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Christian readers should take special note of Bauer's chapter, "Theology, or God the Surgeon," in which he considers Jewish theological accounts of the Holocaust. Much of the chapter is given to his explication of a section of a booklet by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Shneersohn, the New York-based leader of a Hasidic sect who was regarded by many of his followers as the Messiah. (Shneersohn died in 1995.) It is characteristic of Bauer that, while he is extremely critical of Shneersohn's theodicy, he pays tribute both to the Rebbe's great learning and to the "strength and genuineness of his moral convictions."

The questions that the Rebbe wrestled with are certainly familiar to Christians. On the one hand, Bauer shows, the Rebbe insists that God is above our judgments; it is not for us to seek his reasons. And yet in the next moment the Rebbe cannot resist trying to find an explanation for the Shoah. He tells a story—again, familiar to Christians in many variants—of a visitor to a hospital who is ignorant of medical practice. He sees a patient in surgery, apparently the victim of torture. The visitor doesn't realize that all this is being done for the patient's own good. So too the Shoah—the "operation" brings about "a tikkun [lit., "correction"; the return of the individual, the society, and the world to a divine order]." (The bracketed explanation is Bauer's.) At the same time, the Rebbe maintains that those who carried out the Shoah were responsible for their own actions.

Bauer's conclusion? "The theology of the Holocaust is fascinating, but it is a dead end." Yet what does his own admirable humanism rest on, if not on the shattered theological foundation he wants to disavow? At least he admits a grudging respect for the alternative proposed by some Orthodox thinkers: "to be angry with God but believe in him anyway." After the Shoah, yes, that answer seems "not so bad," and not only to Orthodox Jews.

John Wilson is editor of Books & Culture and editor-at-large for Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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This month, Books & Culture Corner is looking at books that provide an opportunity for meaningful reflection on the Shoah. Previous parts in this series include:

'In the Beginning Was the Holocaust'? | Blasphemy, rage, memory, and meaning of the Shoah. (April 8, 2002)

Amazon.com has 27 sample pages posted online of Yehuda Bauer's Rethinking the Holocaust and 28 pages of Peter Novick's The Holocaust in American Life.

Other reviews of Rethinking the Holocaust include:

Yad Vashem historian probes the Holocaust for more meaning in his new book — Jewsweek

Rethinking the Holocaust — Foreign Affairs magazine

Reviews of The Holocaust in American Life include:

Two books ask how—and why -a European catastrophe became central to American culture — Salon.com

"We Knew in a General Way" — The New York Times

Books & Culture Corner appears Mondays at ChristianityToday.com. Earlier Books & Culture Corners include:

'In the Beginning Was the Holocaust'? | Blasphemy, rage, memory, and meaning of the Shoah. (April 8, 2002)

The Gospel According to Biff | A conversation with novelist Christopher Moore. (April 1, 2002)

Baseball 2002 Preview | Part 2: Saving the game? (March 25, 2002)

The State of the Game | After one of the best World Series ever, baseball faces a crisis. (March 18, 2002)

America's Homegrown Islam—and Its Prophet | The strange story of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam and onetime mentor of Malcolm X. (Mar. 11, 2002)

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April (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46