Q&A: Lack of Providence
Lack of Providence
Question
From what I understand, you do not believe in individual providence in our times (not ruling out exceptional cases, but you get the point). In addition, you also claim not to know whether there is a World to Come, or what happens there. If so, what exactly is the point of your faith?
You do not subscribe to most of Judaism’s religious beliefs, you are quite skeptical, and you do not support mysticism (from what I have understood so far, at least). So what is the point of your faith? Why are you not simply a deist? What are your reasons for observing the commandments, if in your view God no longer intervenes and there may be no World to Come at all? I hope I’m being clear.
Answer
No, you are not being clear. Why is belief in all these dubious things connected to religion and halakhic commitment? Or, in short: what is the point of your faith?
There is also the option of observing the commandments because one should, and because it is the right thing to do. You probably never thought of that, alongside all the mistaken reasons for observing the commandments that seem self-evident to you. But there you go, lucky you. To get up to date, all you need to do is open Maimonides, Laws of Repentance, chapter 10—of course, only if you happen to believe what Maimonides wrote. Good luck.
Discussion on Answer
I do not see the connection to your first sentence. If you mean a psychological question, that does not interest me, and in my opinion it is not open for discussion either. If someone has a feeling of emptiness, let him go to a psychologist or take a pill.
Please define “the right thing to do.”
And to sharpen my question: I think what I wanted to ask is whether your faith feels empty. As an atheist, not believing in a higher power feels true to me, but it still feels empty.
I am asking whether you also feel empty because, from your perspective, there is no God overseeing the world, which is equivalent to a God who does not exist (at least as far as our world specifically is concerned). My question is: are you happy with your faith, or does it rather bum you out that there is no individual providence?