Philosophy:Theodicy – צדיק ורע לו/1/en
Theodicy – צדיק ורע לו
Introduction
Hashem's Judicial System
Many verses in Torah emphasize Hashem's fair system of justice in the world. It seems fairly simple, Hashem rewards righteous people, and punishes wicked people. For example, in Devarim 32:4 we read:1
הַצּוּר תָּמִים פׇּעֳלוֹ כִּי כׇל דְּרָכָיו מִשְׁפָּט אֵל אֱמוּנָה וְאֵין עָוֶל צַדִּיק וְיָשָׁר הוּא.
The Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice; A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right is He.
In Vayikra 26:3-16 it says:2
(ג) אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת מִצְוֺתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם. (ד) וְנָתַתִּי גִשְׁמֵיכֶם בְּעִתָּם וְנָתְנָה הָאָרֶץ יְבוּלָהּ וְעֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה יִתֵּן פִּרְיוֹ... (יב) וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי בְּתוֹכְכֶם וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים וְאַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ לִי לְעָם. (יג) אֲנִי י"י אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִהְיֹת לָהֶם עֲבָדִים וָאֶשְׁבֹּר מֹטֹת עֻלְּכֶם וָאוֹלֵךְ אֶתְכֶם קוֹמְמִיּוּת.
(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.
And in Devarim 29:17-20 one reads:
(יז) פֶּן יֵשׁ בָּכֶם אִישׁ אוֹ אִשָּׁה אוֹ מִשְׁפָּחָה אוֹ שֵׁבֶט אֲשֶׁר לְבָבוֹ פֹנֶה הַיּוֹם מֵעִם י"י אֱלֹהֵינוּ לָלֶכֶת לַעֲבֹד אֶת אֱלֹהֵי הַגּוֹיִם הָהֵם פֶּן יֵשׁ בָּכֶם שֹׁרֶשׁ פֹּרֶה רֹאשׁ וְלַעֲנָה. (יח) וְהָיָה בְּשׇׁמְעוֹ אֶת דִּבְרֵי הָאָלָה הַזֹּאת וְהִתְבָּרֵךְ בִּלְבָבוֹ לֵאמֹר שָׁלוֹם יִהְיֶה לִּי כִּי בִּשְׁרִרוּת לִבִּי אֵלֵךְ לְמַעַן סְפוֹת הָרָוָה אֶת הַצְּמֵאָה. (יט) לֹא יֹאבֶה י"י סְלֹחַ לוֹ כִּי אָז יֶעְשַׁן אַף י"י וְקִנְאָתוֹ בָּאִישׁ הַהוּא וְרָבְצָה בּוֹ כׇּל הָאָלָה הַכְּתוּבָה בַּסֵּפֶר הַזֶּה וּמָחָה י"י אֶת שְׁמוֹ מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם. (כ) וְהִבְדִּילוֹ י"י לְרָעָה מִכֹּל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּכֹל אָלוֹת הַבְּרִית הַכְּתוּבָה בְּסֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה.
(17) lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; (18) and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying: 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart — that the watered be swept away with the dry'; (19) the Lord will not be willing to pardon him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall be kindled against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven; (20) and the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.
The Torah says explicitly, that Hashem gives retribution not only on a national level, but even on an individual level. Being part of a nation does not save one from punishment, and there should be no wicked man who gets away not being punished.
Contradicting Cases
In contrast to the above verses, there are many verses which impart Hashem not judging this way, rather punishing in the following forms:
- Collective punishment – see for elaboration, Collective Punishment.
- Vicarious punishment – see in further detail, Are Children Punished for Parents' Sins?.
- Theodicy – innocent is punished, and guilty is not punished.
There are several verses3 where the prophets complain to Hashem about the wicked people succeeding and prospering. For example, Yirmeyahu (12:1) asks:
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?
In Tehillim (73:12-14) and Kohelet they additionally ask about the righteous who are not rewarded rather suffer:
(יב) הִנֵּה אֵלֶּה רְשָׁעִים וְשַׁלְוֵי עוֹלָם הִשְׂגּוּ חָיִל. (יג) אַךְ רִיק זִכִּיתִי לְבָבִי וָאֶרְחַץ בְּנִקָּיוֹן כַּפָּי. (יד) וָאֱהִי נָגוּעַ כׇּל הַיּוֹם וְתוֹכַחְתִּי לַבְּקָרִים.
(12) Behold, such are the wicked; And they that are always at ease increase riches. (13) Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency; (14) For all the day have I been plagued, And my chastisement came every morning.
These verses are not so clear regarding what they are talking about. Are they speaking of specific people, or are they describing the whole nation?
Perhaps a clearer example, is in Iyyov, where an individual is punished, losing all his kids and his possessions taken, without ever sinning, as the verses emphasize.4 The entire book is dedicated to answering how Hashem let this happen.
How do we resolve this contradiction, between the verses which suggest a clear system of justice and all the verses which raise flaws in it? Does Hashem punish innocent people (צדיק ורע לו), and does He permit guilty people to go unpunished (רשע וטוב לו)? If so, why?
Additional Questions
A few further questions rise regarding the issue:
- Does Hashem intervene to have these situations occur, or He just lets them happen and does not prevent them? Are they natural or supernatural? Does the punishment or reward get a special delivery? This relates to the question of Hashem's providence, whether he provides for the world as a whole or He makes exceptions for every individual?
- Can anyone besides Hashem evaluate if the punishment is not worthy of the crime?5
- Is there a difference in the justification of a case of צדיק ורע לו and a case of רשע וטוב לו?
- Can there be a case where on the national level, everyone are righteous and are still being punished, or vice versa?
- Can there be special cases where this happens, for a purpose of testing the individual?
