Between Divine Judgment and Divine Absence: Post-Holocaust Theology in the Dialectic of Midas HaDin and Midas HaRachamim

This paper examines the theological rupture caused by the Holocaust through the dialectical lens of Midas HaDin (divine judgment) and Midas HaRachamim (divine mercy). Drawing on mystical traditions of divine presence and absence, it explores how the Holocaust challenges both traditional religious frameworks of meaning and Enlightenment narratives of human progress. The concept of “NOT-God”—a space where divine absence is palpably felt—is developed as a theological framework for understanding catastrophic suffering without resorting to facile explanations or complete abandonment of tradition. The paper analyzes the role of embodied ritual practices, particularly the Kaddish, as transformative responses to suffering that neither resolve theological questions nor surrender to nihilism. Through comparative analysis with major post-Holocaust theologians including Rubenstein, Berkovits, Fackenheim, Levinas, Greenberg, Raphael, Cohen, Lichtenstein, Schneerson, Sacks, and Soloveitchik, the paper articulates a distinctive theological approach that maintains the tension between rupture and continuity, between divine judgment and divine mercy, and between the failure of traditional theological categories and the ongoing search for meaning in their aftermath.

Keywords: Holocaust Theology, Divine Hiddenness, Shechina, Postmodernism, Ritual Transformation, Jewish Mysticism, Theodicy, Post-Holocaust Thought, Divine Judgment, Divine Mercy.