Q&A: Evidence for the Rabbi
Evidence for the Rabbi
Question
With God’s help,
Hello Rabbi Michi,
Here, after being asked that if the Holy One, blessed be He, is absolute good, why is there suffering, the Rabbi argued that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not produce a system that does not exist.
Whoever is troubled by the question needs to show that there is such a system, and there is no such system. There are laws of nature, and that is the system that the Holy One, blessed be He, created,
and suffering also results from that, and there is nothing to be done about it. I wanted to bring support for this also from the Talmud, Ta’anit 25a:
a0″Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat was in very straitened circumstances. He let himself be bled and had nothing to eat. He took a clove of garlic and put it in his mouth. His heart grew faint and he fell asleep. The rabbis came to inquire after him and saw him crying and smiling, and a spark of fire came out from his forehead. When he awoke, they said to him: Why were you crying and smiling? He said to them: The Holy One, blessed be He, was sitting with me, and I said to Him: How long will I suffer in this world? And He said to me: Elazar, My son, would it please you that I overturn the world from the beginning? Perhaps you would then be born at a time of sustenance. I said before Him: All that, and only perhaps…”
God did not make Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat rich; rather, He said: it is possible to restart the system, and maybe you would be born under a fortune of wealth. That would mean that He does not want to change the rules, but only to reset the system, and maybe it would come out that you would be born under a fortune of wealth.
Is this a valid proof?
Thank you very much.
Answer
A nice proof. Though I do not see the aggadic teachings of the Sages as a binding and authoritative source, certainly not for matters of philosophy.