{"product_id":"kol-dodi-dofek-michel-benhayim-9798249703134","title":"Kol Dodi Dofek: The Righteous Suffer","description":"\u003cb\u003eקוֹל דּוֹדִי דוֹפֵק\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eKol Dodi\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his famous work \"Kol Dodi Dofek\" (The Song of Songs 5, 2), Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik begins by addressing the issue of evil and suffering in the world: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"One of the deepest of mysteries, troubling Judaism from the dawn of its existence, is the problem of suffering. At a propitious moment of Divine compassion, Moses, the master of all prophets, pleaded before the Lord of All to be enlightened as to the workings of this impenetrable phenomenon.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnd he refuses to deny the existence of evil: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Evil is a fact that cannot be denied. There is evil in the world. There are suffering and agony, and death pangs. He who would deceive himself by ignoring the split in existence and by romanticizing life is but a fool and a fabricator of illusions. It is impossible to conquer monstrous evil with philosophical-speculative thought.\"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sachs says that in his work Kol Dodi Dofek, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik finds two ways in which people become a group - a community, a society or a nation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe first is when they face a common enemy. They band together for mutual protection, knowing that only by so doing can they survive. This phenomenon extends far beyond Homo sapiens. Animals too come together in herds or flocks to defend themselves against predators. Such a group is a מַחֲנֶה \u003ci\u003emachaneh\u003c\/i\u003e - a camp, a defensive formation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThere is a quite different form of association. People can come together because they share a vision, an aspiration, a set of ideals. This is the meaning of \u003ci\u003eעֵדָה \u003c\/i\u003eedah, a congregation. \u003ci\u003eEdah \u003c\/i\u003eis related to the word \u003ci\u003eעֵד \u003c\/i\u003eed, a witness. \u003ci\u003eעֵדוֹת \u003c\/i\u003eEdot (as opposed to חֻקִּים \u003ci\u003echukim \u003c\/i\u003eand מִשְׁפָּטִים \u003ci\u003emishpatim\u003c\/i\u003e) are the commands that testify to Jewish belief - as Shabbat testifies to creation, Pesach to the divine involvement in history; and so on. An \u003ci\u003eedah \u003c\/i\u003eis not a defensive formation but a creative one. People join to do together what none of them could achieve alone. A society built around a shared project, a vision of the common good, is not a \u003ci\u003emachaneh \u003c\/i\u003ebut an \u003ci\u003eedah \u003c\/i\u003e- not a camp but a congregation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut we are no longer a congregation. Instead we have fissured and fractured into different עedot: orthodox and reform, religious and secular, and the many subdivisions that continue to atomize Jewish life into non-communicating sects and subcultures. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOur identity as Jews is not just as a camp but also as a congregation. We need to recover our vision of what it is to be God's witnesses on Earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michel Benhayim\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798249703134\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/24\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 172\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.52lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.37d","brand":"Michel Benhayim","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48801328169215,"sku":"9798249703134","price":28.97,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/kol-dodi-dofek-michel-benhayim-9798249703134","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}