Q&A: Where Are His Mighty Deeds, Where Is His Awesomeness in Our Time?
Where Are His Mighty Deeds, Where Is His Awesomeness in Our Time?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In tractate Yoma it says:
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Why were they called the Men of the Great Assembly? Because they restored the crown to its former glory. Moses came and said, Deuteronomy 10:17, "the great, mighty, and awesome God." Jeremiah came and said: Foreigners are cavorting in His sanctuary — where is His awesomeness? So he did not say "awesome." Daniel came and said: Foreigners are enslaving His children — where are His mighty deeds? So he did not say "mighty." Then they came and said: On the contrary, this is His mighty power, that He conquers His impulse and shows long-suffering to the wicked; and these are His awesome deeds, for if not for the fear of the Holy One, blessed be He, how could one nation survive among the nations? And how could the Sages do such a thing and uproot the ordinance established by Moses? Rabbi Elazar said: Because they knew of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He is truthful, therefore they did not speak falsely of Him.
According to your approach, in our time the Holy One, blessed be He, has disengaged from direct contact with us. Seemingly, based on that, the Men of the Great Assembly's reason for restoring the titles "mighty" and "awesome" falls away. Because the reason God does not punish the wicked is not due to His patience or conquering His impulse, but because of a change in policy. And regarding our nation's survival among the nations as well, it does not stem from any intervention by the Holy One, blessed be He, but from our own effort. If so, why shouldn't we say in prayer only "the great God," and that's it? Since we know of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He is truthful, why should we speak falsely of Him?
Answer
He is still great, mighty, and awesome, just as we saw in the past. It is simply that nowadays this is not expressed in practice.
Of course, one can then ask why at that time they did cancel it. I think that at that time their situation was such that it did not allow them to live with that awareness. After all, it is clear that they too understood that He is great, mighty, and awesome; it just was not manifest in the world.
It may be that if we had prophets today (assuming prophesying them would not contradict the policy of withdrawal), they would cancel it. But without prophets, as long as the words are not false, I do not see any necessity or justification to cancel them.
There are far more difficult problems in the prayer service (such as the requests and expressions of thanks)..