Do Orthodox Children Really Believe in God?

One might think this is a strange question to ask in a community where most people send their children to a religious school. After all, what is a religious school if it doesn’t instill that basic in its students? And yet that the question is being asked at all means that it is a legitimate one. One that is not so outrageous if you think about the mission of these schools.

The mission of our schools is to mold committed observant Jews by teaching them about our heritage, by studying the Torah, Mishna, Gemarah, and Halacha. 

Belief in God is assumed and not really discussed. In my view (and I assume this is what generated Rabbi Goldmintz’s article) that is a dangerous path to take in our day which is filled with so much skepticism and doubt. Where one can question their faith and find answers on line or elsewhere that will satisfy those doubts – leaving God out of the picture altogether.

Rabbi Goldmintz’s concern ought not be taken lightly. His point being that there ought to be a far greater emphasis on belief than there is now. Which is practically non existent because of the above mentioned assumption. As of now, the focus is about how to be Jewish. Not on why. Religious practice rather than religious belief.  He then goes on to suggest some solutions to this problem.

I generally don’t like to talk about belief in God. That’s because it almost always brings out the skeptics and doubters who have legitimate questions about faith. From which they will often draw false conclusions. But at the same time I think it is worthwhile in noting that belief in a Creator is at its core a matter of pure logic. And that even though there is no conclusive proof of God’s existence, the evidence is nevertheless overwhelming.  

First let me reiterate what I said: Questions on matters of faith are legitimate. If one is going to be intellectually honest, one will have such questions. It is the answers leaving God out of the equation that are mistaken. Those answers are based mostly on the lack of conclusive proof of God’s existence.  And that since God cannot be proven while so much of nature can now be explained by science without the existence of God, why bother believing in Him at all?

Skeptics will say that in the past belief in God was the only way to explain natural phenomena. But with what we know now - that is no longer necessary. What about the things that science can still not explain? They will call it the 'God of the gaps' and will assert that it is only a matter of time before science will be able to explain those gaps without God. Just as science has done in the past.

While this might seem like a logical approach, in my view it leaves out one very fundamental component that in my view refutes it.

As I have said many times (and recently) proving the existence of God would take it out of the realm of faith and make a scientific fact. That God’s existence can’t be proven does not mean that He doesn’t exist. Although there is no conclusive proof, the evidence of His existence is overwhelming. I am not going to list all of the things that lead me to that conclusion. I have done that in the past more than once and it is beyond the scope of this post. But even overwhelming evidence alone is not convincing

The one thing that logic convinces me about God’s existence is the existence of the physical universe or nature itself. Nature itself did not self create. The idea that it has always existed does not satisfy the logical mind. The only rational explanation is that it had a Creator… an Infinite Spiritual Being that for His own reasons created it.

Modern philosophers have disputed the notion of a First Cause with questions like ‘Who created God? But that is exactly what God is: a First Cause… a Being beyond nature that has always existed. One can make assumptions like that about a Supernatural Being since we know nothing about the spiritual world. Making that assumption about nature by saying that matter and energy are eternal and have always exited is a far bigger stretch then to say a Being outside of nature created it.

Why God has chosen to ‘hide His face’ in our day is a question that I cannot answer. Surely it would help many skeptics reject the false conclusions that since He can’t be proven he must not exist. But it is not within human ability to analyze God’s motives.

For me that God exists is an irrefutable truth despite the fact that His existence can’t be proven. It is a truth based on logic and on faith. I would hope that this is the kind of thinking that is part of any attempt to instill a strong belief in God, from which flows our belief in the truth of Judaism. (A subject that is way beyond the scope of this post.) Once those beliefs are instilled we can proceed with the current paradigm of how to be a Jew.

(H/T Alex Fleksher)