David Weiss Halivni Examined the Presence of God at Mount Sinai and the ‘Revelation of Absence’ at Auschwitz
In his theological reflection on the Holocaust, David Weiss Halivni grapples with the haunting question of why God did not intervene in the Shoah. He dismisses the idea that the event was a punishment for sin, arguing that the scale of destruction was disproportionate to any conceivable transgression. Instead, Halivni connects the Holocaust to the concept of beḥirah ḥofshit (free will) and a historical shift in divine presence. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]












