I have a love for the drama of ideas; and nothing moves me, transforms me, and defines me like the study of wisdom. Rav Noach said that what pleasure is to the body is what wisdom is to the soul. I read anything and everything, especially, literature that reflects truth, conveys depth, and has the message of hope and love, equality and human dignity, that simply portrays the beauty and elegance of existence.
I do not see ideas in general and wisdom is particular as an end in and of itself, but rather, and supremely, the path to a meaningful life. Meaning is one of those words that to define it would be to limit and trivialize it. Meaning cannot be explained but only understood when lived. It is a lovely feeling where it captures you, enamors you, and wraps you in the raptures of the warmth of G-d’s light. It is a life lived where love is supreme and acts of kindness is its expression; where hope is not an abstract idea but the gift you give to the hopeless; the path you pave to the ones who live a life of loneliness; the healing you bring to the individuals who cry of brokenness.
I deeply value and appreciate questions; they are the par excellent way of acquiring wisdom and making, creating, living a deeply meaningful life. Not having questions in life does not signify confidence or portray wisdom, but rather conveys a lack of depth or an absence of insight. Questions are the thirst of the soul and a passion for life. Life should be filled with questions and the love for questions. For no question is too small. No answer is considered insignificant.
As such, in my love for meaning, and in my pursuit of wisdom, I came to Israel. I spent my entire academic career, spanning 20 + years, learning for the goal of making money. Now, I seek to spend my life learning how to live. In pursuit of wisdom the one thing I learned is that I can make no claim to wisdom, but in my humble experience: no book, no system of thought, no philosophy explains life like the words of Torah. The relevance and resonance of its narrative echoes eternally, its message is as potent and acute today as it was back then. Its essence is not story or history, not a code of laws or a book of philosophies – but the supreme expression of how to live the most beautiful, meaningful, pleasurable life. That is, Torah is a book of life and how to get the most of it.
In study of its wisdom and sagely advice, I have learned a lot and grown even more. I have come to understand timeless messages and the preciousness of time and life itself. Yet, in its infinite depth, one truth I have learned that was more true than others, more profound and powerful than all other teachings, and that is, the sublime belief that we were created in G-d’s image. The revolutionary power of this fundament Jewish creed is that humanity is endowed with meaning, dignity, and an unrivaled majesty. It gave forth the radical idea that we were fashioned by the Creator of the universe with infinite love and care; that existence means someone wants us here and that our lives matter. That we are not but dust on the surface of infinity; that our dreams and hopes are not in vein; that our value is undeniable and our worth is immeasurable.
One might conjecture that the idea that some human beings were created in G-d’s image is nothing new. You had the pharaohs in ancient times and the heroes in Greece that were part god. But what is uniquely distinct about Jewish thought is in Torah, not some, but ALL humans are created in G-d’s image. This was unheard of in antiquity, and throughout history till this very day, it serves as a living protest against imposed inequalities in the name of our common humanity. It became the greatest equalizer for the human race, where holiness was not reserved for the privileged few but democratized for the entire human race; where it became the very heritage of mankind.
I can plummet the depths of the world, read all the different philosophies of life, remove myself from civilization and sit in an ashram in silent meditation, but never will I discover a truth so profound and beautiful, so uplifting and enlarging. That we are all brothers and sisters under the loving parenthood of G-d; that we are equal and free, and not because a government says but because, G-d, the creator of the universe says.
This more than anything else in life makes and moves me, and is certainly the source and drive of the religious personality. In life, all humans are motivated by something. Some are driven by success or wealth, others by fame or status. For the religious personality, what drives him, what sparks the light of life in him, is the deeply spiritual, indefinable, pursuit of the meaningful.
2012