EE & R, 1_2: The Problem of the History of Judaism: The Vanishing Essence of Judaism
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1. The Problem of the History of Judaism – Judaism Across Time
The Judaism that is lost went by many names: Prophecy, the Divine Presence, and the Word of Hashem are among its designations. Its essence is captured by the declaration made after the Exodus: “I will dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8). In those days, the presence of Hashem was palpable, His intentions unmistakable, and communication between Him and His people profound. This crowning attainment, achieved after the Exodus, defined an era when the Divine was not a mystery but a guiding presence, when the path of service to Hashem was well-defined.
Yet, as we look at Judaism today, we cannot conceive of it as the same religion it once was. Where there was once the living Word there is now only silence and dead law: Hashem doesn’t speak through prophets. Where there was once clarity about Hashem’s ways there is now confusion and doubt: We can’t explain why things happen as they do. Where there was once a visible presence there is now only darkness: We see no Shechinah. Humanity yearns to comprehend Hashem’s action and purpose, and to understand what is demanded from it. But there is no response from heaven, only silence. Our pursuit for answers leads us to turn to the great teachings of philosophy, politics, and psychology, while the echo of His Word that reverberates in the hearts of the wise remains only that – a reverberating echo that finds no clear expression.
The problem of Judaism’s apparent cessation is made more acute by the quietness of the cessation. The Judaism of old seems to have simply faded out. If prophecy had ended with its adepts warning of its imminent termination and showing a path forward, the matter wouldn’t be nearly as troubling. But prophecy ended without warning. As if the prophets themselves were taken by surprise, or perhaps couldn’t sense what would occur after their own era, the Word faded out and went silent. The climactic, final message pronounced by the last prophet echoes on through the empty eons – “Remember the Torah of Moshe My servant!” (Malachi 3:22), and for millennia, that is what the Jewish people have done. They have diligently remembered and preserved. However, this preservation has taken on the tone of something lost, something that belongs to the past. To the prophet’s plea that reaches us from across the expanse of history we respond and plaintively ask: Is Judaism truly lost? Are we lost, adrift in the darkness?
The problem of the lost Judaism can be framed also as a problem with the protracted exile. Providence in Hashem’s land is central to His covenant with the nation of Israel. The ideal of divine history is for Hashem to dwell amongst His people and for them to experience His blessing in the land of revelation. Yet for millennia, this ideal remains unrealized. The nation’s first exile from the land of Israel to Babylon marked a significant turning point, never to be undone. When the nation left its land after the destruction of the First Temple, something changed forever. The nation as a whole never returned. Even the minority that did return and rebuild the temple never again experienced the land as the place of Hashem’s manifest activity. His word and His land are bound together, and their eras ended coincidentally, leaving His people exiled and in dark ignorance of His plan and ways.
Judaism's perceived regression seems incomprehensible, as we would expect a divine plan to perpetually progress. We must attempt to comprehend the tortuous path of Hashem’s scheme: What is its logic? Where is it headed? And what does this scheme demand from us now?
Before delving deeper into the reasons behind divine history, let us briefly outline the chronology of Judaism.
What about His ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not ours?