By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — One of the things I love about Judaism is our ability to question and argue. Although Judaism does demand that we accept much on faith, we are never forbidden to question why things are the way they are, and to challenge God, and even express our unhappiness about the imperfections of the world we have inherited.
A man once brought some beautiful material to a tailor and asked him to make him a pair of pants. When he came back a week later, the pants were not ready. He came back two weeks after that, and they still weren’t ready.
Finally, after six weeks the man came in and the pants were ready. He tried them on and they fit perfectly. They were exquisite. The customer was pleased but irritated that it took so long.
“You know,” he told the tailor, “It took God only six days to make the entire world. So why did it take you six weeks to make just one pair of pants?”
“Ah,” said the tailor. “But just look at this pair of pants, and then look at the world.”
Jews are allowed to question, challenge, and complain. However, we may only do so if we are willing to become God’s partner in making things better. We must be willing to help God perfect the world by helping alleviate suffering, violence, and want by investing our time, energy and resources in making this world a happy and healthier place.
One of the great Orthodox leaders of the last century, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, made a keen observation about the phrasing of one of the questions Abraham asked God in regard to his intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah: “Perhaps there are 50 righteous people in the midst of the city. Will you save the city for their sake?”
Rabbi Hirsch noted that Abraham didn’t ask God about there being 50 righteous people in the city, but rather in the midst of the city. He said that Abraham asked his question this way for a specific purpose.
Abraham knew that a righteous people only helps the society in which they live if they are in the midst of that society. That is, if they are involved with other people, if they teach them by example how a good person behaves. If they don’t, their righteousness doesn’t count for much.
In order to make a difference in the world in which we live, we need to be involved. But not only do we need to be kind and righteous human beings, we need to share our belief in God and godliness with others through the example of our lives.
And if we are not willing to do so, we should keep our complaints to ourselves!
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. He may be contacted via leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com