Q&A: A Question for God
A Question for God
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Since I didn’t get an answer from God, I’m directing the question to you..
How does He expect us to love Him and accept the commandments and Torah attributed to Him if there are so many difficulties and so much lack of clarity?
In our world, it seems to me much more reasonable to be, at most, simply an agnostic.
Even if you argue that in your view there are strong indications for His existence and His desire that we keep this framework of commandments and Torah, then:
A. These are only indications, and even these indications run up against indications that negate His existence, like the fact that we see blind processes can occur (and it cannot be proven what was before the Big Bang).
B. This is only your opinion, and there can be people who are more inclined to accept the position of agnosticism/atheism out of a combination of lack of emotional connection and what seem to them to be rational conclusions.
To sum up, I don’t understand why we owe Him anything if He took such pains to hide Himself so well that there are so many doubts and so much uncertainty.
Thank you in advance.
Answer
It seems to me that you’ll have to wait for an answer from Him. I’m not interested in the question of why He expects anything. That should be asked of Him. I’m more interested in the question of how, if at all, those expectations can be fulfilled. If they can’t, then indeed I won’t fulfill them, regardless of the question of why He expects this of me.
As for loving Him, if you can’t find a way to fulfill that, then don’t love Him. Why is it important to you to clarify why He expects it? Why is that relevant if in any case you can’t fulfill it?
As for the question itself—why do you owe Him anything: 1. Because that is the truth. Conduct in accordance with the Torah brings about a better spiritual world (not necessarily a more moral one). 2. Because He created us, we have an obligation toward Him as such. See my article on philosophical gratitude. That is, of course, if you have reached the conclusion that He exists and that He created the world. If not, then none of this is relevant. There is no obligation to fulfill imaginary commands issued by imaginary entities.
I have written more than once that the fact that we do not understand His ways changes nothing for our purposes. This is the parable of the broken clock, which you can search for here on the site.
Discussion on Answer
I can only repeat myself: nothing that I think obligates you. I can only say what I think.
Good luck.
Thanks.
This question is relevant to moral duties as well, not only to religious duties. Are we expected to fulfill moral duties despite the lack of clarity that surrounds them?
Interesting—why do you think it isn’t relevant to deal with this question?
*This “why” question is mainly a question of how He expects such a thing from us, and not what the reason is (His own, between Him and Himself) that He expects it.
Assuming He gives me an answer and all that remains for me to do is just ask how to do it in practice, I think I’ll be able to manage with the practical side.
The reason I want to clarify how He expects it is that I assume there ought to be an answer to that which pertains to me, one that would enable me to fulfill His commandment. If there is no answer to that, I’ll have to remain in doubt and not spend my days on exhausting and restrictive actions in the name of doubt.
As for the answers to why I owe Him anything:
1. Why does your basic assumption—that conduct according to the Torah brings about a better spiritual world—obligate me? (If it is subjective, then it is open to dispute and depends on each individual case; and if it is objective, then it is included within the doubts and is not, in my view, decided.)
That’s nice, but I don’t see anything binding here.
2. If He created us and left us in the dark, then general gratitude would indeed be appropriate. Gratitude expressed in a specific way such as Torah and commandments is not necessary, since He did not bother to anchor that in a way that would be accepted without doubts, but on the contrary, multiplied them…