Rav Lichtenstein takes Rabbi Sacks' side

On the Tsunami/G-d question:

Some people concern themselves with the question of why it happened, voicing opinions on why the tragedy occurred specifically in that place and that time. These same people, in different circumstances, also explain why infants and young children die. Apparently, they consider themselves experts in the ways of Divine Providence.
We must distance ourselves completely from such shallow and false answers. Those are questions for Chazal – who spoke in terms of some kind of general correlation, rather than with reference to a directly retributive causal nexus - to deal with, not people like us. The message that arises in the wake of the events of the twentieth century is that we have no business poking our noses into the "why;" in the context of such questions, what is required of us is absolute humility. We have no business explaining, or pretending to explain, things that cannot be explained. We must remember Chazal's teaching concerning Bilam, who thought that he understood God's supreme wisdom. The Gemara derides him: "This person, who claimed to know God's mind – could he not understand his donkey's mind?" This pretentiousness – moral, philosophical and religious pretentiousness – we totally reject.

I don't believe "we have no business poking our noses into the 'why'"; indeed, we have every right to ask why G-d would allow such a tragedy to happen (as Rabbi Sacks clearly explains). Pretending that we can answer that question with any certainty, however, is ridiculous.

(Rest of the transcript of Rav Lichtenstein's talk here; Via Lamed)