The Book of Job as a Way of Relating to Jewish National Suffering (original) (raw)

2016, Jewish Bible Quarterly

INTRODUCTION TB Taanit 30a cites a baraita outlining the laws of the Ninth of Av: Our Rabbis taught: All obligations that are observed by a mourner are observed on the Ninth of Av: one is forbidden in eating and drinking, in anointing and the wearing of shoes, and in sexual relations, and it is forbidden to read from the Torah, Nevi’im, or Ketuvim, or to learn Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, Halachot, or Aggadot. But . . . one may read the books of Lamentations, Job, and the sad parts of Jeremiah. One can readily understand why Lamentations and the sad parts of Jeremiah would be appropriate for the Ninth of Av, for they recount and mourn the very destruction of the Temple that the Ninth of Av commemorates. Job, however, seems to be out of place. It is true that Job deals with events of a tragic nature, but it is the story of an individual tragedy. The Tanakh is replete with such episodes, so this is insufficient to explain why Job alone was singled out to be added to the list of permitted...