{"id":73023,"date":"2020-04-07T00:47:57","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T21:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=73023"},"modified":"2020-04-07T01:03:22","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T22:03:22","slug":"oh-sweet-mystery-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/oh-sweet-mystery-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh, Sweet Mystery Of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"73023","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"453","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"We may need it more than answers to our questions\r\n\r\n\u00a0","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We begin learning Tanach by reading about <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ma\u2019aseh Bereishit<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the account of creation. Although the concept of creating something from nothing may be beyond our comprehension, the creation story describes a physical world that we can understand and relate to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the other end of the spectrum is the opening of the Book of Ezekiel, in which the entire first chapter is devoted to a prophecy far beyond any human understanding. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ma\u2019aseh Merkava<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the account of the Divine chariot, describes a completely metaphysical world that even our sages felt largely inadequate to explain. So incomprehensible is this construct that some sages have suggested parameters around who should learn it in depth (only a very select group at an extraordinary level of spirituality) and how it should be taught (one-to-one, not in large classes.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the chapter progresses, even Ezekial begins to struggle with his own prophetic vision. He starts with vivid descriptions like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;a storm wind [v. 4]\u201d, and &#8220;a huge cloud of flashing fire surrounded by a radiance [v. 4].\u201d But by the end of the chapter (v. 27) he resorts to less tangible descriptions like &#8221; what <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">appeared to be<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> his loins\u201d and \u201cwhat <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">looked like<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a fire\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ma\u2019aseh Merkava<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is so beyond our comprehension that even the prophet Ezekial finds it difficult to describe, then why include it in such detail? Is God trying to teach us something about the role of mystery in our spiritual health?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mystery is distinct from \u201cblind faith\u201d. The commandments grouped under <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chukim<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> require blind faith. These are laws with no rational basis, like those concerning <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shatnez<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (the prohibition of wearing cloth containing both wool and linen). We keep those laws simply because God told us to, even though we cannot fathom their purpose. Mystery, on the other hand, isn\u2019t something we have to act on but rather the art of accepting the unbelievable and being okay with the knowledge that there are things in this world we will never understand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We know from the prophecy of Isaiah that the one thing God wants from us is humility, and what could make us more humble than resigning ourselves to the reality that we have to accept mystery. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018The need for mystery,\u2019 wrote American author Ken Kesey, \u2018is greater than the need for an answer.\u2019 It reminds us that there is something about our world that is far greater than ourselves and our own rationality.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":50016,"id":50016,"title":"dt8-question","filename":"dt8-question.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/moses-answer-to-our-favorite-existential-question\/dt8-question\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt8-question","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":50015,"date":"2019-02-23 19:41:01","modified":"2023-02-04 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