Rabbi Charles P. Sherman
February 11, 2005
When Faith Is Tested: Jewish responses to Tsunamis and Other Tragedies
Imagine that you are sitting on a beach at a resort by the Indian Ocean. It’s a beautiful Sunday and you are enjoying the sun with your family. Suddenly the water turns very strange – the color changes and the sea backs up, exposing a large amount of seabed. Then at an amazing pace, a wall of water comes crashing forward, flooding you and everyone around you. You run, grabbing for your family and others. Perhaps you find something to cling to – a loose boat or part of a building still standing. You wait to be rescued, or perhaps you are one of the lucky ones able to rescue others. You grab whomever you can but, to your horror, you see people washed out to sea.
You do not know it yet, but you have been the victim of one of nature’s most powerful and dangerous phenomena – a tsunami. An earthquake hundreds of miles away has shifted the sea floor, causing an underwater wave moving as fast as 500 miles per hour. When the wave hits land, the wall of water carries away everything in its path. By the end, the death count is at least 200,000 – perhaps one quarter million. We will never know the exact number – hundreds of thousands of souls, each created in the image of God, swept away by a giant wave.
It is one of the worse natural disasters in history. In addition to the lives lost, millions of humans have been displaced; homes and entire towns have been swept away. Victims lack shelter, food, clean water, medical facilities. It will take years to rebuild what has been destroyed, and the lives lost leave a legacy of grief. The mass media provided perhaps five billion of us earthlings front-row seats to closely observe this abject tragedy which occurred seven weeks ago this coming Sunday. Numbers are dramatic but, of course, numbers are not the primary issue here; even a single innocent life lost is an immeasurable tragedy. Someone pointed out that the light of the earth dimmed on December 26th because 200,000 individual divine lights were extinguished.
Our world has now become one large, but shrinking, neighborhood. In the days following the Asian tsunami disaster, we learned a lot about the variety of peoples who inhabit these countries. For example, the religious make up – India is predominantly Hindu, while Sri Lanka and Thailand are predominantly Buddhist, Islam is the major religion of Malaysia and Indonesia, yet communities of other faiths are spread throughout. The tsunami disaster unified members of different religions to administer aid, brought clergy together to provide interfaith rituals for the dead, and in some places, united political opposites – insurgents and incumbents – to begin rebuilding their mutual homeland.
The natural response to all of this – even for people of faith – is to ask "why?" and "where?". Why does God allow such horrific tragedies? Where is God in such a terrible time? For those who believe in an omnipotent and benevolent God, it is a challenge to answer why there is such suffering in the world. Do children really deserve to die? Why is such pain inflicted on seemingly innocent people? Yes, why do bad things happen to good people?
Priests, ministers, rabbis, imams, shamens, monks, elders – all kinds of religious leaders – have given a wide variety of answers. I consider some of these answers foolish and, as I said in our local paper, other answers are obscene. Let me give you a few quotes.
A local Muslim: "Sometimes it is a test from God, and sometimes it is a punishment. And sometimes it is a reward. But we don’t find out until we die and go to paradise. We believe God is purifying our soul in this life, preparing us for paradise."
A Catholic Bishop in Sri Lanka said to his parishioners on New Year’s Eve: "God has spoken. He wants us to realize His presence in order that we should live according to His design and not according to our plans, designs, and desires. Man proposes, God disposes. This is clearly manifested in this disaster."
The Pastor of the Evangelical Christian Church in Hong Kong urged his congregation to respond to the tsunami by spreading Christianity. "Indonesia is the largest Muslim community in the world. I don’t know if 100 years from now whether it will be the biggest Christian [nation] in the world. Wouldn’t it be great if God redeems the tragedy to change the eternal destination of a nation?"
In Sri Lanka, the statue of Buddha in the southern town of Galle did not topple when the waves washed over an area near a bus terminal. A Buddhist monk considered it a sign: "The people are not living according to religious virtues," he said. "Nature has given them some punishment because they are not following the path of the Lord Buddha. The people have to learn their lesson."
A Roman Catholic Priest in Colombo cast the blame wider. "This is a punishment from God because everybody is leading a wretched life. All of us are to be blamed for this tsunami. There is no sense of modesty or religiosity any more. People have gone so far away from God. It is a message to say ‘Look, I’m the boss’."
A sheik said that he saw the tsunami as a punishment for non-Muslims and a test for Muslims. The underlying lesson to both being – embrace Islam. "These great tragedies and collective punishments that are wiping out religious towns, cities, and even entire countries, are Allah’s punishment of the people of these countries, even if they are Muslims. Some of our forefathers said that if there is usury and fornication in a certain village, Allah permits its destruction. We know that at these resorts, which unfortunately exist in Islamic and other countries in South Asia, and especially at Christmas, fornication and sexual perversion of all kinds are rampant. The fact that it happened at this particular time is a sign from Allah. It happened at Christmas when fornicators and corrupt people from all over the world come to commit fornication and sexual perversion. That is when this tragedy took place, striking them all and destroyed everything. It turned the land into wasteland, where only the cries of the ravens are heard . . . I say this is a great sign and punishment on which Muslims should reflect."
In my humble opinion, it is dumb to obscene answers such as these which give religion a bad name.
To use a natural disaster to blame the victims for moral turpitude is to compound the injury. To justify human suffering by wagging the moral finger at the victim is misguided at best. Anyone who has ever read the Book of Job knows how inappropriate it is to look at a victim and say "you deserve your suffering." If you do not believe me, think what kind of response you would get if you made a condolence call to the spouse of someone who died of a heart attack or of lung cancer, and you said "you know, he deserved it. After all, he was a heavy smoker – and admit it, he was overweight too." Dear friends, if you ever try that, your own shiva won’t be long behind.
It is a natural response to ask: why does God allow such horrific tragedies? Where is God at such terrible times? I find it hard to believe that there is anyone here who has not asked him or herself these same questions at one time or another. These questions are not usually so much a search for answers as they are expressions of pain and anguish. When someone says "Why me?", they are not looking for an answer, but for a sympathetic hand on their shoulder, for someone to cry with them, for someone to simply sit quietly by their side. When we witness suffering in the lives of others, we too are prone to ask why. We feel their pain, we sense their powerlessness – we feel powerless.
But as we get a little bit further away from the immediate pain and anguish, I think that there are questions which challenge our minds and our hearts. This evening I would like to suggest what I think are appropriate Jewish responses.
Most Jews view natural occurrences – earthquakes, tidal waves, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis – even when they are unnaturally strong, not as acts of God, but rather as acts of nature. God is not in the natural disaster. I agree with my esteemed teacher, Rabbi Harold Kushner, the act of God is when we help those in distress. The tsunami was a natural disaster; the act of God was when total strangers imperiled their own lives to save other human beings.
For Jews, science is not the enemy or antithesis of religious faith. What can modern science teach us? An earthquake is not a moral judgement of God; it is the consequence of the amoral world of nature. A natural consequence is not a Divine curse; tsunamis do not differentiate between the good and the guilty. They indiscriminately destroy everything in their path. They are amoral forces that have nothing to do with theology or ethics.
Tectonic plates, which comprise the earth’s crust, collide with each other and an inevitable earthquake relieves their tension and strain, like the spout on a kettle that allows for the release of steam pressure. If there were no earthquakes to release the energy, the plates would ultimately destroy each other, causing even far greater damage to the entire planet. Hundreds of small earthquakes occur daily around the world. If human beings were not living in the regions of these events, these "natural corrections" would silently keep the world intact with no trace of human casualty.
There is suffering caused by the choices we human beings make. The answer to the question rabbis are often asked "where was God in the Holocaust?" is, I think, easier than the answer to "where is God in the tsunami?". The Holocaust was an act of evil perpetrated by humans against other humans. The correct question after the Holocaust is not where was God, but where was man? Sometimes we cause suffering to others, and sometimes we make choices through which we inflict suffering upon ourselves. We are given free will, even when the choices we make cause the most terrible types of pain. But the death and devastation caused by a tsunami is of a different caliber – it simply happens.
Nature works according to its own laws. Long ago a wise rabbi was asked – if a farmer steals wheat from another farmer and plants it, should it not grow? Shouldn’t the farmer be punished for stealing the wheat? But the rabbi answered: "Olam k’minhago nahag – the world behaves according to its nature." Irrespective of our moral qualms, nature takes its course. Earthquakes and tornados, genetic mutations, cancer cells and tsunamis do not make moral judgements about their victims – they happen because we live in a world of natural laws. That is the way of the world of matter and energy, space and time.
So why didn’t God make the laws more fair? One response is that when God began to create the world, God fine-tuned the laws so that independent and interdependent human beings would emerge. If God had made the laws a little bit different, there would be no life. If gravity was a little weaker, matter would have diffused through the universe, and there would be nothing except random hydrogen molecules. If gravity were a little stronger, the sun would have burnt itself out long before life could evolve. In this world of matter, everything was made just right, so that human life would emerge.
Human beings are made of carbon because that is the best chemical to build life. However, the same forces that released carbon from rocks in the earth’s crust cause earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. The same forces that allow genetic mutation so that life can evolve, also cause birth defects and cancer cells. The same gravitational force that allowed the stars to be formed causes disaster when an airplane falls from the sky.
Jewish commentary: When God made the world, God looked at it and saw it was tov m’od – very good. It was very good, but not perfect. So God created us humans l’takayn, to takayn God’s world. That is where we learn the expression tikkun olam, which I think is mistranslated as "to perfect the world". I prefer the following definitions of l’takayn: to heal, to mend, to repair, to rebuild, to make whole, to harmonize; or, most modestly, to improve. I believe that our job as God’s partner is to improve the world. In the same way, while I cannot imagine a perfect human being, I can imagine a better human being.
Jewish tradition tells the story of a king with two sons. He could not decide which son was worthy to inherit his kingdom, so he gave both sons wheat and told them to take care of it properly and come back in 30 days to show what they had done. The first son came and handed back the wheat: "I guarded your precious wheat carefully. No water touched it, no one stole it. Here it is, just as you handed it to me."
The second son came and handed his dad a loaf of bread. "I’ve improved your wheat." Guess which one inherited the kingdom.
So where was God in the tsunami? According to Kabbalah, at creation God contracted Him/Herself so that an independent world could emerge inhabited by free people, not marionettes manipulated by a Divine Puppeteer. God has a role, a mission for us human beings. We are to be God’s partners in completing creation; we are to join with God in improving this world. Perhaps some day we will predict tsunamis accurately and in a timely manner, or even prevent them. Using technology in the face of potential tragedy is one way we can do God’s work.
Natural disasters are a humbling experience for human beings which, of course, I don’t believe for a split second justifies disasters. But we are reminded forcefully and dramatically in the face of such a phenomenon that no matter how powerful we think we are and no matter how much we have learned to control the place we live, no matter how much science and technology we have developed, there are forces that are overpowering and overwhelming. There is a strength and a power and a mystery to this universe that no human being can master or dominate. I believe that maturity is learning to live with unanswered questions. So, first of all, I think we have to ask the right questions and, secondly, we have to accept the fact that for some of our questions there are no answers – or at least not yet.
I have referred to the questions "why?" and "where?". I believe there is an even better question. The prophet Jeremiah is supposed to have written Eicha, the Book of Lamentations, which like the Book of Job also contains a response to suffering. According to our tradition, Lamentations was written by Jeremiah after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. Although he had castigated and warned the people many times of the consequences of their actions, when the Temple was finally destroyed and the nation exiled, Jeremiah remained silent about the reason for this tragedy. It would have been easy for the prophet to have said "see, I told you so." But he does not; rather he cries and laments this terrible tragedy.
And the most interesting thing of all about the Book of Lamentations is how it begins. The first word is the Hebrew title of this book, Eicha, which means "how." How the city that was once great with people sits alone. That word Eicha is both an exclamation and an interrogative; it can be translated as "alas" or as "how". Jeremiah begins with a question, but he is not really searching for an answer, for an explanation. The question that he asks is not "why?" or "where?", but "how?" A Jewish response to tragedy is to ask: given the reality of our lives, how do we now respond? What must we do? How can we heal the suffering and dry the tears that have been inflicted upon us? The question Jews are supposed to ask is "how?", Eicha. How do we act now?
And our tradition says that there is no bracha, no blessing for performing the mitzvah of tsedakah, even though we are commanded in the Torah to help those who are needy. Isn’t it amazing that we say a bracha when we light Shabbat or festival candles, when we read from the Torah; but, when we help someone who is hungry or naked, we make no such religious statement. Why is that? Because our tradition says we should not be reflecting on the theological significance of our actions when someone else is in dire need. In the words of Nike, we should "just do it!". How can we help?
Similarly a Chassidic teaching says that there is a purpose to all things in the universe, even atheism. The disciples asked Rebbe Mendl, "How is it that it is good to act like an atheist?" And his response was: "When it comes to helping those who are in need, we should act like atheists. We should never say ‘God will provide.’ Rather we should act as if there were no God and the person’s life is dependent completely upon us." That is the Jewish response to tragedy. How can I help? What can I do? What do you need?
So rather than finger-pointing and blame-assigning, I suggest that silence is one of the best responses to unfathomable tragedy. Not the silence of resignation, but the silence of strength, of standing in overwhelmed awe of experiences which the human mind cannot comprehend. No logic, no reason, not all of our limited faculties can fully process the enormity of such loss and grief. Yet men and women of faith do not allow suffering to paralyze or break them. After silently acknowledging the mystery of pain, they forge ahead with fortitude to become stronger people and make the world a more beautiful place. For me, that faith, that fortitude and courage is the act of God.
For me God is in each and every person whose own needs, though many, are dwarfed by responsibility to others; whose own hearts, though saddened, reach out to others; whose own souls, though sorely battered, soar to heights of compassion for others. I believe that God is not in the problem; God is in the solution. God is not in the challenge; God is in the response. God is not in the desolation; God is in the consolation. God is not in the destruction; but God is in the rebirth. For God is within us, if we let God in, giving us the power, the wisdom, the strength, the courage, the goodness and the compassion to face the worst and not merely to endure, but to prevail.
Permit me to take a few more minutes to share with you two of my concerns, which I don’t hear verbalized when faith is tested. You know that the outpouring of nations, organizations, and individuals to the tsunamis is probably record-breaking and in many ways is inspirational. In the history of the world, has there ever been such an outpouring of contributions as we have witnessed over the course of almost seven weeks now? Incredible donations! Charity organizations have been swamped with gifts almost to the point where they can’t handle them. We can be proud of humanity, or at least much of humanity. Human beings are capable of great goodness. Let me give you one specific example.
Save the Children is just one of the many, many organizations that have mobilized to help the people of Southeast Asia. It is not the biggest or the best-known of these organizations, and yet it has been the recipient – you’ll forgive the metaphor – of a tidal wave of gifts and donations, the likes of which it has never seen before.
In an ordinary month, Save the Children Organization usually takes in something like $30,000 to $50,000. In the first five days after the tsunamis struck, it took in more than $10 million from the Internet alone. The headquarters for Save the Children is Westport, Connecticut. They had to put on extra workers to handle the checks that came in by mail. The bank in Jakarta, Indonesia, where Save the Children had an account, couldn’t supply enough rupiah, the Indonesian currency, with which to convert the dollars that the organization received. Save the Children had to open new accounts in as many other banks as it could find.
The Vice President of the organization said she had hoped to raise $7 million from corporations this year; instead, she received $7 million from companies in the first five days after the tsunami. Save the Children has had to hire extra help just to open the envelopes and to deposit the money and to send out thank-you letters. And remember, Save the Children is only one of many, many charitable organizations to which people have sent donations during this time of crisis. Money flowed in day after day to the Red Cross, to Doctors Without Borders, and to Christian, Jewish, and non-sectarian organizations, trying to meet the needs of the devastated people in Southeast Asia.
Now here is what I consider to be one of the most important tests of our faith. This Sunday, the day after tomorrow, let’s look at the newspapers and listen to the news reports, and see whether we see or hear anything about the tsunami victims. It will have been only seven weeks. Surely it is not front page news and no longer the lead story on the evening news. To put it rather crudely, how much of a "shelf life" will this tragedy have? How long will it be until, or is it already so, that other events capture our attention and this Asian catastrophe becomes "yesterday’s news"?
My dear friends, we know that the task of caring for the victims of the tsunamis will not require months nor even a year, but many, many years.
There is technology which can give a measure of warning to people before the next tsunami strikes, so that they can have time in which to flea, to get away from the coasts. An early warning system is already used in the Pacific Ocean, which is why no tsunami has devastated Alaskan or Hawaiian populations for many years. Such technology has not been installed in Southeast Asia because it would be very expensive to install. If that is true, I have to ask how much would we be willing to donate in order to have such technology installed? Are we willing to donate as much to prevent a catastrophe as we seem to be to support the victims of a catastrophe after it occurs?
Nature will still explode in volcanoes, and nature will still strike at us with earthquakes and tornados and hurricanes, and all of human wisdom can probably do little to prevent these things from happening. But if there is anything we can do to reduce loss from cataclysms like the tsunamis which befell Southeast Asia, we need to do so before it happens – or else we’ll be just like the people of Chelm who built a hospital at the bottom of the mountain instead of building a guardrail at the top.
Many have responded with unbelievable generosity to the Asian tsunami victims, and for this may they be blessed. But let it also be reported that we global citizens came together and decided to find out what could be done in the future to at least give people sufficient warning in advance. That we provided the money and did the work to make such an early warning system available.
Let humanity can act with as much passion and compassion before a catastrophe as we show afterwards. We are God’s partners in improving this world and, my friends, the test of the strength of our faith, is how willing we are to persevere. Rebuilding lives devastated by the Asian tsunami is not a seven-week task. Let’s do it! That is how our faith calls upon us to respond to tragedy. Amen
In addition to all the periodicals utilized in preparing this message, I’ve benefitted most from the writings of these colleagues – Rabbis Michael Gold, Simon Jacobson, Arthur Lavinsky, Berhard Presler, Jack Riemer, Harold Schulweis, and Arnold Stiebel.
