[This is a revisit to a post resurrected from 2012 because of the topic which keeps recurring in today’s discussions of why this world is the way it is; where is God in the horrendous occurrences millennialists experience today? Do we view human tragedy as coming from the hand of God? Or does the world, particularly nature as programmed by the Creator from the beginning of earthly time simply run on ‘automatic’ so that catastrophes are part of man’s failure to work with nature instead of against it? Here is the original introduction to this post:
The one thing we should never say to any person who’s been a victim of tragedy or who has lost a loved one as a victim of violence is: “It is God’s will.” That is one statement that is sure to turn even a believer against God. The other reminder that should not be said by well-meaning sympathizers to a grieving person is “God is real.” It is bound to elicit a response such as “well . . . where was he when this was happening?” Need anyone explain the unexplainable? Is there a satisfactory answer for understanding certain evils that do disrupt and wreak havoc on our lives?
This article has been in the back burner since August 2013; when a potential post not authored by a Sinaite is placed on ‘hold’ it only means we have asked permission to reprint but never got a reply. We have reprinted articles from MeaningfulLife.com before and the only requirement is that we give the proper acknowledgment which we never fail to do. And so I’m risking posting this now since the topic is well worth being discussed by the proper ‘authorities’, i.e. the custodians of the Hebrew Scriptures who dispense some of the best interpretations and commentaries one will ever come across . . . and why not, they are in the best position to understand the God whose words are enshrined in their TNK.
Reformatted and highlights added.—Admin 1.]
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The Translation of Evil
See, I give you today the blessing and the curse.
“The blessing and the curse”: all phenomena, and all human activity, seem subject to categorization by these two most basic definers of reality. A development is either positive or negative, an occurrence either fortunate or tragic, an act either virtuous or iniquitous.
Indeed, the principle of “free choice”—that man has been granted the absolute autonomy to choose between good and evil—lies at the heart of the Torah’s most basic premise: that human life is purposeful. That our deeds are not predetermined by our nature or any universal law, but are the product of our independent volition, making us true “partners with G‑d in creation” whose choices and actions effect the continuing development of the world as envisioned by its Creator.
Philosophers and theologians of all ages have asked:
- From where does this dichotomy stem?
- Does evil come from G‑d?
- If G‑d is the exclusive source of all, and is the essence of good, can there be evil in His work?
- If He is the ultimate unity and singularity, can there exist such duality within His potential?
In the words of the prophet Jeremiah,
“From the Supernal One’s word there cannot emerge both evil and good” (Lamentations 3:38).
Yet the Torah unequivocally states:
“See, I am giving you today the blessing and the curse”—
I, and no other, am the exclusive source and grantor of both.
Transmutation
One approach to understanding the Torah’s conception of “the blessing and the curse” is to see how this verse is rendered by the great translators of the Torah.
Aramaic, which was widely spoken by the Jewish people for fifteen centuries, is the “second language” of the Torah. It is the language of the Talmud, and even of several biblical chapters. There are also a number of important Aramaic translations of the Torah, including one compiled at the end of the first century CE by Onkelos, a Roman convert to Judaism who was a nephew of the emperor Titus; and a translation compiled a half-century earlier by the great Talmudic sage Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel.
In Onkelos’ translation, the Hebrew word kelalah in the above-quoted verse is translated literally as “curse” (levatin in the Aramaic). But in Rabbi Yonatan’s translation, the verse appears thus: “See, I give you today the blessing and its transmutation.” The author is not merely avoiding the unsavory term “curse”—he himself uses that term but three verses later in Deuteronomy 11:29, and in a number of other places in the Torah where the word kelalah appears. Also, if Rabbi Yonatan just wanted to avoid using a negative expression, he would have written “the blessing and its opposite” or some similar euphemism. The Aramaic word he uses, chilufa, means “exchange” and “transmutation,” implying that “the curse” is something which devolves from the blessing and is thus an alternate form of the same essence.
In the words of our sages, “No evil descends from heaven”—only two types of good. The first is a “blatant” and obvious good—a good which can be experienced only as such in our lives. The other is also good, for nothing but good can “emerge from the Supernal One”; but it is a “concealed good,” a good that is subject to how we choose to receive and experience it. Because of the free choice granted us, it is in our power to distort these heavenly blessings into curses, to subvert these positive energies into negative forces.
—speaks of our articulation of the two pathways of life, where the “concealed good” can be received and perceived as an actual “curse.”
Galut
On a deeper level, the different perspectives on the nature of evil expressed by these two Aramaic translations of the Torah reflect the spiritual-historical circumstances under which they were compiled. Galut, the state of physical and spiritual displacement in which we have found ourselves since the destruction of the Holy Temple and our exile from our land nearly two thousand years ago, is a primary cause for the distortion of G‑d’s blessing into “its transmutation.”
When the people ofIsrael inhabited the Holy Land and experienced G‑d’s manifest presence in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, they experienced the divine truth as a tactual reality. The intrinsic goodness and perfection of all that comes from G‑d was openly perceivable and accessible. Galut, on the other hand, is a state of being which veils and distorts our soul’s inner vision, making it far more difficult to relate to the divine essence in every event and experience of our lives. Galut is an environment in which the “concealed good” that is granted us is all too readily transmuted into negativity and evil.
T he Onkelos Translation was compiled a generation later, by the nephew of the Roman emperor who destroyed the Holy Temple and drove the people of Israel into exile. In Onkelos’ day, the galut had intensified to the point that the prevalent reality wasthatofaworlddichotomized by good and evil, a world in which the “concealed good” is regarded as simply “the curse.” But it is precisely such a world that offers the ultimate in freedom of choice, which, in turn, lends true import and significance to the deeds of man. It is precisely such a world that poses the greater—and more rewarding—challenge: to reveal the underlying goodness, unity and perfection of G‑d’s creation.
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. | Certain editions of the Chumash include both a “Translation of Yonatan ben Uziel” as well as a “Jerusalem Translation.” According to most commentaries, these are two versions of the same work. |
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