes
30:13that affect the world,
30:15affect the universe.
30:17And therefore,
30:18in a sense,
30:18he's showing Job,
30:20you are a cog
30:21in a much larger process.
30:26And if you change
30:26any one thing,
30:27you know what it is said?
30:28It is said that,
30:30I know one of the students
30:31here is training
30:32to be a meteorologist,
30:34I don't know,
30:34he's here today,
30:35but it is said that
30:38it is very difficult
30:39to accurately predict
30:41the weather
30:41in the long term.
30:44And one of the reasons
30:45for that is
30:46that if somebody sneezes,
30:49that should generate
30:50some extra air currents
30:51that could ultimately
30:52turn into a tsunami
30:54somewhere when combined
30:55with other factors.
30:56Meaning we live
30:57in a universe
30:58that is so interrelated
31:00that the smallest
31:03little change here
31:04can have great repercussions
31:07when you magnify it
31:08and combine it
31:09with many other causes.
31:11That is why
31:12we are so concerned
31:13about these little fish
31:14that get extinct
31:15because even though
31:16they might be unimportant,
31:17but you never know
31:18what's going to happen
31:18in the larger scale
31:20of things.
31:21So God is showing Job
31:24that in a complex universe
31:27you can't simply focus
31:30on the justice
31:31of what happens to you.
31:33You have to see
31:34the ripple effects
31:35and the interactions
31:36in all of these areas
31:38which are beyond
31:39human comprehension.
31:40And in fact,
31:40in the book of Job
31:41there's even a sarcastic reference
31:42where God says to Job,
31:45if you could do
31:46a better job than I,
31:48I'll take a vacation
31:49and give you the reins.
31:51See how you'd handle it.
31:53So that's one idea.
31:54And again,
31:55let me give you
31:55a tangible mashal for this.
31:59You know,
31:59in the Holocaust
32:00when six million Jews died
32:03there was a very,
32:04very great rabbi
32:05who died
32:06with his fellow Jews,
32:09Rabbi Ochanan Wasserman.
32:10And again,
32:11it's especially tragic
32:12because Rabbi Ochanan Wasserman
32:14was actually
32:14in the United States
32:15in 1938,
32:18one year before
32:19Hitler invaded Poland
32:20and started
32:21the concentration camps.
32:22As you know,
32:23although Hitler
32:24was from Germany,
32:25obviously,
32:26but the bulk
32:26of the concentration camps
32:27were not in Germany.
32:29The Germans didn't want
32:30to sully their land.
32:31The bulk of the concentration camps
32:32were in Poland
32:33and the Poles
32:35were quite cooperative
32:36in assisting the Germans
32:37in doing their work.
32:40So really,
32:41although Hitler
32:43became Chancellor of Germany
32:45in 1933,
32:47the death camps
32:48began in earnest
32:49in 1939,
32:50so it's 39 to 45
32:52were the years
32:54of the death camps.
32:56And Rabbi Ochanan Wasserman
32:57was in 1938
32:58and it was already
32:58fairly known
33:00that Hitler
33:00would invade Poland
33:02at some point.
33:04And he was given
33:05the opportunity
33:06to stay in the United States.
33:07He could have stayed here,
33:08but he decided
33:10to go back
33:11to put his faith,
33:13his fate
33:14with his fellow,
33:15with his students
33:15and the Jewish community.
33:17So it's very sad.
33:18There's one photograph
33:19I remember seeing
33:20of Rabbi Ochanan
33:22on the ship
33:23back to Poland
33:24where he must have known
33:26he was going
33:27towards his death.
33:28And he's gazing out
33:30into the ocean
33:30with a great
33:31pensive thoughtfulness,
33:33very, very moving
33:34in light of the history
33:35that came later.
33:36But Rabbi Ochanan Wasserman
33:37did die a martyr's death
33:39in Lithuania.
33:41But there was
33:42one or two survivors
33:43who actually recounted
33:44his final message
33:45to the group.
33:46He actually gave
33:47the people
33:48a message of hope
33:50before they were led
33:51to their death.
33:53And he said,
33:53we don't understand
33:54why God is doing this.
33:56But he gave
33:57the following mashal.
33:59Mashal is a parable.
34:01It says there was
34:01a little boy
34:02who wanted to understand
34:05how we get bread.
34:07So his parents
34:08take him out
34:08to a very lush
34:10green pasture
34:11full of grass
34:13and bushes
34:14and the like shrubs.
34:16And the child says,
34:17this is so pretty.
34:19And then one day
34:20comes the tractors
34:21and they uproot
34:22all the,
34:23cut all the
34:23grass,
34:24uproot all the shrubs.
34:27And they convert
34:28this beautiful
34:29green pasture
34:30into a muddy field.
34:34And the child
34:34doesn't understand
34:35why did you destroy
34:38the beauty
34:38that was here.
34:40But they seeded it
34:41and a few months later
34:43there are beautiful
34:44gold stalks
34:46of wheat
34:46that are growing.
34:48The child says,
34:48now I understand.
34:49you destroyed the grass
34:51so there would be wheat.
34:53But then comes
34:54the harvesters
34:55and once again
34:57they destroy the field.
34:59The child doesn't understand.
35:01This was so beautiful,
35:02golden,
35:03brown,
35:03now you've destroyed it.
35:05But what happens
35:06is they thresh
35:07the wheat
35:08and they have a pile
35:08of seeds,
35:10kernels.
35:11Now the child
35:12says,
35:12I understand.
35:13But then the kernels
35:14are ground
35:15into a colorless,
35:17tasteless powder,
35:19flower.
35:21The child doesn't understand.
35:23But you get the idea.
35:24Then eventually
35:25it's made into bread,
35:26et cetera.
35:27Meaning,
35:27Rav Ochanan says,
35:28every stage
35:30of destruction
35:31can ultimately
35:33lead to a higher
35:34divine purpose.
35:36And we don't understand,
35:38couldn't have there been,
35:39well, for example,
35:39some people say,
35:40I'm just throwing this out,
35:41that the Holocaust
35:42was the reason
35:43why there was
35:44a state of Israel.
35:45That why did
35:46the United Nations,
35:47which we know
35:48is pretty anti-Semitic,
35:50the United Nations
35:50is no lover of Jews.
35:53It never was.
35:54And it's certainly
35:55not today.
35:57Why in 1948
35:58was there almost
36:00a unanimous vote
36:01that there ought
36:03to be a Jewish state?
36:05Of course,
36:06it was God's doing,
36:07but historically
36:08it was very much
36:09connected to the Holocaust.
36:11There was a brief
36:12window in time
36:13in which the world
36:15either felt guilty
36:16or they felt compassion
36:19for a nation
36:21that suffered so much.
36:23Without the Holocaust,
36:24there would not have been
36:24a state of Israel.
36:26Now, I am not at all
36:28suggesting,
36:28I am not at all
36:29suggesting,
36:31this is an answer
36:32to the moral dilemma
36:33why there was a Holocaust,
36:34because one might say
36:35with a certain amount
36:36of correctness
36:37that the deaths
36:39of a million and a half
36:40children,
36:42you know,
36:42do not,
36:43in other words,
36:44a state of Israel
36:45does not justify
36:46the deaths of a million
36:46and a half children,
36:47meaning to say,
36:48so don't have a state of Israel,
36:49don't have a Holocaust.
36:50I'm not suggesting an answer.
36:51All I'm suggesting is
36:52that in the universe
36:54as we see it,
36:56the good and the bad
36:57are intertwined
36:58and there are causal associations.
37:02And that is the message
37:03that God is communicating
37:04to Job,
37:05and that is,
37:07don't just look
37:08at yourself.
37:10What happens to you
37:12is necessary
37:13for the overall plan
37:15that God has
37:16for the universe.
37:16So that's a second interpretation
37:19of what God
37:20is trying to show Job.
37:22But there's a third interpretation,
37:24which is actually
37:26not an interpretation at all.
37:28Number one,
37:30Job has a question,
37:31meaning,
37:31if I'm righteous,
37:32why is this happening?
37:34The friends are offering
37:35an answer.
37:37You must not be righteous.
37:39Job rejects that.
37:41And God says Job is right.
37:43But that makes Job's question
37:45much more stronger.
37:47God is telling him,
37:49you know,
37:49they didn't give you an answer.
37:51Good question.
37:52So what is God's answer?
37:55So some have suggested
37:56God is actually not answering
37:58the question at all.
38:00God is telling Job,
38:02I'm not going to answer
38:04the question.
38:05I just want you to know
38:07that I'm here.
38:09I want you to know
38:11that I'm with you.
38:13I want you to know
38:14that as you walk through
38:16the dark tunnel of life,
38:18there'll be so many things
38:20you're not going to understand
38:21and so many things
38:23that don't make sense.
38:25But I'm not here
38:26to intellectually
38:27give you an explanation.
38:28I'm here so you will feel
38:33the reality of my presence
38:36and that in your suffering
38:39you're not alone
38:39and I will be here
38:41to give you strength.
38:43I will be here
38:44to give you hope.
38:45I will be here
38:46to give you resilience.
38:49And that's going to be enough.
38:50In other words,
38:52Job was looking
38:54for an answer
38:55but he found God.
39:01And God
39:02didn't give him an answer
39:04but God took away the question.
39:10And that could be
39:12what the author
39:12is trying to convey to you.
39:14That in life
39:16there are going to be mysteries.
39:18In life
39:19there are going to be
39:20unanswered questions.
39:23And it's fascinating.
39:24I want to give you
39:25a little snippet of information.
39:27Do you remember
39:28at the beginning of the talk
39:29I mentioned
39:29that Moses actually asked God
39:33this very question.
39:35Why do bad things happen?
39:36And God basically said
39:37none of your business.
39:39I'll be merciful
39:39to whom I decide.
39:42Now there is one view
39:43in the Gomorrah,
39:44one view,
39:45that the author
39:46of the book of Job
39:47that there was never
39:48such a person as Job.
39:49Job was a fictional character.
39:51And the author
39:52of the book of Job
39:53was none other than Moses.
39:56Moses took a turn
39:57as a novelist
39:58after he got the Torah.
40:00And the way
40:02in my own mind
40:03I reconstruct this
40:04is
40:04Moses wanted an answer
40:07from direct divine revelation.
40:09He didn't get it.
40:11So he wrote
40:13a philosophical novel
40:14to try to explore
40:16the matter
40:17philosophically
40:18through different protagonists
40:20because there is a view
40:22in the Gomorrah.
40:23This is not
40:23just a modern view
40:25that Job is a fictional work.
40:27But at the end
40:28he comes out
40:30in the very place
40:31that he started off with.
40:33I don't have an answer
40:34but I know there's God.
40:37It's a funny thing.
40:38In other words
40:39God gave him
40:40the response
40:41all the way
40:41at the beginning
40:41but he was looking
40:43for something
40:44more logical
40:45and he came out
40:47that
40:47you know
40:48it's no better
40:49than the answer
40:49that he was given.
40:51And this is a very
40:52important idea in life.
40:54You know
40:54imagine
40:56you might remember
40:57when you were
40:58a young child
40:59right
40:59and
41:00daddy or mommy
41:03probably daddy
41:03was driving the car
41:05late at night
41:05and a person
41:08has a sense
41:09of security
41:10that there's someone
41:12that loves them
41:13someone that takes care
41:14of them
41:14you know
41:14once you learn
41:15to be a driver
41:16I know myself now
41:16it's very hard for me
41:17to sit when someone else
41:18is driving
41:18because I'm a very
41:19nervous driver
41:19put on the brake
41:20or don't go so fast
41:21you know
41:21but before you knew
41:22anything about
41:23how to drive a car
41:23you kind of
41:25just put yourself
41:26totally
41:26in someone's trust.
41:30The book of Job
41:31ultimately
41:31is not about answers.
41:34The book of Job
41:35is ultimately
41:36about trusting
41:37that there are reasons
41:39trusting there are purposes
41:41and trusting
41:42that your relationship
41:44to God
41:45can exist
41:46even when times
41:46are difficult
41:47because
41:47even if God
41:49doesn't
41:49if I could quote
41:50hardly a religious source
41:53Mick Jagger
41:54forgive me
41:56for mentioning him
41:57in the synagogue here
41:58you can't always
42:00get what you want
42:01but you get
42:04what you need.
42:04that is a great line
42:07that really is
42:08a great line
42:09there's a lot of things
42:11in life we don't want
42:12and there's a lot of things
42:14in life
42:15that we would choose
42:16quite differently
42:17and
42:19why doesn't God
42:20give us
42:21what we want
42:22I don't know
42:24he certainly could
42:25but
42:28he gives us
42:29other things
42:30he gives us
42:31the ability
42:32to cope
42:33he gives us
42:35the ability
42:35to grow
42:36he gives us
42:38the ability
42:39to become
42:41a better person
42:43through the difficulties
42:44that we go through
42:45and that's also
42:48a gift
42:48it's a gift
42:50that's a hard gift
42:51it's a gift
42:51that's a tough gift
42:52it's a gift
42:54that we wish
42:55we didn't have
42:55but ultimately
42:57it's also a gift
42:59you may remember
43:01Christopher Reeve
43:03Christopher Reeve
43:04was Superman
43:05right
43:05Hollywood actor
43:06handsome
43:07successful
43:07rich
43:08played Superman
43:10I guess other things too
43:11and then he had
43:13a horrible
43:14riding accident
43:15which left him
43:17paralyzed
43:18and he was so helpless
43:21he wanted to commit suicide
43:23but he was so helpless
43:24he couldn't even kill himself
43:25he was paralyzed
43:26he was in a breathing tube
43:27respirator
43:27he couldn't even
43:29make the decision
43:31to take his own life
43:32so
43:34he had a wife
43:36who
43:36since then
43:37has also passed away
43:38from cancer
43:39and
43:40she said
43:41if you want me
43:43to kill you
43:44I will do it
43:46but we have to spend
43:47the night
43:48talking about it first
43:49and she talked him out of it
43:52she spent the night
43:52with him
43:53and she convinced him
43:55that his life
43:56still had value
43:57his life
43:59still had purpose
43:59he could be an inspiration
44:02to people
44:02he could show people
44:04how to come back
44:05from difficulties
44:06and she gave him a sense
44:08that his life mattered
44:09and that gave him the ability
44:12to endure
44:12the unbelievably difficult situation
44:15that he faced
44:17talk about it
44:19we talked Friday night
44:20we talked about
44:21Aisha T'Chiel
44:21a woman of valor
44:22I have to say
44:23she was not Jewish
44:24but that is a woman of valor
44:26indeed
44:26and what Christopher Reeve
44:29said later was
44:30he would not wish
44:33his suffering
44:33on anybody
44:34but
44:36he liked
44:38the person
44:39he became
44:39much more
44:41than the person
44:42he was
44:42the person
44:44he was
44:45was focused
44:47on success
44:48on money
44:50on power
44:50on influence
44:51on prestige
44:53on popularity
44:54and the person
44:56he became
44:57learned to
44:59care about others
45:01help others
45:02inspire others
45:04he says
45:05he likes
45:06the person
45:07he is now
45:08more than
45:09the person
45:09that he is
45:10is there an easier way
45:13why couldn't God
45:13just make us
45:14loving
45:15good people
45:16without this
45:17I don't know
45:18I don't know
45:19but there's a process
45:21let me tell you
45:21another story
45:22Leon Fleischer
45:24now Leon Fleischer
45:25happens to be Jewish
45:26but not
45:26not observant
45:28anyone knows
45:30who Leon Fleischer is
45:31if you're a musician
45:31you would know
45:33Leon Fleischer
45:34I'm not sure
45:35if he's
45:35I think he's still alive
45:36he might be retired
45:37by now
45:38is or is
45:39or was
45:40one of the greatest
45:40classical pianists
45:42in the world
45:42really a great
45:43great classical pianist
45:45and in the 1970s
45:49or early 1980s
45:50because he was
45:52obsessive
45:52in practicing
45:53he would like
45:54practice
45:54hours and hours
45:56a day
45:56I knew some
45:57of his students
45:58he began to
45:59suffer repetitive
46:00stress injuries
46:01in which
46:03his right hand
46:04got closed
46:05he was not able
46:06to open and
46:07manipulate his fingers
46:08at least with the
46:09skill that he needed
46:10as a pianist
46:11so he had to
46:13give up his career
46:14and for a person
46:16of that nature
46:16he wanted to commit
46:17suicide
46:17because his life
46:18had no meaning
46:18for a while
46:19he was doing
46:20left-handed pieces
46:21I think there are
46:21five or six
46:22in the classical
46:25repertoire
46:25of piano pieces
46:26written for a
46:27left-handed pianist
46:29or whatever
46:29so he could do
46:29some of that stuff
46:30but you know
46:31not too many
46:32and he tried
46:33treatments all over
46:34the world
46:35all over the world
46:36surgery
46:37and cortisone
46:38and all sorts of things
46:40to try to regain
46:41the use of his right hand
46:42and he could not
46:44and to him
46:47this was death
46:48how could he live
46:49without his music
46:50and he wanted to
46:51commit suicide
46:51he wanted to kill himself
46:52but eventually
46:54he came together
46:55and he developed
46:57the idea
46:57that if he could not
47:00be the performer
47:01he could be the teacher
47:03he could instruct people
47:05how to do it
47:06he could show them
47:06techniques
47:07he could kind of
47:08live through them
47:09and he switched careers
47:11he became
47:12as opposed to
47:14one of the great
47:14performing artists
47:15in the classical world
47:16he became perhaps
47:18the most prominent
47:20teacher
47:21of classical
47:22performance
47:23and he had many
47:24many protégés
47:25who went on
47:26to have
47:26very very successful
47:28careers
47:28and great great teacher
47:31wonderful teacher
47:32well what happened
47:34around five years ago
47:35maybe more now
47:37is that there was
47:39some technique
47:40deep tissue massage
47:41that was being developed
47:42in Japan
47:42and his wife
47:44read about it
47:45and she said to him
47:47gee
47:48Leon
47:49why don't we go to Japan
47:51try this out
47:51he didn't want to do it
47:52he said
47:53you know
47:53I went through this already
47:55I went through so many treatments
47:56they all failed
47:57I have adjusted
47:59to this new part
48:00of my life
48:01I love teaching
48:02how can I allow
48:04my hope
48:05to get up again
48:05what's going to happen
48:07if I get disappointed
48:08what's going to happen
48:09I can't even go there
48:11he didn't want to do it
48:13she convinced him
48:14he had deep tissue massage
48:17miraculously
48:19after 25 years
48:20of not being able to play
48:21he regained his proficiency
48:24in the use of his right hand
48:26and because he had been teaching
48:28all those years
48:28his skills had not atrophied
48:30that much
48:30and he began to play again
48:32now that's a nice story
48:33but why am I telling you this
48:34what's the spiritual message
48:36listen to what he said
48:37he said a remarkable thing
48:39he said
48:41that when I was a performer
48:43my life was all about me
48:47I got the glory
48:49I got the applause
48:50God did not want me
48:53to be egotistical
48:54and selfish
48:56God wanted me to learn
48:58to care about others
49:00so he took away my talent
49:02he took away my ability
49:04he forced me to concentrate
49:06on other people
49:08getting the applause
49:08and other people
49:09getting the accolades
49:10and I did this
49:12and I eventually came
49:15to a place
49:15where their success
49:17was as sweet to me
49:19as my success
49:21their glory
49:23was my glory
49:24their joy
49:25was my joy
49:26and when God
49:28saw
49:29that I had learned
49:31that lesson
49:31he gave me back
49:34my ability
49:36my ability
49:36now
49:38I well understand
49:40that not all stories
49:43have this neat arc
49:46of even 25 years
49:47after all
49:49in the Holocaust
49:506 million people
49:52died
49:53they died
49:54they didn't
49:55rebuild their lives
49:57in any way
49:57and no one is going to say
50:00that there's any
50:00complete explanation
50:01I'm going to think
50:02I'm going to have to continue
50:02this next time as well
50:03because there's a few more things
50:04I want to say
50:05but it does indicate
50:07that difficulties
50:10and suffering in life
50:11are vehicles
50:14of self transformation
50:15and this is an important lesson
50:17even in what you might call
50:18the minor frustrations
50:19of life
50:20obviously
50:22illness
50:23death
50:24these are biggies
50:25but there's all sorts
50:27of things
50:27that fall short of that
50:29that can still be
50:30very significant
50:31you didn't make
50:32the basketball team
50:33in middle school
50:34you're sad
50:36you didn't get into
50:38the med school
50:38you wanted to get into
50:40or any medical school
50:41and you have a choice
50:43I can be bitter
50:45resentful
50:47cynical
50:49or
50:51I can look at life
50:53with hope
50:54and optimism
50:55and resilience
50:55and can take
50:58my disappointments
50:59as vehicles
51:01of transformation
51:02becoming a different person
51:04becoming a greater person
51:07learning from my
51:09disappointments in life
51:10to feel the pain
51:12of others
51:12and in that sense
51:14you can get a glimpse
51:15into what God
51:17was trying to do
51:18with all of this
51:18here
51:20the classic book
51:21by the way
51:22in fact
51:22I'm basically
51:23articulating
51:24the thesis
51:26of Viktor Frankl
51:27Man's Search for Meaning
51:29Viktor Frankl
51:31again
51:31not a religious Jew
51:32but
51:34he was spiritually
51:35very sensitive
51:36and intuitive
51:37was a psychoanalyst
51:39who was in
51:41the concentration camps
51:42and he developed
51:45the idea
51:45out of his own
51:46experience
51:47he would be
51:47pretentious
51:48for me to say
51:48because I was not
51:50in the camps
51:50but he was there
51:52and he said
51:53we have very little
51:55freedom
51:56over what happens
51:59in our lives
52:00things happen
52:02but the one freedom
52:04that we have
52:05that is our
52:06unconditional freedom
52:07is how we choose
52:10to respond
52:13to what happens
52:14to what happens
52:15to us
52:15we can choose
52:17the path of anger
52:18and bitterness
52:18and we can choose
52:21the path of courage
52:23and self-transformation
52:25and the mark
52:28of a righteous
52:28human being
52:29is how you make
52:31that choice
52:32the externals
52:34are the externals
52:35and in that way
52:36the Satan
52:37is not making
52:39an arbitrary bet
52:40the Satan
52:42is making
52:42a very good
52:43argument
52:43with God
52:43he's saying
52:44to God
52:44the measure
52:45of righteousness
52:46is how a person
52:48responds
52:49when things
52:50are not going
52:50his way
52:51not when they
52:52are going
52:54his way
52:54if you want
52:55Job to be
52:56righteous
52:56you've got to
52:58put him
52:58through this test
52:59and this is
53:01important
53:02because this
53:02I think
53:02can help us
53:03with a perspective
53:04not only
53:05on the major
53:06tragedies of life
53:07that God willing
53:08we all should
53:09be spared
53:09we hope
53:10but even
53:11the minor
53:11frustrations
53:12of life
53:13that can
53:13get us down
53:14how do we
53:15respond to them
53:16they are
53:17vehicles of
53:18self-transformation
53:19they are
53:19vehicles to
53:20train us
53:21and to
53:22teach us
53:22and to
53:23instruct us
53:24and to
53:25elevate us
53:26you know
53:27the old
53:27t-shirt saying
53:28and sayings
53:29on t-shirts
53:30are almost
53:30always accurate
53:31when life
53:33gives you
53:34lemons
53:34make lemonade
53:35and again
53:37that's right
53:38you can decide
53:40the meaning
53:41of any given
53:42event
53:42events happen
53:43but events
53:45don't have
53:45meaning
53:45until they are
53:47processed and
53:48integrated into
53:48your life
53:49and you decide
53:51what the meaning
53:53of any given
53:54event is going
53:54to be
53:55so again
53:56this is
53:57really such
53:58an important
53:59topic that I'm
54:00going to continue
54:01a little bit
54:01the next time
54:02although we'll
54:03have a question
54:03and answer
54:04period as well
54:05but think about
54:07this pick up
54:08Viktor Frankl's
54:09book it is
54:09really a
54:10masterpiece of
54:11the human spirit
54:12and that's
54:14something that
54:14everybody Jew
54:15and non-Jew
54:16needs to be
54:17aware of
54:18and also go to
54:20the book of
54:20Job itself
54:21and you'll see
54:21some Berch Hashem
54:22that's part of
54:23our Bible
54:23and you'll see
54:25the magnificent
54:25although complex
54:27and perplexing
54:28treatments
54:28of this very
54:30variation
54:30okay
54:31we'll see you
54:32I guess tomorrow
54:32okay take care
54:33we'll see you
54:35next time
54:35we'll see you
Recommended
39:38
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