A double condition in worshiping God and keeping the commandments
Honorable Rabbi, I have recently been dealing with matters of faith and the relationship between God and the Children of Israel, and why it is important for God to have a people, and why He requires us to keep the commandments. I assume that the topic is already in the Rabbi’s books. I would like to know where.
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How can I ask him?
I have no idea.
I think the questioner wanted to know what the possible answers to this question are from Judaism. If you phrase the question this way, you can move a little further toward obtaining an answer than by directly appealing to the higher authority. Here there is already a beginning of providing answers, albeit not necessarily successful, to the question.
Any question of what God's purpose is regarding all sorts of things is ridiculous. As long as He has not revealed to us what His purpose is (through His prophets). One can come up with endless possibilities, but it is irrelevant as long as it has no basis in the words of God Himself, and even then the thinkers will say that this is not the true purpose.
For those who believe in the Torah, He truly revealed to us at least part of His will through His prophet Moses. From this, there is no problem in deducing speculation as to why He did this. There are more or less plausible speculations, and of course they are never certain. But to say that a believer in the Torah necessarily has no clue seems to me to be a real logical fallacy. Whoever says this must prove that there is not even the slightest hint anywhere in the Torah, while at the same time he himself has already assumed that the information reached him (that there is a Torah and that it conveys a wealth of messages to us).
On the 25th of Adar, 2017,
In accordance with Ramada’s instructions to ask God why He needs a people who keep the commandments, I decided to take advantage of my daily conversation with God to present the question to Him.
To my surprise, I received the answer already during the preparation for the meeting, right at the beginning, the verses of Zimra open with ‘Give thanks to God; call on His name; make known His deeds among the nations.’ The role of the people of Israel is to spread the belief in the Oneness of God and the basic moral values called the ‘Seven Commandments of the Children of Noah’ throughout the world.
To this end, the people of Israel were destined to be the ‘firstborn son’ who teaches their younger brothers the way. And even before the event of Mount Sinai, the Lord made it clear For a people who must be a ‘kingdom of priests’ and a holy nation’ that will represent the will of God in the world. As the priests of humanity, the people of Israel are under an obligation to behave in ways of holiness beyond that imposed on the rest of humanity, they are the 13 commandments that bring the people of God to a constant internalization of the presence of God in their world and moral behaviors beyond the norm required of all humanity.
Thus, the children of Israel are required to be a model society, a ‘holy nation’ that has God close to them and righteous laws and judgments, which will inspire all nations to follow in their footsteps.
With blessings, Amioz Yaron Schnitzel
This is a good example of reasonable speculation (for those who believe in the Torah and feel committed to it)
Paragraph 3, line 1
… to be the ‘eldest son’ the teacher…
If God cared that they keep the commandments, he wouldn't have prepared hell for us.
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