MY RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY-PART TWO

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

THE SENSE OF WONDER

When I wake up in the morning and realize that I am alive in a world that operates in a reliable yet mysterious ways, I am moved to express gratitude to God that has made me part of it. Abraham J. Heschel once wrote, “Wonder or radical amazement is the chief characteristic of the religious man’s attitude toward history and nature.” (See, God in Search of Man; Philadelphia: JPS, 1962, 45). The awareness that the universe has an intricate composition has led many, including me, to revere life. Not only am I in awe before the workings of the world, even during a pandemic such as the Corona Virus of the 2020’s, but I am equally struck by the way our bodies operate harmoniously most of the time. I view human beings as bulks of energies stimulated by forces within and without. How does the heart know to beat regularly? How does our digestive system work so properly most of the time? The ancient rabbis, noting this wonder, even penned a prayer to be said after one wakes up: “Blessed are You, God, who has formed the human body in wisdom, and has created in it intricate passages, vessels and openings. It is clear to You that if one of them is blocked or opened, we could not stand before You. Blessed are You, God, who heals all flesh in a wondrous way.” 

RELIGION 

The universe operates in wondrous ways. However, this recognition does not eliminate the problems we face in our daily life, either because of the limitations of our  bodies, the unfairness we encounter in our dealings with others, or even when we fight natural disasters not of our own making. We are devastated when tragedies mar our existence. Most of us can understand and accept that people will eventually pass away, but we find it very difficult to deal with the death of a loved one, either at the hands of others or because of natural causes. We do not live in a perfect world, and certainly do not know all the intricacies of the universe.  Life is mysterious, and, at times, even unpredictable, requiring a wholesome perspective. For many, including me, religion does that.

But what does the word “religion” mean? Some people derive it from the Latin “relegare” meaning to re-examine carefully, and others from “religare” meaning to connect (with God). Even though the second one is the most popular understanding of the word today, it is still vague. What does it mean to connect with God? What does God mean? Hebrew does not have a proper word for “religion.” In medieval times, we find the word dat, which can mean law, custom or faith. In modern Hebrew a dati is a religiously observant person.

Of the various definitions of religion, I believe, Erich Fromm (1900-1980) has provided the broadest one. He argued that religion gives the individual a “frame of orientation” as well as “an object of devotion.” Each of us has a “frame of orientation” through which we view the world, and “an object of devotion” to which we pledge ultimate loyalty. The question is how to identify these “frames” and “objects?” 

Maimonides (d. 1204) defined religion as “to know God (intellectually).” For Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983) “the essence of every religion is the human quest for salvation (i.e.., self-realization).” In Abraham J. Heschel’s (1907-1972) view, “Religion is an answer to man’s ultimate questions.” Roland Gittelsohn (1910-1995) proposed one in line with his religious naturalism: it is “the study of the mutual spiritual relations between human organisms and their total cosmic environment.”  Alvin Reines (1926-2004) suggested: “Religion is the human person’s response to the conflict of finitude;” namely, how do we deal with the realization that we are all limited and are destined to die one day?  For me, religion needs to be defined broadly as a way to help us find our place in the world, with all its limitations and possibilities. In this sense, I consider everyone religious because we all have the same concerns and expectations. Whether we are Jewish, Christian, Muslim (or other), how we personally respond to our existential questions becomes our religion. For me, Judaism, provides the best interpretation of human life, with its plusses and minuses,  and that is why, in addition to being part of the Jewish people, I choose to remain a religious Jew.

The term “religion” is much wider than “observance.”  The second one deals with practices, the first refers to one’s attitude to life in general. Also, even though most religious people are moral individuals, “religion” and “morality” are not one and the same, because plenty of people have claimed to be religious while engaging in unethical behavior.

Dec. 7, 2020