Last week a distraught young man came to see me for counseling. He told me that he had graduated from college last year, had "finished" his formal education, found a job here in Los Angeles, and now was simply feeling spiritually lost. He said, "I don't know what life is all about. It can't just be about going to work, making money, paying my bills, trying to find a woman with whom to have a relationship, and hanging out with friends. What does it ultimately all mean, rabbi? Where does the meaning come from in life and what does Judaism say we are here for in the first place?"
I must admit I don't get people dropping in every day asking me to tell them the meaning of life, but on the other hand I am always glad when it happens. I suppose there are many different answers that I could have given this young man in that moment. I could have talked about the meaning we find in "tikkun olam," in projects and activities that help to heal the world. I could have talked about the meaning that comes from finding one significant "other" with whom you can create a spiritual partnership in life and who can bring meaning to your life everyday through the love you can share. But believe it or not, I spoke to him about this week's Torah portion instead.
In fact, whenever someone asks me what the meaning of life is according to Judaism, I just about always point them to this week's Torah portion. Its opening words are quite simply the seven most powerful Hebrew words in the Torah. They are what I like to call the "prime directive" of Judaism. God speaks to Moses and commands him to speak to the entire community of Israel and tell them "Kedoshim tehiyu kee kadosh ani adonai elohayhem" -- "Be holy because I your God am holy."
It is a simple yet profound challenge -- be holy, imitate God in our own lives. It is the fundamental lesson that for Jewish civilization, the ultimate goal of life is not "happiness," it is "holiness." This is what God wants us to embrace as our ultimate self-definition. "Be holy," challenges God, "because I who created you, who formed you from the dust of the earth, who raised you higher than all other animals and life forms, who gave you minds to think and a conscience with which to understand right from wrong, I who am the divine source of life itself and who embody the ideal of holiness, I who am the very definition of holiness challenge you to recognize that who I am is a fundamental part of your own essence as well."
Perhaps this is the very reason that the first thing the Torah teaches us about the nature of human beings back in chapter one of Genesis is that we are created in the image of God (B'tzelem elohim). Perhaps we are given this remarkable spiritual pedigree so that now, two books later, God can reveal the secret to the meaning of life. It is found in the striving every day for holiness.
What makes this portion so amazing, and what makes the search for the holy in our lives so extraordinary, is that for the Torah "holiness" isn't found by meditating on top of the mountain, or chanting sacred prayers of Hebrew in solemn assemblies -- holiness is found in the everyday wrestling with doing the right thing, even when it is difficult, even when it involves an enemy, even when it isn't easy, or convenient, or to our own advantage.
"Revere your mother and our father." "Have just weights and measures." "Treat the stranger in your midst as the home born." (What would biblical immigration reform look like?) "Do not steal." "Do not deal deceitfully or falsely with one another." "Do not defraud your neighbor." "Do not show deference to the rich or to the poor." "Do not take vengeance." "Do not bear a grudge." "Show deference to the aged and treat all individuals with respect and dignity."
These are the hallmarks of holiness. Our every day struggles with doing the right thing, even with those with whom we disagree, even with the strangers who live among us, even with those we consider to be our enemies in life. God says, "Do it even when it is difficult, and you will discover that the secret to happiness is the path of holiness." Imagine what life might be like for us all, if every day we used the qualities of godliness as our ultimate role model for personal behavior. Three thousand years ago our Torah challenged us to do just that. Maybe the time has finally come.
Blasphemy is a victimless crime.
"Calling the handwriting on the wall a forgery does not alter its existence"
Imitatio Dei is only skin deep. To paraphrase gal614 below it is about dwelling within the divine while the latter dwells within you. This then is not mere mimicry in the hope that it is internalized and becomes the practitioner. Such an approach only encourages a manipulative understanding of life that eliminates the possibility of the I-Thou (Ich und Du) for the I-it.
Keep in mind that the I and the Thou are inseparable. Hence, no pretense to holiness as you are already holy. And no seeking the sacred as everything contains it. Then the imperative to be holy becomes a declaration of that which is already sacred.
Deuteronomy 13:7-11
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy heart, or thy friend, that is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying: 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him; but thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to draw thee away from the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0513.htm
Whatever you used to find that particular passage from Deuteronomy, that discussion is scheduled for the week of August 12th. It’s just too bad that in your selective reading, you missed Deut 17:6 and 19:15-19.
Note that this has nothing to do with the Torah or God. You can distract yourself with religion if you'd like. But it seems what you really need is someone to remind you that your mundane struggles amount to something more and you are doing something worthwhile with your time and life. All that stuff you are doing is worth it and is very important.
Yes, that is precisely what it is all about. But I think you asked because, you know, it is easy to get lost in the mess of paying bills, going to work and working on this project or that, etc, and completely lose sight of what it is all for. To get the feeling you are just doing some pointless routine.
I think when you got to that point you turned where you were taught to turn when asking such profound questions: religion. Rabbis in particular. Hopefully with some spiritual or divine explanation as to how there is more to the universe than your routine.
(To be continued...)
We are to live in our daily life, the teachings of God.
Herein lies happiness.
You would be better off imitating Dumbledore, Gandhi, or Albert Einstein.
Better yet, let the following facts creep into your mind. We live for such a tiny fraction of the universe's history, it doesn't even register. We live on a planet that doesn't register on a universal scale. And nothing we do effects the future of our universe in any way.
Could it be that there is no purpose at all? Do the 10 million other species living on Earth have purpose? Did the 100s of millions of species now extinct since the Earth began have purpose?
I hope the young man feeling lost realizes we make our own purpose, and then do our best to be happy as we live out our very short lives.
No, the intended readers don't believe in acting specifically like God but in acting the way the book instructs them to act. Them and not one particular generation of their ancestors three thousand years ago. Much of what's in this particular portion is just common sense ethics, whether one believes in God or not, and that's why it's considered the central and essential kernel of Judish teaching.
If your particular cultural group has a plan that works better for you, I'm sure people what like to know more about it. A hyperlink would be great. Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Pastafarianism, or whatever. As for Judaism, it has worked for any number of people who turned out all right, including Albert Einstein. If it's not your cup of tea, you don't have to participate in the discussion. Your pomposity will not be missed.
An excellent article rabbi, but easier said than done when the reality of life is more like what the prophet Isaiah spoke. Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
As a personal experience I went through the same thing as the young man who came to you for guidance. I was talking to the Lord one night in prayer, telling Him how pointless I thought this life seemed to be and how I'd been rich and I'd been poor and there really didn't seem to be much difference between the two. We live, we work, we love, and die. Is that all there is? The reply came back saying, "There is so much more." I then said to G-d, "Lord if you will live through me, I will live through you." And that, like what was said in a movie long ago, was "the start of a beautiful friendship."
Thank you for your heart felt comment..
Your words are exeptionally poignant and spot on.
What's the color of jealousy?
Both stupid questions that don't deserve an objective answer.
Depends on who you ask. Each religion is going to tell you something unsupported from its holy book or traditions. Which isn't going to matter unless you already foolishly accept that your religion has the answers.
Are these in direct contradiction to the God of Deuteronomy, Leviticus and Joshua?
I dare say a Midianite might not have been treated as the home born? On that note, I suggest the daughter handed over to a raping, murderous mob was treated less well than her father's house guests.
"Vengeance is mine," said the Lord.
Genocide, infanticide, rape, slavery, plunder and pillage, cancel out all the above. Cherry-picking rules, OK?