Reflection: The Holocaust as Retributive Justice

The Holocaust as Retributive Justice Reflection: The Holocaust as Retributive Justice Daniel J. Lasker Ben-Gurion University ofthe Negev 97 In the fifty years since the end ofthe Holocaust, theologians ofevery persuasion have tried to make sense ofthat terrible event. One explanation, popular especially among the theological right wing ofJudaism (known as lfaredim in Hebrew, or "ultra-Orthodox" in English), contends that the Holocaust was visited upon the Jewish people as a punishment for their sins. While there is no unanimity as to what the sin was, there is general agreement that ultimately God was the author ofthe Holocaust, just as He is the author of all history. Ifthe Jewish people suffered greatly in the Holocaust, God must have had a good reason for inflicting this pain upon them. God's reason is' often explained by a number of theologians as divine retribution. Understandably, this explanation has found many detractors who find it deeply offensive. Neil Gillman, professor ofphilosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, has written: "One response that is almost universally rejected by all thinking segments ofthe community is that the Holocaust is God's punishment for Israel's sin. Ifthe Holocaust accomplished anything, it effectively killed the doctrine ofretribution as the key to Jewish theodicies. It may have worked for centuries, but today it is viewed as an obscenity. It has not been invoked by any but the most traditionalist wings ofthe Jewish community, by those who maintain the sanctity ofthe past, come what may. To everyone else, the sheer disparity between the 'explanation' and the event is so wide that it just does not merit serious consideration" (Sacred Fragments, Philadelphia, 1990, p. 202; all emphases in quotations have been added). From Gillman's point of view, anyone who maintains the theory that the Holocaust was divine retribution cannot be said to be part of the "thinking segments of the community"; such a theory does not even "merit serious consideration." Is Gillman's claim defensible? It seems to me that all ofthe arguments offered against the theory ofdivine retributive justice are basically emotional and not rational. This does not mean that those who have' argued for the Holocaust as retributive justice have proven their point. I intend to argue solely that those who say that we must come up with a new theodicy/theology'or that the Holocaust must serve as a new point ofdeparture because traditional theodicy/theology has failed, have not demonstrated this fact. My contention is valid regardless ofwhat reason is given for the divine retribution. 98 SHOFAR Spring 1997 Vol. 15, No.3 Furthennore, the discussion here is irrelevant to the question as to the existence of God. Obviously, ifone feels that slbe has proven the non-existence of God, then this also would prove that the Holocaust could not have been direct divine retributive justice. I am dealing, however, mostly with those who believe in God but do not believe that God was the cause of the Holocaust. This would include those who say that the Holocaust was possible because ofGod's hiding His face (hester panim, the view ofEliezer Berkovits or Joseph Dov Soloveitchik), or that the Holocaust was the occasion of a new divine command ("the commanding voice of Auschwitz" in Emil Fackenheim's tenns), or that Death of God theology must replace traditional theology/theodicy (such as Richard Rubenstein). The source ofthe idea ofdivine retributive justice in Judaism is in the Bible. The flood is visited upon the inhabitants of the earth because of their wicked ways. Sodom and Gomorrah were overturned because of the evil of their inhabitants, and the Temple was destroyed as a result ofIsrael's turning away from God. The underlying assumption ofboth the narrative and legislative portions ofthe Bible is that the righteous are rewarded and the evil-doers are punished. Deut. 11:13-21 (said twice daily in the traditional liturgy as part ofthe Shma) promises the Israelites that ifthey follow God's ways they will receive rain in its season and enjoy great prosperity. Other passages promise health, expanded boundaries, and peace. If, however, the Israelites do not fol1ow God's way, they will receive the exact opposite: famine, poverty, constricted...