God Willing

Grace (in an e-mail to Tziporah and Yasmina):

Christians can sometimes get very angry with one another when they express their opposing social and political viewpoints as "God's will." Yasmina, I know the phrase "God willing" is powerfully important in Islam, an ever present reminder of submission. I’m wondering if each of you would be interested in talking about how you and your faith tradition approach the question of "God's will," or is that even a concept that you deal with in those terms?

Tziporah:

The idea that God is the Ruler of the Universe and controls our fate is a centerpiece of Judaism. Philosophers throughout the ages have addressed the tension between human beings’ free will—our ability to make choices and the consequences of our actions—and God’s ultimate control of each person’s destiny.  Jewish grandmothers, meanwhile, have instructed entire generations of Jews to ward off the evil eye and recognize God’s protection of our good fortune.  Yiddish, Hebrew and English all include idioms that express this central idea.  My Ashkenazi (Eastern European) forbears would always say “God willing” when speaking of an event that would take place in the future, and in their Polish accents it would sound like “Got vill ink.” Many Jews include the acronym for the Hebrew phrase “b’ezrat ha-shem” (with God’s help) on wedding invitations, indicating that we do not take for granted that our plans will come to fruition without divine intervention. Finally, the Hebrew phrase “im yirtzeh ha-shem” (if God wills it) is recited by religious Jews whenever they speak of their hopes, goals or plans.  This is both an expression of faith in God’s providence and of humble acceptance of God’s judgment.

Grace:

I love how your take on this subject is both humorous and serious, Tziporah!  And I believe that the habitual use of the phrase “God willing” makes a powerful theological statement. Where the catch comes for me is having clarity on what God’s will is.  Did not the Crusades, the Holocaust, slavery, and the 9/11 attack all come about because of individuals' claims to be following God’s will?  I suspect that if we were to examine ourselves carefully, we would find that we are far more bent on justifying our own beliefs with the stamp of “God’s will” or approval than we are willing to engage in a deep and painful search that will probably lead to our own reshaping.  I suspect that seeking, not just claiming, God’s will is likely to disturb and unsettle us rather than allow us to rest comfortably in the beliefs we already hold.  

Tziporah:

In light of this week’s murder of Sikh priests in their Temple, I’d like to add a serious response to your question about discerning “God’s will.” In Jewish tradition, only the Prophets are privy to God’s will and the period of prophecy was determined to be finished with the canonization of the Hebrew bible.  Nevertheless, people claiming to know God’s will—false prophets—seem to arise in every generation. My favorite definition of false prophets is “those who twist God's word to fit their own fancies…who aim at nothing but their hearers' applause.”(Micah 3:5-7) In my humble opinion, those who believe in God the Creator who is eternally righteous and loves all creatures cannot simultaneously believe that God’s will is for them to destroy God’s creation or murder God’s creatures.  When we pray for God’s protection and benevolence, we use the phrase “May it be God’s will,” because we know that we cannot really change God’s will to suit our own desires. We also pray for the righteous to flourish and the wicked to perish by God’s will and not (God forbid!) by our words or deeds.

Yasmina is on vacation this week.

God, Not Greed

"To God the dearest places are the mosques, and the most unpleasant places are markets." (Reporter: Hadthrat Abu Hurairah in Sahih Muslim, Riyadus lSaeheen, #1841)

Amanda:

There are plenty of references in the Qur’an and the Hadith which teach Muslims how to conduct business in an honest, respectable way. Even a cursory examination of Islam shows that it is not anti-business, and Muslims throughout history have been prosperous businessmen and women. But this hadith does make an important point about what our priorities should be. The markets aren’t just described in this hadith as unpleasant—they are actually contrasted with the ‘dearest places’ to God, our houses of worship. That’s because there is nothing that works against our spirituality like the pursuit of worldly wealth. For most of us, our work tends to take up more time than our worship, our family time, and our creative pursuits combined. This hadith is a call for us to re-examine that inequality of spirituality in our lives and to keep the pursuit of earthly success in perspective.

LeeAnne:

Keeping our focus on worship rather than on the pursuit of wealth is also a central tenet of Christianity. All four of the Gospels include the story of Jesus clearing the Temple of money changers, who were selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging foreign coins at exorbitant rates. In addition to taking advantage of poor pilgrims who had no choice but to accept their terms, the money changers turned the Temple into a marketplace rather than a place where people could meet and worship God. It is this perversion of sacred space – and subversion of sacred intent – that so incensed Jesus. This hadith and the Gospels seem to suggest that we cannot simultaneously be concerned with worldly commerce and religious reflection. As Amanda states, business isn’t bad. But our primary focus in a holy place must be the glory of God. How does our perspective change if we consider our lives a sacred space like the Temple, best suited for worshiping God instead of pursuing monetary gain?

Yaira: 

Judaism is also rich in teachings and practices that guide us to conduct business in honest, respectable ways. Ideally, everything we do—including our monetary, worldly pursuits—is done with perfect kavanah (intention) and a spirit of holiness. But Judaism recognizes, too, that we humans are limited creatures, and it is all too easy for us to forget and go astray. Accordingly, many Jewish teachings and practices make a clear distinction between the holy and the ordinary—none more important, perhaps, than the practice of keeping Shabbat. On the ordinary days of the week—Sunday through Friday—we work and engage in worldly commerce; but on the Sabbath, we do not. On Shabbat, we are prohibited even from carrying money, in case having it handy would tempt us to spend it. The observance of Shabbat helps us more easily connect with God and the wonders of creation. This dedicated, holy time is designed to help us keep the pursuit of earthly success in perspective, even during the other, ordinary days of the week.

Test of Faith

“And Abraham put out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. And an angel of God called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ And he said, ‘I'm here.’ And he said, ‘Do not put your hand out toward the boy and don’t do anything to him, because now I know that you fear God, and you didn’t withhold your son, your only one, from me.’”

(Genesis 22:10-13)

Tziporah:

If the timeless story of The Binding of Isaac presents a test of Abraham's faith, the moment in which he reaches for the knife and is stopped by God's angel reads like the Proctor of an exam calling, “Time: Please put your pencils down and close your test booklet.”  Many accept these verses as evidence that Abraham passed God's test, that he demonstrated perfect faith through his willingness to sacrifice his child. Classical rabbinic commentary supports this interpretation, stating that the angel was forced to call his name twice because Abraham—utterly focused in his zeal to slaughter Isaac—did not hear the angel's first call.  While I can accept this story as a parable about faith and sacrifice, I still feel unsettled every time I read it. What if Abraham hadn't heard the angel's second call? Why would God wait until that moment to stop him? Wasn’t it enough that Abraham didn't question God, walked three days to the mountain and bound Isaac to the altar? And isn’t it possible to go too far in proving our faith?

Grace:

What interesting questions you raise, Tziporah!  Christians often see the story of Abraham’s offering of his only son as paradigmatic of God’s giving his son Jesus to a broken world. In our suffering we need reassurance that God brings resurrection, new life, out of death; whether physical death that is part of the natural order or a spiritual death that occurs in moments of great pain and doubt. For me, the issue is not about proving our faith, but learning to trust God’s faithfulness. The question “wasn’t/isn’t it enough that…” rings throughout all our scriptures, I think, for it is an eternal question. My husband has a humorous, but thought-provoking response: “God always comes through, but not one minute early!”  I think my own life bears testimony to that notion. Alas, God’s timing is so utterly maddening. And also so perfect.

Yasmina:

The trial that Abraham [Peace and blessings be upon him] endured, according to Muslims’ perspective, represents the epitome of submission (Islam, in Arabic). It reinforces trusting in God’s power and will, which provides anyone facing a trial with a sense of hope, without which a Muslim cannot experience a pure state of submission. In the Islamic tradition, it is Ishmael who is the son accompanying Abraham in this trial, and the moment you mention, Tziporah—right before Abraham is asked to hold his action—is specifically described in the Quran as a spiritual state of total submission in the heart, soul, and body of both Abraham and his son Ishmael: “So when they had both submitted their wills to God and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead for sacrifice, We called out to him, O’ Abraham!” (al-Saffat 37:103-104)  Every year at Ead Al-Adha[1], I am reminded that our tests of faith are best rewarded when we reach this ultimate state of submission in our hearts and accept of the will of God.

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[1] Ead Al-Adha (Holiday of the Sacrifice) is widely celebrated, and falls during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.