Q&A: Serving God
Serving God
Question
My understanding was that the Torah and the commandments were given to us by the Holy One, blessed be He, in order to guide us in this world, help us, and lead us to live the ideal and proper way of life.
But I heard an answer from a great rabbi that contradicts the explanation I wrote at the beginning, and I quote: "A person who serves God only because of the reward is, in a certain sense, serving himself. The Holy One, blessed be He, and His service are not the main thing for him, but rather his own personal benefit. And although such service is also considered serving God, it is certainly not the ideal way of serving God."
My understanding is that God created the world and gave us the Torah and the commandments to help us and do good for us, so of course my serving God is meant to advance me, because that too is what God wants. So what does it mean that God is the main thing, and that one should specifically serve for God's sake? After all, God does not need our commandments, does He?
Answer
There are a few confusions mixed together here. First, even if the commandments were given to us so that we would live properly and for our benefit, that does not mean this is supposed to be our motivation in performing them. It may be that the benefit is a kind of reward for doing the right thing, and I am supposed to do it because it is right, not for the sake of the benefit. Like a piece of candy for a child.
Beyond that, when we speak about benefit, this does not necessarily mean a better life, but rather a more correct one. And it is also not necessarily a better life for us; perhaps it is a spiritual benefit for the world or for the Holy One, blessed be He. And He actually does need our commandments. See Column 170 and many other places.