Does G-d Really Care?

Shabbat Korach 5767

Throughout the ages, religious philosophers have been confounded with the question:

Why would G-d, Creator of a universe comprising a billion galaxies inhabited by a billion stars each, be concerned with us puny human beings, much less with the minutiae of our daily lives?

And hence what real difference does it make to G-d whether I light Shabbat candles before sunset or a moment afterwards, whether I eat kosher or eat kosher-style? Surely, if G-d cares at all, it is with the spirit of what we do, not with the mundane aspects of Jewish Law.

In truth this is the very reason that religions such as Christianity postulated what to us is the absurd notion of a "father" and "son". Their theologians could not conceive that the G-d who created the universe would take an interest in the affairs of men. And so they declared that within G-d there are two persons, the "father" who is the First Cause and creator of all, and the "son" who concerns himself with the welfare of human beings.

Others took the view that while G-d most certainly existed, He had no concern for human beings or their prayers. Hence Einstein while most famously saying "G-d does not play dice" ridiculed those who would pray to G-d. And even Christians, while accepting G-d's (the son's) interest in our prayer, could not conceive of His interest in the Torah's Laws of Kashrut. As Paul said: "G-d cares not what goes into your mouth, but what comes out".

Judaism believes neither in "splitting" G-d into separate personalities, nor in G-d's indifference to the world. As Jews, our major tenet of belief is "Shema Yisrael" where we declare "G-d is One". G-d is One means not only that there is only One indivisible G-d, but that there is nothing outside of G-d's purvey. G-d is at One with His creations and is actively aware of the details of their existence.

Chassidic Philosophy explains that the reason that people find this concept difficult to grasp is because they "undersell" G-d. Instead of looking at G-d as truly infinite they conceive of Him as being a very large version of themselves, a kind of super-sized Einstein. In truth, however, G-d is not just supersized, He is infinite.

Even those with a cursory knowledge of mathematics understand that there is a world of difference between even the largest of numbers and infinity. No matter how large a number is, it is still comprised of a number of units - and hence a relationship exists between it and all other numbers. The nature of that relationship depends on the number of units of which each comprises. A billion is a billion "ones", a trillion, a trillion "ones" and a million is a million "ones". It is therefore readily understood that a trillion is far closer to a billion than a million, and certainly than "one".

Infinity is altogether different. Just as there is no relationship between infinity and "one", there is no relationship between infinity and a "trillion". They are both infinitely removed from infinity.

G-d of course is infinite. For G-d there is no difference whatsoever between the largest finite being and the smallest. And hence, He either doesn't care about anything - from the largest galaxy to the minutest one-celled amoeba - or He has willed Himself to care about them all equally. Either nothing matters, or everything matters.

We therefore agree with Einstein that there must be an Intelligence behind the universe - it could not have come into being of its own accord. Judaism however vehemently disagrees with him in his contention that G-d has no concern for us or our prayers. On the contrary, the same infinite G-d Who created the world is infinitely concerned with every facet of our existence.

So to the question of G-d's concern for our prayers - or with not only what comes out of, but also with what goes into, our mouths - we answer a resounding yes, G-d is deeply concerned.

Or to put it succinctly: G-d cares and we matter.

Rabbi Benzion Milecki OAM