Gratitude – Between Parents and God
The rabbi claims that the commitment to God stems from the duty of gratitude for our existence, a bit like gratitude towards the parents who brought me into the world.
My problem with this claim is that I have gratitude towards my parents, but only to a certain extent.  
I won’t do everything they tell me to do, and I won’t necessarily live according to their wishes and their views.  
My gratitude toward them is expressed in respect, appreciation, and help.  
But it is by no means a complete nullity, as the Rabbi believes it should be with God.  
If my parents, God forbid, order me to murder someone, I will not do it. On the other hand, when God orders Abraham to kill his son, he must do it. 
What is the difference, then, between the duty of gratitude to parents, which lies in a certain field of appreciation and respect, and the duty of gratitude toward God, which obliges me to enslave my entire life to Him, and to do everything He commands, even if it goes against my entire world of values?
Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Aren't the commandments of God absolutely binding?
After all, the price of killing one's son is perhaps the most terrible of all, and yet most thinkers (and from what I remember, you too, but I may be wrong) agree that Abraham had to do it, and if he refused, then he acted wrongly.
This means that there is normative criticism of those who refuse to carry out the commandments of God, even in cases where the price is very heavy.
It is clear that a person has a choice in how to act, but if when he does not carry out the commandments of God, he acts wrongly, then the commandment is still binding.
This is not the case with the commandments of parents, which are not binding in all cases.
If a parent asks his son to kill another person, and the son refuses to do so, not only is it his choice whether to refuse, as the rabbi says, but in such a case I would not have moral criticism of him, but quite the opposite - he acted properly.
Which is not true in the case where God commands. Although I can choose to refuse His commands, in any case, I am acting improperly, because His commands are binding.
This means that there is a fundamental difference between God and parents, that unlike honoring parents, where there is a limit to what can be said, with God every commandment binds me, and if I do not do what He says, I am acting improperly.
So, where is the difference that makes all of His commands binding based solely on the principle of gratitude, for we also said that there is a limit to gratitude (in parents), and we will not always fulfill it. I am not talking, of course, about whether I will actually do what God commands, but about the normative statement that is binding.
For example, in the case where the commandment of prayer demands too heavy a price from me on a mental level, and I do not fulfill it, will the Rabbi give me permission?
Where am I wrong in my analysis (if at all), and what is the difference that makes all of His commands binding?
Did you read what I said? I answered that.
I read, I couldn't understand the division, at least not the essential difference. After all, my duty to my parents is also for the very existence and for the very existence of my birth, and not just for the actions they did for me. And even if I have gratitude for the very existence, does the value of gratitude outweigh the prohibition against murder? Why should it have an unlimited status? And if it is limited, then how can it be said that Abraham had to kill Isaac? Is there a limit at which other values will outweigh gratitude, even for the very existence?
In addition, you once wrote:
“The meaning of the concept God: The cause that what He commands we must do (by the very fact that He commanded). In light of this principle, I have often explained the puzzling words of the Maimonides in 7:35 (the concept of “acceptance in God”). Therefore, the concept ‘God’ in the Bible also describes judges (see Sanhedrin 3 and others), since a judge is a person whose commands one is obligated to obey by virtue of being a judge. This is precisely God.”
And here you wrote:
“The fact that God commands does not mean that I am supposed to comply.”
How does this fit together?
Okay, we're repeating ourselves. I'll try one more time.
I explained that there is a difference between the Creator of the world and everything in it and the one who brought me into the world. The commitment to the Creator is total and absolute, and not to the parents. If someone created me and everything around me and gives life to all of us, a simple assumption is that he has absolute authority to determine what will happen to me and the world. Everything I have is by his power and by his right. This is not true with regard to parents. Therefore, there is no value that outweighs ontic gratitude (as opposed to moral gratitude). What's more, my commitment to values is also based on a commitment to God (without him, the laws of morality have no validity. See column 456).
I'll make one more point. Values cannot be explained and established. If you ask me why not to murder? I have no answer. Like this. Someone who has not experienced the commitment to any value or values at all has not experienced it enough. But for those who have experienced this, but who have questions like yours (what is my gratitude to my parents? What is my gratitude to God?!), in my opinion this is a sufficient explanation for him.
The aqeedah is the result of revelation and a direct command, and therefore Abraham probably had no doubt that this is what God requires. Therefore, it does not concern my argument about what to do in a situation where I have doubts. But it does show that the requirement in itself is absolute. 
If God (= the Creator of the world who was revealed at Sinai) said something, you can think that he is not ‘God’ in the sense that everything he says is binding. But if you decide that he is also God, then of course his words are binding.
If I understand correctly, you claim that the duty towards God stems from the duty of gratitude for our creation. But elsewhere you wrote: “A benefit to a person is only a benefit to an existing person and is measured against his condition without the benefit. Creating someone in a good or bad state, the creation itself is neither a benefit nor an evil. The benefit and the harm to him are both a benefit and an evil to him.” And so I ask: If our creation is not a benefit, why should we acknowledge God’s favor for what is not considered a benefit?
https://mikyab.net/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%A8%D7%AA-%D7%98%D7%95%D7%91%D7%94-%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9F-%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%A8-%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%92%D7%99%D7%94/
Leave a Reply
Please login or Register to submit your answer
 
				