Divine Experience

By: Jonathan Seidel

Faith is a troubling tactic today. It is a gruelling test for many. How to believe in deity that allows pain but more so how to believe in deity that cannot be ascertained. The difficulty surrounding a linkage for a deity who is foreign to the simplest human condition. Heschel provides a beautiful layout for the quester yet the ultimate faith is tradition. 

Heschel’s search for faith in grounded in wonder. Awe-filled moments. The wow of the universe. There must be a god. There must be a deity who created all of this. A deity more powerful than the physical reality. Grander and immersed with grandeur. Such a pondering of the cosmos. Abraham looked at the sky and adduced that there had to be a creator beyond. The midrashim take it at face value that Abraham just spurned this idea. He was three years old. He found God of his own intuition. The greatness of Abraham is in his profound faith but despite such faith at times he questions God. He sceptically figures for a better tomorrow. The grand deity promises to Abraham. All other idols do not speak but God speaks to Abraham and Abraham doubts him. The midrash bookends Abraham's ultimate faith in his youth and in his seniority. Finding God through rationality and heeding God through prophecy. The natural and revelational ends of the spectrum are muddled with doubts in between. Abraham doesn’t need tasks to find God and yet he still complains. He still questions the ineffable. 

Abraham experienced Heschelian radical amazement and found God. He knows there is a God. For years he preaches to the Haranites about this God. Speaking so highly of such a deity. Converting people to this deity. Abraham is proto-modern man. Through sensationalism he finds the deity. He finds God in the overhauled moments of awe. Through the experience of encountering beauty he is overjoyed. Yet this is insufficient. The beauty he sees is overzealous. It is only the face-value. The semantic prose urging reciprocation. It is pleasurable to ogle. The shiny beautification arouses focused interest but it is all a ruse. There is no God in the beauty. The beauty is the false God. It is the idol playing tricks on the mind. Look, it is so beautiful. It is so appealing. That is the failure of self control. Do not let beauty overtake. Do not let it control. Radical amazement seeks to undermine the beautiful externality. It seeks for what is underneath. It seeks for that which cannot be seen so easily. That which hides. The personality, the gem that needs to be rusted off. The true beauty is seen. Not the shine but the glow. The definite awe humbling the onlooker. Not focused on what can be seen but what can be felt. Not impassioned but frightened in shock.

This feeling is all too periodic. Go out to nature. Go find the wonder in the wilderness. He deserts for a few days. Focusing on his breathing and on meditation. Trying to align himself with the deity. He yearns and calls out perpetually. He feels a little more in the wild. Absent the loud industrial centre of life he feels more at peace. His connection is more profound. He feels he is growing closer. More tranquility better connection. The forest is liberating from his home but it is still loud. It is still a commotion. A cosmopolitan enterprise of animalistic self actualisation. Feeling unease he treks further into the forest. As he makes his way to the mountain, he senses a little more joy from his gut. This is to find God. He climbs the mountain. A difficult hike but he eventually reaches the top. He stands a top screaming to God. He feels at ease. He feels serene. He looks out and immediately is rushed with thunderous wonder. Wow. What beauty has just overpowered his senses. He is bewildered by the awe jumping at him. A moment later it dissipates. He desires for such a feeling again. It doesn’t come. He stays for some time meditating hoping for it to realise. He feels some tingling but never the same sensation. It has past. Saddened and unfulfilled he returns to the city. He senses somewhat differently but for the most part it is the same. His new mindset has a better appreciation for nature but it lacks the divine. 

Man seeks God in all his ways. Better experientially than rationally. Rationally he can think God but experientially he can feel God. Yet he isn’t feeling God or thinking God. He is feeling nature. He is using logic and emotion to comprehend the ineffable. He returns to the city and believes he is changed. He preaches about his experience. He tells of the truth. People are drawn to his charisma. This man has a message. Yet this message is but incomplete. Until God calls back there is no true message. Abram can educate the true God but without a response Abram cannot know what that message is. Young Abram is missing the crucial part of divine knowledge which is the knowledge itself. What matters if Abram could prove God. Aristotle thought he could. Prime mover nice deduction and therefore what? Proving God means nothing but a catalyst for unconnected religiosity. Proving God does not equal religion which was why Aristotle was not religious nor was Plato. Anselm fasted whereupon proving God. Bravo. So? God never congratulated Anselm. While he may believe God was happy, he can never know. There was no prophetic verification nor a miraculous reward for his actions. It was all for his own pride. A solution that proved a creator of universe not his own dogma. 

The biblical text intentionally leaves out the amazing Abram because it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. So he found God and then there is no response. What occurs is idolatry not religion. Idolatry follows sole belief. There is no divine word so man concocts a word. Abram remained committed to preaching the divine existence. He faith in the divine truth precedes the divine word. Abram's battle against idolatry was beginning with reducing the mistaken belief. Yet Abram's model was lacking. It could not ascertain the divine word. It could not ascertain the nature of the divine only that rationally this made sense. Though Abram may have derived his single God model from his heritage. He was a descendent of Shem and Eber. If Jacob learned in their yeshiva, it would not be crazy to assume that the idea of a single God or of the single’s nature had not passed on to his area. It is even possible once Abram deduced the single God theory he then applied Shem and Eber’s theories. He rationalised this possibility, not out of thin air but out of the prevailing possibilities. This ultimate single God made more sense than the multitude of other gods. Once with that in mind he applied the single God’s principles passed down generationally. By this logic, Abram surmised and preached the divine word but did not pull it out of thin air. Though whatever the case, it seems the midrash assumes either Abraham preached only the divine truth against idolatry or the divine word based on Shem and Eber. 

Abraham’s divine truth against idolatry overcomes the necessity of playing to the gods. These gods have superhuman capabilities. Yet many a time they are catered to the human need. Reflections of the human condition. The single deity is not. He is beyond but chooses to deal with man. The gods pale in comparison to the single deity. His magic is real. His actions miraculous by human standards. Man’s own aspirations for the divine are his own idolatrous set up. Idols are a fixation of human imperfection. If humanity cannot do it or if humanity is suffering from it, the gods are in on it. It is a conspiratorial deflection of responsibility. He who finds God in the wonder. Feeling the divine sensation in the awe-filled moment of the breeze atop a mountain is committing a grave error. He is submitting to idolatry. He is fulfilling the deepest misunderstanding. It is not the radical amazement that unveils God. It is not the mysterious divulged in the momentous overwhelming sensation. If so there would be verbal communication. There would be a mission. Awe is mistaken for the sublime. A sensational feeling that prioritises an unfounded emotional response to the beyond. Emotions are subject to misguided notions as well. They may not stumble like the rational mind, but they are parcel of the human expression. The brain’s interconnectible web of neurological function is a rational response even if subconscious. It is a wave of beauty uncommon to the deserter. It is overwhelming because it is so new. The awe accepts the beauty that he is uncomfortable with.

A moment of overwhelming emotion only for it to settle down. It settles because the brain has adjusted. It is not the wind of God pressing its palms on one’s shoulders. It is the unprepared exploitation of the self. It is a moment that needs to be readied to accept. Once the moment is seized. Once the mind is adjusted, the view isn’t as an empowering. It is beautiful and a picture to mark the occasion but it does not carry the weight of such audacity. Awe of foreign structures and foreign food is from a lack of exposure. It is from lacking knowledge not divinity. Wowed by ignorance. It is beauty encased in nature. If one didn’t see people for a long time, they would be awed by their tantalising appearance. Tarzan in the jungle is the inverse of the townsperson. The townsperson has never been to the jungle. He is mystified by that which he has never seen. That which is so new to him. The same is of Tarzan who visits the town. Civilisation is a shock to the core. The jungle the mountains they are the same. It is beautiful but he doesn’t blush at its beauty. He is used to it. The telescope is illuminating and his encounter with Jane is riveting. It is new and therefore wondrous. It is the mystery he doesn’t know. Yet it is all filled in the cornea of his naturalistic heritage. Mixing civilisation with the mountainous is to direct a sensation that is not there. The moment of meditation is clear and coherent but not the might of God. 

Elijah gathers everyone at Mount Carmel. This they will see. They will know of God. Elijah’s standoff with the prophets of baal goes incredibly wrong for them. Elijah embarrasses them completely. He mocks them insidiously. When Elijah calls God, God shoots down the miracle and the people in shock bow down. Recognising the error of their ways they seek repentance. Elijah assembles them and they kill all the baal prophets. Yet the following day the people betray Elijah. He is left alone. He is forced on the run. He is frightened and fends his life. He makes his way to Horeb. He makes his way to the place of mass revelation. The place of pinnacle revelation. God sends a gust, earthquake and a fire but God was not in either of them. Then a small still voice and there was God. This small still voice overwhelms Elijah. Not the amazing wonders but the simple voice. Elijah exits the cave and a second time. a voice reaches him questioning his place. Elijah admits his zealous behaviour (akin to Phineas), acting for God’s sake. God then instructs Elijah to anoint kings and Elisha to which he follows. Elijah is asked why he has fled and Elijah answers due to his zealous actions and when asked again responds in the same way. The lesson of where God is (not uncle Moishe) is attested with the wrong answer. Elijah’s repetitive answer symbolises his own misguidance. He doesn’t know where to go. He has no direction. He is at his wits end so God provides instruction, provides that direction.

God’s lesson is overturning Elijah’s aspiration. They saw the miracle they should accept. They did momentarily but then the moment passed and they forgot. The people who left Egypt saw the plagues and saw Horeb and yet this still pained Moses through the journey. They still demonstrated a lack of trust. God’s message is that the miraculous never lasts. It is unsustainable. God is not in the miraculous or the wondrous but in the simplicity. God is apprehended in the voice. In the prophetic voice. In the voice that instructs. The voice that commands. The voice that teaches. “Shema Yisroel” not “Re'ah Yisroel”. The aural emphasis memory. The visual fades. God commands the people not to forget what they saw at Sinai. Those who do not forget will only be able to pass on epic tales. Articulate the experience without actually realising it. The text is the only way to truly visualise but even then it is a fabrication. It is in the voice. In the auditory fixation that can truly internalise. The eyes can fool the ears are truth. Do not be overtaken by the eyes. Instead listen closely. Hear the voice of God and heed it. There is so much visual from Sinai. God even speaks from the fire as he did from the burning bush and yet God is not in the fire. Do not get caught up in the fire, do not be confused by the burning bush. Lest you idolise it into a graven image. Concentrate on the voice. Listen to God and encounter him beyond the miraculous. Seek beyond the perplexing beauty for the sublime underneath.       

Elijah travels on his way to fulfil the divine order and when he meets Elisha, Elisha follows him immediately. Profoundly impressed and excited to journey with Elijah. Elisha doesn’t ask questions, simply asks. Say a little and do a lot. Elisha doesn’t need divine pointers because he looks to Elijah. Elijah finds Godliness in Elisha. He trusts Elijah and through him follows the divine word. Eliphaz heard the fierce lion roar but it was ineffective but a small voice crept upon him and overwhelmed his soul. Shaking in desperation scared into his boots the voice spoke to him. Yet the most clear similarity is Zechariah's instruction to tell Zerubbabel not in might, not in strength but in spirit God said. Slightly different but in the same manner it isn’t in the profound power but in the profound simplicity. Elijah’s version is particularly important due to the miraculous mirage. The people are aghast and then move on. It is in the small still voice. The voice, the voice of the Shofar. The voice of Jacob in the hands of Esau. It is not about what can be felt but what can be heard. Not what can be perceived but what can be received. What is received is the divine word. The difference between the first time question for Elijah and the second is ‘the word of God’ and ‘the voice’. The first time Elijah was ready. This was prophecy. This was God speaking to him but second time was something out of the ordinary, something extraordinary. Just as with Eliphaz the voice crept up and lunged at him. The voice is not always the normative prophetic voice, it is the small still voice that overwhelmed Elijah to which he responded in the same tone automatically stunned. 

That voice was the voice at Sinai. The voice that spoke from within the fire but saw nothing only a voice. Only the word of God. The powerful but yet still voice. It is a call for revelational acceptance. The sublime is in the simplicity of the acts. It isn’t in the wondrous but in the stillness. In the grave focus of attention. To hear closely and wisely. The fire was a ruse. It was only a voice. The voice of sublimity. The voice of perfected stillness. This was the special voice. This voice is the voice of God the legislator. God the commander not God the prophetic communicator (except maybe to Moses). This was the grand moment of connection. Even afterwards the people forget the fire and it is only in the text that it can be imagined. The imagined is to be read. It is to be passed down. Yet the small voice is forgotten in its esteem. The experimental is lost but not the educational. The small still voice is not just some divine speech but a message to the people. The voice asks what are you doing here. The response ought not to be personal zealous behaviour but rather to keep the commandments of our forefathers. The voice is etched into the framework of the revelational Jew. The voice is inscribed in the Torah. In the wisdom of the halakha. The calm nature of the voice is unbelievable. It is Tim Wakefield throwing a sixty-mile an hour fastball. It is right field worthy. Yet it is an all star throw from deep on target throwing the runner out at the plate. The voice is motionless but profound. 

When Elijah meets Elisha, the latter readies himself to join his new master. Maimonides rights that in order to know the ways of God cling to those who know him. Elisha learns from Elijah. He relearns the small still voice. He learns the memory of Israel. The voice is heard and replicated. Sanctified and preserved. The voice of God is enmeshed in his Torah. In the written words of Moses. In his coherent liturgical documentation. The voice of Moses reflects the divine. The prophetic voice is the power to inspire. It is about compassion rather than sensationalism. It is not the miraculous that changes but the education that does. The Men of Great Assembly said to be cautious with judgement, educate many students and fence the Torah. To preserve the voice is to perpetuate in the offspring. To continue the heritage of the divine voice. The soft still voice that deepens connection. This is not a voice found in nature. This is not a voice experienced. This is not even the normative voice of the prophets. This is the special voice of God to the revelational prose. The voice that demands and beholds. Abraham did not know of this voice. He pondered the possibility and with lech lecha is off. Yet he did not hear the name of God. He did not hear the voice of God. Only those at Sinai were privy. Only those with the Torah are privy. The voice is not annunciated with ear-bleeding decibels but whispering serenity. It is the revelational passage that can evoke the sublimity hidden in plain sight. Hashem is truly everywhere, but really he in the small still voice. 

Neither in the industrial society nor in the high mountains will man find God. There is no more prophecy so God will not call to man. There is no hope for the revelational transformation. Man cannot find God. Man cannot reach God. Man is screwed. Yet it is only Abraham that truly needs the push. Even though Moses can use the visual, it evidently clear that his eyes wander only for them to quickly focus on the voice beyond the illogical. The biblical text never speaks of this story as it is irreverent to man’s devotion to the divine. Man’s devotion is predicated on divine quest. Divine revelation enables human reciprocation. Once God calls can man respond. Otherwise there is no direction and there is no target. The idea of God is imprinted in every naturalist search. Everyone’s search already seeks a deity. It is not from scratch and seemingly nor was Abraham’s. Yet the text only demonstrates the divine call. God calls Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses all while they are busy elsewhere. God interferes and redirects their thought process. Redirects their mission and their purpose. The midrash is relevant for absent prophecy to engage in the divine word with the divine call. Yet the divine call is not merely the voice itself but the voice’s symbolism. The voice’s inscription in the text. The engraved marks of the voice in the tablets. The voice is the only authenticator not any miraculous event. It is the voice embedded in the halakhic ethos. Not in the action but in the verbalism. In the prophetic voice and in the rabbinic books. 

The issue with modern and even medieval man is to quest for answers. Through this analysis or through this experience, there is divinity. This is Elijah’s problem repeated over and over again. Shema Yisroel, to the commandments God bestowed. To the voice of God to recall the memory of Sinai and all the duties accounted for. To be responsible to carry on the legacy of the divine word. God’s existence is not found or proven in logical sequences or meditative sensations, it is found in the traditional halakha. In the voice of the heritage. From the biblical word to the rabbinic word is the voice of divine continuity. The voice of aural internalisation. God is found in the soft voice of the Torah, Mishnah and Gemara. The voice of the Sages discussing the divine will. The voice of God is not his existence but his word. His incredible teaching and duty.