25 Nov
Deciphering God’s Answer to Job
The great 12th century Jewish philosopher Maimonides noted that although Job is described in the beginning as being a very upright and decent individual, the one characteristic he lacked was the quality of insight![1] In the beginning, Job feared God and did not act out of love. Despite Job’s devoted religious behavior, he did not have a personal religious experience. Maimonides suggests that much of Job’s own suffering was due to wrongful notions and beliefs he had regarding the ways of Providence. Much (but certainly not all) of human suffering is often attributed to the dysfunctional images people have inherited concerning God. Ignorance conditioned Job into thinking that he was a separate entity, apart from God pitted against a hostile world. Job’s ordeal represents the painful journey of all sufferers; for this reason Job’s transformation is most instructive.
In classical Maimonidean theology, the journey to God requires a purging of our preconceived images, sensory perceptions, and affective attachments—all that is not God. As we enter the “Dark Night of the Soul,” we are emptied of all preconceived “graven” images of faith we have held fast of. In the Dark Night, we experience loneliness and separateness. Darkness fills our intellects because our hearts yearn for something infinitely more satisfying than reason alone—God’s love. Amidst our pain, we yearn for friendship and companionship. As the days go by without so much as a Divine response, we feel restless, spiritually impotent, tired and discouraged. We feel as if our souls are caught within a maze that we will never escape. Worst still, we experience the bitterness and pain of feeling utterly abandoned by God and from humanity. From the depths of our being, we cry out that God should illumine our life with the radiance of the Shekhinah (Psa. 146:2).
Yet, we must not let despair or hopelessness have the final word; from out of these sufferings, we must choose to grow and develop a new response to faith based on our innate capacity to experience hope and love. Granted, this journey is certainly not something we willfully embark; rather God throws us into the darkness. In Kabbalistic terms, we enter into the mysterious realm of “Ayin” of Nothingness, to be reborn as a new creation (yesh m’ayin).[2] Job’s journey through the Dark Night changed him and his relationship with God, his family, and his community forever. Using today’s terms, we could say that Job had a profound religious experience. By the end of the story, Job exclaims:
I had heard of you by the
hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
Job 42:5
What did Job discover? According to Rashi, Job received a revelation of God’s Shekhinah (Divine immanence). The Shekhinah represents the maternal nurturing Presence of God. Yet the Shekhinah’s appearance is not an unconditional thing. Human behavior determines to what degree God’s feminine Presence is revealed in the world. Every action of compassion and justice reveals God’s immanence in the world. All of Job’s friends consistently portrayed God in solely masculine terms (and dysfunctional masculinity at best!). After he experiences God’s immanence, Job feels his heart filled with love; he became reconciled with his human mortality. Whereas others spoke about God, Job in the end experienced God’s majestic Presence. He came to see that all God-talk pales before the actual experience of God’s Shekhinah. Job discovered an interconnectedness that weaves all aspects of creation together. It is the Shekhinah’s love that keeps the world intact despite itself. Job came to the realization that at the core of human suffering is the delusion that one is separate from God. It is humanity’s grandest illusion that situates God against His Creation.
[2] Levi Yitzchak notes that the goal of darkness is to help the soul come to a genuine love of God that is brought about by repentance of the past (Kedushat HaLevi, Parshat Bereshit).
Posted by Bud on 25.11.11 at 12:20 am
It seems you have thrown the switch and simplified Job into an ordinary occurrenceâ¦an experience that happens regularly? For those people that are actually feeling the collapse of an economy, loss of jobs, and loss of a sense of security; the people that are getting incurable sicknesses; those experiencing a loss of a child, or a loss of a partner; Those are the people that are comparing themselves to Job. The everyday Jack is as far removed from the concept of Job, as a piece of pork in a kosher deli. When you experience true loss, you donât need someone saying, Wow, Look, Job experienced the Love of God! You are looking for an answer to how the heck do you keep from cursing God and dying! How do you avoid saying, âGod, after everything Iâve done, Iâve tried to do what the Torah says, I have been a good person, this is my reward? What kind of God is this?â How do you keep the smile on your face and ignore those around you encouraging you to curse God and die? Your commentary would be better suited for a less severe circumstance; maybe one of King Davidâs issuesâ¦
Posted by admin on 25.11.11 at 12:20 am
You raise some good questions, but you may want to search the blog for other selections on the Jobian ordeal from my website, which in turn are based upon my 1996 book, “The Lord Is My Shepherd: The Theology of the Caring God” (Jason Aronson Inc., 1996). Much of Job’s suffering came as a result of from being ostracized by his hypercritical community; his dysfunctional understanding of God did not help him develop the coping mechanisms for dealing with his suffering.
Is the everyday Jack far removed from Job? I think the biblical writers wrote Job as a parable for all who suffer.
Indeed, many ordinary folks can personally relate to what Job experienced. I knew one woman who buried a father, husband, and son all within the same year! Her experience was “Jobian.” However, for those who have lost a job, a home, or a spouse, or happen to be in dire economic times such as ours, such a string of losses may also be viewed by the sufferer as “Jobian.” Someone who is unfamiliar with Job’s story probably is not going to get much out of the story, but for those who do suffer-Job’s message is relevant, even if you find its conclusion dissatisfying.
Posted by Bud on 25.11.11 at 12:20 am
My problems seem so minor compared to the woman who buried a father, husband, and son all within the same year. With that said, I may have missed your point. I read your other commentaries on Job and found them quite useful. Please correct me if I am wrong. It seems what was fulfilling for Job was the ability to obtain knowledge from the Creator. This feeling of interconnectedness was all that he needed. If I understand that interpretation correctly, a different way to say it is this; When Job discovered the delusion of man being separated from God, he also discovered if man cannot be separate from God than all the tragedy is somehow a part of God’s doing. Yet, if it is all “God’s will” then wouldn’t that make God somewhat delusional? Are we somehow supposed to ascribe a positive twist to a tragedy like child abuse or teenage suicide?
Posted by Yochanan Lavie on 25.11.11 at 12:20 am
Chareidim don’t read this book, because they think it’s about jobs.
Posted by Joe Dunford on 25.11.11 at 12:20 am
I have read three (condensed, with interpretations) versions of the Roman Catholic Bible, Greek Orthodox Bible and the (version {?}) Torah. In all my personal view was God allowed Job to be tormented for his sin of pride for being a decent person. The opinions and conjectures of his son, friends and colleagues seem to be secondary parables to his suffering.
Please do not take any offense, this is only a lay opinion.Save the Rainforest STT