Recent Earthquakes

By R' Boruch Yonah Lipton  

Among the mindless drivel I've stumbled upon while using the internet, I recently came across the following trash: "Ask a seismologist why there was a tsunami, don't ask a rabbi." This statement flies in the face of Judaism's understanding of G-d's conducting of the events in the world. Our tradition is replete with statements that contradict this apostasy: "Everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven," and "It is not the snake that kills; it is sin that kills." Just as the latter statement interprets a single snakebite as divinely ordained and not the result of happenstance, a cataclysm of far-reaching proportions like a tsunami or the recent devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile certainly come from G-d. To understand why these events happened, of course a rabbi should be consulted.

The Jerusalem Talmud (9:2) offers several reasons for earthquakes. Hashem brings an earthquake when people fail to give terumos and maaseros (tithes). The second reason given is that Hashem brings an earthquake when He sees that the theaters and stadia of the world are serene while the Temple is laid waste. The third reason for earthquakes in the Yerushalmi is illicit and immoral sexual acts. The fourth reason is argument (machlokes). In addition to these, the Bavli Berachos 59a attributes earthquakes to the suffering (tzar) of the people Israel among the nations.

We must be careful to safeguard ourselves from those within our community (and without) who attribute the occurrences in the world to forces other than Hashem. In truth there is nothing other than Hashem. It is this realization that is behind our declaration that "Hashem is One."

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Boruch Yonah Lipton is the author of The Song at the Sea According to Rashi and The Sin of the Golden Calf According to Rashi, both available by contacting the author at boruchyonah@yahoo.com.