Job asked no questions, not even of himself. He never doubted the veracity of the reports. The thought that so many disasters could not possibly befall one home in such rapid succession did not enter his mind; he did not seek refuge in doubt. He believed. He accepted. He knew that the messengers did not lie. And acted accordingly.

He tore his clothes, cut his hair in token of mourning—but he did not complain, nor did he protest. He fell sick, his condition grew worse and worse until his entire body was covered with blisters and sores, horrible to see; yet he still did not complain. When his wife incited him to blasphemy, he refused to listen. (The Midrash generously paints a more attractive picture of his wife, describing her as having sacrificed herself to care for him with selfless devotion.) His dearest, closest friends came to visit him, pretending to console him. They were the ones who made him lose his illusions about divine justice and human friendship. For the first time he opened his mouth to speak. And uttered his cry of malediction: May the day of my birth be lost in darkness, may the night that saw me be born remain mute and solitary. And then, in desperation, he asked the eternal question of the persecuted: Why? Why me? Why now? What is the meaning of punishment inflicted on a Just Man? What is God doing, and where is His justice?

Job knew, as we know, that he had committed no sin; he had nothing to reproach himself for, neither did God. Job knew, as we know, that all his life he had acted in accordance with God’s will, fearing and loving Him, never violating a law, never transgressing a commandment. As a matter of fact, one finds nothing but praise and compliments about him in Midrashic texts. Some even go so far as to compare him to the greatest of our ancestors: Four men discovered God on their own—Abraham, King Ezechias, Job and the Messiah . . . What has not been said about Job? That he was born circumcised; that in his lifetime he tasted the fruits and pleasures of paradise. A Just Man among the Gentiles, he was reputed to have tried to save mankind through his suffering. Job: a different Messiah, working for the redemption of the Gentiles. Uncommon powers were ascribed to him. The alms he distributed became instruments and sources of benediction: whoever received a coin from him became rich. Job, a miracle-maker? Why not.

A Midrash tells us that in Job’s kingdom the laws of nature obeyed his will; the weak were not subjugated by the strong; the sheep dominated the wolves. King Solomon included him among the Seven Fathers of mankind. He almost entered our prayers. One of our sages tells us that had it not been for his anger, we would be invoking the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Job. We would be appealing to him, to him too, to intercede up there, to prevent God from turning away from His people.