Two
of the primary sources of Sacred Narratives in Rabbinic
Judaism are the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy) and the Siddur (Prayerbook).
The Siddur establishes the order of Jewish worship
at synagogues. It was developed during the first four or five centuries CE,
although the components of that worship were drawn from earlier periods – including
the times sacrifices were offered at the Second Temple. The structure
for Jewish worship was developed during the Talmudic period
(3rd to 6th centuries).
The morning service (Shachrit) is the most complex of the three daily services. The two main focal points are:
(1)
The Shema, a selection of three paragraphs from the Torah (Deuteronomy
6; 11 and Numbers
15) affirming God’s unity and associated blessings
before and after.
(2)
The Amidah is the oldest prayer in the Siddur and it was written
over 2000 years ago -- seven blessings (on the Shabbat)
and 19 blessings (on weekdays).[i]
The
Amidah opens with these words:
“Blessed are You, Lord
our God and God of our fathers,
God of Abraham, God of
Isaac, and God of Jacob.”
According
to Martin Buber (1878-1965), a famous German-Jewish religious
philosopher, biblical translator and interpreter, and master of German prose
style,[ii] some people find their Emunah
(faith, belief, or trust in God) as a result of studying
and thinking on their own. Other people believe in God
because their parents taught them to. Neither kind of
Emunah by itself is perfect.
●
If you believe in God only because you have thought up
arguments that prove He exists, someone may challenge your
arguments and cause you to lose your Emunah.
●
If you worship God simply because your parents taught you to, your
Emunah also is not perfect. It is based on love for your parents
and not on love for God.
Also,
according to Buber, Emunah is perfect only if it combines both aspects -- what
our parents have taught us and what we have decided on our own.
●
When we say, “our God,” we show that our own studying and
thinking have led us to believe in Him.
●
When we say, “God of our fathers,” we show that we believe
in Him also because of tradition.
Buber
also explained why we say, “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of
Jacob” and not simply “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
The wording of the blessing shows the following.
●
God of Isaac shows that Isaac came to his own belief in God.
He did not accept God merely because his father Abraham did, but his personal
belief strengthened the belief he inherited from Abraham.
●
God of Jacob shows that Jacob came to his own belief in God.
His personal belief also strengthened the belief he inherited from his
parents and grandparents. [iii]
Rabbi Adin Even-Israel
Steinsaltz (1937-2020) was a very
famous Israeli Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic,
author, translator and publisher. The follow are his comments.
●
One can go from believing nothing to believing everything, from utter
skepticism to utter credulity and a desperate effort to convince oneself of a
thousand and one notions that may be not only spurious but actually even
forbidden.
●
Acceptance of the Torah and the mitzvot turns into a kind of magical rite,
belief in the Sages becomes blind reverence for other people who
are not really worthy of such uncritical acceptance, and faith becomes
hopeless fatalism.
●
Judaism emphasizes the connection between emunah (faith)
and emet (truth). A Jew is obligated not only to
learn the law, but to also engage in the world of discussion of the
Talmud and its commentaries, where critical thinking plays a crucial role.
●
Unlike Christianity or various cults, Judaism does not fear questions nor
run away from them. It is not even afraid to leave questions open
indefinitely.
●
Judaism’s great strength is that it encourages questioning and does not
demand blind acceptance of dogma.[iv]
The
most significant difference between modern Christian religions and different
forms of institutional Rabbinic Judaism is this:
Rabbinic Judaism does
not have institutional salvation beliefs/doctrines.
This
brings me to the “God of You.”
How did you come to
your belief or disbelief in God?
Examining
our beliefs brings transparency to belief systems. I will continue this series
-- Beliefs About God in the Jewish Culture of Jesus – in my next
email. It will provide more information designed to help readers answer the “God
of You Question.
Shalom,
Jim
Myers
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[iii] Basic Judaism for Young People Volume 3: God by Naomi Pasachoff Copyright 1987
Behrman House, Inc., Publishers, West Orange, NJ;
pp. 3, 6-7.
[iv] TESHUVAH: A Guide for the Newly Observant Jew by Adin Steinsaltz © 1982 by The Domino Press, Jerusalem Israel. Translation © 1987 by The Free Press, a division of Macmillan, Inc., New York, NY; p. 49.
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