RELIGIO

US EDUCAT

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REVISIO

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EVIL –

WHAT

IS E

VIL

WHAT IS EVIL

Evil is anything that goes against the will of God.

MORAL EVIL

Moral evil is caused by humans

Jews believe that an evil act is any act that goes against the ten commandments or the 613 mitzvots.

Moral evil is present because free will was given to Adam and Eve by G-d

NATURAL EVIL

• Natural evil is any natural event that causes suffering

• Examples of this are hurricanes, earthquakes and disease.

THE S

TORY

OF ADAM A

ND

EVE

THE FIRST MAN AND WOMAN

• God created Adam out of soil and Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs.

• God breathed life into the two, and he only did this to humans, it is why we have a special relationship with God, along with the fact that he made us in his image.

• He said to them that they had “dominion” over the whole of the earth and it’s creatures, and he gave them the garden of Eden

• He told them that they could take fruit from any tree in the garden, but one tree was out of bounds.

SO WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

• A serpent appeared (Satan), and convinced Eve that she should have the apple from the tree that was out of bounds

• She ate the apple and convinced Adam to also have some

• They then became ashamed of their nakedness

• God threw them out of the garden of Eden

SATAN A

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SO WHO ARE THEY?

• Satan and Lucifer are the same person! Lucifer was the name he had when he was an angel of God.

• Lucifer refused to bow down to Adam like all the other angels when he was created

• He then said that he would make his own kingdom higher than G-ds

• G-d then took away his free will and threw him out of heaven and sent him to earth, giving him the name Satan (tempter of man) instead of Lucifer (light bearer).

• Satan was sent to earth to bring justice to people who had wronged G-d and to tempt people to do wrong to test them.

SO THAT BRINGS US ON TO HELL RIGHT?

Well, actually no. Jews don’t believe in the Christian version of hell with “hellfire”, “eternal damnation” and the “devil”.

Although they reject this idea, there is no clear teaching on heaven and hell, and therefore some Jews believe that people are judged immediately and sent to paradise and a place similar to hell, but some other Jews believe that there is a waiting place called Sheol, which is where everybody goes when they die, to wait for the Messiah and the last judgement.

THE JEWISH UNDERSTANDING OF LUCIFER AND SATAN, IN A NUTSHELLJudaism rejects the concept of “original sin” that requires a

hell to punish people in, and judaism rejects the concept that the “Devil”, rules in “Hell”.

Jews do believe in Satan, an angel with no free will and who is totally obedient to G-d and his role is to bring charges and accusations against the bad actions of the people.

Once Lucifer was sent to earth he could no longer be called “light bearer” and so had to be called a different name – Satan. All the mythology that has evolved around the “Devil” in Christianity is completely absent in Judaism.

WHY

IS G

-D G

OOD?

3 R

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Y G

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IS

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THE PROMISED LAND

When the Jews were led out of Egypt by Moses, G-d gave them the promised land as part of their covenant between Abraham and G-d . This was the land that G-d gave them to create a model nation and it was theirs. This means that G-d is good because he took care of them and gave them land. This therefore shows that G-d is generous, which is a good quality.

PARADISE

G-d is good because he rewards the Jews with paradise when they die. This therefore shows the Jews that G-d is good because he has rewarded them for their faith and troubles, instead of being a judgemental malevolent G-d.

PROTECTION

Although some may say that G-d cannot exist because he allowed things like the holocaust to happen, he does, in fact, protect the Jews. We can see this where he chose Moses to lead the exodus out of Egypt and even in the fact that the holocaust did not achieve it’s aim, and that Jews are still here today.

WHY

IS T

HERE SUFF

ERING

AND EVIL

IN T

HE WORLD

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F RE

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IF GOD IS GOOD THEN WHY ARE PEOPLE BAD?Some may say that G-d is either non existent or bad. This is

because they see evil and immediately blame G-d for allowing this. However, humans were given freewill, which means that they can do as they like free from interference by G-d. At this stage we know that G-d has given rules for people to abide by. Therefore if someone breaks those rules, they are doing it free of interference by G-d.

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?The oft asked question about G-d is, why do bad things happen

to good people. The answer is not that simple. However, it will be explained fully in the next segment. First, the story of Job can explain one of the reasons why this may happen.

THE S

TORY

OF JO

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JOB – BEFORE

Job was a very lucky, righteous and happy man. He was rich and had 7 sons and 3 daughters. One day he was afraid that his sons may have sinned and “cursed G-d in their hearts”. He offered burnt offerings as a pardon for their sins.

THAT SEEMS FINE, WHY THE STORY?

Patience! One day, Satan visited G-d and G-d asked Satan his opinion on Job. Satan answers that Job is holy only because G-d has built a “wall around” him and “blessed” His favourite servant with prosperity and if G-d were to strike Job and everything that he had, he would surely curse G-d. G-d gives Satan permission to test Job’s righteousness.

AHA! SO THAT’S WHY.

Yep. All of Job’s possessions were destroyed. 1000 animals were carried off by foreign tribes, and the 7000 sheep that Job had were killed by the “fire of G-d which fell from the sky”. Another 3000 animals were stolen by another tribe and then the house of the first born collapsed, killing all of Job’s children.

Despite this, Job does not curse G-d, but instead shaves his head, tears off his clothes and says: “naked I came out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I return: the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the Lord.”

As Job endures these terrible disasters bestowed on him without hating G-d, Satan asks permission to hurt Job’s body. G-d allows him to do anything that doesn’t kill him. Job receives dreadful boils from G-d and his wife tells him to curse G-d.

DID HE CRACK?

Nope, Job said: “You speak like a fool! Shall we only accept good from G-d and not the evil?”

His three friends come round and comfort Job. They spend 7 days just being with Job and sitting on the floor with him, saying nothing because they can see that he is in much pain. At last, Job breaks his silence and “curse the day I was born”

G-d then talks to Job. He says that there are many things Job does not know about how things work and that he shouldn’t question these things, but he will give him one piece of advice.

“Blessed is the man that G-d corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the almighty”.

THE ENDING?

Well, oddly enough, Job got his health back, had more children and managed to get twice as much livestock as he had before hand.

IS THERE A MORAL?

Yep, if you are the victim of a tragedy (though hopefully not on the scale of Job’s), it’ll be down to three things (we know one of them and it’s not in this tale)

• You are being tested by G-d to see how far your faith will go

• You are the victim of someone else abusing their free will

• You are being corrected and have done something wrong

COPING W

ITH S

UFFERIN

G

TH

E J

EW

I SH

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Y!

RESPONSES TO SUFFERING AND EVIL

One Jewish response to suffering is to ask for forgiveness for what they have done, this will be explained more in the Yom Kippur section.

Another Jewish response to suffering is to strengthen faith and to endeavour to lead a life where they follow the 613 Mitzvots and the 10 commandments to the letter in order to feel closer to G-d. This is called leading a halakhic life (or walking with G-d)

Another example of a Jewish response to suffering, which can be explained in the segment on the holocaust, is to lose faith.

YOM K

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THE STORY BEHIND YOM KIPPUR

When Moses went up to Mount Sinai to collect the 10 commandments, he was gone a long time (30 days). The Jews began to question whether he would return, and they begin to feel abandoned.

They then decide that worshipping a statue would make them feel closer to G-d.

Moses sees this on his way down from the mountain, when he does, he smashes the 10 commandments, and returns to the mountain after scalding them.

The group is then split between rebels and G-d’s people and a war was started (3,000 were killed).

Moses then asked G-d for forgiveness.

AND THAT’S RELEVANT NOW?

Yep. Moses asking for forgiveness from G-d transformed into Yom Kippur. This is the day of atonement for Jews, where they ask for forgiveness and punish themselves for their sins. It is a most holy day

On Yom Kippur:

• Jews wash in a special pool, to cleanse themselves of their sins

• Eat no food or drink for 25 hours to punish themselves

• The aim is to forgive others who have sinned against you and to gain forgiveness from G-d.

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WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED. BUT HOW DID JEWS RESPOND?Jews responded in many different ways to the holocaust. Some

strengthened their faith and believed it was a test from G-d. Others strengthened their faith because they looked at G-d in a different way, and some accepted that it must be part of G-d’s plan for the world and that instead of criticising, they should just trust him.

Others lost their faith and were too horrified by what happened to believe that G-d allowed it.

SOURCES AND R

EASONS

FOR M

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MAKING MORAL DECISIONS – THE JEWISH OPTIONJews have a few options on where to look for advice on all

matters moral. They can:

• Visit their Rabbi and have a chat with them about the morality of what they want to do

• Have a look in the Torah or Talmud and see whether there is any guidance there.

• They could look in the Midrash, the commentary from Rabbis and therefore an interpretation of the scriptures.

THE E

ND!