When I Decided to Take God and Religion Seriously

As a teen I fell into the category of what is today called the "Nones", someone who doesn’t identify with any religion.

According to the Pew Research Center, the Nones are the fastest growing segment of the American population. In 2021, about three-in-ten U.S. adults (29%) describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity – 6% higher than five years ago. According to a 2020 Pew Report, 27% of American adult Jews say they do not identify with Judaism.

I went to Hebrew school and synagogue on the High Holidays decked out in a snazzy suit. We had a large family Passover Seder with gefilte fish, matzah, the four questions, hunting for the afikomen, as many of the guests gravitated to the den for the real action – watching the Stanley Cup playoffs game.

Judaism was a quaint set of traditions, not a religion that I took seriously.

Judaism was a quaint set of traditions, not a religion that I took seriously. That’s probably why my friends and I never heard of Shavuot, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, 50 days after the exodus from Egypt. What meaning could Shavuot have to someone like me who had no clue if there was a God and viewed the rules of Judaism as antiquated and irrelevant? It wasn’t on my radar, not even as an excuse to miss school.

I ignored Shavuot the same way I ignored the issues related to God – more out of ignorance and apathy than informed choice.

That changed when I recognized my burning desire for meaning and decided to take the question of God’s existence seriously. Is there evidence that God exists (I wasn’t prepared to take a leap of faith)? What is the definition of God and what difference would He make in my life?

I discovered that the basis for Judaism is a search for truth, built on a preponderance of evidence and rational argument. The first of the Ten Commandments is “to know” that God exists – not to just blindly accept. After six months of delving into the various arguments and classical Jewish texts, I was at a crossroads. Where does the evidence lie? Weighing the question of the existence of God and the Divine authorship of the Torah, in what direction did the scales tip?

Even tentatively moving from the category of “The Nones” to "A Believer” made me queasy.

For me, merely asking this question was a radical departure. It was the first time I was taking God seriously and I was torn. I wasn’t eager about adopting certain religious practices. Even tentatively moving from the category of “The Nones” to “a Believer” made me queasy. Most of the religious people I was exposed to growing up were Bible-thumping TV evangelists who didn’t quite impress me with their intellectual rigor. Was I becoming one of them?

Accepting the Torah

When the Jews stood at Mount Sinai and God offered them the Torah, they replied as a unified nation, “Naaseh v’nishma – we will do and we will understand.” They accepted the Torah and all of its commandments right off the bat, without knowing everything that it entails. They signed on the dotted line, and only afterward read the fine print.

Contrast this with how the non-Jewish nations responded to God's offering them the Torah. The Talmud says each nation asked, “What’s written in it?” which is a reasonable question. We want to know what we’re getting ourselves into if we sign this contract. God answered each nation by telling them the very commandment they were loath to accept, and each one rejected it.

What’s going on here? The impulsive Jews accept the Torah, no questions asked, and the reasonable-minded non-Jewish nations end up refusing it. Why?

God doesn’t need your stamp of approval. As the Creator of the universe and the source for all of existence, He determines reality. On offer wasn’t just a new self-help book full of advice and guidance from which you can pick and choose; the Torah is the blueprint of creation, the transcendent map that reveals the structure, purpose, and inter-connectedness of the entire universe. Its commandments enable one to harmoniously connect to its Author, becoming  attached to the Infinite.

Once they knew the Torah was coming from God, they were ready to commit because that was Truth, regardless of how they felt about it.

The Jews standing at Sinai heard God speak. Once they knew the Torah was coming from God – and yes, that’s a huge condition – they were ready to commit because that was Truth, regardless of how they felt about it.

The other nations who asked, “What’s written in it?” were essentially telling God, “Let me see if this Torah fits into my lifestyle and if I like it.” The very question was a rejection; they were more interested in staying in their comfortable bubble than going with the truth.

My Personal Sinai

I wasn’t standing at Mount Sinai hearing God speak, so I didn’t have the clarity they had. But the offer on the table was similar, albeit messier and laced with some doubt: Examine the evidence for the Divine authorship of the Torah and if you think it’s compelling (again, a big if), do you want in? Are you prepared to say as the Jews at Sinai replied, “Naaseh v’nishma – we will do and we will understand”?

The holiday of Shavuot replicates the acceptance of Torah. It reminds me to set my sights on truth, not comfort. When it boils down to listening to God or my inner desires, I need to humble myself and subjugate my values to His values. It’s not easy, but if Torah is real, then I need to do the changing, not God. That’s the “we will do” part. Then there’s the “we will understand” – which means I have the unmatched opportunity to devote my lifetime to studying God’s blueprint and strive to understand as much as I possibly can, infusing my life with meaning and connecting to His boundless love.

That’s what it means to take God and Torah seriously.