Dear R’ Goldmintz,
In response to your recent posting on the Lookjed list, I believe that you may find the following resources of use:
1. Within his book ‘Living Inspired’, Rabbi Akiva Tatz addresses the question of ‘Doubt & Certainty’. This can be read online on [
www.aish.com].
2. Last year I created an online database of quotes from Rabbi Sacks, parts of which is available on [
www.rabbisacks.org] (FYI - in addition to this resource, I also developed a course for my seminary students in which I teach Jewish Thought based on the writings of Rabbi Sacks to help them think about Jewish ideas in an original way and to offer them examples of how to communicate Jewish ideas to irreligious Jews or non-Jews in a meaningful and coherent fashion). Given your request for discussions about faith and doubt, I have collated a number of pertinent quotes from Rabbi Sacks which may be of interest to you (see below). Additionally, you may also enjoy watching the short video by Rabbi Sacks where he discusses Doubt (see [
www.youtube.com])
Kol Tuv,
Johnny
Rabbi Johnny Solomon
Director, Jewish Education Consultancy
QUOTES FROM RABBI SACKS ON DOUBT & CERTAINTY
“Faith is not certainty but the courage to live with and for God in the presence of uncertainty and to hear the voice of God even in the heart of the whirlwind.†(Crisis and Covenant p. 41)
“Faith is not certainty. It is the courage to live with uncertainty. It is not knowing all the answers.†(Celebrating Life p. 83)
“Faith isn’t certainty. It’s the courage the live and even celebrate in the very heart of uncertainty, knowing that God is with us, giving us the strength to meet any challenge that undiscovered country called tomorrow may bring.†(From Optimism to Hope p. 72)
“Faith does not mean certainty. It means the courage to live with uncertainty. It does not mean having the answers, it means having the courage to ask the questions and not let go of God, as he does not let go of us. It means realising that God creates divine justice but only we, acting in accord with his word, can create human justice – and our very existence means that this is what God wants us to do.†(To Heal a Fractured World p. 199)
“For Judaism, the search for religious certainty through science or metaphysics is not merely fallacious but ultimately pagan. To suppose that God is scientifically provable is to identify God with what is observable, and this for Judaism is idolatry.†(Crisis and Covenant p. 258)
“People have sought in the religious life the kind of certainty that belongs to philosophy and science. But it is not to be found. Between God and man there is moral loyalty, not scientific certainty.†(The Great Partnership p. 73)
“I have sought God, not through philosophical proofs, scientific demonstrations or theological arguments; not through miracles or mysteries or inner voices or sudden epiphanies; not by ceasing to question or challenge or doubt; not by blind faith or existential leap; certainly not by abandonment of reason and an embrace of the irrational. These things have brought many people to God. But they have also brought many people to worship things that are not God, like power, or ideology, or race. Instead I have sought God in people – people in themselves seemed to point to something or someone beyond themselves.†(The Great Partnership p. 89)
