Author Topic: I feel sorry for the Japanese (Read 2611 times)

Masha · « **on:** March 13, 2011, 04:13:00 PM »

Why did a tragedy like this have to happen to the Japanese people, who are smart, industrious, ethical, and civilized? I can think of much more "deserving" candidates. Why didn't this happen in Somalia, for example? It is times like these when it becomes very difficult to discern the guiding hand of the Creator.

muman613 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 13, 2011, 04:31:58 PM »

Quote from: Masha on March 13, 2011, 04:13:00 PM

Why did a tragedy like this have to happen to the Japanese people, who are smart, industrious, ethical, and civilized? I can think of much more "deserving" candidates. Why didn't this happen in Somalia, for example? It is times like these when it becomes very difficult to discern the guiding hand of the Creator.

I am sorry that you feel like this. I understand the feeling but you must understand that Hashem is constantly testing the righteous to make sure that they are truly righteous and not just pretending to be. In times of troubles the righteous rise to the challenge while the wicked are destroyed. Even the righteous who die in the calamity are rewarded in the world to come. We believe that suffering is an atonement for sin, and that while Hashem deals with his people in kindness there are times that he exhibits his anger.

I hope you will look further into the very hard to comprehend concepts of emmunah and bitachon and do not allow the question of why the righteous suffer while the wicked sometimes prosper...

Irish Zionist · « **Reply #2 on:** March 13, 2011, 04:32:59 PM »

Quote from: Masha on March 13, 2011, 04:13:00 PM

Why did a tragedy like this have to happen to the Japanese people, who are smart, industrious, ethical, and civilized? I can think of much more "deserving" candidates. Why didn't this happen in Somalia, for example? It is times like these when it becomes very difficult to discern the guiding hand of the Creator.

This may be because the Japanese sided with the Nazi's in WW2 and their horrific crimes in China.

muman613 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 13, 2011, 04:34:30 PM »

Quote from: Irish Zionist on March 13, 2011, 04:32:59 PM

This may be because the Japanese sided with the Nazi's in WW2 and their horrific crimes in China.

It may be, but that raises the question... Why are the descendants of those who sided with the Nazis being punished for their fathers sins?

I know Japanese people today and they are not Nazis..

Kahane-Was-Right BT · « **Reply #4 on:** March 13, 2011, 04:38:35 PM »

Given what the Japanese did to the Chinese purely for the sake of expansion and monetary gain in WWII it's hard for me to imagine someone calling the Japanese ethical and civilized.

Nonetheless, I do feel this is a tragedy and many innocent were harmed. We can never know God's ways.

Confederate Kahanist · « **Reply #5 on:** March 13, 2011, 04:40:24 PM »

Quote from: Irish Zionist on March 13, 2011, 04:32:59 PM

This may be because the Japanese sided with the Nazi's in WW2 and their horrific crimes in China.

Though do innocent civilians deserve this?

The proud Jew · « **Reply #6 on:** March 13, 2011, 08:44:01 PM »

The japanese refused to give there jews to hitler ysv because they were in a debt to one jew that financed there millitary to the soviets in the japan soviet war. So i do feel sorry for the japanese people. Most of the japanese people i met are pro israel.

The One and Only Mo · « **Reply #7 on:** March 13, 2011, 08:53:04 PM »

Yeah well we'll never understand and we just have to trust Hashem. There's no point in trying to ask these questions. We can't fathom it. Just pray that no good people will have to suffer.

Manch · « **Reply #8 on:** March 13, 2011, 09:04:17 PM »

Quote from: Masha on March 13, 2011, 04:13:00 PM

Why did a tragedy like this have to happen to the Japanese people, who are smart, industrious, ethical, and civilized? I can think of much more "deserving" candidates. Why didn't this happen in Somalia, for example? It is times like these when it becomes very difficult to discern the guiding hand of the Creator.

Masha, this is my sentiment, exactly! I have many great friends among Japanese people - they are some of the most dignified people in the world and one is very blessed to have them as friends! Only Japan could withstand such an enormous catastrophe and emerge, relatively, unscathed. I truly hope that the next catastrophe will be visited on much more deserving people. Bushehr, Riyadh, Mecca comes to mind!

The One and Only Mo · « **Reply #9 on:** March 13, 2011, 09:05:39 PM »

Quote from: Manch on March 13, 2011, 09:04:17 PM

Masha, this is my sentiment, exactly! I have many great friends among Japanese people - they are some of the most dignified people in the world and one is very blessed to have them as friends! Only Japan could withstand such an enormous catastrophe and emerge, relatively, unscathed. I truly hope that the next catastrophe will be visited on much more deserving people. Bushehr, Riyadh, Mecca comes to mind!

To the believer, there are no questions. To the non-believer, there are no answers.

Rubystars · « **Reply #10 on:** March 13, 2011, 09:12:09 PM »

My dad said he visited Japan once and was absolutely amazed at how civilized they were compared to Americans. I think it's horrible they got hurt like that.

takebackourtemple · « **Reply #11 on:** March 13, 2011, 09:16:49 PM »

Japan will cover before Haiti does.

TruthSpreader · « **Reply #12 on:** March 13, 2011, 09:19:25 PM »

Quote from: Manch on March 13, 2011, 09:04:17 PM

Masha, this is my sentiment, exactly! I have many great friends among Japanese people - they are some of the most dignified people in the world and one is very blessed to have them as friends! Only Japan could withstand such an enormous catastrophe and emerge, relatively, unscathed. I truly hope that the next catastrophe will be visited on much more deserving people. Bushehr, Riyadh, Mecca comes to mind!

Bushehr most diffidently!!!! If America and Israel can't destroy Iran's nuclear program, God must do it!!

Dr. Dan · « **Reply #13 on:** March 13, 2011, 11:49:15 PM »

The Japanese are not a perfect people but certainly not savages like Arab Muslim Nazis and African Nazis....and other third world countries.

So I feel bad. I don't know why Gd does most things. But I do believe that there is perfect justice after this world...Chaim has explained a Jewish perspective very well on this topic...of why bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people that get away with it. It's a way of Gd having us to choose righteousness in this life in a manner of free will and not for an expectation of rewards in this lifetime (although we should continue to hope for it). In the end, when we die, those who were righteous will get Heaven and the evil will get Hell.

So I believe with perfect faith, that Gd will exercise true justice for the afterlife and the world to come.

Rightist2 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 14, 2011, 03:44:46 AM »

Quote from: Dr. Dan on March 13, 2011, 11:49:15 PM

The Japanese are not a perfect people but certainly not savages like Arab Muslim Nazis and African Nazis....and other third world countries.

So I feel bad. I don't know why Gd does most things. But I do believe that there is perfect justice after this world...Chaim has explained a Jewish perspective very well on this topic...of why bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people that get away with it. It's a way of Gd having us to choose righteousness in this life in a manner of free will and not for an expectation of rewards in this lifetime (although we should continue to hope for it). In the end, when we die, those who were righteous will get Heaven and the evil will get Hell.

So I believe with perfect faith, that Gd will exercise true justice for the afterlife and the world to come.

There is no such thing as a "perfect people". Perfection is for G_d! Japan is not a third world country.

Yaakov Mendel · « **Reply #15 on:** March 14, 2011, 06:25:00 AM »

It's a fact that the Japanese are a smart and industrious people and obviously I am not saying that those who died because of the earthquake "deserved" what happened to them.

Let's not forget, though, the many atrocities committed by the Japanese during WWII and their alliance with the Nazis. It's also a fact that the Japanese have been very cruel and barbaric at times. Moreover, they have been very reluctant to acknowledge their crimes.
Also, women have a very inferior status and individual rights are quite restricted in traditional Japanese society. Overall, I think Western influence has changed Japanese mentalities for the better, especially as the Japanese have been quite capable of discriminating between what was good and was bad in Western influence.

TheCoon · « **Reply #16 on:** March 14, 2011, 09:26:09 AM »

I think trying to find divine reason for every natural disaster is kind of foolish. This is a natural world created by God that we live in that is governed by the laws of physics that only a perfect intelligence like God could have designed. The fact you can die from an earthquake on a random day is not proof God is unjust. Every person has the chance to lead a good life and be rewarded in the world to come where there are no random natural disasters.

angryChineseKahanist · « **Reply #17 on:** March 14, 2011, 09:34:21 AM »

It doesn't cost the US a penny for what happened in Japan.
In Hades...I'm sorry, Haiti, it put the US further in debt.
Just like the hurricane in Texas, where mostly white people suffered, it didn't cost tax payers much. But in New Orleans, a negro hell-hole, it put the US further into debt.

Yaakov Mendel · « **Reply #18 on:** March 14, 2011, 09:47:35 AM »

Quote from: The Coon on March 14, 2011, 09:26:09 AM

I think trying to find divine reason for every natural disaster is kind of foolish.

I agree. As I have already mentioned in other threads, I would certainly not interpret every natural catastrophe that occurs on this planet as a divine punishment. I find it irrational to assume that there is necessarily a will and an intention behind a natural phenomenon. Science describes clearly and accurately the chain of causes and consequences that leads to such events.
Moreover, such an assumption, as you rightly point out, leads to foolish criticisms of G-d's justice.

Dr. Dan · « **Reply #19 on:** March 14, 2011, 10:49:17 AM »

I think that every even that happens natural or not is Gd's will. I think Gd has already preplanned the beginning of time to the end of time.

Therefore, this natural disaster in Japan, no matter how sad it is to us, was Gd's will...I just don't know what that will is..and when it comes down to nations which are not as evil in our eyes which suffer like this, it's harder to accept and understand why Gd would do such a thing.

Kahane-Was-Right BT · « **Reply #20 on:** March 14, 2011, 11:36:51 AM »

Quote from: The Coon on March 14, 2011, 09:26:09 AM

I think trying to find divine reason for every natural disaster is kind of foolish. This is a natural world created by G-d that we live in that is governed by the laws of physics that only a perfect intelligence like G-d could have designed. The fact you can die from an earthquake on a random day is not proof G-d is unjust. Every person has the chance to lead a good life and be rewarded in the world to come where there are no random natural disasters.

I tend to believe along the lines of what you said here.

Eden Ben Yitzchak · « **Reply #21 on:** March 14, 2011, 01:19:12 PM »

My ex-girlfriend is Japanese, I called her, she was in the north with her family, thank God she's fine. I am very sorry for the good Japanese people. May God have mercy on the souls of the killed people.

christians4jews · « **Reply #22 on:** March 14, 2011, 02:53:16 PM »

Quote from: muman613 on March 13, 2011, 04:34:30 PM

It may be, but that raises the question... Why are the descendants of those who sided with the Nazis being punished for their fathers sins?

I know Japanese people today and they are not Nazis..

agreed, they are very hard working and respectful people.

Ithaca-37 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 14, 2011, 05:04:48 PM »

Let me be clear up-front that I too feel awful for the Japanese, and I plan to contribute to the relief effort.

But as one earlier posted noted, the Japanese committed horrific atrocities on the Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, etc, during the Second World War. Someone once said that the difference between the Nazis and the hard-core Japanese imperialists was that there was no Asian version of Simon Wiesenthal to press for justice after the original military hearings were ended.

The lesson of the Second World War is that even a civilized nation can collectively go stark raving mad. I thought about that a lot in the Fall of 2008, when seeing even grown people react to Obama.

37

Confederate Kahanist · « **Reply #24 on:** March 14, 2011, 06:25:20 PM »

Quote from: angryChineseKahanist on March 14, 2011, 09:34:21 AM

It doesn't cost the US a penny for what happened in Japan.
In Hades...I'm sorry, Haiti, it put the US further in debt.
Just like the hurricane in Texas, where mostly white people suffered, it didn't cost tax payers much. But in New Orleans, a negro hell-hole, it put the US further into debt.

Unlike Japan

I'm sure Haiti will always resent the US.