G-d's will becoming our will

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The World's User's Guide






Chapter 2, Mishna 4



"He [Rabban Gamliel] used to say: Do His will as your will in order that He do your will as His will. Annul your will before His will in order that He annul the will of others before your will."



This mishna instructs us to not only follow G-d's will, but to make G-d's will our own. We are not only to perform the mitzvos (commandments), but to want to do nothing else. This seems a daunting and near impossible challenge, yet it is in essence the challenge of Judaism.



We must establish an important principle to begin to appreciate our mishna. It is one which is unfortunately often overlooked, certainly from outside the religious world but tragically sometimes even within. Parts of the following are based on a lecture heard from R. Noah Weinberg OBM of Yeshiva Aish Hatorah, Jerusalem(www.aish.com/rn/).



There is a common misconception about Torah observance and Judaism in general. We often view the Torah as a set of commands whose primary purpose is to enable us to earn a share in the World to Come. More precisely, we see the Torah as a means of being miserable down here so that after a lifetime of struggle and deprivation, we will acquire our share in the hereafter. We would much rather enjoy ourselves and live as we please down here, but (perhaps) it is worth denying ourselves this world in order to get a share of the next one.



That perspective, however, is wrong -- dead wrong. And even more, it misses the entire message of Judaism.



The Torah is not a book about the World to Come, as we will see below. Rather, the Torah is a guidebook for living in this world. As R. Weinberg explains, whenever you buy an item of value, it typically comes with a set of instructions. Buy a vacuum cleaner and you'll get a one-page instruction sheet (the warranty, changing the bag etc.). Buy a stereo system and you'll get a pamphlet (setting the controls, cleaning, maintenance). Buy a car and you'll get a book, a mainframe and you'll get a shelf-full of wholly unreadable manuals.



Well, G-d gave us -- He entrusted us -- with something much greater and much more precious: that great big Spaceship Earth that we all reside upon and share with one another. G-d gave us a world in which we are to create civilizations, till the soil, develop relationships, build families, get along with one another, and share with millions of other species. What did He give us to operate it? How are we to live the most meaningful and rewarding type of existence on it? Where is the user's guide? It is the Torah.



The Torah is not primarily a book which concerns itself with the World to Come. Amazingly, it talks very little about G-d per se (as in, attempting to give us some Kabbalistic understanding of who G-d actually is). And it makes virtually no mention of the World to Come or the Resurrection of the Dead -- although such concepts are literally the cornerstones of our faith. The most the Torah (and by the Torah I mean Scripture -- the written part of our tradition) ever seems to promise for our good deeds is bounty in this world: "And it will be, if you shall surely hearken unto My commandments... I will give you the rain of your land in its time, the autumn rains and the spring rains, and you will gather your grain, wine and oil." (Deuteronomy 11:13-14). Doesn't the Torah have anything grander and loftier to offer us than grain?



The answer is that the Torah is very much a "this world" book. It is not a book which tells us about G-d or religious theology -- nor does it even bother to state that the true reward for our deeds will be in the next world. Rather, the Torah is the set of instructions G-d gave us for making sense of life and human nature. It is a practical work -- for healthy and meaningful living in this world: how to eat, how to marry, how to build relationships, how to combine Torah study and worldly involvement, and even how to relax on the Sabbath.



The Torah is thus a work which understands -- and never denies -- human nature. It knows what our needs are and what our natures are, and it enables us to sublimate every one of our drives and talents towards the spiritual. It provides us with the keys to happiness and fulfillment in this world: through the ideal combination of ritual and individuality, of discipline and personal self-expression. It allows both our bodies and souls to be satisfied and fulfilled. And when the Torah is observed properly, rather than denying the physical side of man making us "miserable", both body and soul become fulfilled, transforming man into a single and complete being in the image of G-d.



(This incidentally is an issue the other great religions have grappled with far less successfully. I am certainly no expert on comparative religions, but my overall understanding is that Christianity has much more trouble relating to the physical side of man, sometimes seeing the ideal as celibacy and poverty. Islam on the other hand, not being able to discount such a central part of man's makeup, seems to have subjugated the spiritual side of man to the physical. Their version of the "world to come" is a huge harem of virgins (at least for men -- I'm not even sure what they offer women (perhaps one reason there are so far fewer female suicide bombers)). Judaism, however, has no such complex about the physical world. All aspects of humanity are purposeful and G-d-given. There is nothing which cannot be properly directed and turned into a vehicle for holiness.)



Thus, the rewards promised in Scripture are likewise limited to this world. The meaning is not, of course, that there will be nothing greater in the World to Come. The Talmud tells us, "There is no true reward in this world" (Kiddushin 39b). All this world truly has to offer is that nothing will go wrong: the rains and weather will cooperate, we won't get sick, the human race won't be wiped out by giant asteroid. True spiritual reward (and punishment) for our deeds is a thing of the next world. But the Written Torah, which deals with living in this world, does not focus on it. It rather tells us that if we serve G-d properly, the world -- and especially the Land of Israel -- will function in harmony with man -- allowing us to serve G-d even better. Not only will our total selves -- body and soul -- be united in service of G-d, but the world itself will join mankind in complete perfection.



We can now begin to appreciate Rabban Gamliel's advice in our mishna. We should want to do the mitzvos -- not just in order to earn reward, but because we recognize that mitzvah observance is itself the reward. It is the most rewarding and fulfilling way to live on this earth. Of course, after our 120 years, the *actual* reward will come -- and we will hardly have to invoke any moral cliches that virtue is its own reward. But Scripture provides us with a wholly accurate depiction of life: Serve G-d down here and you will be happy. I am giving you these commandments for your own sakes, not Mine.



And if we recognize that G-d's will is what is best for us, He will do our will too. Our wants and His will no longer be separate. Our desire will be to serve G-d, to come closer to Him and to realize our own potential. We will want health, happiness and all the blessings but only in order to serve G-d better. And so, there will be a merging of wills. Both our will and G-d's will become one and the same.

What-Makes-a-Jew-Jewish

http://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/61957/jewish/What-Makes-a-Jew-Jewish.htm

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What Makes a Jew "Jewish"?





Adapted from a public talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe



Question:



Is Judaism a "religion"? Is the term "non-religious Jew" an oxymoron? Can one still be Jewish without observing the edicts and ethos of Torah in one's daily life?



Answer:



Jews defy all conventional definitions of a "people" or "nation." We lack a common race, culture or historical experience. While we all share our eternal rights to the Land of Israel, for all but a few centuries of the last 4,000 years the overwhelming majority of Jews have not lived or even set foot in the Jewish homeland.



Throughout our 3300-year history, what has defined us as Jews is a relationship and commitment. We are Jews because G-d chose us to be His "cherished treasure from all the nations... a kingdom of priests and a holy people" (Exodus 19:5-6). We are Jews because G-d chose us to play the central role in the implementation of His purpose in creation: to orientate our lives in accordance with His will, and to develop a society and world community that reflects His goodness and perfection.



The substance of this relationship, the charter of this commitment, is the Torah. The Torah is G-d's concept of reality as communicated to man, the blueprint that describes the perfected world envisioned by its Creator and details the manner in which the Inventor of Life wishes it to be lived.



This would seem to define our Jewishness as a "religion": we are Jews because we adhere to the beliefs and practices mandated by the Torah. But the Torah itself says that this is not so.



The Torah itself proclaims (Leviticus 16:16) that G-d "dwells amongst them in the midst of their impurities" -- that His relationship with His people remains unaffected regardless of their behavior. In the words of the Talmud (Sanhedrin 44a), "A Jew, although he has transgressed, is a Jew."



According to Torah law, a person's Jewishness is not a matter of life-style or self-perception: one may be totally unaware of one's Jewishness and still be a Jew, or one may consider himself Jewish and observe all the precepts of the Torah and still not be a Jew.



In other words, it is the relationship between the Jew and his Creator that defines his Jewishness -- not his acknowledgment of this relationship or his actualization of it in his daily life. It is not the observance of Torah's mitzvot (Divine "commandments") that makes him a Jew, but the commitment that the mitzvot represent.



The Essence of a Transgression




This is the deeper significance of the axiom, "A Jew, although he has transgressed, is a Jew."



The simple meaning of these words is that a Jew is still a Jew despite his transgressions. But on a deeper level, it is because he has transgressed that he is a Jew. A non-Jew who eats chametz (leavened bread) on Passover has done nothing wrong; likewise, his eating matzah on the Seder night has no moral or spiritual significance. But for a Jew, the mitzvot of Passover are a component of his relationship with G-d: by observing them he is realizing this relationship and extending it to his daily life; if he violates them, G-d forbid, he is transgressing -- he is acting contrary to the commitment which defines his identity. Thus, in a certain sense, the fact of a Jew's transgression is no less an expression (albeit a negative one) of his relationship with G-d than his observance of a mitzvah.



Indeed, the Hebrew word mitzvah means both "commandment" and "connection." The relationship between the word's two meanings can also be understood on two levels. On the behavioral level, we connect to G-d through our fulfillment of His commandments. On a deeper level, we are inexorably connected to Him by virtue of the fact that He chose us as the object of His commandments. Obviously, these two levels of connection are two sides of the same coin, being the inner and outer faces of the same truth: our observance of the mitzvot is the manifestation, in our daily lives, of the intrinsic bond between G-d and Israel.



The Six-Dimensional Link




The Zohar, the basic work of the Kabbalah, expresses this concept in the following manner:



There are three connections ('kishrin") that are bound to each other: G-d, the Torah, and Israel --each consisting of a level upon a level, hidden and revealed. There is the hidden aspect of G-d, and the revealed aspect; Torah, too, has both a hidden and a revealed aspect; and so it is with Israel, who also has both a hidden and a revealed aspect.



The Zohar goes on to describe the manner in which the Torah serves as the connecting link between G-d and Israel: how the Torah is one with its Divine Author, and how the Jewish people connect to the Torah through their study and observance of its teachings.



But what are the "hidden" and "revealed" elements of G-d, Torah and Israel? And what is their relevance to our connection to G-d through His Torah?



The Zohar is intimating that these three "connections" are interlinked on two levels, both on a "hidden" and on a "revealed" plane. For each of the three interconnected links possesses both an explicit and an implicit dimension.



There is the so-called "revealed" aspect of G-d -- those expressions of His reality which He chooses to manifest within the created existence; and there is His "hidden" unknowable essence. The Jew, too, has his revealed and manifest self -- the manner in which he expresses himself through his behavior; and his hidden, quintessential self. And the Torah, as outlined above, has both a more pronounced as well as a more implicit significance as the connecting link between G-d and Israel.



On the "hidden" plane, the soul of the Jew is bound to the very essence of G-d through the underlying relationship and commitment which Torah represents. Even if the Jew's life, on the conscious-behavioral level, is inconsistent with the revealed will of the Almighty, s/he is no "less" a Jew, G-d forbid: no matter what, the "hidden" intrinsic bond that defines his Jewishness is unaffected. But in order to express this relationship on all levels of his being, in order to bring his life in line with her essence, the Jew must reiterate the connection on the "revealed" level. This s/he does by studying G-d's Torah and observing its mitzvot.



The Third Juncture




There is, however, another, yet deeper meaning to the Zohar's words.



The above-cited passage speaks of "three connections which are bound to each other." The Aramaic word translated here as "connections" is kishrin, which literally means "knots."



At first glance, this seems to be an inaccurate usage. If Torah is the link between G-d and Israel, then what we have are three entities (G-d, Torah and Israel) linked via two connections (Israel's connection to Torah and the Torah's connection with the Almighty). Where do we have three knots/connections?



This brings us to a second definition of the "hidden" and "revealed" dimensions of the relationship between G-d and Israel. The Midrash states:



Two things preceded G-d's creation of the world: Torah and Israel. Still, I do not know which preceded which. But when Torah states "Speak to the Children of Israel...", "Command the Children of Israel...", and so on, I know that Israel preceded all (Tana D'vei Eliyahu Rabba, chapter 14)



In other words, G-d created the world in order that Israel might implement His Divine plan for existence, as outlined in the Torah. So the concepts of "Israel" and "Torah" both precede the concept of a "world" in the Creator's "mind." Yet which is the more deeply rooted "idea" within the Divine consciousness, Torah or Israel? Does Israel exist so that the Torah be implemented, or does the Torah exist to serve the Jew in the fulfillment of his mission and the expression of his relationship with G-d? If the Torah describes itself as a communication to Israel -- the Midrash is saying -- this presumes the concept of "Israel" as primary to that of "Torah."



This means that G-d's relationship with Israel "pre-dates" (in the conceptual sense) the Torah, for the Torah comes to serve that relationship. In this sense, Israel is the "link" between the Torah and G-d: the Torah's existence as the embodiment of the Divine wisdom and will is a result of Israel's existence and its connection with G-d.



Thus, we have three connections linking G-d, Israel and the Torah:



On the revealed level, the Torah serves as the link between G-d and Israel: the Torah is connected to G-d, and Israel is connected to the Torah. (This includes both levels of connection outlined above -- the connection achieved through the performance of a mitzvah and the connection defined by the commitment itself ).



But on a deeper, more quintessential level, there exists a third connection: the "direct" connection between G-d and His people which precedes the very concept of a Torah. On this level, Israel's involvement in Torah is what connects the Torah to G-d -- what causes Him to extend His infinite and wholly indefinable being into a medium of "Divine wisdom" and "Divine will." On this level, it is not the Jew who needs the Torah in order to be one with G-d, but the Torah who "needs" the Jew to evoke G-d's desire to project Himself via the Torah.



Nevertheless, the Torah is crucial to the Jew's relationship with G-d. The essence of the Jew, as it is rooted within the essence of G-d, is indeed one with its Source. But then it "descends" to become part of the created existence, assuming a distinct identity as a soul and then as a human being. So G-d provided the Jew with His Torah. Through Torah, the Jew touches base with his own quintessential self and makes his intrinsic bond with his Creator a reality in his daily life.