Philosophy:Theodicy – צדיק ורע לו/1/en
Theodicy – צדיק ורע לו
Introduction
Does Hashem Judge Rightfully?
There are many verses in Torah, which talk about Hashem's justice in the world. In most of them it seems fairly simple, that Hashem rewards righteous people, and punishes wicked people.
For example, Vayikra 26 says:
(ג) אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת מִצְוֺתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם. (ד) וְנָתַתִּי גִשְׁמֵיכֶם בְּעִתָּם וְנָתְנָה הָאָרֶץ יְבוּלָהּ וְעֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה יִתֵּן פִּרְיוֹ...
(יד) וְאִם לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ לִי וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ אֵת כׇּל הַמִּצְוֺת הָאֵלֶּה. (טו) וְאִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תִּמְאָסוּ וְאִם אֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי תִּגְעַל נַפְשְׁכֶם לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת אֶת כׇּל מִצְוֺתַי לְהַפְרְכֶם אֶת בְּרִיתִי. (טז) אַף אֲנִי אֶעֱשֶׂה זֹּאת לָכֶם וְהִפְקַדְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם בֶּהָלָה אֶת הַשַּׁחֶפֶת וְאֶת הַקַּדַּחַת מְכַלּוֹת עֵינַיִם וּמְדִיבֹת נָפֶשׁ וּזְרַעְתֶּם לָרִיק זַרְעֲכֶם וַאֲכָלֻהוּ אֹיְבֵיכֶם...
(3) If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; (4) then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield her produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. (5) And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread until ye have enough, and dwell in your land safely. (6) And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. (7) And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. (8) And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. (9) And I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you; and will establish My covenant with you. (10) And ye shall eat old store long kept, and ye shall bring forth the old from before the new. (11) And I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. (12) And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. (13) I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright. (14) But if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments; (15) and if ye shall reject My statutes, and if your soul abhor Mine ordinances, so that ye will not do all My commandments, but break My covenant; (16) I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall make the eyes to fail, and the soul to languish; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
In a similar manner, Avraham asks Hashem, how can He punish the innocent being the ultimate judge of all mankind. These are his words in Bereshit 18:
חָלִלָה לְּךָ מֵעֲשֹׂת כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְהָמִית צַדִּיק עִם רָשָׁע וְהָיָה כַצַּדִּיק כָּרָשָׁע חָלִלָה לָּךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט כׇּל הָאָרֶץ לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט.
That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from Thee; shall not the judge of all the earth do justly?'
However, if we look around, it seems that Hashem does not always work in this way, generally be the opposite, that the righteous suffer, and the wicked succeed and prosper.
Already meany prophets were bothered with this contradiction, as Yirmeyahu asks in chapter 12:
צַדִּיק אַתָּה י"י כִּי אָרִיב אֵלֶיךָ אַךְ מִשְׁפָּטִים אֲדַבֵּר אֹתָךְ מַדּוּעַ דֶּרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים צָלֵחָה שָׁלוּ כׇּל בֹּגְדֵי בָגֶד.
Right wouldest Thou be, O Lord, Were I to contend with Thee, Yet will I reason with Thee: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they secure that deal very treacherously?
Kohelet asks the same question in chapter 7:
אֶת הַכֹּל רָאִיתִי בִּימֵי הֶבְלִי יֵשׁ צַדִּיק אֹבֵד בְּצִדְקוֹ וְיֵשׁ רָשָׁע מַאֲרִיךְ בְּרָעָתוֹ.
All things have I seen in the days of my vanity; there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing.
The entire book of Iyyov discusses this issue, why he lost his fortune, all his kids dying and his possessions taken, without ever sinning.
How do we resolve this contradiction? Does Hashem punish innocent people (צדיק ורע לו), and does He permit guilty people to go unpunished (רשע וטוב לו)?
Recompensation
A few further questions rise as to how Hashem rewards or punishes people:
- Is retribution to be given by man or by Hashem?
- Is retribution given to individuals or on a national level, and is there a difference as far as that between rewards and punishments?
- Is there collective punishment?
- Is retribution given only in this world, only in the world to come, or in both?
