Is God present in our lives? How can we tell?
This week we continued studying the summary of Jewish History that the Levi’im (Levites) recounted during the first Yom Kippur celebration. We read the part of the story where Bnei Yisral (the Jewish people) were wandering in the desert and counting on God for food and water. This is a part of the Torah that includes a lot of complaining, grumbling, and discontent. Bnei Yisrael repeatedly tell Moshe that they were better off as slaves in Egypt where at least they weren’t starving or thirsty. Here are some insights our learners had on these stories:
Why is Bnei Yisrael complaining to Moshe now when they used to cry out to God?
- Because they think Moshe is responsible for their lack of food and water.
- They can actually see Moshe, but there isn’t so much evidence that God is with them.
- They’re not sure whether God is real and whether they can trust God.
- Maybe they complain to Moshe instead of God because they’re afraid of God—God was kind of scary getting them out of Egypt and after het ha’egel (the golden calf).
- God is in Moshe’s staff and the sand and the water and everywhere, but maybe only Moshe can really see that and the rest of Bnei Yisrael doesn’t know.
Bnei Yisrael looking to Moshe rather than God to solve their problems is also their way of testing God. When the people are thirsty and hungry, they wonder: “Is God present among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7). We asked ourselves the same question:
- No, because God wouldn’t waste time on us. If God exists, people aren’t important enough for God to bother with.
- Yes, because God is in us and created us.
- Yes, because God is everywhere and created the world, so without God I wouldn’t be here.
- Yes, we see God when we see each other because we’re all God’s creations.