On Tisha B’Av, the Book of Job reminds us that God rebukes those who rush to explain suffering more than those who dare to question it.

There is something curious about the way we respond to suffering. Our own suffering rarely makes sense to us. It arrives as interruption, bewilderment, even betrayal. We don’t immediately ask what lesson we’re supposed to learn. We ask why the world suddenly feels so unfamiliar.

Other people’s suffering is different. We instinctively begin searching for explanations. Perhaps they ignored the warning signs. Perhaps they made a poor decision. Perhaps this is how God teaches people. We don’t always say these things aloud, but they often shape the stories we tell ourselves.

Part of this instinct comes from compassion. We genuinely want to understand what happened. But another part comes from fear. If suffering follows understandable rules, then perhaps we can avoid it ourselves. If every tragedy has a clear cause, then the universe remains predictable.

The Book of Job quietly dismantles that illusion.

Most people think Job is a book about why innocent people suffer. In one sense, it is. But if that were the book’s central concern, it ends in a strange way. Job never learns why he suffered. God never explains the heavenly wager that set the story in motion. The question that dominates the opening chapters is never answered.

Instead, something more surprising happens. God judges the conversation surrounding Job’s suffering. After listening to Job’s three friends defend divine justice for........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)