God Is In The Details

David Suissa writes:

Any religion where the main book can read like a Home Depot instruction manual must have something amazing going for it. The spirituality is so hidden, the morality so subtle, the inspiration so obscure, that a few-thousand years later, we’re still trying to figure it out.

It’s the exact opposite of a self-help book with brilliantly crafted nuggets of inspiration. Our book is not consumer-driven. It doesn’t beg to be loved. It doesn’t try to be clear. It doesn’t even try to appear relevant.

It’s the word of God, and it’s our story. Take it or leave it — or wallow in it.

Sure, we have our moments of beautiful clarity, like the Ten Commandments. But for my money, Judaism stands out when it gives you the tedious, the mysterious and the uncomfortable and challenges you to make it your own.

Too often, I’ve seen how rabbis and outreach groups are so intent on making Judaism "relevant" that they hide all the arcane details and go right to the meaningful lessons. They will take one small item from the parsha of the week and build an edifice of life lessons around it. One of the best Jewish Web sites, Aish.com, has a formidable array of teachings on the parsha of the week, but nowhere on their site will you find the actual parsha itself — not even a recap of the story! What is everybody so afraid of? That we will read God’s words and make our own interpretations?

It’s a credit to the Torah that it reads like a story and not a sermon or a sales pitch. We should do more to honor this story — with all its warts and details — even when it sounds like an instruction manual. When the average person today is exposed to 2,000 commercial messages a day, a story that doesn’t try to sell to you is a welcome break — especially one that comes from God.