Hamas attacked us October 7, 2023 with massive murder, rape, torture. We in Israel suffered a Holocaust from Hamas and Hamas fellow travelers 10/7/2023. Does God give free reign to the wicked such as Hamas in this world? Job in the Book of Job says yes! Job suffered deaths of his children, and was stricken from head to foot with a plague. Let us look at the Book of Job particularly with the commentary of the Malbim. Job 2: 11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to bemoan him and to comfort him. 12And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and threw dust upon their heads toward heaven. 13So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him; for they saw that his grief was very great. Job argued against his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Bildad foresees a happy ending for Job and disaster for the wicked: Job 8: 20Behold, God will not cast away an innocent man, Neither will He uphold the evil-doers; 21Till He fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting. 22They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more. In the Midrash Job 32:2 Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram suspected Job needed a Kohen; Leviticus 13: “ And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: 2When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests. 3And the priest shall look upon the plague in the skin of the flesh; and if the hair in the plague be turned white, and the appearance of the plague be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean. ” Yet Job had a happy ending as Bildad prophesied. Job 42: So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them; and the LORD accepted Job. 10And the LORD changed the fortune of Job, when he prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house; and they bemoaned him, and comforted him concerning all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one a ring of gold. 12So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. 3He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14And he called the name of the first, Jemimah; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch. 15And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. 16And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. Job died, being old and full of days.” In Tachnun Morning Prayers I noticed a quote from Joel in today’s morning prayer service: “Oh, spare Your people, Lord! Let not Your possession become a mockery, to be ruled by nations! Let not the peoples say: Where is their God?” Today, sad to say, Israel is ruled by Arabs, Muslims, and atheists. O God, Spare Your people. Your people is ruled by nations. Some Commentators don’t understand Job 27 Job27: 11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God; That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 12Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain? 13This is the portion of a wicked man with God, And the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty. 14If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword; And his offspring shall not have bread enough. 15Those that remain of him shall be buried by pestilence, And his widows shall make no lamentation. 16Though he heap up silver as the dust, And prepare raiment as the clay; 17He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, And the innocent shall divide the silver. 18He buildeth his house as a moth, And as a booth which the keeper maketh.” Job complained God’s injustice that the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. According to the Malbim Job is consistent throughout. I saw Job Soncino Press 1960 “Verses 11-23 have long been a source of difficulty to the commentators involving, as it seems, a contradiction and reversal of Job’s previous position that an evil fate does not overtake the wicked.” Malbim on Job 27 11 I instruct and teach you that you should hear the words that I speak in the hand of God, that I have put the things in the hand of God, as He calls and declares this, which there is enough for me not to destroy, because these words are with my God, who certainly hates flattery, lies and deceit, and how can I destroy This is the truth. 13 The portion of a wicked man, and the property of tyrants. A private wicked person will receive his share separately, and the many tyrants will have it for a general inheritance that includes the whole family as above. According to the commentators, what Job would say, it would be surprising if the latter contradicts everything he has said up to this point that he decided that the wicked succeeds and how would he say: Now the other way around. 16 Saying that even if it is as you said that his wealth will not exist in the hands of his sons, and if he accumulates money like dirt and prepares clothing like the material of the clothing that he makes, the righteous person will wear it, and the money that he has accumulated will be shared by the clean, in the matter that after his death foreigners will inherit and it will not exist in the hands of his sons, and also if it is as you said: 17 The righteous shall wear, the clean shall divide, I have already explained (above 4:7, 17:8, 22:19), that the righteous is according to the revealed and he will wear the clothing of the wicked openly, and the clean is according to the hidden and he will divide the money that has no mark on it and is not: 18 He who like a moth built his house, just as the moth when it wraps itself in the envelope that is his house, and when he comes out of the envelope his house is carried away by the wind, and just like the sukkah he made the vineyard was created, when they fortify the vineyard, the sukkah destroys his house and it will be destroyed after his death, I reply. 19 Even if his house and possessions will be destroyed immediately after his death, but at the same time he will lie down and die, a rich man will die, even if he does not collect for burial, and we immediately lose all his wealth, what will he worry about that, if his eyes are open, if he can open his eyes to see the What happens after him, won't he see that he is no longer in reality, because he has already passed from the world, and what will then form on his house the sword, which is no longer in the world and has become a house and nests, and just as the moth will not form on his house and the one that is created on his sukkah the sword will not form another that it no longer needs: 20 Everything you said about the generosity of his sons and his sons after his death is not a punishment at all, and it was appropriate that you catch him like stormy waters, that they come storming over him himself and catch him in his life like running water, and the storm steals him suddenly at night, and the wind foretells that he will be carried by the winds into the air and go with him, and in the storm A great one will stir him up and lead him out of his place: Malbim makes clear that the wicked may well suffer nothing in this world. What happens to the surviving wife children and grandchildren of the wicked is not a punishment at all to the wicked during his lifetime . God Invites Job to Rule the World In the Midrash Job ruled the world by fighting the wicked. Job 40: 10Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency, And array thyself with glory and beauty. 11Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath; And look upon every one that is proud, and abase him. 12Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; And tread down the wicked in their place. 13Hide them in the dust together; Bind their faces in the hidden place. 14Then will I also confess unto thee That thine own right hand can save thee. Professor Gerald Aranoff is Professor of Accounting Ariel University. Born in Shenandoah, PA, USA, he moved to Israel in 1991. He lives in Bnei Brak. He has a BA in physics and Judaic studies from Yeshiva U, MBA in accounting and finance from Columbia U, and PhD in economics from CUNY. His USA faculty positions include: Fordham U, Queens College, St. John’s U, and Lehman College. His Israel faculty positions include: Jerusalem College of Technology, College of Management, Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv University, and Ariel University. He has 110 scholarly articles in economics, management accounting, financial accounting, finance, health, and Judaism, including a textbook chapter. He is the economics editor of the South Asia Journal of Social Studies and Economics.
