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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business Business Services NEWS NOW SOU launches 89th graduating class ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: How we treat animals ... Overcoming the odds ... SOU launches 89th graduating class ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: How we treat animals ... Overcoming the odds ... MOCHAS, MIDRASH AND MYSTERIES Mochas, midrash and mysteries:Finding a language for darkness Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jun. 10, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Jun. 10, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News “On the Devil” is the next chapter that Daniel Murphy and I set out to study in Cardinal Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) and Rabbi Abraham Skorka’s splendid book of interfaith dialogue, "On Heaven and Earth." To think about the devil is to navigate tricky terrain. What do we even mean or invoke when we use that term? Apart from the book of Job, the Hebrew Bible and Jewish texts in general don’t spill a lot of ink talking about, or imagining, the devil. On the other hand, in my conversation with Daniel, we both felt that it was important to not flinch from naming the existence of real evil in the world. Perhaps using the language of “devil,” for some of us, helps us locate those moments when we are most challenged internally or externally by real darkness. Personally speaking, though, I have not found it to be a helpful language. As Cardinal Bergoglio points out, our tendency, historically speaking, in using this language, is to demonize whole peoples, and this demonizing leads to dehumanizing — and often even more dark consequence. As a Jew, I’m especially sensitive to this historical tendency. Because of superstition and fear, people who lived in the Middle Ages (and at other times) misunderstood Jewish practice and custom, and accused the Jews of being demonic, which led to horrible prejudice and violence. All demonizing of this sort — where we project the darkness outward — whatever group we focus on, is dangerous. The book of Job describes the devil challenging G-d, in effect, making a wager that a certain man who was upstanding and pious would not be so praiseworthy and would soon lose his faith if hardship befell him. G-d takes the devil up on the bet, and this man, Job, is made to suffer immensely, as a test. Job’s friends come in the midst of the hardship, ostensibly to comfort him, but mostly they are trying to make sense of his suffering, to say in effect, “Well, you must have done something wrong for this to befall you.” It has been argued by others that the real “devil,” or evil in the book of Job are Job’s friends, who blame the victim and try to understand that which cannot be understood. And we still do what Job’s friends did today. When we are in the presence of suffering — our own or another’s — it is so scary that we often try to find tidy reasons for misfortune that make us feel safer. To me, G-d is everywhere. There is no such thing as a place where the divine presence does not reach. That said, we have this strange capacity as human beings, to block G-d from reaching us, to shield ourselves and to cut ourselves off from the flow of life. In this place, it is “as if” there is no G-d. And it is in this place, where we are not accountable or informed, where some of us might use the language of “devil” to speak about our experience, to speak about our experience of the absence of holiness. Rabbi Skorka names the challenge of evil we have to confront in the world in a different way, through quoting Isaiah: “G-d forms life and creates darkness.” Rabbi Skorka writes, “Darkness does not exist in and of itself, but as the absence of light. Likewise evil occurs when good is removed from a situation.” So in that case, how do we best confront real absolute darkness and evil? How do we not shrink from that which is dangerous and needs to be dealt with? Probably not with pitchforks and demonizing. Rather, when we work to bring more good, to bring more light, and to strive to understand those who are different than us, we have the best chance of creating holy community. Rabbi Joshua Boettiger is spiritual leader of Temple Emek Shalom in Ashland. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jun. 10, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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