Sunday, January 22, 2012
Is our God small minded?
There is a growing movement within Messianic Judaism that insists we cannot understand God's word, His Laws, rules and regulations, therefore we must rely on the teachings of the Oral Torah as a necessary partner to the Scriptures.
Sometimes I find myself questioning if God really cares for the small thing? Is nothing too small for God? Does God really care if we walk more than five steps without a Kipah (yarmulka)? Is He really upset if we eat a sandwich outside the Sukkah? If I turn the light on Shabbat, eat a cheesecake after a good New-York steak or forget to kiss a Mezuzah once in a while, am I going to hell? Is this the main purpose of God? Is God that board as to tell us not to wear strong colors only balck and white? Will He punish, hate or seek revenge if we don't study Torah 12 hours a day? If we use logic, the answer to these questions have to be a resounding, NO!
Is watching over us to keep all the thousands different Mitzvot, halachot and prohibitions, is what God is so interested in, or is He beyond this samall-mindness?
The halachot, mitzvot, the do's and dont's create traditions, Traditions create religion, religion creates separation between people, it causes pride in the individual, because he comes around to thinking that somehow, by doing mitzvot and deeds that the other don't he is better than them. Note the "Kosher" and the "Glat Kosher." Logic will tell us that God is not basing His evaluation of us on the keeping of this or that mitzvah. Good deeds are suposed to come from the heart, not from seeking any reward.
Even in a cursory reading of the Torah, we discover that the mitzvot God gave us were completely different in their intent, and way we are supposed to do them from what we understand and do today. Moreover, the mitzvot change according to the time, culture and place. God did not wake up one morning and decided "today I will prohibit them from eating Cheesburgers!"
God gave us Laws and commands to remind us on a permanet basis who we are, who He is,His person and attributes. Of course the glaring problem, throuout the Tanach and until today, is that our people, led by the religious leaders, failed to understand this. Instead of serving God, the religious leaders want us to serve the laws that are supposed to remind us of Him. They made the rules, the fence, the frame to be holy, instead of the One the frame is pointing to. Throughout the years, instead of concentrating on God, the Rabbis expended the frame to include more and more new, invented rules and regulations. Even thogh God gave us a different message: " For I delight in loyalty, rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6). Since Israel failed, God promised, through the Prophet Jeremiah, that in the future He will cut a New Covenant with His people. (Jerem. 31:31-34).
The New Covenant will bring a few chnges:
1) The Laws will be absorbed in the heart of the people who will accept the New Covenant.
2) " They shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them..." That means that our ties with God will be renewed only through this Covenant. Young or old, priests or ley people.
3) "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." That means that the New Covenant will be the perpetual sacrifice for our sins.
More than a third of the commandments are not possible to keep today. But the principles behind them are still valid. Throughout Jewish history, the Jewish people lost the understanding of the tenets of the commandments. So much so, that between the Judaism of 2000 years ago and today's traditional Judaism, there is no connection or similarity.
God made it clear to the Israelites, theoughout the Tanach, that He does not want their empty deeds, and their "pretends." God wanted their hearts "...For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7). See the story of the serpents in the desert (Numb. 21). All the people needed to do is to look up to the bronze serpent and have faith.
So, we can see, that traditional Judaism today is in a dilemma, one one hand it has to provide a קרבן -sacrifice, on the other hand, there is no Temple and no way to offer a sacrifice. The Sages constructed a whole labyrinth of rules and regulations to remedy this problem, but the Tanach offered a simple solution, THE MESSIAH.
OH, please Lord, open their eyes...
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Didn't we have this conversation already, Dan?
ReplyDeleteYou know and I know that certain details are not included in the Torah and so that information has to be provided through other means. If you believe that no part of the Oral Law given to Moses at Sinai (assuming you believe that God had that kind of conversation with Moses), then *somebody* has to answer questions like, "Exactly when does the Shabbat start and end?" and "Can I drive my car on Shabbat?"
However, decisions such as how many steps you can take on Shabbat and the rules for carrying an object from one domain to another, are less explanatory than defining. Remember, I said that a large part of the Talmudic judgments weren't just to 'fill in the blanks' but to define Jewish identity, which the sages do usually to the smallest detail.
It's a little unfair to say that the penalty for violating a Rabbinic judgment is always "going to hell". Usually the sages say that in ancient times violating "such and thus" was punishable by lashes or something. I don't know of any Jewish community that actually practices physical punishment should a member of their community violate a commandment, at least not in America.
But beyond the Rabbinic perspective, does God really care if you flip on a light on Shabbos, go to the store and buy a gallon of milk because you forget to do so before sundown on Friday, or heat up your leftover meatloaf in the microwave? I don't know.
I suspect (and this is just my opinion) that beyond a certain level of detail, He cares less about the minutiae than He does about the intent. That means He may still be pleased with the Shabbos rest of a devout Orthodox Jew because that is how the Orthodox Jew shows his devotion to God. God may also be just as pleased with how you perform your Shabbos rest Dan, because it also represents your very best effort to obey the mitzvot.
You know and I know that certain details are not included in the Torah and so that information has to be provided through other means. If you believe that no part of the Oral Law given to Moses at Sinai (assuming you believe that God had that kind of conversation with Moses), then *somebody* has to answer questions like, "Exactly when does the Shabbat start and end?" and "Can I drive my car on Shabbat?"
DeleteWhy do we need to know all the details, I would say this is an assumption made for many.
If these questions really do need answering, then the established judges in Israel according to the command, would be the authority, not the Rabbis... this is no different than those who argue from the Catholic Church against Protestants, just wondering James, were you previously Catholic?
I realize you might not ever read this, do to this being a post made a while ago, but if you do. I am interested in your view in regard to Catholic vs Protestant, seems like the same argument here.
James,
ReplyDeleteIf you didnn't like this article, wait for my next one on the Kaballah you so dearly love.....
I didn't say I practiced Kabbalah, just that I found some of the themes and metaphors compelling. Go ahead. I won't hurt my feelings. ;-)
ReplyDeleteGood post, Dan. There's a test in American jurisprudence for determining the scope of the Necessary and Proper Clause in the U.S. Constitution that I think can be adapted for determining the scope of Messianic halachah.
ReplyDeleteHere's the original test:
"Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional."
Here's how it could be reworked as a test for evaluating the validity of halacha:
"If the goal of the tradition serves Torah and the practices of the tradition fit with the spirit of Torah and are not prohibited by Torah then the tradition is valid."
Perhaps something like that?
-Peter
I like that, Peter, something I'll keep with me. Thanks.
DeleteInteresting thought. Thanks Peter.
ReplyDeleteDan, that's a message I can get behind. May we seek him with all our HEARTS.
ReplyDeleteSteven