A Spiritual Journey

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.

Spirituality incorporates character and responsibility. Spirituality includes a partnership with God that requires confrontation, not acceptance. We are required to question God because to do so enables us to understand the meaning of life. That is why we are called Israel: we struggle with the notion of God and are determined to comprehend the true essence of our relationship.

What is it that we question? Primarily we are concerned with the existence of evil. There has always been evil. There will always be evil. That is the eternal quest: to understand why there is evil and the part it plays in the elaborate road map called creation.

We are also romantics, always thinking that good will be the ultimate victor. The Psalmist and the Prophets talk about the time when all will be right with the world, and yet we, their progeny, are still grappling with the notion of right defeating might. We spend too much time on why and not enough on what.

It is not so important to analyze evil, but rather to accept that it exists and that there are times when the slate has to be made clean and a new beginning is necessary. And occasionally we regret having been part of the wickedness.

So the lesson here is that while we sometimes may feel righteous indignation, we cannot fully determine our role until we understand that we must try to be the best we are capable of being and that a partnership with God requires us to be a community of people concerned with survival. Our survival depends upon our relationship with each other and the word Tzibur (community) is derived from three (3) words: Tzadik, righteousness; Benoni, average; Rasha, evildoer. That is what makes a community: the presence of all three, good, bad and the in between.

And we need to take responsibility for our actions. Not be like Adam, when confronted by God about eating from the Tree of Knowledge, against God’s wishes, argues that he is blameless. “The woman made me do it.”

Not taking responsibility is contrary to the concept of Pekuach Nefesh (the respect for life). Not speaking out when we witness injustice is contrary to Pekuach Nefesh. We are responsible for each other and we need to be concerned about all that is around us because we cannot exist alone. If we are truly partners with God then we are obligated to act as a true partner, not as a passive accepting and fate filled participant.

That has been the calling of the Jewish people: to be guardians, promoters and messengers. We have been in the forefront of civil rights, unions, and anything that helps people live with dignity. We establish Chevra Kadishas (Burial Societies), Gemilut Hesed programs (Benevolent Societies), and Synagogues (Places of Learning) to enable humanity the ability to be productive and caring which is the hallmark of a reliable partnership with God.

We have a duty to follow the dictates of the pronouncement found in the Talmud that saving one person is tantamount to saving the entire world. We cannot be selfish and look only after ourselves. We must take a broader approach to ensure that life, as we know it, will continue. That is what partnership is all about. That is what Pekuach Nefesh is all about. We were created in the divine image and with that creation God has accomplished one part of the equation of partnership. Our effort should be the completion of the partnership: the survival of humanity, the survival of our planet.

If you think about it – it truly is a spiritual journey.