Q&A: On the God of religion
On the God of religion.
Question
Hello Rabbi,
The Jewish idea of sanctifying matter seems bizarre to me.
Using an animal’s skin and its wool as clothing on our bodies and as part of framing our homes, and in that way trying to combine the spirituality of religion with physiology, seems crazy to me. (Though it is admittedly a brilliant idea!). After all, there is no physiological difference between a person who puts on tefillin and a person who does not, and there is no city, including the people who live in it, that is any different depending on whether there is an eruv in the city or not.
To claim that religion and the physical are not dependent on each other, but rather that God created a world, and us, so surely we have a role. And the only one who can determine that role is the God of religion. And indeed He determined physical rules and commandments for us. But there is no spirituality in the physical itself.
This is an absurd claim, and I will explain why.
God created a world and people within it. And indeed we are not here for no reason. Our role is to recognize our Creator and, consequently, to live with awareness of gratitude and thanksgiving. To claim that God wants to test whether we really recognize Him and are so prepared for gratitude that we will fulfill His commandments, is childish. Is this the God of ego?!
It is also understandable why there is a God of morality. Since there is a moral obligation to continue sustaining the world in the best possible way so that the recognition from His creatures will continue. (I am not speaking about cases of human suffering, most of which comes from human choice.)
This too is still puzzling, but at least less bizarre.
I would be glad to hear a response.
Answer
This is not a Jewish idea. It is an interpretation by some Jews of various Jewish laws, and a certain conception that some people propose. I suggest asking them.
But your other questions are unrelated to that. Even without this, one can ask whether God wants us to recognize Him and be grateful to Him, and why. I think so, as can be seen from the verse, “Is this how you repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people?” But that is not for His sake, but for ours.
Discussion on Answer
The idea some “spiritual” people have, that they are holy, is bizarre. Judaism brings those deluded people back down to earth.
Toward the end you said things that are in the right direction.
The prophet says that the purpose of recognizing the Creator is to learn how to practice kindness, justice, and righteousness.
“Let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who practices kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these I delight, says the Lord.”
I don’t know. The commandments probably come to achieve something, but I do not know what.
Basically every commandment written in the Torah is connected to the physical as well. And in addition, doesn’t everyone who believes in religion also believe in the commandments of tefillin, tzitzit, and mezuzah?!
And what is the Rabbi’s view on why there are commandments at all?