Let’s Talk about God - It ain't so simple!

It would be an understatement to say that God plays a big role in people’s lives. He is present in the human mind, referred to in countless conversations, and even makes an appearance on the legal tender of the United States (for Canadians “real life was on the skating rink”).

Although his prominence in the human psyche is undeniable, God is the most complex and profound entity to understand. King David notes several times in Psalms that God is good, yet wickedness makes a daily appearance in the news. How can we defend the belief that God is good and at the same time omnipotent, in view of the existence of evil in the world?

The issue of Theodicy is not new. The Holocaust did not produce the dilemma, it only magnified it. The question has occupied the minds of many philosophers and theologians for centuries. Unfortunately, I am not able to offer answers. However, in my humble opinion, what must be avoided is the simplification of God.

In times of challenge, or when a person is in need, he turns to the Al-mighty in prayer. Prayer has enormous power. It gives the human being the ability to transcend the physical world and connect to the sublime. The homo sapiens can actually have a conversation with God! Yet, although we tell ourselves and teach our children that we can converse with a Supernatural Being just as we chat with our neighbor, we must not simplify His essence. The neighbor we talk to is human like us. Thus, we expect reciprocity in the conversation. God, on the other hand, is not human. Although humanity has been granted the right, and indeed the privilege, to speak to him, they must remember the complex entity that is listening. Simplifying God and expecting a human response is a misunderstanding of prayer, and in the long run can cause damage to the wonderful relationship that prayer creates.

Appreciating the complexity of God goes beyond prayer. A big part of Judaism is the concept of Emunah - faith. For some, faith is a belief that everything that is going to occur will be good. However, we all know that, unfortunately, reality is not so. The years of World War II cannot be described as good, yet many holy Jews had a lot of Emunah in the years leading up to the catastrophe.

Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, popularly known by the name of his magnum opus, Chazon Ish, notes that faith is not that all will be good, but rather, faith is the belief that nothing is a coincidence and that all that occurs is decreed by God. This explanation raises far more questions and makes Emunah far more complex. Yet, what we avoid with this approach is the simplification of God.

There's an old saying regarding God: “If I would know Him I would be Him.” We cannot expect to have all the answers when discussing the most enigmatic entity. Nevertheless, we are privileged to have received a system of laws that bonds us to a Divine Being.

I personally am moved by people who journeyed through the nightmare of the Holocaust and nevertheless remained devoted to God. Questions, they have. Answers, they painfully lack. Yet they can walk into a house of worship and thank God for his kindness.

I thank the Holocaust generation for rebuilding their lives, after observing unimaginable destruction, for reconstructing Jewish institutions, after experiencing the terror of Kristallnacht, and for inspiring a whole new generation to believe in an enigmatic being known to us as God.

Rosh Hashana

We all know Rosh Hashana as the day on which we hear the sound of the Shofar, following the Torah’s commandment, “It will be a day of Teruah.” Yet, we may wonder: “Why is there such a variety of sounds; can’t we just hear a Teruah and go home?”

The Talmud explains that a Teruah must be sounded three times, each time preceded and followed by a Tekoah, a long clear sound. Although we are able to identify the proper sound for the Tekoah, when it comes to the Teruah, there is a debate.

The Talmud explains that the Oral Tradition translates the word “Teruah” as “Yebava” which is a unique type of cry that was let out by the mother of Sisrah. Sisrah was an extremely powerful general who tormented the Jewish nation for 20 years. When he went to war against the Jews, G-d performed a miracle and he was killed [Judges 4,5]. The chapter describing the song and praise given by the Jews to G-d ends with a description of Sisrah’s mother reacting to his delay in returning. The verse reads as follows: “And the mother of Sisrah cried.” The word used for cry, however, is “vateyabev” which is the same word the Talmud uses to translate “Teruah.”

The Rabbis in the Talmud say the reason we blow different sounds for the Teruah is that we are attempting to create a sound similar to the cry of General Sisrah’s mother and, because we are not sure what the sound is like, we need to blow a variety of sounds. Nevertheless, we still may wonder why we have to learn how to perform a mitzvah as significant as blowing the Shofar on this holy and important day, from the cry of the mother of an evil general. It is my belief that we can find the answer by understanding the uniqueness of her cry.

Usually, a cry emanates from feelings of despair and hopelessness. As a General, Sisrah had a perfect victory record — always returning as champion. When his mother cried, although she was concerned at the time, deep down she felt confident that her son would soon return. She even expresses her confidence by saying the reason he must be delayed is from the business of collecting the booty. The word “vateyabev” is a description of that unique cry, one that conveys concern and worry, but with an underlying confidence.

The day of Rosh Hashana is a very serious day. It is a day when our individual and collective future is determined, a day during which we have the opportunity to pray and ask for mercy for Israel, and that all suffering should come to an end. Thus, we lift the Shofar and blast the sound of a cry. This cry, however, is not a cry of despair and gloom, because we know that we have a Father if Heaven and that His concern for us is like that of a father for his children. So when we cry, it is a cry that carries within it, confidence that G-d has a plan and that redemption and peace will eventually come. When we blow the shofar, we don’t just blow the sound of a cry, but rather, a “yebava” that indicates our confidence in the Creator for a good year.

Shana Tova.