Richard Rubenstein: The Holocaust And Judaic Faith

The Holocaust is a heinous genocide that took millions of lives. Unfortunately due to no one stepping in, there was a mass slaughtering of people in the Jewish faith. After the Holocaust there was a lot of rebuilding of the Jewish faith that had to happen. For example if they still believed in God or not. There was a lot of guilt and it was a hard concept for people of the Judaic faith to accept, because if the Holocaust was an act done by God, that means they were guilty of something as a community. On the contrary if the Holocaust was not an act committed by God that would mean God does not exist. Not only does a new relationship with God has to be built; but so does their relationships with people have to be reformed. A huge reason on why …show more content…
The theology that resonates the most and was probably true for many others after the Holocaust would have to be Richard Rubenstein’s theology. Rubenstein wanted to diminish Jewish guilt because he believe that the Holocaust was not a reflection on the people of the judaic religion. He felt that there was no actual evidence that God was dead but there was a lot of people that lost faith because of the events that took place. It was really hard for people to accept the fact that the suffrage of their people would be something that their God would support. He also addresses that the idea that people have not completely lost their faith is just that it 's a relationship between the believer and God that needs to be fixed due to the fact that the Holocaust specifically targeted people of the Jewish faith and it will be hard for that trust to be mended due to the fact that there might be some feelings of guilt even though they had nothing to do with it.1 What is also greatly appreciated about Rubenstein 's theology is that he allows each individual to make the choice of rather or not God is dead, and how religious they want to be.1 His theology allows for many different beliefs and many different variations of relationships for God, but he feels in his opinion that there …show more content…
Due to the heinous acts that were taking place it took a toll on people’s faith on whether or not their God was taking care of them. The question where is God, was an expression Jews used due to all the hateful acts and the destruction of their communities were taking place. For example in the film “God on Trial” the director does their best to depict the living conditions of the concentration camps and the possible conversations that took place. There is a scene where new people have arrived to the camp and one of the men that have been there for a while offers his spoon to a new man because the one that has been there for a while is convinced is that he will be one of people that will be getting killed soon.3 He is trying to pass his spoon along so that the Nazis are not able to confiscate it and it allows someone else to be able to eat their food more conveniently. It is extremely disheartening to see someones most valued item be stripped down to a spoon that they must keep hidden. However this was the reality at the time. People went from having free lives and being in homes with their families and owning businesses to being trapped in a camp and not knowing if that would be the day they would die. This film captures real reasons and instances on why people would question God. It was not an easy type of life, and when your religion preaches that God has a path or is watching over it would make anyone feel less important