Return to Answer

B"H

*It's not our job as humans to figure out what is true, because we can't. It's our job to figure out the best way to live.

B"H

And so we make do, in the meantime finding what appeals to our little brain's finest senses of justice, reason, rightness, and meaning. We see what has been true for the best humans, from Moshe Rabbeinu down to our beloved grandparents. We see if it seems to be true for us. And now and then we do our limited best to turn and face G-d ourselves, and see if we can discern an answer about how best to serve Him. We have no choice: the day is short. The task will not be completed; but, our Fathers tell us, we must begin it somehow.

And so we make do, in the meantime finding what appeals to our little brain's finest senses of justice, reason, rightness, and meaning. We see what has been true for the best humans, from Moshe Rabbeinu down to our beloved grandparents. We see if it seems to be true for us. And now and then we do our limited best to turn and face G-d ourselves, and see if we can discern an answer about how best to serve Him. We have no choice: the day is short. The task will not be completed; but, our Fathers tell us, we must begin somehow.

How we jump from "is" to "ought"--from historical facts to the Law, and its current force on us--is, as always, harder. I admit a gap where it comes to the question of whether G-d spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu and said such words, or whether the Jewish people, astonished at the miracle of liberation that had befallen them, and at the formidable evidence of G-d they saw at the mountain, took upon themselves a code of law as a testament to their love and fear of this G-d. After years of pondering this question, I eventually moved from a quite firm conviction of the latter to a far firmer conviction of the former, mostly as a result of newfound humility through learning. In any case, the upshot is the same--and arguably, subtly, the cause is the same, too. If one believes that a single G-d moves the world, including its humans, then one believes that the Law began as a reciprocal covenant between humans and G-d.

How we jump from "is" to "ought"--from historical facts to the Law, and its current force on us--is, as always, harder. I admit a gap where it comes to the question of whether G-d spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu and said such words, or whether the Jewish people, astonished at the miracle of their liberation, and at the formidable evidence of G-d they saw at the mountain, took upon themselves a code of law as a testament to their love and fear of this G-d. After years of pondering this question, I eventually moved from a quite firm conviction of the latter to a far firmer conviction of the former, mostly as a result of newfound humility through learning. In any case, the upshot is the same--and arguably, subtly, the cause is the same, too. If one believes that a single G-d moves the world, including its humans, then one believes that the Law began as a reciprocal covenant between humans and G-d.