The Talmudic sages certainly did, wrestling with these questions in their interpretations of scripture. Take the story of Phinehas and the eleven tribes, for instance.
Imagine this: Phinehas, a man known for his zealotry in defending God's honor, is confronted with a devastating situation. Eleven tribes of Israel have suffered greatly. He wants answers. He needs to understand why.
And God, in His infinite wisdom, doesn't offer a simple, sound-bite explanation. Oh no. Instead, He launches into a lengthy discourse, a profound explanation of divine justice (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews). Why such suffering? It wasn't arbitrary, that's for sure.
The core of the issue, God explains, lay in their collective failure to address the wickedness of Micah and his mother, Delilah. We're not talking about minor infractions here. Micah and Delilah were deep into idolatry, a blatant rejection of God's covenant. And while these tribes were quick to avenge the wrong done to the woman at Gibeah – a truly horrific crime – they had, astonishingly, turned a blind eye to the idolatry happening right under their noses.
Talk about a double standard, right? Zealous for one thing, utterly complacent about another.
God's point, according to the legend, is chillingly clear: selective morality is no morality at all. It’s not enough to condemn one sin while tolerating another, especially when that other is a direct affront to the divine. The eleven tribes, by allowing Micah’s idolatry to fester, became complicit. They suffered not because of one isolated incident, but because of a systemic failure to uphold God's law.
Only after those who had aided and abetted Micah – whether directly participating in his idolatrous practices or indirectly enabling them – had perished, would God then be willing to intervene and aid them in their conflicts with the Benjamites. That's a pretty stark condition, isn't it?
It's a hard teaching, no doubt. The legend of Phinehas and the eleven tribes forces us to confront our own inconsistencies. Where do we turn a blind eye? What injustices do we tolerate, perhaps even unknowingly enable, while focusing our attention elsewhere? And what are the consequences, not just for ourselves, but for our communities? It's a lot to think about, isn't it?