Suffering & Evil 101 Why do bad things happen to good people? If
God is so powerful, why doesn't God prevent misfortune? The
question of suffering and evil is unique among theological and
philosophical problems because it confronts us almost daily and
because Jewish history is replete with individual and communal
tragedy. Jewish thinkers have always been bothered by the
existence of suffering and evil, but in modern times, as a
result of the Holocaust, it has taken on a central role in the
thought of almost all contemporary Jewish theologians. For Jews,
the problem of suffering is twofold: there is a universal
problem and a particular problem. The universal problem is a
philosophical one; it is not just a problem for Jews, but for
anyone who conceives of God in a certain way. If God knows
everything, then God knows about all evil. If God is all-
powerful, then God can prevent all evil. If God is perfectly
good, then God should prevent all evil. And yet, evil exists.
How can this be true? Historically, Jewish t