How does a Jew/Christian believed...

[Tigg]

I have a question for any one who can give me any enlightenment whatsoever. After the Holocaust, how does those of the Jewish faith continue believing in God? For that matter, how does a Christian believe in God after the Holocaust?

Does God not care? The Jews were/are His chosen people. Has He made the world and washed His hands of it? When you answer, please think of bodies of nothing but skin and bones piled high at Auswhich (sp). Yes, there are other atrocities...

I wish your POV or where to get something to read on this question. No, I am not here to argue. But learn.

 

[football5680]

God gave us free will so that we could love him by choice. He didn't want to create Robots programmed to love him. He has already given us a gift we will never be able to repay him for which is life. Without life we couldn't experience good or bad times. So you have to take the bad with the good. The holocaust was terrible but death is still unavoidable. If they didn't die in the holocaust then they would have died later on. If they remained faithful to god while they were going through that then they will have everlasting peace and happiness.

 

[Marahuta]

I have a question for any one who can give me any enlightenment whatsoever. After the Holocaust, how does those of the Jewish faith continue believing in God? For that matter, how does a Christian believe in God after the Holocaust?

Does God not care? The Jews were/are His chosen people. Has He made the world and washed His hands of it? When you answer, please think of bodies of nothing but skin and bones piled high at Auswhich (sp). Yes, there are other atrocities...

I wish your POV or where to get something to read on this question. No, I am not here to argue. But learn.

You pose a good question, I will try and answer as best as I can by what I believe.

This world is a world of man and a world of choice. Everything we do is our choice and hence the final decision is God's choice. God does not interfere with the way we have made the world. It is our responcibilty, not God's. God might intervene at times but he won't drastically interact with our world. That way everyone is responsible for his/her own actions.

The reason we seem so angry and sad at such atrocities is because we see things from a human level. We see the pain and the sufferings as per the amount and time. God doesn't see it that way. God sees the broader picture of eternity. My point being. Yes, you might suffer in this life, but you will spend ETERNITY over there. Do you understand? In the end it is not this world that matters, but the next. This is just a temporary life. We are born, we grow, we make our decisions and choices, and then we die. The next life is an eternal one, which will make our first life seem like nothing. God, while he cares, looks at the eternal picture, not the temporary picture.

Hope this helped,
God bless,

 

[Michie]

For what it's worth:

The Problem of Evil
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0019.html

 

[Lady Bug]

All I can conjecture is -

if the Jews are God's Chosen People and the world hates God, the world will hate God's people.

 

[mark46]

You have started an interesting journey. Certainly all Jews have had to answer these questions. There are probably literally thousands of books on the subject. You might use google and other search sites. This will give you a start. Search for "believing is spite the Holocaust". You might start with the testimonies of those from the camps, Victor Frankl or Eric Weisel (google them or use amazon). The Search For Meaning is were we started in college when I was there. You might google "faith in the concentration camps". You might simply google Judaism and the Holocaust and similar things.

In the end, for Jews and Christians, we are dealing with the issue of why does God allow evil. Make no mistake, there is no easy answer. Some have the answer that thie Holocaust was all part of God's plan. I would pray about this long and hard. But there are many hundreds of books written on this subject also.

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In the end, we beleive in God for many reasons and do not leave when the going gets tough. As the 12 answered Jesus, where else would we go? Weisel believed that it is the responsibility of those who experience horror to be witnesses. There are many witnesses of faith within the camps. There are many after. And all of us have grown spiritually allowing God to show his Mercy upon us as we struggle with this issue.
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And of course, take this question to God in prayer.

I have a question for any one who can give me any enlightenment whatsoever. After the Holocaust, how does those of the Jewish faith continue believing in God? For that matter, how does a Christian believe in God after the Holocaust?

Does God not care? The Jews were/are His chosen people. Has He made the world and washed His hands of it? When you answer, please think of bodies of nothing but skin and bones piled high at Auswhich (sp). Yes, there are other atrocities...

I wish your POV or where to get something to read on this question. No, I am not here to argue. But learn.

 

[QuantaCura]

I can only give my perspective as a Christian: Christ is key to this difficult mystery. God's own Son was also brutally killed, so I don't think suffering a brutal death at the hands of men means abandonment by God.

Why did He die as such? To conquer evil and death. As others have mentioned, the freedom to love also entails the freedom to hate and kill, but through Christ, even though He permits it for now, God does not let hatred and death be the final word. Through Christ, suffering and death can become the path to the Kingdom of Heaven.

This applies to all men. The Jews were chosen first to be the People of God, and now all have been called, Jew and Gentile alike, to be one in Christ in the new People of God. As such, Christ offers to all men, both Jews and Gentiles, the grace to unite themselves to His suffering and death, sometimes in ways known only to Himself, so they too can share in His victory over death and evil.

So in sum, as others have mentioned, sin and death is a result of free will and original sin. But God has not abandoned mankind to evil, but sent His Son to conquer it, and by His death and resurrection to bring good even out of the worst evils.

 

[Tigg]

Thanks to all of you, wise people. I listened to this and felt deep sorrow and anger and can't explain all I felt.

Remembering the Holocaust victims - Kaddish prayer by Ofra Haza - YouTube

I should have translated Kadish to English.

Translation of Kaddish Prayer in English





Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.
May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.
He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.


Kaddish Prayer - Meaning and English Translation

So much wisdom here in OBOB.
Will take advice and search more but thanks to all of you so much.