As posted on October 26, 2012 by Sam Blustin on Soup for the Neshama
I was listening a few weeks ago to an explanation of how Jason Mraz wrote his song “Life is Wonderful” (see below), and it got me thinking; What kind of questions in Judaism subscribe to the “which came first” paradox?
A couple of weeks later, while reading Daniel Gordis’ “God Was Not in the Fire”, I stumbled across a chicken and the egg question that I believe is a major stumbling block to Jewish involvement and continuance. The all important question? What comes first: belief in God/connection to Judasim or the performance of Jewish rituals?
I posed this question to a group of elementary age students at the synagogue where I work. I asked them first to define the two options, and then then to give their opinion on what comes first.
“What is belief in God, or connection to Judaism?” “What does it look like?” “How do we do it?” “Well, we pray to God,” one student answers. We also perform mitzvot, which are commanded by God, so we wouldn’t do them if we didn’t believe in God. We talk to God. Sometimes it’s just enough to know that God is there. Maybe we ask God for things. And we thank God. Maybe we believe in a higher purpose for our lives (okay, so maybe I threw that one in myself).
I then asked them, “What are Jewish rituals?” “When do we perform them?” “What do they look like?” The students’ answers were more forthcoming. One kid answered, “we light the candles on Shabbat!” Others talked about attending synagogue, kashrut, lighting the candles on Hanukkah, and they rattled off a list of other Jewish things that we do.
The final question was raised. “So then, what do you think comes first, belief in God or performing rituals?” A couple students chose one side, a few others shared why they thought it was the other, and then I gave them my thoughts on the issue.
I believe that belief in God necessarily means that you perform Jewish rituals. Simple as that. When we define belief in God, as demonstrated by the students, we define that connection by the rituals that we perform. We demonstrate our love for God by keeping the mitzvot, by praying to God, and by making God a part of our lives. It’s just that simple.
However, I know of very few people who just woke up one day and decided, “Hey, I think I’ll believe in God today,” and started to follow the mitzvot to a T. While there are some Ben Folds “Not the Same” born-again type stories, most of us go on a journey to find spiritual fulfillment.
Because of this, I believe that performing rituals is a must in order to believe in God. Why? That seems totally backwards to some people. Why should I do something that I feel little connection to? For something I don’t even know exists? Most of us feel that there is something else out there, whether we think it’s God, or dark matter, or any other cosmic force that defies all logic in this universe. And whatever that is for you, is God.
If we look in our prayers, we see God described as Avinu, our father. Avinu Malkeinu (Our Father, Our King). Avinu Shebashamayim (Our Father in the sky). We have connections and relationships with other people. It’s the same with God. Other people care about you, and you care about them. Now, if you’ve just met someone, and you want to become friends, you sometimes go out of your way to hang out with them, get to know them, spend time with them. And with any relationship, we need to demonstrate that we really care about the other person, which sometimes means we have to sacrifice some things in life. They may be big things. Or little things. Or little things that we think are actually big things that aren’t. They’re things like sacrificing our free time to help a buddy move, or revealing our feelings and emotions to someone to forward a relationship.
God is the same in many ways. We sometimes need to sacrifice things that we care deeply about for God, and in return, we can receive fulfillment, happiness, sense of purpose, and many other things. It’s not something that happens right away, and it’s not even a linear process. It has it’s ups and downs just like any other relationship.
Rituals are the gateway to that relationship, that connection with God. By performing mitzvot, by keeping kosher, by saying 100 blessings everyday, we constantly keep God in our mind and in our life, building upon that relationship every moment we are alive.
The stumbling block for people who don’t know where to start or continue along their Jewish is that they sometimes get caught up thinking that they need belief to practice Judasim. However, Judaism has an answer: na’aseh v’nishmah. We shall do, and then we shall hear. Pick something and just go for it. Ultimately there is no wrong answer. Do mitzvot. Follow rituals. And then understanding will follow.
This Shabbos, take a mitzvah, and choose to perform it consistently. See what happens. Do you feel any different? Does the action that you didn’t think about before take on a greater meaning now? Build upon this, adding in more rituals as you grow your relationship with God.
May we all find peace and love this Shabbos.
Shabbat Shalom!
-SB
