How Bad Were the Babylonians? Habakuk’s critique of God’s apparent toleration of violence and injustice

A prelude for preparing for Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment

The prophet Habakuk issues a stern critique of God for seeming to tolerate the success of the Babylonians. But why? Did the Jews not deserve what Babylon gave them?  Besides, what sense is there to censure an expanding empire for taking land “not their own.”  Whose land should they take?

We will explore these and related questions through commentaries on the first chapter of Habakuk, exploring possible implications for re-evaluating more recent imperial actions through the lens of modern concepts like war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Avi Rockoff  is a graduate of Yeshiva College (RIETS) and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He obtained semicha from Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim in Israel and gave many shiurim at Shaarei Tefillah. Avi practiced dermatology in Brookline, Massachusetts, for 40 years. He and his wife, Shuli, went on aliya in 2022 and currently live in Jerusalem.