Question: I was watching a movie today and I heard the mother of the Victim (Jewish girl), say: ” There is a sentence in the Torah that says, “Even Satan wouldn’t create a child murderer”. I was disturbed at this statement, because I know that Satan creates nothing. Only God is the Creator and Satan is the “author” of murder. I want to know – is the mother’s statement about the Torah, in error, and is there such a verse? She was trying to understand why God would allow her daughter to die in this horrible way, at 17 yr old. My heart bleeds for her but I believe God is not the author of these horrible events. Thank you for your response.

Answer: Hi, thanks for your question. The Torah doesn’t say that, but I think her point was that this deed was so terrible, it was beyond evil.Most people are confused about the satan. It is not a personality; it has no power. The satan is the potential to ignore Providence at any given moment. Stories in rabbinic literature that make the satan seem like a personality are all allegories. E.g., “...and the satan appeared across the street in the form of a beautiful woman” – i.e., there was a beautiful woman across the street who tempted him carnally, allowing him momentarily to forget about Providence.

Hope that’s helpful.

Rabbi Seinfeld
rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com