Where is God??
peace,
A. It is customary to say, according to Chazal, that after a righteous person dies, he is granted the privilege of delighting in God (Heaven) or vice versa. Does the Rabbi have any idea what led them to think this way?
After all, I don’t encounter God in this world (perhaps only through intellectual speculation), maybe even “out there”, in the state of the soul without a body, he is not found either?
on. What does the Rabbi think of Yuval Steinitz’s book “Logical Missile to God and Back”? Is it worth reading or is it just a bunch of nonsense?
A. All speculations about what happens in the afterlife seem to me to be baseless. And I know of no indications that these things came in the tradition from Sinai. Therefore, I do not deal with them.
B. Steinitz’s books are useful in provoking thoughts and various aspects worth thinking about, especially for beginners who are in the process of philosophical maturation. But as adolescents realize that he is what is called in yeshivot leichter, meaning that upon closer reading, his arguments, including those that seem brilliant and logical, are weak and many of them do not hold water. Therefore, I definitely recommend reading all of his books critically.
Regarding the question “Where is God?” – Two lovely sayings:
Once, Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk turned to some distinguished people and asked: “Where is God?” The people laughed and replied: “Everywhere – it is said ‘The whole earth is full of His glory’!” The Rebbe said: “The Holy One, blessed be He, is where He is allowed to enter”.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdich’, the defender of Israel, met a small child and said to him: “I will give you a coin and tell me where God is ” The boy replied: “I will give you two coins, and you will tell me where he is not found.”
(There are different attributions for these sayings. The second is also attributed to Rabbi Heshil of Krk, in his childhood).
Well, almost everything that is not written is attributed to R’ Heshil (and you can be sure that all the “hardliners of the world” are R” Heshil. And one of the best known of them is the famous question in the Mishnah Reish B”K. I think it appears in the Torah Inauguration there). Almost like attributing all the stories of wit to R” Eybshits.
And I will add two more grains by way of association:
1. A certain man came to the Reform synagogue on a holiday and found it closed. There was a sign on the door: Closed for the holidays.
2. The priest was preaching in the church and saw his Jewish friend sitting on the pew across from him, listening attentively. He stopped and asked: All the Jews who are here, please leave. The Jew does not respond. He asks again and again and the latter does not respond. After the priest asked for the tenth time, the Jew got up, took the man's picture from the wall, and said to him: Listen, my friend, we are not wanted here. He took it and left.
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