Q&A: Evil in the World
Evil in the World
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael Abraham,
I’m currently a counselor in a program for people with special needs. Yesterday I got into a discussion with one of my participants about the existence of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the world, which came from the question, “Why is there evil in the world?” He told me that he is an atheist, and his argument was: “If the Creator of the Jews is all-powerful, all-knowing, and wants to do good, then how is there evil? Why doesn’t the Holy One, blessed be He, make everything good?”
This wasn’t the first time someone asked me this question. Usually the people who ask me are people going through difficult situations.
Whenever the question comes up — “Why is there evil in the world?” — it’s very hard for me to answer them, both because, thank God, I feel that a lot of good happens to me, and because I’m afraid of giving an inadequate answer.
If the Rabbi could perhaps explain how to approach and answer the fact that there is evil in the world, it would really help.
Answer
Hello Aharon. I’ve written about this in many places. You can search the site, or look in the second book of my trilogy, No Man Rules the Spirit.
Search here on the site for: “the problem of evil,” or “evil in the world,” and the like. Note that I distinguish between human evil and natural evil. Each has its own explanation (though there is a connection).