This has been an extremely hard year for us Jews. On October 7th over 1,200 were killed and over 200 were taken hostage in the most brutal attack on our people since the Holocaust. Jews were attacked in their homes and at a peace-loving music festival. Survivors were dragged from their homes, tortured, and taken to Gaza, where they faced months of terror in captivity.
We remained hopeful, knowing that some of the hostages were still alive, and believed that bringing them home could end this painful chapter. But last week, that hope was shattered. Six Jewish hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were close to being rescued. Instead, they were brutally murdered by their captors as Israeli forces closed in. Hamas killed them to prevent their rescue, likely to maintain control and avoid pressure from ongoing hostage negotiations. Their discovery devastated us, as the hope of rescue evaporated in despair.
The Path of Desperation and Hopelessness
In the face of such cruelty, it is easy to believe that life has no meaning or purpose. Philosophy has a word for this—nihilism. It often emerges in response to extreme suffering or chaos, when people feel overwhelmed by the randomness and cruelty of the world. Nihilism suggests that traditional structures of meaning, like religion or morality, are baseless, leaving individuals to face a universe indifferent to human life. It offers little hope, often leaving people in despair and hopelessness.
Other, more religious, people face nihilism differently, asking, “How could God let this happen?” This is the question of theodicy—the attempt to reconcile belief in a benevolent and omnipotent God with the existence of evil and suffering in the world. People are left wondering how a just and benevolent God could permit atrocities like the murder of innocent hostages or the devastation of entire communities.
Finding a Better Path
These views portray a world where we are helpless observers of the world, passively enduring suffering as part of a divine plan. But we have a choice of how to react to this world, especially in the face of suffering. Instead of being powerless victims, we can choose how we engage with the absurdity and cruelty around us.
Philosophers have dealt with this issue for centuries. I’ve found philosophical views to be helpful. Existentialism teaches us that while we cannot control the tragedies we face, we can control how we respond—by creating our own meaning. Similarly, the Jewish principle of Tikkun Olam gives us a framework for action, urging us to heal the world. Both paths emphasize that even when life feels chaotic, our actions matter and can make a difference.
Existentialism is the philosophical belief that life has no inherent meaning, and it’s up to each individual to create their own purpose through actions and choices. It acknowledges the chaos and absurdity of the world but rejects passivity in the face of it. Instead of looking for external sources of meaning, existentialism encourages people to embrace freedom and responsibility, finding significance in how they respond to life’s challenges.
Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus offers a powerful metaphor for the existentialist approach to suffering. Sisyphus, if you remember your mythology, was condemned to an eternity of rolling a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down each time he nears the top. This or normally seen as a horrible punishment, leaving Sisyphus with a futile and absurd existence. Camus, however, reframes Sisyphus as a hero, not because he overcomes his task, but because he chooses to embrace it. In accepting his fate, Sisyphus finds dignity and purpose in the struggle itself.1
For Camus, this is the essence of existentialism: life may be absurd, but we can still find meaning in how we choose to live it. In the face of tragedy and suffering, existentialism challenges us to respond not with despair but with action, creating our own meaning despite the harsh realities of the world.
In Jewish thought, the concept of Tikkun Olam—literally “repairing the world”—goes one step further than existentialism. I’d always thought that Tikkum Olam was just about giving charity and feeling good, but it’s so much more than that. It demands that we confront the reality of a broken, chaotic, and often senseless world. Acknowledging this brokenness doesn’t lead to resignation, but instead to a call for action. Tikkun Olam challenges us to take responsibility for healing what we can, whether through justice, kindness, or social action. It’s about actively engaging with the world’s flaws, knowing we can’t fix everything, but still choosing to try. It’s an ongoing, relentless effort to bring wholeness to a fractured world.
We face a choice in how we react to a world that often feels senseless and cruel. While it’s tempting to surrender to nihilism or passively accept suffering as part of a divine plan, we can choose a different path. The fight to create meaning and repair the world is hard, and often seems hopeless. But that struggle—like Sisyphus pushing his boulder—is precisely where we find purpose. Through existentialism and Tikkun Olam, we are reminded that even when the world breaks, our actions to heal and improve it are what matter most.
Footnotes:
- In John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme, they offer a humorous take on Camus, asking, “Did Sisyphus really have it so bad?” The sketch imagines Sisyphus as someone who’s essentially at the gym every day, working out by pushing his boulder like he’s on an eternal vacation. Rather than suffering, Sisyphus seems content, finding purpose in his repetitive task, much like a fitness enthusiast might enjoy their daily routine. ↩︎
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