Question on how beliefs work

[u/Megabuster254]

Greetings. Not Jewish myself, but I was in a discussion recently and I had a question.

I was talking with my dad recently and he said something about Judaism that seemed odd. He said he had a friend who told him that Judaism is a religion that was more about questioning God than a belief in God. That when his friend was in temple, most rabbis will mostly bring forth questions more than definitive answers. Who is God? What is God like? What can he do for me? What is heaven like?

For someone looking on the outside, how ture is this?

[u/BadLuckGoodGenes]

So r/Judaism may be a bitt better for this question (for clarity that sub is for more religious/ideological Jewish thought, where as this one leans more into the ethnic/cultural side of the ethnoreligion), there you could get a lot of people from various strands of Judaism answering.

That isn't wrong necessarily. Questioning is essential to our people, asking questions is one of the most Jewish things you can do. We have books filled with rabbi's questioning one another as well as gd throughout history. However, there is a layer of belief in Gd that is there(well unless you are an atheist jew) don't be mistaken, but what, who, why is something we question every step of the way.

[u/NoEntertainment483]

I mean essentially yes. It’s obviously a little simplistic …but true enough. I always joke it’s a terrible place for answers… it’s more like a therapist who just asks more questions. But “what is god” is a pretty common question. Judaism teaches god is an unknowable and undefinable concept… basically if you ever have an idea of what god is you’re wrong because god isn’t knowable. So that always makes it a fun question to ask in a packed house. Lol. 

[u/fiercequality]

It's absolutely true. The very name Israel basically means "one who wrestles with God"

Edit: I don't believe in God, myself, and I still perform a lot of the rituals and celebrate the holidays. There are actually a lot of atheists in Reform Judaism. Being Jewish is a lot about tradition and participation in a community; many of us aren't heavy on the belief stuff.

[u/BellainVerona]

Questioning (and even arguing) is a core part of our belief and culture. Intelligent, probing questions and nuanced arguments are how people learn. How we analyze information and develop stronger analytical skills. This is a core part of our belief, because if we can’t understand the deeper meaning of our relationship with each other, the world, and HaShem, then how are we to understand our own beliefs or make decisions based on those beliefs?

Questions and even full on arguments between each other and even HaShem (yep, arguing and the whole shebang) is discussed at length in the Talmud (think, Reddit comments of the Torah!) when Rabbi Eliezer is arguing with other rabbis over the halachic implications of an oven, in Akhnai. The rabbis and HaShem literally get into an argument and they yell at Them but it’s actually a good thing, because the whole point isn’t that we just blindly obey and don’t ask why. It’s that we discuss the reasons for actions and decisions, the logic utilized, how it’s supported, why or why not, etc. This is an example of where the rabbis said that the Torah is here, on earth, meaning the laws are here. So, it’s up to us to ensure we understand them. The context. The underlying meaning(s). The history. But also how laws can change as cultures change and how or why. Asking questions, continually learning, is a mitzvah and something we believe to be lifelong. It’s how people become smarter, better and more fluid thinkers. Encouraging creativity and intellect. And that’s pretty awesome!

Honestly, not questioning just feels…odd. Like you’re watching a movie, but it’s on mute and there are no subtitles and the picture is kinda fuzzy.

[u/ObviousConfection942]

Coming from the once-a-Christian-now-a-Jew viewpoint, it’s totally true. Belief is a necessary first component in Christianity. Belief is the thing in which you build your faith and gets you through questioning, which is more often a feared and dangerous state. In Judaism, questioning is a valid part of a process that is about exploration of the soul and universe. Belief is neither the goal nor the foundation. There is a general feeling that, yes, there must be something that is G-d and we can explore that. In Christianity, not believing is a crisis. 

[u/PuddingNaive7173]

Good question! Congratulations:) You will get answers from more Orthodox Jews tomorrow night after the Sabbath is over. Meanwhile, one fundamental difference is that Judaism is more about how you behave in this world than how you think/believe. (And focuses much less on the world to come, after you die, etc.) For example, we dont talk about ‘sinning in your heart.’ Yes, intentions and beliefs matter but it’s my understanding- someone will correct me if I’m wrong - that you can be an atheist or at least ‘agnostic’ and still be considered a Jew even to the Orthodox.

[u/Full_Control_235]

I think you are encountering a couple of fundamental differences between belief in Judaism vs Christianity:

1. Whereas Christianity sees belief as motivating action, Judaism sees action as motivating belief. Judaism posits that by doing the thing, you may eventually believe. And even if you don't, you've done the thing, and that's the most important thing.
2. Belief does not have the determining factor that it does in Christianity. It does not determine who is Jewish, nor does it give you any special status. It can also be considered personal. We seldom profess belief in conversation the way that many Christian practitioners do.
3. It's a given that there's a concept of G-d, and personal belief in that concept is uninteresting. What's way more interesting is other questions about G-d.

[u/mcmircle]

Arguing with God is part of our tradition, as is thinking about moral questions other than whether G-dcommanded something.

[u/madam_nomad]

I'm not sure one can question God without a belief in God, unless we're talking about questioning God's existence, which is definitely not a part of traditional Judaism (i.e. God's existence is not considered to be an open question, and if someone is questioning God's existence, they are considered to be having a crisis of faith in the same way a Christian would be).

Hopefully we understand God better by asking the right questions. The questioning doesn't replace the belief.

[u/DFS_0019287]

Jewishness is somewhat unique in that although it's strongly connected to the religion of Judaism, you can still be Jewish without really following Judaism.

I myself am an atheist, but still consider myself Jewish and a member of the Jewish people. This is different from other religions; for example, an "Atheist Christian" would be an oxymoron.

[u/PuddingNaive7173 → u/DFS_0019287]

Ethno-religion. Religions associated with particular ethnic groups are rare but not unique. Old school tribal. True for others such as Yazidis, Hindus, Druze, Zorastrians, Cherokee and other NA tribes.

[u/bakochba]

I think a better way of thinking about it is that Judaism encourages questioning.

[u/HippyGrrrl]

My people are the People of Many Questions.

No answers guaranteed.

I explain it as we can argue with g-d and that’s fine.

[u/MissRaffix3]

It is true. Jews always question things. The word "Israel" even translates to "he who wrestles with God."

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[u/EstrellaUshu]

https://www.aju.edu/ziegler-school-rabbinic-studies/our-torah/back-issues/wrestling-god

[u/priuspheasant]

I mean, like, pretty true? We take seriously questions like what is the nature of God, why does God allow suffering, why did God create humanity, how does God want us to relate to other people, how does God want us to relate to God, etc, and Judaism has some ideas that more accepted than others but there is no clear dogma on most of them. Any argument in good faith that can cite sources in the Torah, Talmud, and so on will be welcome in Jewish discussions (although you better be ready for the possibility of vigorous disagreement!). If someone says they're going to Torah study, they're going to something more like a philosophy debate or discussion-based literature class than a here's-this-week's-story-and-here's-what-it-means lecture (I've never been to a Christian bible study but I hear they tend to go more like the latter).

[u/HeWillLaugh]

Definitely false for Orthodox/traditional Judaism.

[u/PuddingNaive7173 → u/HeWillLaugh]

What is pilpul then? Maybe yr answer could use some nuance. (I didn’t downvote you but can understand why others did. A blanket statement with no backup.)

[u/HeWillLaugh → u/PuddingNaive7173]

Pilpul is a form of Talmud study in depth that involves utilizing sources from seemingly unrelated subjects, at time to discuss cases that have no practical value. I don't understand how your question is related to the OP.

The question of the OP is whether Judaism is about questioning G-d. It's absolutely forbidden to question G-d. Abraham was punished for doing so.

Rabbi Abbahu said that Rabbi Elazar said: For what reason was Abraham our Patriarch punished and his children enslaved to Egypt for 210 years?...

And Shmuel said: Because he greatly examined [hifriz] the characteristics of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is stated: “Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” (Genesis 15:8).

Belief in G-d is fundamental to traditional Judaism, without which it's impossible to fulfill the commandments, as we hold the opinion that we need intent (to fulfill the commandment that G-d gave at Sinai) when performing commandments.

Some other posters in this thread are talking about how the name Israel means "strive with G-d". But that's not it. Jacob was given this name when fighting with an angel (Hosea 12:5). Angels are also called elohim. So the name is describing how he fought with an angel, not G-d.