54 Ways of Looking at Evil: Commentary on the Torah Portions of the Week Based on the Writing of Mai

The 54 essays that comprise this text will draw on insights from the 54 Torah weekly portions read annually in the synagogue in order to gain a better understanding of the difficult concept of evil. The essays will explore the variety of ways the Torah portrays evil as affecting our thoughts and actions. These essays will delve into the commentary of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides), Rashi and of Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik ("the Rav") that are relevant to this topic.

Maimonides, Rashi and the Rav, though widely known as masters of Jewish law, have both enlightened those who study them in practically every facet of human life. They both have much to say about morality and understanding the concept of evil and its manifestations. We will draw deeply from this well of knowledge and hopefully throw a bit of light onto this area that is in many ways much more difficult to understand than complex legal or scientific phenomena. Whereas legal discussions work with clearly defined categories, and science seems to move ahead with measurable progress, this clarity or steady development is not found to be the case regarding moral issues such as good and evil.

The object of the following essays is to present many of the issues regarding good and evil that are under consideration by all of us when we are endeavoring to make moral decisions. But the choice, though often difficult even when we have a clear idea of which is good and which is evil, becomes impossible when we are not sure of which is which. Perhaps the insight of these great scholars will remove some of these difficulties and help us move a bit closer to clarity in this most important area of knowledge. This is, at least, our objective.