God Is Found in the Questions

People often ask me questions like “What does Judaism say about this or that?” I am always happy to offer the tradition’s answer as well as sprinklings of my interpretations. But the discussion should not end there. While the tradition may codify an answer, and while I may freely offer advice, the question and the discussion it provokes is what defines us as a people.

It is the search that provides meaning.

The Torah relates, “If you search, you will find Adonai your God, if you only seek with all your heart and soul.” (Deuteronomy 4)

The Hasidic rebbe, Menahem Mendl of Kotzk, adds, “The very act of seeking God, the longing to find God, that in itself is enough.”

Don’t let the answer define us. Allow the question and the ensuing debates—however, heated they may become—to be our defining character.

Ask questions! Discover God.

Answers may very well elude us. Have confidence and faith.

God emerges in the questions.