(יד) והקורא קורא: (שם כח) "אִם־לֹ֨א תִשְׁמֹ֜ר לַעֲשׂ֗וֹת אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵי֙ הַתּוֹרָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את הַכְּתוּבִ֖ים בַּסֵּ֣פֶר הַזֶּ֑ה לְ֠יִרְאָה אֶת־הַשֵּׁ֞ם הַנִּכְבָּ֤ד וְהַנּוֹרָא֙ הַזֶּ֔ה אֵ֖ת ה' אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃" "וְהִפְלָ֤א ה' אֶת־מַכֹּ֣תְךָ֔ וְאֵ֖ת מַכּ֣וֹת זַרְעֶ֑ךָ מַכּ֤וֹת גְּדֹלוֹת֙ וְנֶ֣אֱמָנ֔וֹת וָחֳלָיִ֥ם רָעִ֖ים וְנֶאֱמָנִֽים׃ וחוזר לתחלת המקרא [(שם כט) "וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֗ם אֶת־דִּבְרֵי֙ הַבְּרִ֣ית הַזֹּ֔את וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם לְמַ֣עַן תַּשְׂכִּ֔ילוּ אֵ֖ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּעֲשֽׂוּן׃", וחותם (תהלים עח) "וְה֤וּא רַח֨וּם ׀ יְכַפֵּ֥ר עָוֺן֮ וְֽלֹא־יַ֫שְׁחִ֥ית וְ֭הִרְבָּה לְהָשִׁ֣יב אַפּ֑וֹ וְלֹֽא־יָ֝עִיר כָּל־חֲמָתֽוֹ" וחוזר לתחלת המקרא].
(14) The reader would read, "If you fail to observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching that are written in this book, to reverence this honored and awesome Name, the Lord your God, the Lord will inflict extraordinary plagues upon you and your offspring, strange and lasting plagues, malignant and chronic diseases."(Deuteronomy 28:58-59) and (if he finished) he would go back [repeat] to the beginning of the verses. "Therefore observe faithfully all the terms of this covenant, that you may succeed in all that you undertake." (Deuteronomy 29:9) and he concludes "But God, being full of compassion, forgives iniquity, and destroys not; many a time does He turn His anger away, And does not stir up all His wrath." (Psalms 78:38) and if he finishes he goes back to the beginning.
From When Bad Things Happen to Good People, by Rabbi Harold Kushner
I believe in God. But I do not believe the same things about Him that I did years ago, when I was growing up or when I was a theological student. I recognize His limitations. He is limited in what He can do by laws of nature and by the evolution of human nature and human moral freedom.
I no longer hold God responsible for illnesses, accidents, and natural disasters, because I realize that I gain little and I lose so much when I blame God for those things. I can worship a God who hates suffering but cannot eliminate it, more easily than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer and die, for whatever exalted reason...
God does not cause our misfortunes. Some are caused by bad luck, some are caused by bad people, and some are simply an inevitable consequence of our being human and being mortal, living in a world of inflexible natural laws.
The painful things that happen to us are not punishments for our misbehavior, nor are they in any way part of some grand design on God’s part. Because the tragedy is not God’s will, we need not feel hurt or betrayed by God when tragedy strikes. We can turn to Him for help in overcoming it, precisely because we can tell ourselves that God is as outraged by it as we are.
“Does that mean that my suffering has no meaning?” That is the most significant challenge that can be offered to the point of view I have been advocating in this book. We could bear nearly any pain or disappointment if we thought there was a reason behind it, a purpose, to it. But even a lesser burden becomes too much for us if we feel it makes no sense...
Let me suggest that the bad things that happen to us in our lives do not have a meaning when they happen to us. They do not happen for any good reason which would cause us to accept them willingly. But we can give them a meaning. We can redeem these tragedies from senselessness by imposing meaning on them.
The question we should be asking is not, “Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?” That is really an unanswerable, pointless question. A better question would be “Now that this has happened to me, what am I going to do about it?”