Some questions are not meant to provide easy answers, but instead to awaken us to deeper questions. Here we encourage readers to wrestle with issues of faith, doubt, and the moral demands of being a Jew in today’s world.
Question: My whole life I saved and saved, and as a result lived a very modest life - I was always told to prepare for a rainy day. Now I am already toward the end my life, have amassed significant funds, and am able to leave an inheritance for my children. However, on reflection I feel something is missing... did I live my life correctly?
Only when we realize that our world has become barer and barer, and incapable of giving itself ultimate meaning is there hope that we may recapture the possibility of an afterlife Our denial of the afterlife and the need for a spiritual passport to continue the road has created enormous psychological problems.
When scientists describe or teach about atoms and electrons they use models and images on the blackboard or computer screen. However, these are but metaphors and symbols; no one believes them to be the real thing. Why then, does Jewish Law forbid images that are meant to represent God, even when we know these images are only metaphors?
Is God really of supreme importance? The answer affects the way one lives, behaves, and perceives life. A believing person claims that he lives in the palace of the King of all Kings; if one lives in this palace, one must behave as befits royalty, and it is religion’s task to give us the guidelines as to how to do this.
Is there a difference between believing in God and believing that God exists? Might belief in God imply that we not only believe that He exists but that we trust Him?