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September 18, 2009
Use the soul to discover faith
For Jews, a deep connection to G-d transcends a belief in G-d.
RABBI SHMUEL YESHAYAHU
The Question: A Jew, born to Jewish parents, does not believe in G-d. Is he no longer a Jew? If not, what is he? Will his children be considered Jewish?
– Rimma D.
You are Jewish. No less than Moses, Maimonides or Sarah our foremother. Jewishness is not a belief, a feeling or a commitment to a certain lifestyle. "Jewishness" is a state of being. A Jew is a Jew. You can choose to celebrate and enjoy this or fight against it.
But I wonder what you mean when you say that this Jew doesn't believe in G-d. Does he not believe in a certain description of G-d? Possibly the description he has in his mind from his childhood? That doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't believe in G-d for who He really is because we don't actually know what He is.
I'd venture to say that when a Jew says she doesn't believe in G-d, it's the images she has in her head that she doesn't believe in. And a Jew who doesn't believe in these images is actually demonstrating her great belief in G-d because G-d himself forbids images of Himself.
Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-1810) was once approached by someone who said, "Rebbe, I don't believe in G-d." The Rebbe answered, "The god you don't believe in, I don't believe in either."
A lot of people who say they don't believe in G-d, basically are saying they struggle with G-d. If you wait on Sunday outside a church and ask people coming out, "Do you believe in G-d?" they'll probably be surprised by the question. Of course they believe. If you ask them, "Do you consider yourself religious?" they'll answer, "Of course!" You'll probably have a similar experience when you stand outside a mosque.
If you stand outside a synagogue on Yom Kippur and ask the Jews coming out, "Do you believe in G-d?" you won't get a straight answer. You'll probably get a mix of philosophical answers and often the bottom line is, "I don't know." If you ask them if they consider themselves religious, you'll also get an ambiguous answer. And yet something leads them to feel that, because it's Yom Kippur, it's important they go to synagogue.
We are a confused nation when it comes to faith in G-d. Our name, Yisrael, actually means one who struggles with G-d: Ki sarita im Elokim. We have moments of inspiration when we see G-d. On those days, we talk to G-d and it comes naturally. But there are many other days when we feel alone and don't believe in G-d. We have questions and doubts and we don't feel like we believe in G-d.
This lack of faith is not something that should concern you. Interestingly, it is not so much our faith in G-d that should be of concern, but G-d's faith in us. Every morning, right when we wake up, we say Modeh Ani. Modeh (or Modah for a female) ani lefanecha melech chai vekayam shehechezarta bi nishmati bichemlah rabah emunatecha. It means: I give thanks to You, eternal G-d our King, for You have returned my soul to me with kindness, how great is Your faith.
In this prayer we don't mention our faith in G-d. We praise G-d for His faith in us. When you want to be motivated, you should meditate on the idea that G-d has faith in you. He gave you back your soul today because He believes in you. G-d knows you're not perfect, He knows about your failings and mistakes but it doesn't matter. He still gives you your soul back the next day. He trusts you that today will be better than yesterday.
My faith in G-d is a struggle with ups and downs. But G-d's belief in me is strong. It never changes.
Even so, how can a Jew strengthen his or her faith in G-d? Faith is about finding the relevance in that which is transcendent. It is not about having the opinion that G-d exists. Believing in G-d is about finding the significance of G-d in your life. In Judaism, belief in G-d is directly related to understanding our purpose in this world.
In order to figure out the meaning of our lives, we use our minds to contemplate and hearts to feel. The mind needs to understand, in order to be satisfied. The heart needs the feeling. But both can be mistaken. They aren't necessarily the truth. We need to turn to our soul, our neshamah, which is part of the divine. When we know all we can know, feel all we can feel and then we turn to our soul to fill what is left, this is our faith.
You need to look deep in yourself to find the purpose of your life and, through that, the relevance of G-d in your life. Using our soul, we reach out to the truth, transcend the ego and arrive at our essence. This is the idea of the faith.
This is why a Jew is in shul on Yom Kippur. His mind doesn't understand why. His emotions aren't there either. He doesn't feel it. The Jew does it because that is what he's supposed to do on that day. It's his neshamah, his soul. It's his Jewishness and you can't break that connection.
There is a joke told about two Jews who meet each other on Saturday in the boulevard. Feldman says to Cohen: "Cohen, I heard that you have stopped believing. Is this true?"
"Let's talk about something else," was all Cohen would say. The next day, Feldman saw Cohen again and said: "Cohen, I haven't been able to sleep all night. Do you still believe in G-d or not?"
"I don't," said Cohen.
"So why didn't you just tell me that yesterday?" asked Feldman.
"Are you crazy? On Shabbat?" was Cohen's reply.
The bottom line is that a Jew is a Jew. It has nothing to do with belief. But, in order to lead a fulfilling life, it is important to contemplate what it means to believe in G-d. If you look deep within yourself to find the purpose of your life, you will then connect to G-d. By turning to your soul to find your life mission, you are arriving at your faith.
But at the same time, always remember that not believing is very Jewish in and of itself. It's part of the Jewish struggle. We often can't give a straight answer when asked, "Do you believe in G-d?" but we do all have that connection to G-d. Even when it's not expressed in our lifestyle, it's something that will never let us part from it. And if we so choose, we can embrace it and, through it, gain an amazing amount of meaning in our lives.
Rabbi Shmuel Yeshayahu is outreach director of the Ohel Ya'akov Community Kollel. He wrote this column with Deena Levenstein, a freelance writing living in Jerusalem.
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