I've long wrestled with my doubt in God. But especially after October 7th, I’ve come to believe that, even if I’m unsure about Him, I completely believe in His people.
The rebirth of Israel is miraculous. I believe because I look for miracles. The out of season rain helped extinguish the fires around Jerusalem. I've had miracles occur in my own life. God is unknowable but is. The fact that we are still here is miraculous.
Very interesting piece, especially since I and my late father would often joke that he was the atheist and I the agnostic.
However, it is one of your ending paras that is most telling and true: "Whether I believe in the God of Israel or not, I do believe in his people. And if I believe in his people, then I have a relationship with him, whether I believe in him or not. I struggle with his enemies because I struggle with those who fight his people and thus fight against him."
To your last sentence, I have lost any faith in the rest of the non-Jewish (and some Jewish) civilized world. The deafening silence of the world post-Oct 7 to this day of the barbarity and continued inhumane behavior of Hamas, their ilk, and their master Iran, against HUMANS it unforgivable.
If I were an atheist and traced the history of the children of Israel (who was formerly Jacob) I think I would change my mind and know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was, is and will be the Almighty God forever. Because of Him Israel exists today. Only He could have kept the Jewish people, restored their land and called them back from the ends of the earth. Oh that they will know Him is my prayer.
God's existence doesn't depend in any way on whether we believe in Him or not. However, our relationship with Him depends on our believing Him. "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him as righteousness." (Romans 4:3) Abraham's belief in God was demonstrated by his obedience to Him, when he left Ur to go to the land God would show him (later Israel) and when he was willing to sacrifice Isaac. Our belief in God must similarly be demonstrated by our obedience to Him. Because we have failed in our obedience to Him, we need a Saviour, and that is where the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, comes in. He has taken our punishment on Himself, so that we can be reconciled to God - and again it depends on whether we will believe Him or not.
I am pleased that you mention theoretical physicists because somehow the laws of nature are the laws of creation are the laws of God.
In that sense, the theories of today’s theoretical, particle and Astro physicists are one step closer to understanding the meaning of the divine. String theory might then explain to levels of consciousness, of spirituality and of God. We are vibrating at a certain frequency, the soul which we cannot see at another, and the Creator at another but with the perfect ability to relate to all frequencies. And then relativity states that as you approach the speed of light, time does not exists.
So therefore God is all seeing and capable for starting the universe of space and of spirituality, and if you wish, of ending it all.
Mr Kerstein invokes only part of the discussion of Avraham Avinu with God prior to the destruction of Sodom-the key passage is that after there were not even 10 righteous people in Sodom, Avraham offers no further requests on behalf of Sodom and accepts Divine Judgment
You wrote a very good short essay. And you are right to mention Einstein . However his famous citation « God does not play dice » reflected his deep rejection of quantum physics characterized by indeterminism and by the observer being deeply entwined with the continuous process of the cosmos . Einstein clinged to his view of a deterministic world organized by natural immutable laws.
You are right to mention Kabbalah. And what I will tell you now might well reinforce the view that there is « something » mysterious beyond our immanent world . Indeed , working from paths and premisses totally foreign from one another, quantum physics and Kabbalah reach notions of reality quite similar to one another:
-man is a full participant in the fate of the cosmos , in constant interaction with it. He is not totally separated as Newton’s physics had it , which theory led to the drastic separation between science and spirituality. The quantum earthquake has completely shattered this position.
-man is a central player in a world made up of potentialities and not objects and forces
-reality is made up of coincidences of opposites.
It is true that Einstein was a deeply religious man though he did not believe in the God of monotheisms. And indeed , in my view, you are right to make the same distinction.
David Bohm , the american quantum physicist, who taught in Israel at some point was also a deeply religious man who believe in the existence of an implicate order of the world that produced the explicate events that we observe.
And last but not least, many of them turned to Eastern mystics to try to find some sort of sense in their crazy empirical observations.
So indeed, we have « traces » of a fundamental mystery . Some call this God and some simply believe of an unattainable transcendence which for Kabbalah is the only absolute reality.
All this may sound very elliptic and zs such might be difficult to comprehend . This is what I am working on and would require much longer developments.
There is nothing in science that is incompatible with belief in the God of Israel. There are three aspects of historical Judaism that cannot be dispensed with and still be Judaism. The three Ls, Lord, Land and Law.
There is no Judaism without the worship of the God of Israel, the one living God. There is no Judaism without a belief in and reverence for the Jewish homeland of Eretz Yisrael and a longing for its redemption. There is no Judaism without Halacha. That doesn't mean everything Jew is going to follow or observe it. I certainly don't. But the acknowledgment of the laws both ritual, biblical and ethical that the Torah requires is central to Judaism. Any Jewish movement that ignores any of these things will fail.
Regarding Abraham and his arguing with God, bear in mind that when God orders him to sacrifice his son Abraham doesn't say a word of objection. He also allows his wife to be taken into Pharoes harem without saying a word. My point is that the Torah is very inscrutable and difficult to really make sense of. Moderns would argue it's because these are separate myths woven together into a single narrative. The great Talmudic Rabbis had their own way of working it all out.
To summarize, I don't think one has to be a Halachically observant person of complete faith to be connected to Judaism. But I think one has to acknowledge at least intellectually these aspects of Jewishness.
Questions about God's existence means there is a question of God's existence. Is faith in God not different than belief in God? Those of (true) faith do not question God's existence. Doesn't worship of God (through Judaism) necessitate faith in God and His existence? Otherwise, that worship is hypocritical. How can one be a Jew, support God's Jews of Israel and not believe in Him? If, as I believe Einstein said, energy cannot be created nor destroyed is truth, then where did energy come from, how did energy come into being? If not by God, then how? Do "enlightened" experience God as a life energy (not a personality)? How does that manifest?
Has anybody asked these or similar questions of A.I.? Does A.I. believe in God? I am only joking about A.I.
Exceptionally insightful. Dennis Prager summed it up perfectly. If a Christian decides he does want to be Christian, a Muslim ditches the faith- whether they are atheist, agnostic, convert to a different faith-so be it. But a person who is born to Jewish parents, had a Jewish grandparent, has no interest in the Jewish faith, cultural heritage, converts to a different faith… hates Jews… is still a Jew. And no matter how much they resent the “ burden”, no matter how hard they try to shed that burden.. by spreading hatred and blame- bottom line-they’re still “ filthy Jews”. And Soros, Pritzker, Reid Hoffman, Ron Unz,Norm Finkelstein, Sandor Straus, Dave Smith, Naomi Klein, Kissinger, Chomsky, Mayorkas, Michael Moritz- the despicable Dems are deserving of the slur. Because they are filth.
Thank you so much for your interesting article......If we believe or not believe in God, we are nevertheless citizens of the nation of Israel, and therefore we are pretty religious ( I think it's in our DNA)......also think that our God, is God ......
My first time around at University, I took a minor in philosophy. The course material included a survey of religious thought. 50 years later, when I started writing novels, it was impossible to catalog the source of ideas I used in developing SagGha theology for my science fiction books.
The SagGha believe in reincarnation. So, at a minimum, we have Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism.
From there, I have to say I winged it, but I doubt there was any original thought represented in the core precept of the philosophy, to wit ...
We can know God, but only through Jesus Christ. "And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent." John17:3. The words of Christ.
The rebirth of Israel is miraculous. I believe because I look for miracles. The out of season rain helped extinguish the fires around Jerusalem. I've had miracles occur in my own life. God is unknowable but is. The fact that we are still here is miraculous.
Very interesting piece, especially since I and my late father would often joke that he was the atheist and I the agnostic.
However, it is one of your ending paras that is most telling and true: "Whether I believe in the God of Israel or not, I do believe in his people. And if I believe in his people, then I have a relationship with him, whether I believe in him or not. I struggle with his enemies because I struggle with those who fight his people and thus fight against him."
To your last sentence, I have lost any faith in the rest of the non-Jewish (and some Jewish) civilized world. The deafening silence of the world post-Oct 7 to this day of the barbarity and continued inhumane behavior of Hamas, their ilk, and their master Iran, against HUMANS it unforgivable.
If I were an atheist and traced the history of the children of Israel (who was formerly Jacob) I think I would change my mind and know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was, is and will be the Almighty God forever. Because of Him Israel exists today. Only He could have kept the Jewish people, restored their land and called them back from the ends of the earth. Oh that they will know Him is my prayer.
God's existence doesn't depend in any way on whether we believe in Him or not. However, our relationship with Him depends on our believing Him. "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him as righteousness." (Romans 4:3) Abraham's belief in God was demonstrated by his obedience to Him, when he left Ur to go to the land God would show him (later Israel) and when he was willing to sacrifice Isaac. Our belief in God must similarly be demonstrated by our obedience to Him. Because we have failed in our obedience to Him, we need a Saviour, and that is where the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, comes in. He has taken our punishment on Himself, so that we can be reconciled to God - and again it depends on whether we will believe Him or not.
I think you’re going to be very disappointed putting your faith in man…
I would cede sovereignty to God
You are asking all the right questions. Overlook nothing yet know that the answer is right in front of you. Messiah lives.
I am pleased that you mention theoretical physicists because somehow the laws of nature are the laws of creation are the laws of God.
In that sense, the theories of today’s theoretical, particle and Astro physicists are one step closer to understanding the meaning of the divine. String theory might then explain to levels of consciousness, of spirituality and of God. We are vibrating at a certain frequency, the soul which we cannot see at another, and the Creator at another but with the perfect ability to relate to all frequencies. And then relativity states that as you approach the speed of light, time does not exists.
So therefore God is all seeing and capable for starting the universe of space and of spirituality, and if you wish, of ending it all.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thelotusrebel/p/when-i-look-at-israel?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=5m00ro
Lovely.
Thank you so much. I appreciate.
Mr Kerstein invokes only part of the discussion of Avraham Avinu with God prior to the destruction of Sodom-the key passage is that after there were not even 10 righteous people in Sodom, Avraham offers no further requests on behalf of Sodom and accepts Divine Judgment
You wrote a very good short essay. And you are right to mention Einstein . However his famous citation « God does not play dice » reflected his deep rejection of quantum physics characterized by indeterminism and by the observer being deeply entwined with the continuous process of the cosmos . Einstein clinged to his view of a deterministic world organized by natural immutable laws.
You are right to mention Kabbalah. And what I will tell you now might well reinforce the view that there is « something » mysterious beyond our immanent world . Indeed , working from paths and premisses totally foreign from one another, quantum physics and Kabbalah reach notions of reality quite similar to one another:
-man is a full participant in the fate of the cosmos , in constant interaction with it. He is not totally separated as Newton’s physics had it , which theory led to the drastic separation between science and spirituality. The quantum earthquake has completely shattered this position.
-man is a central player in a world made up of potentialities and not objects and forces
-reality is made up of coincidences of opposites.
It is true that Einstein was a deeply religious man though he did not believe in the God of monotheisms. And indeed , in my view, you are right to make the same distinction.
David Bohm , the american quantum physicist, who taught in Israel at some point was also a deeply religious man who believe in the existence of an implicate order of the world that produced the explicate events that we observe.
And last but not least, many of them turned to Eastern mystics to try to find some sort of sense in their crazy empirical observations.
So indeed, we have « traces » of a fundamental mystery . Some call this God and some simply believe of an unattainable transcendence which for Kabbalah is the only absolute reality.
All this may sound very elliptic and zs such might be difficult to comprehend . This is what I am working on and would require much longer developments.
There is nothing in science that is incompatible with belief in the God of Israel. There are three aspects of historical Judaism that cannot be dispensed with and still be Judaism. The three Ls, Lord, Land and Law.
There is no Judaism without the worship of the God of Israel, the one living God. There is no Judaism without a belief in and reverence for the Jewish homeland of Eretz Yisrael and a longing for its redemption. There is no Judaism without Halacha. That doesn't mean everything Jew is going to follow or observe it. I certainly don't. But the acknowledgment of the laws both ritual, biblical and ethical that the Torah requires is central to Judaism. Any Jewish movement that ignores any of these things will fail.
Regarding Abraham and his arguing with God, bear in mind that when God orders him to sacrifice his son Abraham doesn't say a word of objection. He also allows his wife to be taken into Pharoes harem without saying a word. My point is that the Torah is very inscrutable and difficult to really make sense of. Moderns would argue it's because these are separate myths woven together into a single narrative. The great Talmudic Rabbis had their own way of working it all out.
To summarize, I don't think one has to be a Halachically observant person of complete faith to be connected to Judaism. But I think one has to acknowledge at least intellectually these aspects of Jewishness.
Questions about God's existence means there is a question of God's existence. Is faith in God not different than belief in God? Those of (true) faith do not question God's existence. Doesn't worship of God (through Judaism) necessitate faith in God and His existence? Otherwise, that worship is hypocritical. How can one be a Jew, support God's Jews of Israel and not believe in Him? If, as I believe Einstein said, energy cannot be created nor destroyed is truth, then where did energy come from, how did energy come into being? If not by God, then how? Do "enlightened" experience God as a life energy (not a personality)? How does that manifest?
Has anybody asked these or similar questions of A.I.? Does A.I. believe in God? I am only joking about A.I.
Exceptionally insightful. Dennis Prager summed it up perfectly. If a Christian decides he does want to be Christian, a Muslim ditches the faith- whether they are atheist, agnostic, convert to a different faith-so be it. But a person who is born to Jewish parents, had a Jewish grandparent, has no interest in the Jewish faith, cultural heritage, converts to a different faith… hates Jews… is still a Jew. And no matter how much they resent the “ burden”, no matter how hard they try to shed that burden.. by spreading hatred and blame- bottom line-they’re still “ filthy Jews”. And Soros, Pritzker, Reid Hoffman, Ron Unz,Norm Finkelstein, Sandor Straus, Dave Smith, Naomi Klein, Kissinger, Chomsky, Mayorkas, Michael Moritz- the despicable Dems are deserving of the slur. Because they are filth.
Thank you so much for your interesting article......If we believe or not believe in God, we are nevertheless citizens of the nation of Israel, and therefore we are pretty religious ( I think it's in our DNA)......also think that our God, is God ......
"I have undergone several moments at which chills ran up my spine. I won’t discuss them here." You can't just leave us hanging-Is there a sequel?
My first time around at University, I took a minor in philosophy. The course material included a survey of religious thought. 50 years later, when I started writing novels, it was impossible to catalog the source of ideas I used in developing SagGha theology for my science fiction books.
The SagGha believe in reincarnation. So, at a minimum, we have Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism.
From there, I have to say I winged it, but I doubt there was any original thought represented in the core precept of the philosophy, to wit ...
We cannot know God, but God knows us.
We can know God, but only through Jesus Christ. "And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent." John17:3. The words of Christ.