HASHEM-----how he runs the world
-
qwert Posted - 17 July 2000 14:36
They all want us to believe that there is this really strong G-d that’s there but hiding... he's testing us on how we react to certain situations, but he made the world for us...
Well I live in NY and most of the stuff here are things were not allowed to eat, do, wear.... so how can they tell me this world is made for me? it’s obviously not if I can’t do it all. and in
If G-d wants peace why does he make so many conflicting nations, I mean come on what’s peace when it said in the torah that not only should you kill amon you have to, what’s that teaching us?
Why do there havta be dif colors and dif religions? I mean how do I know black is not superior to me and my religion is all garbage and when I go up there some other gd is gonna punish me for leading a Jewish life when its so hard for me down here?
How do I know I don’t go to hell for asking all these questions?
I mean if Hashem is so great and strong and powerful and unbeaten why can’t he show his face and make peace. then we wont need tests cuz were all scared when our fathers in the room but we do things when he’s out.
Why is he so scared to show his face? and y does he show his face to the greatest people when they don’t need it? if were so special how come were only 1% of the population?
If were the chosen one why do we get spit upon? and if the torah is the light y do so many people turn away from it?
I can write hours and hours long going on and on, cant he see were all crying and if every generation gets worse there is gonna be no geula. I know I obviously believe because I’m writing this and I’m shomer shabbos and I do what I gotta but how can I say ani maamin beemunah shelaima when part of my heart has so many questions and wants to know why I waste my time, and I look at my bros who r going off and they seem to be having a blast. I try to say no they’re just bad, but I dono, please help...
MODERATOR Posted - 18 July 2000 13:06
Qwert,
I will answer your questions, no problem, but first, let’s organize them. You have here 14 questions, as follows:
1) If “bishvili nivra haolam”, the world was created for me, then why must I stay away from so much of it?
2) If G-d wants peace, why does He make (allow) so many wars?
3) If G-d wants peace, why does He sometimes demand war (as in the commandment to annihilate the 7 nations)?
4) If G-d wants us to follow only one religion, why does He allow so many more to exist?
5) If G-d wants us to follow only one religion, why does He make it harder for us by allowing so many more to exist, thereby making it difficult for us to know which one is real?
6) How do I know which one is real?
7) Am I going to burn in hell for asking these questions?
8) If G-d wants peace and good in the world, why doesn’t He just make it happen? He can, can’t He?
9) If G-d wants us to be good, why doesn’t He make it easier for us by showing Himself more often?
10) It seems strange that when G-d does show Himself, He does so to great Tzadikim who are good anyway. So those who need to see Him the most (like me) never do, but those who need Him the least (like the Tzadikim) always do.
11) If Jews are so special, why are we only 1% or the population (one quarter of one percent, to be exact)?
12) If Jews are so special, why is there so much anti-Semitism?
13) If the Torah is so special, how come so many people turn away from it?
14) Why is it that those who turn away from the Torah (like your brothers) seem to be so happy?
Besides questions #’s 1, 6, and 7, the rest of the questions can be boiled down to two general questions, which include the rest. They are,
1) Why does Hashem allow the world to run in a way that seems to conflict with what He Himself values? (questions 2, 3, 4, 8, 11, 12, 13)
2) Why does Hashem allow the world to be run in a way that the truth is so hard to find? (questions 5, 9, 10)
Both these questions deal with the same topic:
Hashgachah, which means, the system by which Hashem runs the world. I will answer all your questions, but first I want to respond to #7. Since it’s such an important question, I am going to give it a “forum” of its own. It’s called “Asking Questions”, in the “Hashkafa” category. Check it out.
Question #1 will be answered incidentally when I address the topic of Hashgacha.
For question #6, I refer you to the topic “Us, Evil and Proofs to the Torah” on these boards. I will add material to that forum in the near future.
Your other questions will be answered in the following posts.
I need to provide you with some background information, and then we can understand the answers. In order to understand why Hashem runs the world the way He does, we first need to understand why He created it in the first place.
I am starting a new forum called "Basic Judaism" where I will be posting the background information you need to understand the answers. Please refer to it.
I will answer you in the following post, based on that background.
MODERATOR Posted - 18 July 2000 20:21
HOW G-D RUNS THE WORLD
If you want to understand why something is managed a certain way, you need to first find out what the goal of the whole operation is. Then, after you know the goal, you can determine if the operation is being managed in a way that will cause it to reach its goal.
So let’s first see what the goal of the world is.
As we learned (in the “Basic Judaism” forum), the purpose of Creation was to produce a system that would allow humans to eventually connect to Hashem, enjoying infinite pleasure. By fulfilling the Torah, they sanctify themselves, and are enabled to attach themselves to Hashem’s Light.
What becomes sanctified by fulfilling the Torah is not only the soul, although the soul is what allows the connection. Since the body is also involved in doing Mitzvos, the body becomes holy as well as the Neshoma. The body and the soul together will, one day, be on the level to receive infinite God-pleasure.
This will be in the days of Moshiach.
This is the final goal of the world: That the very physical universe be sanctified, uplifted through Torah and Mitzvos, to the point where Hashem can remove His “cardboard mechitzah” and let His Light shine in to this world, blending the physical and the spiritual, uplifting the physical to the point where it, too, connects to Hashem, and, well, everyone lives happily ever after. Forever.
What makes it possible for physical things to become so spiritual is the fact that in reality, they are spiritual to begin with.
As we learned, the entire physical world is merely the result of Hashem hiding from us the Whole Picture. But in and of itself, the physical world is, in reality, a spiritual entity.
The goal, then, is for us to recognize the spiritual in the physical, to identify Hashem everywhere and in everything that happens. Using the physical world for Mitzvos makes this happen.
This concept, of recognizing the Unity of the Universe, that EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IS THE ACT OF HASHEM, that everything that IS, is the act of Hashem, DESPITE its physical appearance, is called “Yichud Hashem”.
Yichud Hashem is only possible because Hashem’s light is presently hidden. If the goal is to enable ourselves to recognize Hashem’s hand everywhere, it is not accomplished unless there is an “everywhere”.
To be able to recognize Hashem only when He is seen openly is nice, but it will not bring us to the goal of “seeing Hashem everywhere”. The only thing that will bring us to that goal is if we recognize Hashem even when He is hidden. When we can do that, we have accomplished the connection between the physical and the spiritual, broken down the “mechitzah” between this world and the next, and have caused the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu.
Just like past, present, and future are all one, but merely seem to us different because of the “hole in the mechitzah” that limits our awareness, so too everything that happens in the world is 100% in accordance with Hashem’s value system – its just that, part of the plan is, that this kind of Justice is only visible on the Other Side of the mechitzah.
On this side, we can see justice no more than we can see past present and future all at once.
So let’s look through that hole in the cardboard. We see a man tied to a table. Standing over him are a half dozen men slicing his flesh with knives. Cutting him slowly. He’s bleeding bad. And nobody stops them. The crowd just watches, with curiosity, every slice of the blades.
My gosh! We’re watching a sadistic torture crime of the worst kind!
But now make the hole a bit wider. The board on which he is laying is now seen to be an operating table; the men, doctors; the knives, scalpels; the veuyers, interns and supervisors.
So suddenly, when we see a little more of the picture, it’s not a crime, but a Chesed taking place.
Everything in the world works like that. Everything that happens, happens in a hidden way.
Sometimes Hashem’s actions are more hidden than others. Those are called times of “Hester Ponim”. The Holocaust was one such time, and so are all times of similarly seemingly defective occurrences. Hester Ponim and Giluy Ponim, when hashem hides Himself and Shows Himself, depends on His plan to bring the world to a state of Yichud. In other words, we need Hester Ponim in this world, because if we would only have Giluy Ponim, then we could never be able to connect our physical selves to a spiritual Hashem – only when we are able to recognize Hashem even within the state of hiding, have we accomplished our goal, which is connecting to Hashem from within our physical existence.
So Hashem runs the world in a constantly fluctuating state of Hester and Giluy, balanced according to His plans, so that one day, One Day, when we finally reach that level and Hashem is ready to bring Moshiach, when He reveals Himself to the world, when He removes that mechitzah, and we all see, then and there, that everything that happened in the world throughout history was really Hashem’s doing, and it coincides completely with Hashem’s values and goals, and that it just SEEMED differently to us because we did not see the “whole picture” -- when that happens, that ultimate Giluy Ponim, we will then be on the level to appreciate Hashem within the physical, and the world will then and only then, be able to receive the final, ultimate, eternal connection with Hashem Himself.
And then we live happily ever after, with all the infinite, G-d-pleasure that He can create.
So you see, all the messed up stuff that you see happening in this world, is all – all! – part of Hashem’s ultimate plan for us, to become part of Him and enjoy the Ultimate Pleasure, but still retain our individuality as separate and distinct sentient beings.
I hope this answers your questions. If there is something I may not have explained well, please ask.
One more thing. As you may have figured, Hashem runs everybody’s individual life through 2 parallel arrangements: (1) The plan for the person himself, and (2) the plan for the world, which is where Hester and Giluy come in.
The question is, why do certain people have to suffer the pain of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being objects of Hester Ponim because the world needs it? Even though according to the big picture, all is for the Good, but why do certain people have to go through the pain of not seeing it?
The answer is that those people are the fortunate ones. You are correct, that their pain is because of Hashem’s world-plan, as opposed to their individual place in the world, but Hashem repays those people with interest for going through pain to eventually be the object of Ultimate Kiddush Hashem. It’s like if you work for a company that for whatever reason takes 55 off of your salary to invest in the company. You may complain, until the company gives you back a million dollars on the dollar in return. Then, you will complain why they didn’t take more of your money.
So too, those who go through pain and confusion for the sake of the ultimate Giluy Ponim will NOT complain about it when the dust clears. Trust me.
And the same thing applies to your question about confusion. Our goal in this world is to see Hashem THROUGH the confusion, within the physical, messed up world, so that our physical, messed up selves will be prepared to receive the Ultimate reward.
Bimheirah b’yameinu amen.
qwert Posted - 31 July 2000 15:28
Thanks so much for that but there are still places I'm lost, like I still cant understand if torah is the light and people turn away from it, why don’t they feel guilty? They like it more and more, as they say parties are so much better when its mixed.
I went to Yeshiva all my life and my teachers tell me mashels all day long and I talk to them sometimes but when I start asking they either think I’m just being annoying, or I’m a nebach case because no one could be that stupid or that lost.
In public I’m the good kid, I listen to Jewish music only, dress appropriately (sometimes better sometimes worse but in there), I act like the perfect Jew, because I guess you can say I’m a little embarrassed. I had a close class and we used to talk about it. and a lot of times I used to break down crying and I would be all serious cuz I mean were talking about my whole life, not a stage, and my next life too, and they started asking questions too.
So we asked my principal and she said "Girls, you should know" and that’s when it started to make me think. she said that and she’s supposed to be such an "amazing" lady, and my teachers all said to ask her and when I got up my guts to ask her that’s what she answered, well duh I wouldn’t embarrass myself like that if I knew. so it turned me off, and I started being embarrassed,
I mean what do you think my name stands for "qwert", its the first 5 letters of the keyboard, doesn’t give away a thing about me, where I live, what I like, my name.. nothing. its just an ez name to remember cuz its right there and totally anonymous.
So I started thinking, hey, I'm hiding it pretty good everybody thinks im the perfect Jew, perfect kid... maybe the people I look up to, my teachers, and that principal, maybe their putting on an act like I am. maybe everyone is putting on a face. and if its not a face then y did she havta tell me I should know. if she’s reading this or there’s a principal reading this, you should know it turned me off so much, I cried myself to sleep for at least a week from 3 words. and I wasn’t even close with her, I didn’t like her so much in the first place and I open myself to her and because of that my name is "qwert" and not something from my heart. because when im not anonymous everything stays with me, inside of me, and hurts me.
So tell me what’s wrong with asking? and even more so what’s wrong with answering
MODERATOR Posted - 31 July 2000 15:57
qwert,
Doing aveiros does indeed give you momentary pleasure. In fact, the fact that it is an aveirah even adds to the pleasure ("Mayim genuvim yimtaku"). If sins would not be fun, there would be no reward, no credit, for avoiding them. It's OK not to go to a party because you would feel guilty and not enjoy it, but it's much higher if you don't go because you know it's wrong, even though you would enjoy it.
Many people are really uncommitted to Torah on the inside and are performing out of habit, but not everybody. I am not. And I know others, on our plain-person level, too.
The thing is, many people are happy just going through the motions. It's a pity on them. You're not happy like that, Boruch Hashem. So you should get answers. I have found, when I ask teachers why they didn't answer such-and-such questions that they were asked, that the reason is because they do not know the answer themselves. Perhaps they don't care about the question. But someone else may, and therefore they should know the answer.
(PS -- It would be better for them if they would know the answer even if they aren't "bothered" by the question. Understanding Torah is a positive thing.)
You can know the answers. They are there. I would recommend reading some good Hashkafa books. Start with the books of Rabbi Avigdor Miller -- I do not know of any other author who has captured anywhere near the measure of high-level Judaism in their books as he has. The names are: Rejoice O Youth, Sing You Righteous, and Awake My Glory.
MODERATOR Posted - 31 July 2000 16:06
Qwert, can you do me a personal favor, please?
Can you please call yourself a screen name that fits you better. I took the liberty of creating one for you. ProudJew613. It has the same password as qwert, and you don't have to re-register.
You know what they say -- If the shoe fits, wear it.
It's yours, use it well.
MODERATOR Posted - 01 August 2000 14:11
Depends which seminary. You need to find one that is suited to your needs.
qwert Posted - 10 August 2000 20:31
I’m in 10th grade (going into) and after high school I plan to go to seminary in
MODERATOR Posted - 11 August 2000 14:16
Let me guess, qwert, your school is known for its "high academic standards", and the principal is considered a big melumedes. Right?
No, I don't know which school you go to. I'm what they call "profiling". Based on past experience with schools, the problem you are describing is, according to my experience, mostly found in schools such as I described.
Am I right?
No comments:
Post a Comment