Faith or Fate?

Faith or Fate? I am Jewish and was raised to believe that “The lord our G-d is one.” So why is there evil and suffering? Much evil and suffering is recorded in the Five Books of Moses. I asked my father, rest his soul, about this apparent paradox many times growing up in East Tennessee. His answer was a variation of this: It is up to us to make this a better world. That reminds me of T. S. Eliot’s remark that the “good man is the builder if he builds what is good.” Still, I wonder why G-d would create such wondrous creatures as elephants, buffalos, and whales to have them slaughtered for their tusks, skins and oil? Why would G-d create magnificent mountains and forests to have them burned and butchered for lumber and ore. Why would G-d create great rivers to have them polluted by uncaring people? Why would G-d create such diverse people to have them kill each other in senseless combat and hatred. I have wondered about such things for more than 60 years, and I have no better insight than what my father provided. “I should have been a pair of ragged claws, scuttling across the floors of silent seas.” Is it about gathering as much for yourself while those in nearby neighborhoods have no jobs, no food, and little prospects for living and thriving in the promised land? How much is enough? Why do people who profess deep religious faith care so little for others … for the poor and starving … for the planet? How much is enough? How much is too much? Ask the billionaire class. What is good? What good will last from what we do now and in the future? I have no clue. The future is unknown … and it seems particularly dark these days in the midst of a pandemic, pandemic deniers and the big lie that won’t die. There are some … many … who have managed to bring out the worst in people. I imagine that each of us can name a few. My father’s message was simple … your job as a human being is to bring out the best in others. Why did he leave me with such an impossible task?