From the sages

Henry Farrell at Crooked Timber has linked to Patrick Nielsen Hayden's post about the NYT Caroline Payne article. Quite a thread of comments has resulted. In one of them, Dan Simon reminds us of a profound truth. There is no perfect justice in this world, but that doesn't absolve us from trying:

It will always be the case that many people’s lives will be filled with pain, and, as the Talmud teaches, “it is not in our power to explain the comfort of the wicked or the sorrows of the righteous”. We can only try, all of us, to reduce the amount of suffering and unfairness in the world, and increase the amount of happiness and justice, where we can, and when we can, understanding that we will never achieve perfection. (Again, from the Fathers: “it is not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are you free to neglect it.”)