Being Jewish Without All the Answers
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In Judaism, wrestling with God isn’t rebellion. It’s relationship.
Judaism has a long line of tradition of biblical heroes challenging God—from Abraham who negotiates over Sodom, to Moses who pleads for mercy after the Golden Calf. The Talmud conveys even spicier conversations with God where rabbinic figures don’t just question God—they argue with Him outright, pushing and provoking Him.
Here are three unforgettable tales of rabbis who argued with God—and the practical lessons they leave for us today.
When the people were desperately in need of rain, they came to Honi, who was known as a miracle-worker. Honi didn’t just pray—he drew a circle, stood inside, and declared that he wouldn’t move until God answered him. (Mishnah, Taanit 3:8)
When light rain came, Honi objected: “I didn’t ask for a drizzle!”
When the rain became violent, he said again: “This isn't what I meant either!”
Only when a pleasant, life-giving rain fell did he finally accept the outcome.
Honi's unyielding tone made some sages uncomfortable. Shimon ben Shetach told him, “Were you not Honi, I would excommunicate you. But what can I do? You nag God like a son, and He gives in like a loving father.”
Honi teaches us that prayer is not passive. His story dares us to ask boldly, even persistently, when we believe the cause is just. Faith can include insistence, as long as it flows from love and not arrogance. Sometimes God wants us to pray like a child clinging to a parent—not just in submission, but in trust that we’re heard and loved enough to push back.
Rabbi Eliezer was having a legal dispute with his colleagues (see Talmud, Bava Metzia 59b). He was sure he was right, but he couldn't convince them. So, he called in reinforcements.
“If I am correct, then the river should flow backwards!” decreed Rabbi Eliezer. And, sure enough, it did.
But the rabbis were unimpressed. “We don't listen to rivers,” they retorted.
Each miracle was met with a similar response, until Rabbi Eliezer called upon Heaven itself. A Divine voice boomed: “The law follows Rabbi Eliezer in all cases!”
But Rabbi Yehoshua stood up and quoted the Torah: “It is not in Heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12). Once the Torah was given to mankind, we don’t follow miracles or even heavenly voices—we follow majority rule among Torah scholars.
And what was God’s response? He laughed and said, “My children have defeated Me!”
This story reminds us that God has chosen to entrust the Torah to us. Within the framework of Jewish law, sincere human interpretation—anchored in deep commitment to Torah observance, fidelity to tradition and legal precedent, and rigorous, ruthlessly honest analysis—trumps supernatural signs. It’s a powerful affirmation that God wants our personal involvement and unique perspectives in applying Torah’s eternal principles, not just our blind obedience.
Before Honi and Rabbi Eliezer, there was Abraham—the first Jew to argue with God.
When God informs him of His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham responds not with silence, but with protest. “Will You also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked?” he asks. “It would be sacrilege to You! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?” (Genesis 18:23–33)
Abraham’s argument is not rebellion—it’s devotion. He believes in God's justice so deeply that, when it seems absent, he sees it as an invitation to defend the victims and challenge the decree. Abraham becomes the defense attorney in God's court—not because he distrusts God, but because he trusts in God’s ultimate goodness.
Through that trust, Abraham demonstrates something profound: God wants us to be His partners in shaping the world, and partnership requires communication. Abraham sets the tone for Jewish moral courage—a tradition of speaking up for what’s right, even in conversation with the Divine.
This kind of holy argument is not a footnote of Jewish tradition—it is its very heart. The name Israel means “one who wrestles with God.” It comes from Jacob’s encounter with the angel (Genesis 32:28), and it defines our spiritual DNA. Jews wrestle and question, returning again and again to the conversation, even when it’s painful and the outcome unknown.
As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes:
“Israel’s existence has never been easy: not in biblical times and not today. It has always been a small country surrounded by large empires, without the natural resources, the wealth, the landmass or the demographic strength ever to become, in worldly terms, a superpower. All it had, then and now, was the individual strength and resourcefulness of its people – that and its faith and way of life. The relationship between God and the Jewish people has been fraught. There were times when the people turned away from God. There were times when God ‘hid His face’ from the people. But the name ‘Israel’ itself, according to the Torah (Gen. 32:28), means one who wrestles with God and with man and prevails. We never stop wrestling with God, nor He with us.”
The story of the Jewish People is not one of passive faith and blind obedience. It’s an unbreakable relationship—anchored in courage, honesty, and even a little bit of chutzpah.
We are a people who talk back to God. And He loves us for it.
The views presented in this article do not represent normative Torah ideology, and the sources quoted have been misrepresented.
The Talmud makes clear that to argue with G-d is a dangerous exercise. The Gemara (Sukka 53a) relates that Levi was punished by becoming crippled because he spoke with chuptzah against G-d. Honi was not excommunicated by the court of Shimon Ben Shetach by dint of his exceptional pious devotion prior to his disrespectful request. In other words, the only reason Honi was not excommunicated was because he had a prior relationship with G-d as a child. This story therefore serves as a warning that someone who is not on the high spiritual level of Honi, would be deserving of excommunication for that behaviour, and such behaviour is therefore strongly discouraged.
I fully agree with Chaim's comment. I would like to add that the translation of Israel, deriving from “one who wrestles with God” (Genesis 32:28) is entirely incorrect. In the story, Jacob didn't wrestle with God, he wrestled with an angel of God! In the Torah, the word Elohim sometimes means a being of authority, such as an angel (as here) or a Beth Din (Exodus 21:6).
Torah Judaism promotes wrestling with one's own base nature and submitting to God. There is no source of "Wrestling with God" in traditional Torah sources. It is interesting to note that an "orthodox gay rabbi" (an oxymoron), wrote an autobiography about his "ten-year struggle to reconcile his homosexuality with Orthodox Judaism" entitled his book, "Wrestling With God."
Thank you for contributing that context. As noted in the article, such complaints must certainly come from within a relationship of deep respect. As for whether this approach reflects normative Judaism, I think the sources are considerably more nuanced than you've presented. Reflecting on the broad scope of Jewish tradition, the Hasidic master, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, concludes:
“It is very good to pour out your thoughts before God like a child pleading before his father. God calls us His children, as it is written (Deuteronomy 14:1), ‘You are children to God.’ Therefore, it is good to express your thoughts and troubles to God like a child complaining and pestering his father.”
A timely, smart, well written essay.
I should like to know where, exactly, Hashem was from 1939 - 1945.
Lots of arguments there.
The Torah tells us that Hashem treats us in kind: if we turn away from Him, He hides His "face" from us.
That's the story of the Holocaust in a nutshell, and if you ask why observant Jews also perished, the answer is that during a gezeira, the Angel of Death does not make a distinction since we are responsible for each other.
Can't understand this? See Kayla's comment below.
That's DISGUSTING!One should shake his fist towards heaven even AFTER the calamity has occurred!Who are you making a favor by defending the Almighty?
In the Purim story, the Jews fasted and prayed. In the book of Jonah, the citizens of Nineveh repented.
Certainly antisemitism is not the fault of the Jews - but its success or failure does depend in some measure on our response.
So my direct reply to your question is: grieving.
Would love the Almighty to say ‘enough’ to the suffering of His People and send the Messiah.
Am glad He loves us arguing with Him. But, can He please protect Israel more from her enemies…… So many of us are so very tired of the daily fight against Jew-hate/Israel-hate.
We may not have all the answers now, but- there definetly are answers to everything.
Better to be patient, because if someone really wants all the answers now, so G-d says "Ok..so come up here with me and you will get a broader view [after death]"