ישראל Israel - Wrestling With God Question Everything, Including Authority

The Purpose of this World

From God’s Optimism by Yehoshua November

When some Jews cannot explain the sorrow of their lives

they take a vow of atheism.

Then everywhere they go,

they curse the God they don’t believe exists.

But why, why don’t they grab Him by the lapels,

pull His formless body down into this lowly world,

and make Him explain.

After all, this is the purpose of creation–

to make this coarse realm a dwelling place

for His presence.

The Two Brothers on the Temple Mount

Long before the Temple was built, two brothers lived and farmed on that site [in Jerusalem]. One was married and had a large family, while the other was single. They lived in close proximity to each other, and each worked his land growing wheat. When harvest time arrived, each was blessed with a bountiful crop and piled up his grain for long-term storage. The unmarried brother, observing his good fortune, thought to himself that God had blessed him with more than he needed, whereas his brother, who was blessed with a large family, could surely use more. He arose in the middle of the night and secretly took from his grain and put it in his brother’s pile. Similarly, the married brother thought to himself that he was fortunate to have children who will care for him in his old age, while his brother will depend on what he saved. He, too, arose in the middle of the night and quietly transferred grain from his pile to his brother’s. In the morning, each pondered why there was no noticeable decrease in his own pile, and so they repeated the transfer the next night. These nocturnal activities went on for several nights, until one night the brothers bumped into each other. In that instant, in the dark of night, the glow of brotherly love lit up the mountain sky; they each understood what the other had been doing and fell into each other’s arms in a loving embrace. According to the legend, when God saw that display of brotherly love, He selected the site for His Temple.

(retold by Dr. Ari Zivotofsky, https://www.ou.org/torah/machshava/tzarich-iyun/tzarich_iyun_the_two_brothers_and_the_temple_mount/)

Good morning to You, Lord, Master of the universe,
I, Levi Yitzhak, son of Sarah of Berdichev,
I come to You with a Din Torah (lawsuit) from Your people Israel.
What do You want of Your people Israel?
What have You demanded of Your people Israel?
For everywhere I look it says, "Say to the Children of Israel."
And every other verse says, "Speak to the Children of Israel."
And over and over, "Command the Children of Israel."
Father, sweet Father in heaven,
How many nations are there in the world?
[ a tremor passed through the auditorium, scattered sighs and muffled sobs were heard. And when he began to thunder:]
Persians, Babylonians, Edomites.
The Russians, what do they say?
That their Czar is the only ruler.
The Prussians, what do they say?
That their Kaiser is supreme.
And the English, what do they say?
That George the Third is sovereign.
And I, Levi Yitzhak, son of Sarah of Berdichev, say,
"Yisgadal v 'yiskadash shmei raboh-
Magnified and sanctified is Thy Name."
And I, Levi Yitzhak, son of Sarah of Berdichev, say,
"From my stand I will not waver,
And from my place I shall not move
Until there be an end to all this.
Yisgadal v'yiskadash shmei raboh-
Magnified and sanctified is only Thy Name."

Excerpt from an Interview with Elie Wiesel

(read the full interview here: http://www.cathleenfalsani.com/?p=36066)

Why on earth does he still believe? I want to know. I need to know.

“Doubt is there all the time,” he says, softly.

“The questions are there, and all my questions are stronger than all my answers.”

And yet you continue to wrestle with God?

“I continue because what is the alternative?” he says.

You could walk away.

“And do what, really? Could I not believe? If I were not who I am, of course I would not.

But I am who I am,” the professor says. “I cannot not believe.”