Does God Intervene?

I'd like to share with you one of the most troubling moments I experienced during my years attending rabbinical school.

It came during a course titled Personal Theology where the teacher, a rabbi, went around the room and posed a very difficult theological question.

"Do you believe that God intervenes in the day to day events of our lives?"

The question is obviously complex. There are, among many Jewish opinions, two which are most popular -- and of course which contradict each other.

The first contends that God is Ein Sof, that God is without end (or beginning) and remains detached from the day to day physicality of the universe. God set the world in motion, and it is up to humanity to maintain and sustain it.

"So," asked the teacher, "do you think that when you pray to God, that God hears and reacts to that prayer?"

The rabbi then replied with words that would deeply challenge me for months to come.

He said, "Then as a future rabbi, you'll need to develop a more mature view of God."

I was shocked.

Like many of you, I was raised with a view of an omnipotent God who observes us, judges us, consoles us and can make anything happen.  

That belief remained impervious from the time of my bar mitzvah through high school and college, and through the shaping of my career, family life and Jewish affiliations.

I began to argue with the rabbi.

"Then what are we doing in rabbinical school if we don't believe in an omnipotent God?"

The rabbi did not back down.

"Where was God at 9/11?" "Are you telling me if twins are in the hospital in separate rooms suffering from the same hereditary condition, and people pray for one and not the other -- that God will kill the one who no one prayed for?"

"And what about Holocaust?"

It is perhaps the most difficult question that Jews ponder today.

Most of us sense that there is more to existence than an eighty or ninety year journey on the earth.

We believe or sense this "truth," however difficult it is to explain or define it. Up to World War II, a significant number of Jews put their faith in divine justice -- but that ultimately changed in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

The subject of Godly influence comes up this week in our Torah reading, titled Eikev, which roughly means "as a consequence."

The portion outlines a roadmap towards happiness which has guided the Jewish people through three millennia. Simply stated, it holds that, "if you follow the Mitzvoth (commandments), then good things will happen to you," "and if you don't then the opposite will hold true."

It is both a troubling and reassuring point of view. Throughout the Torah and its accompanying texts, it is impressed upon us that our fortunes as individuals and as a people are closely linked to behavior.

Yet, in 2013, we question this premise. At the close of the Birkhat Hamazon (Grace after Meals) it is traditional to chant the following affirmation: "From the time of my youth to my older years, I have never seen a righteous person go hungry."

Is that true today? Surely among the homeless and hungry on our streets there must be some righteous individuals. Are all those who are starving less than righteous?

It is also realistic to question God for not redirecting the deadly airplanes on September 11, 2001 or striking down those who perpetrated World War II?

It is a troubling dose of reality as we review this week's Parashah.

Indeed, does God possess the capacity or will to intervene, and if so, why has this not been the case through some of humanity's darkest hours.

Rabbi Alan Lurie once mused that when it comes to human tragedies, "God deliberately does not interfere - not out of indifference, but out of great love. God must "watch" in pain as we commit atrocities, because to interfere would negate free will, terminating the relationship and hence the very purpose of creation. "

This week's Torah portion challenges each of us to reflect. Indeed, if we blame God for everything, then we absolve humanity of responsibility.

But if we hold humanity totally responsible for the events and sorrows of this world, then where is God?

These tensions rest at the center of Judaism. Unlike many other religions which rely on absolutes, Judaism embraces the push and pull between tradition and change, structure and spirit, free will and predestination.

As we study the complexities of this week's Torah portion, it is important that we reflect upon our own relationship with God.  

What do you believe? Should we hold God accountable? And what is our personal and collective responsibility?

Elie Wiesel wrote, "After the Holocaust I did not loose faith in God. I lost faith in mankind."

This week's Torah portion reminds us that we can neither rely on nor blame God for the world's condition. That is in our hands.  

Yet, I believe that the odds of creating a better world improve when we follow God's path of justice, kindness and compassion.  

My personal faith in a loving and interactive God remains unshaken. I have seen so much of God's work on this earth. Many miracles. Many prayers answered.

And I am sure there are many such cases in your life.

I may not be able to understand the complexities of God's world, but I can apply the principles of chesed (kindness) as I tend to my corner of it.

Our understanding of the connection between God, reward and punishment may have changed during the past three thousand years, yet this week's Torah portion encourages us to consider how much of life is in our hands.

As the great Rabbi Akiva's wrote two thousand years ago, "All is foreseen, yet free will is given."

It points to a sacred alliance between each of us and God.

It is a holy partnership which we are forever commanded to pursue.

The world depends on it.  

Shabbat Shalom, v'kol tuv (with all goodness)

Rabbi Irwin Huberman