Q&A: A One-Sided Relationship with the Holy One, Blessed Be He
A One-Sided Relationship with the Holy One, Blessed Be He
Question
Hello Rabbi, it bothers me that the relationship with the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is one-sided. I pray to Him, but I don’t receive an answer from Him, regardless of whether the request is granted. I work and make an effort to fulfill His will; sometimes I don’t succeed. I don’t know what my overall standing is. He doesn’t speak to me. I can’t consult with Him. The Torah that He gave us many years ago is certainly something significant, but it is not always clear, it requires a great deal of knowledge and interpretive wisdom, and it doesn’t fit naturally into my life. And I have many more feelings like this, including on the collective level: He does not guide us and tell us what to do, and there are many important crossroads. This is an existential feeling. Usually the answers to this feeling are that unfortunately we no longer have prophecy, and indeed the relationship today is hidden. I read the Rabbi’s trilogy, and the question is still gnawing at me. I would be glad to hear your answer.
Answer
That bothered me too. That is why I do not feel such a relationship, and in my opinion one also does not need to feel it. One should do what we have obligated ourselves to do. Therefore, for example, I do not see prayer as something fundamental and special, and I do only the minimum required there, nothing more. The desire for existential experiences is a desire to derive personal satisfaction from serving God, and that is not its purpose.
Discussion on Answer
I’ve already answered this so many times that there’s no point repeating it again. Search here on the site about the place of emotion and the like.
I think the problem is not only experiential-emotional. The problem here is really the reality of not knowing the truth. There is great difficulty in forming an understanding of what God commands us. And even after such an understanding is formed, one still remains in a certain degree of uncertainty (true but not stable…). As a result, the need for revelation is created.
To work only with the mind is, for me, partial. I have both a mind and a heart, intellect and emotion. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, also commands me: “You shall love the Lord,” and “to serve Him with all your heart.” What do you think about that?