The existential dimension: what remains?

“A gentile who keeps the commandments”

Here the objection is called for, and whoever is wrestling surely asks it: “You have left very little. Your Jew is really ‘a gentile who keeps the commandments.’ God is not involved in his life, he asks nothing of him personally, his prayers are not answered, and history has no meaning. What remains?”

The definition “a gentile who keeps the commandments” is not absurd, and it is better not to be frightened by it. What is unique to the Jew is halakha and the commitment to it. Everything else, being a good person, thinking, loving, is shared by all human beings. And that is not little. It is exactly what God wants from us.

From prayer to Torah

And yet there is something this picture changes in the service of God. In periods when God was involved, prayer was at the center: one asks, and is answered. Today, according to everything we have seen, the time of prayer as the focus of serving God has passed. But there is another focus, and it is no less direct: Torah study. Whoever studies Torah reveals the word of God, what God wants. That is the direct connection we have left with him. That is “connecting heaven and earth”: God withdrew from the world, but left his word in it, and whoever studies it meets him. In this sense, study has inherited the place of prayer.

“And what does someone do who cannot study, or does not like to?” One can ask in return: and what does someone do who cannot pray all day, as the Sages recommended? There is no one prescription for everyone. Whoever cannot study will engage in kindness, in public service, in keeping the commandments with intention. And in general, these words are not meant for everyone. Whoever feels good with the common view and with the place of prayer, let him continue on his way. These words are addressed to whoever feels the difficulty.

“The commandment of Torah study” and “Torah study”

And there is a point here that explains an old puzzle. Halakhically, the Shema in the morning and evening is enough to fulfill the biblical commandment of Torah study. So why is “bittul Torah” (wasting time from Torah) spoken of as a grave sin, and why is “Torah study equal to them all”? The answer: there is a difference between the commandment and the study. The commandment is a minimum. But Torah study is something much broader and deeper: it is the way to cleave to God and reveal his word. And whoever understands its value studies as much as he can, not because he was commanded, but because that is what he wants. Cleaving cannot be commanded. “Bittul Torah” is not a halakhic concept, but a concept above halakha.