DO WE NEED RELIGION?

Yes, we do.  One that is based on human reason and rationality, and considers the universe as is.

          But what does the word “religion” mean? The term “religion” is much wider than “observance.”  The second one deals with practices, the first refers to one’s attitude towards life in general. Furthermore, even though most religious people are moral individuals, “religion” and “morality” are not one and the same, because plenty of people who claim to be religious, continue to engage in unethical behavior.

Many thinkers derive the word “religion” from the Latin religare meaning to connect (with God). But, what does it mean to connect with God?

 Hebrew does not have a proper word for “religion.” In post-exilic biblical texts, like the Book of Esther (1:19; 3:8 etc.), we find the word dat, which can mean law, decree or custom. In modern Hebrew a dati is a religiously observant individual.

Of the various definitions of religion that exist in the western world literature, I believe, it is Erich Fromm (1900-1980), a Jewish social psychologist,  who has provided the broadest one. He argued that religion gives the individual a “frame of orientation” as well as “an object of devotion.” That is, 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?” 

The medieval Jewish philosopher, Maimonides (d. 1204) defined religion as “to know God (intellectually).” For Mordecai Kaplan (1991-1983) “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? 

In an attempt to understand the scope of religion within a liberal and rational framework, I prefer to look at the wider picture of our universe that operates  in a wondrous ways, and yet acknowledging the reality of some of the problems we face in our daily life; namely, the limitations of our  bodies, the unfairness we encounter in our dealings with others, and even the natural disasters we face not of our own making. We do not live in a perfect world, and certainly do not know all the intricacies of the universe. But every day we discover a new angle and overcome a new mystery. Life, we soon realize, is unpredictable, requiring a wholesome perspective. For me, it is religion that tells us how to relate to the world outside.

I maintain that 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 similar concerns and expectations, yet with different outlooks on life. Whether we are Jewish, Christian, Muslim (or other), how we personally respond to our existential questions becomes our religion. For me, Judaism, provides a wholesome 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 identify myself not only as an ethnic Jew but as a religious Jew.

June 14, 2020

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Beth Shalom, Needham. MA.

Framingham State University, Dept. of Psychology and Philosophy

O, GOD, CAN YOU HEAR ME?

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

Prayers are our way of reaching out to the divine. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Call to Me, and I will answer you” (33:3). Yet, we seem to be having a number of problems with prayers. God is not answering. This is not new in Judaism. Even the old psalmist cried out: “Why, O Lord, do you reject me? Do you hide Your face from me? (88:15), and the prophet Habakkuk sobbed, “How long, O Lord, I cry out, and you do not listen “(1:2). This is the critical issue: If God can hear our plea and does not respond, God would be deemed cruel or uncaring. If God can hear but does not respond, that would imply that God is unable or lacking in power.

However, these two arguments go against the basic definition of a theistically viewed God as a loving, caring, responding yet most powerful divinity. But, you tell that to the innocent who suffer and pray continuously, with no answer from on high (or is it from below?).

There are various types of prayers but the basic ones are: thanksgiving, praise, and petition. The problem is not that much with prayers of thanksgiving or praise but with those that deal with petitions. It is easier to express praises or thanks for life gifts. It is more difficult to deal with prayers that go unanswered.

Maybe the problem lies in the fact that we expect from petitionary prayers more than they can yield. Maybe these prayers need to be refocused. The medieval Jewish/Aristotelian philosopher Maimonides wrote: “True worship is possible only when correct notions of God have previously been conceived” (Guide 3:51). To whom should petitionary prayers be directed? I like how Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn of Boston, and a religious naturalist of the past generation, defined prayer “as a magnified wish” (Wings, p. 292).  I, too, approach prayer as a means to appeal to my highest self. Nature will not change its course because of what I say, even with great concentration. As the Hebrew saying has it, “olam keminhago oleh (“The world follows its own course”). Which means that, if the world will not change for me, I need to change for the world, namely, I must extract the best of what nature can offer me.

That expectation, however, requires that we must reformulate our petitionary prayers so as to appeal to what is possible and what is best in us. So, don’t ask God to heal us; ask so that we may be able to use the most up-to-date scientific information for our benefit; Don’t pray to God to establish peace in the world, but pray so that we may be able to use all the political and social tools available to us in order to bring about better social conditions for all the inhabitants of the world. Start these prayers with “Let us/me…”The problem is not with God, but with our expectations from God. If God is the energy of the universe, as I maintain, we must live according to its dicta, and do the best we can.

This approach would require a revision of our entire liturgy. We need to create new prayers for all occasions, and it can be done. It will not disappoint anyone and will benefit everyone.

Anyone willing to tackle this enormous task?

May 14, 2020

P.S.For more details, see my book, Six Jewish Spritual Paths, 2002, under “Spirituality through Prayer.”

GOD, A PERENNIAL ENERGY

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

The Hebrew Bible  uses various terms to refer to God. One of the most popular is  Shadday, usually translated as “Almighty.” For example, “When Shadday (the Almighty) scattered the kings…(Ps.68:15; for  other examples see, Num. 24: 4, Ps.  91:1)” However, its etymology is doubtful. Many see a connection between Shadday and the Akkadian word for “mountain” which is shadu. This would suggest that Shadday, at some point, referred to the “God of the mountain.” Given the awesomeness of the peaks and hills that inspire the viewers, it is understandable why primitive people would use this term for the divinity, ascribing to it great powers. 

The second most popular biblical term for God is Elohim, the plural of Eloah, based on the noun El, meaning God.  In the overwhelming majority of cases, the word Elohim is accompanied by a verb in the singular. For example, b’reshit bara elohim, “When God began to create…”(Gen. 1: 1).” The verb bara (created) is in the singular. That means the editor of this passage conceived of Elohim as one God. (For other examples, see, Gen. 1: 3; 22: 1; 25: 11; 50:24, etc). However, there are a number of passages where Elohim is accompanied by a verb in the plural. For example, when Abraham says to king Avimelekh, “When God (Elohim) made me wander…(hit’u) (Gen. 20: 13) ,” here the verb “wander” is in the plural. (For other examples, see Ex. 22:8; Deut. 5:23; II Sam. 7: 23, etc.). This observation suggests that at one point the Israelites were polytheists and then moved to monolatry (the worship of one god without the denial of other gods), and finally to monotheism. 

 For me, a religious naturalist, the best term is Ehyeh (e.g., 3: 14), namely, “being,” and, in particular, a continuous being. It is based on the Hebrew term for God, YHVH (later likely vocalized as Yahveh), though we do not know how it was originally pronounced. It comes from the root HYH, to be. 
For me, God is not a personal being. God does not know me, care for me or respond to my prayers. God is also beyond gender, being neither male nor female.  God simply is the energy animating the universe. It is our duty to understand how this world operates in order to make sense of our existence.  All I want is to be given the sustaining tools of a meaningful life, the wisdom to accept my limitations and the skills to overcome them within nature’s possibilities. I hope for wholeness and contentment. 
Do I believe in miracles? The universe is a wonderful place. Every moment is awesome and noteworthy. No, I do not believe in miracles defined as an intervention by God into the normal workings of nature. When something incomprehensible occurs, it is because we still don’t know how the world really operates or how the laws of nature make changes possible. 
Do I “believe” in God? Faith is often understood as a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. For me, however, “to believe” in God means to affirm convincingly God’s existence after careful examination of all the available data.  What is the purpose of prayer? There are three types of prayer: petition, praise and gratitude. For me, the purpose of prayer is to express gratitude for our existence and formulate praises for being alive. Petitionary prayers are expressions of our wishes. I do not expect any divine response to my prayers, but I do feel the need to formulate prayers of praise and gratitude. They make me feel better. 
How do I explain evil? I believe there is such a thing as evil caused by human beings or nature (moral and natural evil).  At times, saintly people suffer, the wicked thrive (e.g., the Nazi Holocaust), and volcanoes create destruction.  However, this is not because God is unwilling to respond to our pleas, but because God is neutral and operates according to set patterns. That is, God cannot intervene. We do not always know why the universe works in this way. Our human task entails that we study nature with all our ability to find the reasons for what we see as unfairness. Over the years, we have made a great deal of progress in our attempt to understand God, but we still have a long way to go.  I also maintain that human beings are not born with a sense of morality but are taught to become ethical individuals. Most of them achieve this high level, others do not.  How free are we? Thinkers have debated the issue of determinism versus free will for a long time. I maintain that we are constrained by our limitations of time and place. We do, however, have some free will within our limits, and we should cherish that freedom. Does religion still matter? Yes, it does. Religion gives us a perspective on a meaningful life. However, it needs to be based on rationality and modern thinking. It should not promote fundamentalism and obscurantism, but encourage peace and mutual respect, allowing the free debate of all existential questions of our time.  

May 3, 2020 (printed from Ohr l'Naorrr, Spring, 2020)

GOD,CORONAVIRUS AND RELIGIOUS NATURALISM

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

In traditional western religions, the dominant view is that God, conceived in theistic terms as a loving and caring divinity, rewards and punishes every individual according to his/her deeds. God, in fact, “causes death and gives life…He guards the steps of His faithful, but the wicked perish in darkness’ (I Sam. 2). Therefore, if, by definition, God is omnipotent and all-good, and still evil exists in the world, the only solution is to assume that it is because humanity is at fault. As one ancient Rabbi put it, “If a person sees that painful sufferings visit him, let him examine his conduct” (Ber.5a). Ultimately, there is no satisfactory solution to the problem of evil within classical theism, as another older sage acknowledged, “It is not in our power to understand the prosperity of the wicked, nor the suffering of the righteous” (PA. 4:19). The corona virus pandemic has once again raised the issue for us. Why are people dying, especially innocent people, both old and young, who did nothing wrong?

The proper understanding of evil has a long history in philosophic speculations, and no satisfactory answer is found within theism proper. In trying to get out of this dilemma, some have suggested that we need to look for an explanation outside of theism. For example, there are those who have argued that God’s power is self-limited on purpose, and therefore God cannot enter into moral relationship with human beings (See, Gersonides, 14^th cent. France).  Another view is Martin Buber’s “radical evil” (19^th cent. Germany), which maintains that, at times, God actually withdraws from humanity. Yet, others (like Alvin Reines, 20^th cent. USA) affirm that evil is the necessary concomitant of existence and is not willed by God.

Religious naturalism follows this lead. Based on the insights of the great Dutch philosopher Spinoza (17^th cent), who argued that God, representing the totality of everything, is beyond good and evil, and acts by necessity. As a Jewish religious naturalist, I, too, would similarly suggest that God is simply the energy of the universe, who acts according to the norms that are still not totally understood by us. God did not create the coronavirus in order to punish humanity. That is how nature operates, and every day we are trying to learn more about God’s mysteries. We, too, are part of God, and owe our existence to the internal energy that keeps the universe going. The more we know about God, the better our condition will be. We must hang in there and put our heads together to study, investigate and analyze God in order to improve our lot.

Westborough, MA (USA)

PS. More on this subject, see the author’s book, Finding God, 2002 (With D. Syme), or The Many Faces of God (2004)

LIVING WITH THE THREAT OF THE VIRUS

Today, I am thinking about living with the threat of the coronavirus, and want to share my impressions with you.

I live in one of the suburbs of Boston called Westborough. We are part of a large complex, called the Willows, and have an apartment in the independent living section with two bedrooms and two baths. We have about 150 residents. Right now, we are asked to stay indoors for an unforeseeable future because of the coronavirus. We do not know how long this curse will last. In the States, we just started to peak, and it will take some time to flatten the curve. Maybe a few weeks?

We are fortunate to live at the Willows where our meals are delivered daily in the evening. But our gym is closed and our library is shut down. We are locked down in place. I am looking out of the window, and there is no one walking. It is eerie!!

When I served in the Turkish army in the late 50’s, I was stationed at the Greek border in a large tank unit. I was a 2^nd lieutenant in charge of 5 tanks. However, when the revolution against the Menderes government began , I was told to take over the military jail because I have a degree in law. So, I stayed behind and assumed my new position. But I lived outside of the jail, not inside.

Now I feel as if I am inside a jail, and do not like it. I feel constrained and unable to walk freely. We cannot visit our grandchildren; we can only talk to them by Face time. We do the same with friends and other relatives around the world. We understand this is done for our benefit, in order to avoid contamination. Regrettably the number of people affected is going up. Right now in Boston we have 413 confirmed cases and one death.

We will eventually get over this curse. In the meantime, we need to sit tight and do our best. We are thinking of others around the world who are not as fortunate as we are. I hope this virus will teach us to be more caring, more empathetic and more supportive of each other.

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

THE CORONAVIRUS AND THE BLAMING GAME

It is part of human nature to try to find the cause of everything. We are curious and want to find the reason of almost everything in order to understand the world around us. The Coronavirus pandemic is not different.

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in the US, this virus was first detected in China and has now been found in more than 100 locations internationally, including the United States. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”). It was originally caused by bats. But to some fanatics, religious or otherwise, this is not enough. They are looking for human behavior that gave rise to this terrible disease. The Chinese already blamed some US soldiers for bringing it to China. In the past, some Evangelical Christians have blamed LGBTQ people for all sorts of natural disasters and diseases, from Ebola to earthquakes, and now they’re starting to falsely link the community to the new coronavirus COVID-19. Some claim it was brought about by Zionists; some even attributed it to the fact that during religious services many people keep talking about secular matters. How far can this lunacy go?

I think many people are recommending behavior that is extreme, simply because we don’t really know how to control the pandemic: close schools, shut down museums and sports events; don’t shake hands, maintain social distancing, stay at home, clean everything. In our independent living complex, one couple even decided to self-quarantine themselves. I find that we are going to extremes. There seems to be a mass hysteria about this disease. People are hoarding hand lotions or toilet papers.

I think we need to take reasonable precautions until this passes over, but please, please do not look for easy answers or find easy human targets. We have enough problems to deal with. We don’t need fanatic responses.

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

Boston, March 15, 2020

HOW TO READ AN ANCIENT TEXT? LITERACY IN THE PAST AND PRESENT

In the past few centuries, mass literacy was unimaginable. Most people did not read or write but told stories orally, from one generation to another, and, often they embellished their contents to make the events come alive or reflect the realities of their own situations (See, article on “Literacy” in ABD, pp. V: 1022 ff).

In the ancient Middle East, writing emerged in South Mesopotamia in the 4^th millennium BCE. Egyptian hieroglyphics came out around the same time. People used clay or papyrus to write down their messages. Romans used vellum (animal skin) for their written texts. The first hand-written books appeared in Rome in the 1^st cent. BCE. Guttenberg, a goldsmith, is usually cited as the inventor of the printing press in Germany in the 15^th cent. CE. And metal presses began to surface only in the early 1800.

There are a number of rabbinic texts showing that in some communities of the past, only one or two people knew how to read and write, and only a few could actually read from the Torah (that is from the Hebrew scriptures, in the original) ( See Tos. Meg. 3:12 and many others). Most people who needed official documents went to see the TUPSHAR (an Akkadian word, meaning a professional scribe), who studied at the E-DUBBA (namely, in “the house of the scribe”). In the Hebrew Bible, the SOFER (“scribe”), living in the court or local temples, had the same role.

I grew up in Turkey. My father went to College in Paris and became an engineer. His father, however, went only to elementary school. My grandmother, on my father’s side, never went to school. My own mother went to an American High school in Istanbul but did not go to College. Her parents did not have a formal education at all. I, on the other hand, went to Law School in Istanbul, attended the Rabbinic institute in Paris, and later on received ordination from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati (in 1966), and even got a Ph.D from the U. of Penn (in 1975). The same year my brother went to College in Istanbul and became an electrical engineer.

In our time, it is expected that most people will go to College. My students at Framingham State University are mostly first generation college students. However, it is becoming more and more evident that College today is what we had in High School in the past. In order to get anywhere in life today, you need to get a Master’s degree.

Furthermore, it is becoming evident that now we also need to be proficient in computer technology. You simply cannot function in society these days if you do not know how to work with a laptop. Cell phones are now “de rigueur.” We are paying the price for it, too: few people pay attention to proper English, correct spelling or punctuation.

The other challenge for us is to try to understand what exactly ancient people meant when they used terms that we still do in our time. Even though, in some cases, the meaning remained constant, often basic concepts such as love, wisdom, or law have undergone major changes. Therefore, when we read an ancient text, like the Hebrew Bible or the Quran, or even a medieval document, we must try to understand what it meant in its own time first and, only then, attempt to find relevance for our own days.

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

Feb. 25, 2020

SONSINO’S BLOG, rsonsino.blogspot.com

Temple Beth Shalom, Rabbi Emeritus

Framingham State University, Dept. of Psych. and Philosophy