The story of Job: a lesson for today

My strategy for reading the news each morning is like the way I watch a horror movie.

 I place my hands over my eyes and only watch through the slits in my fingers. Each time something scary happens on the screen, whether in a movie or on the computer, I quickly cover my eyes.

The difference between a horror movie and the daily news, however, is that the horror movie usually ends after about 90 minutes, whereas each day, the horrible reality of the current economic downturn and its far-reaching effects on people throughout the world seems never-ending.

Many individuals and families are suffering from the repercussions of the present economy, and responding to the sufferer can be challenging for each of us. Our tradition has much to teach us in this area.

The ancient story of Job, a man scrupulously moral, religious, one who has avoided evil, seems to characterize so many in 2009. Job loses everything. His flocks, his servants, even his children. In an instant, all of those safe investments disappear, seemingly into thin air. He sits in mourning, and three friends come to visit. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar come from different locations and simply sit with Job until he is ready to speak.

Job mourns his losses. When he speaks, he curses his conception. He feels that if he had never existed, then perhaps none of these tragedies could have occurred and he would not have to experience such profound pain.

His friends present differing theologies that encourage Job to blame or curse God for the problems in his life. Job does not ask for his friends’ advice, though they do not hesitate to offer it. Instead of actively listening, Eliphaz, Blidad and Zophar respond, perhaps trying to follow the way our tradition teaches us to comfort a mourner. There is no response to suffering, and it is challenging to find an adequate response to Job.

Job only gets frustrated and angry, however. He will not curse God, for this is not the theology by which he lives his life. Ultimately, in the course of dialogue, God communicates directly with Job from a whirling storm.

The lesson to take from Job is that the process of asking the questions and searching for meaning is perhaps most important.  Job teaches us, when we are ready, to engage in theodicy, a vindication of God’s justice in the face of evil, even as those closest to us pose challenges.

After moving through the process of grief, adjusting to the new way of life – perhaps forced upon us unwillingly – we are better able to work on our relationship with God instead of making the current moment function around a notion of God that no longer operates for us in the world.

The search for meaning in the madness is vital for each of us as individuals and as members of the Jewish community interested in supporting those in need.

There is no doubt that the current financial crisis is like a horror film for those who have lost and, unfortunately, will continue to lose. The hope is that when the lights come up and the movie ends, the Jewish community will remain a source of strength and support in the good times just as in the dark hours.

God’s presence is steadfast. As it is written in Micah, “Though I have fallen, I rise again;/ Though I sit in darkness, the Eternal is my light.”

Rabbi Eleanor Steinman is a rabbi at Temple Sinai Congregation in Toronto.