Monday, October 10, 2016

Moshe Yosef Daum and Fela Nussbaum vs. The Book of Job

The story of Moshe Yosef Daum and Fela Nussbaum, Menachem Daum's parents, is similar and different to The Book of Job. Fela Nussbaum, Menachem's mother, lost her faith after the Holocaust. She felt that if God stood by during the Holocaust and didn't help the Jews during a time of desperation. Fela tried to remain faithful, but when her child was taken from her, she was put over the edge. This is the same as Job. Job tried hard to remain faithful, but when everything was taken from him, he couldn't understand why God would do that to him. Unlike Job and Fela, Moshe Yosef Daum, Menachem's father, felt differently.  Moshe's beliefs followed the quote from a Hasidic master, "A God who limits himself to actions that we humans can understand couldn't possibly be God."  Another similarity between them is that both the Jews who suffered from the Holocaust and Job have reasons to question why God would do something so horrible to them. Also, both Job and Jews in the Holocaust did nothing wrong to be tortured the way they were.  A difference between these two is that Job's torture was only to one person, Job. Although his family and cattle were killed as well, it was a test to make Job suffer.  In the Holocaust, 6 million men, women, and children died. Another unfortuante difference is that the Book of Job is a story.  The Holocaust happened in real life and it killed 6 million real lives. The often asked "Why?" question to God may never be answered.

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