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The Quest to Understand God Is the True Journey of Religion

A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org.

“I am Ad’nai, your God, who took you out of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2).

One of the most difficult subjects to write about is God. There are seven different names for God in the Torah, and some people like to cite this as evidence that the early Israelites worshiped several gods. But it is just as possible to explain this by saying that God is multifaceted, and that we can relate to God, or God can engage with us, on a personal, national, or universal level.

As the great scholar Umberto Cassuto said, God has a generic name and a person-specific one. But whenever you ask people to explain what they mean by God, you will find that no two people can come up with the same description of what they believe. Belief is such a very hard term to define.

Thanks to Maimonides, the idea of “believing in God” has become deeply embedded in Jewish religious life. But what do we mean by belief?

The Hebrew word emuna means to agree; be certain about something; or to trust. A nurse is an a’omenet –someone you trust to look after your children. When Moses’ hands got tired during the battle of Amalek, Aron and Chur held them up. As we learned last week, the Torah says that his hands were emuna, strong until the sunset when the battle was won. It is a conviction. It is not a rational, theological proposition, but a question of faith.

This makes sense. You can command somebody to do something, to keep the Shabbat, honor your parents. But how do you command somebody to believe in God?

Belief is not an action. It is a thought process, and we know how difficult it is sometimes to control our thoughts.

Significantly, the first of the Ten Principles (העשרת הדיברות) does not say “You must, or you are commanded to believe in God.” The Hebrew words that are used are simply, “I am the Lord your God.” This is a statement of the fundamental principle of the Torah.

But then how do you engage with this idea? We humans are very different. Some of us engage through feeling and emotion, and some of us through rationality and logic. Some of us have sophisticated brains and others are less complicated. Some of us are attracted to music and art, others to practical things. But in every case, the Divine dimension is fundamental to Judaism.  This spiritual dimension complements and adds to the physical.

The value of the Torah is precisely that it is more than just rational. There may be a rationale to a lot of the laws, but there are a lot of laws without rationale. All human moral systems so far have been shown in one way or another to come up short, partly because we humans have this capacity to convince ourselves of anything. A religion based in pure belief is different.

The challenge is for each one of us to find that relationship with God, whether it is rational or mystical, that suits our personalities and mindsets. Such a relationship is a very personal one. For some, it is inspirational, for others it is comfort. The idea of God, or an experience of God, is a quest. This is the true journey of religion. It can be taught. But it cannot be forced.

The author is a rabbi and writer, currently based in New York.

The post The Quest to Understand God Is the True Journey of Religion first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.

The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.

They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.

Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.

Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.

The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.

The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.

He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.

The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.

Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.

Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.

Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.

Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.

The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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