Thursday, August 22, 2013

Three conditions for asking

There are three conditions, though, for asking a question. The first is that we genuinely seek to learn - not to doubt, ridicule, dismiss, reject. The second is that we accept limits to our understanding. Not everything is intelligible at any given moment.  This should induce in us a certain humility. Not every answer survives the test of time. Not everything that we do not understand is intelligible. Faith is not opposed to questions, but is opposed to the shallow certainty that we think at the moment is all there is. Third is that when it comes to the faith, we learn by living and understand by doing. We learn to understand music by listening to music. We learn to appreciate literature by reading literature. There is no way of understanding Shabbat without keeping Shabbat, no way of appreciating how Jewish laws of family purity enhance a marriage without observing them. Judaism, like music, is something that can only be understood from the inside, by immersing yourself in it..... every question asked in reverence is the start of a journey towards God.

- Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Haggadah

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