We stand here on the shoulders of giants such as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Job. This year’s High Holyday sermons will explore what they continue to say to us.

This afternoon we explore lessons our ancestor Job taught us.

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The cemetery is not the place to discuss theology but I’m asked to all the time. It’s not as frequent when an elderly person dies, though if they were in a lot of pain I am often asked, “Why did God make Mom suffer so much? She was a good person. Why?”

But God forbid it was a younger person or, worst of all, a child, then the questions are constant: “Why? Why? Why? Why did God do this? He didn’t deserve this. He was a wonderful father, a wonderful husband. She was only a child. She had her whole life ahead of her. Why? Why does a supposedly good God make us suffer so horribly? Why? Why? Why?

There is a legend about a man named Job that’s found in our Bible. He suffered unbearable torment. Listen to what happened to him:

1 There was a man… named Job, blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him; 3 his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-asses, and a very large household. That man was wealthier than anyone in the East.

1 6 One day the divine beings presented themselves before the Lord, and the Adversary came along with them… 8 The Lord said to the Adversary, “Have you noticed My servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil!” 9 The Adversary answered the Lord, “Does Job not have good reason? You have blessed [all] his efforts. 11 But lay Your hand upon all that he has and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.” 12 The Lord replied to the Adversary, “See, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him.” The Adversary departed from the presence of the Lord.

Adversary? What Adversary? The Hebrew word is Satan, tempter, the prosecuting attorney in the Divine court. Then,

13 One day, as his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the she-asses were grazing alongside them 15 when Sabeans attacked them and carried them off, and put the boys to the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

In short order all that Job has, his children, his wealth, all are gone.

Then the tale continues, with same formula as before. This time:

The Lord said to the Adversary, “He still keeps his integrity; so you have incited Me against him to destroy him for no good reason.” 4 The Adversary answered the Lord, “…all that a man has he will give up for his life. 5 But lay a hand on his bones and his flesh, and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.” 6 So the Lord said to the Adversary, “he is in your power; only spare his life.” 7 The Adversary departed from the presence of the Lord and inflicted a severe inflammation on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 He took a potsherd to scratch himself as he sat in ashes.

Do you see what’s happening here? There’s a formulaic narrative: the divine beings present themselves at God’s throne, Satan accompanies them, God asks Satan where he’s been, Satan says he’s been around and about, and like a neauvaux riche teenager who’s just gotten a Ferrari, God says: “Have you noticed my Job, my righteous Job?” Sure he’s righteous, says Satan. You’ve given him everything. Take it away and see what happens. And, compassionate, benevolent ruler of the universe that God is, God says, OK, do what you want, just don’t hurt him.

Satan goes off, and you’ve just heard what happened. Job still stays righteous, the formula’s repeated at another session before the throne, and this time Satan’s given permission to hurt Job physically, as long as he doesn’t kill him.

As my grandmother used to say, Du herst?” Do you hear what’s going on here? Human pain and suffering are the result of God and Satan engaging in a little one-upmanship? Is our anguish just the punch line to some sick, cosmic joke?

Wait. It gets even stranger. Listen to what happens at the end of the book, some forty-two chapters later:

… and the Lord showed favor to Job. 10 The Lord restored Job’s fortunes… and the Lord gave Job twice what he had before.

Thus the Lord blessed the latter years of Job’s life more than the former. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand she-asses. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters… Nowhere in the land were women as beautiful as Job’s daughters to be found. Their father gave them estates together with their brothers. 16 Afterward, Job lived one hundred and forty years to see four generations of sons and grandsons. 17 So Job died old and contented.

 

So, we may suffer, but it will all come out OK in the end? There’s pie in the sky by and by? We’ll get our reward in heaven no matter how miserable things have been on earth? That’s the prevailing belief of many, even today. I think the story of God’s bet with Satan dismisses this simplistic view, this Divine crap shoot view, with biting sarcasm.

But the Book of Job is a serious book about serious matters. It explores many more ideas about suffering, about Theodicy, the question of God’s fairness, God’s justice, ideas such as:

Suffering is a result of God’s indifference

Suffering is punishment for sin

Suffering is designed to teach us and strengthen us

Suffering is the result of our lack of knowledge

Suffering is the result of human weakness, moral, spiritual, physical

Just as we want to know why we suffer, Rabbinic tradition wants to know why Job himself suffered. Among the various reasons the Rabbis suggest:

He was one of Pharaoh’s advisors, and when Pharaoh asked what he should do about the Jews, Job was silent.

When the reports of his misfortunes came to him, he simply accepted them without question, never bothering to investigate whether or not they really happened.

When Abraham argued with God about not destroying the good along with the guilty in the city of Sodom, he had no stake in the matter. He did what was right. Job spoke out against injustice only when it affected him directly.

Job’s suffering was a way of keeping Satan busy while God freed the Jews from Egypt.

With all of these possibilities, what, then, does the Book of Job decide is the answer to why the good often suffer? It doesn’t. The book has no answer. It seems to indicate that there is none and none will be found. There are many possibilities. Job wrestles with many, but certainly not all of them. Some people will find solace in one, some in another, some in none. When we face death and pain and evil, we are all in the same… cemetery. The best we can do is put our arms around each other and help each other face the painful mysteries of life.

That is why we’re here at Yizkor.

And if we’re wise, when we’re not here remembering loved ones who are no longer with us, when we’re not facing painful mysteries, we’ll put our arms around each other even more and celebrate the beauties and wonders of being alive.