Q&A: Faith / Belief
Faith / Belief
Question
Hello and blessings,
I’m having a hard time understanding the meaning of the Torah and the purpose of observing the commandments and keeping Jewish law. I’ve been looking for answers in a great many books and learning a lot about faith, but I find the answers that are given difficult.
I believe there is a Creator of the world and a divine being, but I can’t understand why He gave us the Torah and what obligates us to it.
If the Torah is the right way to live, and God guides us through it toward the ideal way of life in the world, then I accept that, and I see meaning and value in many commandments. For example, washing the hands before eating bread teaches us to thank the One who created the bread; it fosters gratitude, and in addition it helps educate toward cleanliness and hygiene.
From the understanding that the commandments were given to show us a way of life, I can understand the meaning of keeping and observing the Torah, and I’m able to connect to it. (Even so, there are many commandments in which I don’t see value, such as commandments between a person and God—it just seems like serving God, and I don’t see any particular meaning there. In addition, I think it’s possible to live a good life with a lot of kindness and happiness and with a lot of help and care for others even without the Torah’s guidance, through the inner morality that is embedded in a person. There are many secular people whose whole world is kindness and who do good, but on the Sabbath they drive to the beach, and they are not guided by the Torah—and I only wish Torah-observant people would live like they do.)
But that is not the definition and answer I found. According to what I studied and read, the purpose of life is “to delight in God and enjoy the radiance of His Presence,” and through the commandments we cleave to God, draw near to Him, serve Him, and fear Him. This is puzzling to me. So what—that God created the world? Why does that obligate me to serve Him and fulfill and do everything He commanded me?
If it means living in a good and proper way—observing commandments whose meaning I understand—then that works for me. But just serving God and cleaving to Him, I don’t understand the value of that. I don’t understand all the holiness and awe involved in drawing near to God and truly serving Him. I can’t understand why there has to be all this effort to feel small in relation to God. He created the world—so what? Why is He so holy that we need to be submissive to Him?
If the whole meaning of our coming into the world is to do good and the Torah is meant to guide us toward that, then why are expressions constantly used like fear of God, for the sake of Heaven, and so on? The goal is to do good and kindness—what does that have to do with God’s honor and doing things for His sake?
Answer
It seems simple to me that the purpose of the commandments is not morality, nor even a better life. That is simply not factually true. It is reasonable that their purpose is religious, meaning some sort of spiritual rectification or improvement (and that is true also of the moral commandments). I discussed this at length at the beginning of the third book in my trilogy, and also in the article “Is Jewish law Hebrew Law?” and in this article:
https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&cx=f18e4f052adde49eb&q=https://mikyab.net/%25D7%259B%25D7%25AA%25D7%2591%25D7%2599%25D7%259D/%25D7%259E%25D7%2590%25D7%259E%25D7%25A8%25D7%2599%25D7%259D/%25D7%2591%25D7%2599%25D7%259F-%25D7%2594%25D7%2598%25D7%25A8%25D7%2599%25D7%2598%25D7%2595%25D7%25A8%25D7%2599%25D7%2594-%25D7%25A9%25D7%259C%25D7%2599-%25D7%259C%25D7%2598%25D7%25A8%25D7%2599%25D7%2598%25D7%2595%25D7%25A8%25D7%2599%25D7%2594-%25D7%25A9%25D7%259C-%25D7%2594%25D7%2596%25D7%2595%25D7%259C%25D7%25AA-%25D7%25A2&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwia5b_L45aBAxXbTaQEHSE2AYoQFnoECAUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3v7LIO2iei8cmxJK-tvLLz
I also explained in the first book of the trilogy why it is not plausible that the goal of the commandments is morality. In general, it is not plausible that the goal is us, since there was an alternative: not to create us, in which case there would be no need for commandments. Therefore it is quite clear that we and the commandments are meant for some kind of spiritual rectification (and perhaps even of the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself. See column 360, and also 170 and 115).
Discussion on Answer
Rabbi, someone who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones.
If you are lumping my books together with that literature, you are making a bitter mistake.
So it’s not recommended to study Guide of the Perplexed? The Maharal? Sefer Ha-Ikkarim? Tanya? Nefesh Ha-Chayim? Rabbi Kook?
After all, from what I can see, the Rabbi certainly did read them, think about them, and teach them, even if he did not see this as Torah study in the object-sense or even in the person-sense.
With God’s help, 21 Elul 5783
To Hanan — greetings,
Morality obligates us to respect property rights and to show gratitude to one who has done us good. Accordingly, our obligation to the Creator of the world is no less, for “He made us, and we are His.”
Moreover: a person’s recognition of his subordination to the Creator of the world deepens his commitment and responsibility to work for the betterment of the world and the benefit of created beings, because the “Master of the house” desires their good. The commandments between a person and God help a person internalize this obligation.
With blessings, Fish"l
The fact that the moral values of the Torah and the Prophets are today accepted by a broad portion of humanity is the result of the presence, over thousands of years, of the “morality of the Prophets” within the Jewish people and world culture, spread by Judaism.
But even if these concepts have already entered human consciousness, a person still needs constant self-education in order to internalize his obligation and responsibility, so that he not distort or twist things because of his egoistic impulses, which are “working overtime.”
Regards, Fish"l
It doesn’t speak to me, and I also didn’t study them. Here and there I saw passages, but I definitely did not study the books themselves. If there is someone to whom this speaks and who builds his world through it, then that’s perfectly fine. That is Torah in the person-sense, just like Kant or Dostoevsky.
That doesn’t matter. In the final analysis, you just added more books to the collection. It’s like those who fight metaphysics and in the end add yet another thick book dealing with metaphysics. That doesn’t mean the books contain no originality, but every book in the list I brought had some novelty worth reflecting on.
In response to “Education Instills Values” — “The fact that the moral values of the Torah and the Prophets are today accepted by a broad portion of humanity is the result of the presence, over thousands of years, of the ‘morality of the Prophets’ that Judaism spread.”
I’ve seen this claim many times, and I’d be happy if you could enlighten me and give me examples.
Just because it says in the Torah not to murder doesn’t mean that’s where the gentiles learned that it’s wrong; it seems more likely that their natural morality bothered them and told them it wasn’t okay.
That is a clear impression. Any such claim can be rejected with skeptical arguments. But go out and see: people rely on the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), quote it, and use it in these contexts.
Clearly natural feeling also carries weight. It’s a complex issue.
With God’s help, 26 Elul 5783
To Hanan — greetings,
There are basic values—not to murder, not to steal, and the like—that were accepted even in idolatrous societies, whether because they were socially useful, or because humanity has some kind of shared heritage as descendants of Adam and Noah. And even here there were “slipups,” for example in Rome, where the accepted “entertainment” was watching cruel crucifixions and gladiatorial games, and in “the practice of the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan,” which sanctified permissiveness.
But values of kindness and concern for the weak as a legal obligation of man are unique to the Bible. See, for example, Professor Daniel Friedman’s article, “And You Shall Remember That You Were a Slave” (on the Da’at website), which points to the uniqueness of biblical law in establishing aid to the weak as an absolute obligation.
Likewise, man’s obligation to educate his children, established in the words of the Torah, “And you shall teach them diligently to your children,” was turned by Joshua ben Gamla into a “compulsory education law” among the Jewish people—some 1,800 years before the modern world arrived at creating “compulsory education.”
Another value with social and educational significance that influenced all humanity is the creation of a weekly day of rest. This “earned” torrents of Hellenistic mockery against the lazy Jews who spend one-seventh of their lives in idleness. But the world discovered that there is value in a weekly halt to the chase after materialism and in dedicating time to cultivating the spirit.
The aspiration for world peace was coined by Isaiah and Micah in their prophecy about the end of days, when “Torah shall go forth from Zion,” and under its inspiration “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore”—not for nothing was this engraved in front of the United Nations building. Seeing all humanity as “one family” derives from the monotheistic outlook.
Regards, Fish"l
And as I mentioned, morality that comes not only from social utility but also from a sense of man’s subordination to his Creator leads to this: that a person who behaves well toward his fellow human beings will also be humble, and will not grow arrogant and puff himself up over his material and spiritual achievements.
What I wrote in the last paragraph may perhaps be embodied in the words of the Sages that the sign of one whose ancestors stood at Mount Sinai is this: “They are bashful, compassionate, and doers of kindness.” Not merely a basic universal human morality embodied in the seven Noahide commandments, of “being decent,” but a morality of compassion and kindness accompanied by great humility in a person who recognizes his subordination to his Creator, and from that, the worth of other creatures. He honors “the one who was created in the image,” and shows special affection for those who are called “children of the Omnipresent.”
Regards, Fish"l
In general, I do not recommend studying the literature of Jewish thought. Better to think. The authors there knew no more than you do, and there is no reason to assume that their words carry any authority, or that they are correct if they do not seem so to you.