Leaving Providence

השגחה פרטית – Individual Providence

I am afraid to say that this has been the year in which my wobbling faith in individual providence completely collapsed. "Afraid" because it is ingrained in me to feel guilty to say or even think anything that could be construed as critical of G-d. Perhaps a notion can be good or bad, worthy or unworthy, but above all it must be accurate!

The believer clings to the notion that s/he is somehow immune to the vicissitudes of life, because of divine protection. The belief in such a specifically-intervening G-d is a basic mark of the religious life.

Psalm 91. ⁷A thousand may fall at your left side, ten thousand at your right, but it shall not reach you. ⁸You will see it with your eyes, you will witness the punishment of the wicked. ⁹Because you took the Lord—my refuge, the Most High—as your haven, ¹⁰no harm will befall you, no disease touch your tent.

ז יִפֹּ֤ל מִצִּדְּךָ֨ ׀ אֶ֗לֶף וּרְבָבָ֥ה מִֽימִינֶ֑ךָ    אֵ֝לֶ֗יךָ לֹ֣א יִגָּֽשׁ׃ ח רַ֭ק בְּעֵינֶ֣יךָ תַבִּ֑יט    וְשִׁלֻּמַ֖ת רְשָׁעִ֣ים תִּרְאֶֽה׃ ט כִּֽי־אַתָּ֣ה ה' מַחְסִ֑י    עֶ֝לְי֗וֹן שַׂ֣מְתָּ מְעוֹנֶֽךָ׃ י לֹֽא־תְאֻנֶּ֣ה אֵלֶ֣יךָ רָעָ֑ה    וְ֝נֶ֗גַע לֹֽא־יִקְרַ֥ב בְּאָֽהֳלֶֽךָ׃

For a long time I have felt that, though these and similar words are not literally true, they may be true in a general sense. In a general sense, good deeds bear good fruit; bad deeds bear bad fruit. I still hold by that generality, otherwise "good" and "bad" would be meaningless terms.

However, the notion that G-d protects the believer or good people, specifically, is so untrue as to be obscene. חותמו של הקב"ה אמת - The seal of God is truth. We must speak the truth.

This year I have seen yet another sweet, innocent friend, die prematurely. A young woman in our congregation was killed by a stolen car fleeing police, as she was leaving Yom Kippur services. Victims of hurricanes, earthquake, and mass-murder. Surely among all those victims there was at least one to whom the above promise should have applied. No, I can't support that rhetoric any more. It's cruel. Powerless to avert tragedy, we light candles, recite Psalms, agonize before an Intervenor whom we imagine exists or we hope exists. Almost any concretely helpful action would be more significant.

If I were to offer up a prayer of my own, I would ask a deity to grant my species the ability to adopt a dignified, responsible, and caring exuberance toward living, rather than a quavering, dependent vigil awaiting death. To recognize that nature has neither a preference for our species nor a bias against it takes only a little courage." -- James Randi, The Faith Healers

I am sure that with time, my map of reality will adjust and redraw itself. Some form of faith, now badly damaged, will return. I still live in a world full of wonder that I did not create. I still feel gratitude that I want to express. My heart still sings. עם כל זה, אני מאמין – on some level, I still believe. What I do not believe in is a remote-controlled Deity. Goodness, the human race and I have witnessed enough experiments to know that prayer makes no difference "out there." It may make a difference "in here." It's a hard habit to break. I hope I'll have the courage, consistency, and conviction not to insult God with requests It will not answer and obeisance It does not demand. I'm not sure what will be left.

Jewish Values VS. Torah Values?

Understanding Jewish Values means more than citing chapter and verses (or, daf and amud).

Jewish cultural values and the values of Torah and tradition are often in harmony but sometimes are at odds. Ambivalence toward our traditional religion is part of our cultural heritage. Rabbis and apikorsim, devout and secular, all are part of the Jewish experience; and the Jewish experience is what makes Jewish values, Jewish.

A value is simply that which an individual holds as valuable. That which a person will work to achieve, or to avoid losing. That for which a person will trade their life-energy. Generally, a value will be expressed by an abstract noun, such as Love, Community, Family, Honesty, Dignity, etc. A big screen TV can be a value, I suppose, but we would normally speak of Entertainment or Status as the values (worthy or unworthy). The big screen TV is the instrument for obtaining those values.

Values that are informed by the Jewish experience can, usefully, be called "Jewish values." Values which are intended to enhance Jewish survival and happiness are also "Jewish values." Since there are many Jewish individuals, there can be diverse and even contradictory Jewish values. Individuals' appraisals of the value of the Jewish traditional religion will differ and contradict as well.

Values taught in the Torah tradition and otherwise supported by Jewish experience will, of course, be Jewish values. There may be values taught in the Torah tradition that are not validated by the larger Jewish historical experience. In other words, there may be a Torah value that is not a Jewish value – at least not for some Jews. I assert that this is the case. The area of partial non-intersection between Torah values and Jewish values is the impetus for this article.

The values expressed in the Torah tradition were, of course, indicative of a certain sector of the Jewish experience at the time they were articulated. With the march of time, those experiences gained a larger context and those values may need to be revised.

Anyone but the most cynical must acknowledge that there is an area of overlap between religious values and rational values. The perceived size of the overlap will vary from appraiser to appraiser.

Also, even the hyper-rationalist or hyper-religious can acknowledge that there is a vast realm (everything outside the diagram) of bad, unworthy, irrational and untraditional values.

For the present discussion, we are most concerned with the realm of Traditional Values (i.e., values of the Torah tradition), which fall outside the realm of Rational Values (i.e., values borne out by experience).

Example #1. Genocide. Through long experience of persecution culminating in the Nazi holocaust, the Jews as a people have developed the value that Genocide is undesirable and should be prevented when possible. This differs from the values of the Torah which advocated the complete annihilation of several "nations" of Canaan.

Example #2. Freedom of Religion and Thought. Through long experience of religious persecution which ended only with the appearance of a free State with pluralism and freedom of religion, the Jews as a people have come to cherish the value of religious freedom, not only for ourselves, but for everyone. (G-d bless America.) Indeed, we tend to cherish freedom of thought in general. This differs from the values of the Torah which advocated the death of idolaters and seducers to idolatry, and of the Tradition which advocated the corporal punishment or excommunication of heretics and rebellious community members. To affirm the old values of the Torah tradition would be to transgress values of the Jewish people based on a fuller bank of experiences.

It is necessary to articulate these principles, lest, by teaching classical Jewish texts to young people, we give them the erroneous impression that the texts are to be believed and practiced, uncritically. G-d forbid I should play a part in so binding the conscience and restricting the developing mind of those who are our future. On the contrary, we share with them the heritage of our cultural experiences (including religion), along with what we and humankind have learned about critical thinking and political philosophy. Our youth will then be in a position to lead us forward into better days when wise values can be nurtured and achieved, and unworthy values can be rejected and supplanted.