G-d spoke to Moses and He said to him, "I am Hashem. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as the Almighty God, but through My name Hashem, I did not become known to them." (Shemot 6:2-3)

Rashi states: I was not recognized by them in my aspect of truth by which My name is called Hashem, which means that I am faithful to uphold My words, for I promised them, but have not yet fulfilled my promise (ie. while they were alive).

Rav Yerucham Levovitz the Mirrer mashgiach in his sefer Das Torah writes that we can learn from here that G-d’s attribute of being “faithful to uphold His words” is so real that it even has its own name. In other words, it is an undisputable fact and reality that Hashem will fulfill that which He promises. There is not even the slightest possibility that an all-powerful Creator could be stopped from establishing that which He has guaranteed.

Believing in Hashem at this level is not an easy accomplishment. Even though the logic makes sense, on an emotional level it may be hard for us to believe that all which the Torah says will be will eventually come to be. But the fact is, that all these promises are so real it’s as if they have already been established. The only thing which is missing is the time!

Application:
What would you do different if you “really” believed the Torah was true?
If I believed the blessings and rewards in the Torah were true I would…
If I believed the curses and punishments in the Torah were true I would…

Rav Mitterhoff,
I'm not convinced that "believing" is such a difficult thing within the Torah world. It's acting on that belief that's difficult. HaShem gave us a physical reality to enable us to live a life of Torah, but the same physical reality is also a distraction that takes away from Torah.

As you say, it's all real, our "limiting factor" is time...which is part of our physical reality.
1. What would I do differently? I don't know. But if you were to ask me "what would I do differently if I knew I had limited time?" It creates saliency and forces me to prioritize. Suddenly my nice house and mortgage are not important anymore. But as I long as I don't sense the saliency I can justify the nice house because we have shiurim there, we have shabbaton there, we perform all sorts of mitzvot there...not to mention the wonderful Jewish family we raise there.

2. If I believed the blessings and the curses, again I would revert to #1 as long as time is a factor.

I guess time is our friend and our enemy. If we use it wisely we can accomplish a lot of mitzvot, but as long as we feel we have another year to live, it's not as salient and we get distracted.

I have no trouble believing in the Torah's promises being fulfilled, but sometimes in my personal life this is difficult. When I was a youth, it was ironically easier. Now that I'm an adult and mother, I find myself feeling doubt because of the fences that keep popping up in my daily life. In other words, when I was responsible for less with less on the line, it was much easier to believe in the impossible....

"If I believed the curses and punishments in the Torah were true I would…[/QUOTE]"
This I also believe is true... but try to convince some of my fellow congregants. Everyone these days wants to believe in only the benevolent side of G-d. Oy-vey! and when I try to tell them why I think I'm having trouble in a certain area, these people tell me I'm pessimistic and that Jewish thought doesn't follow such 'negativity', even though I might quote something directly. I get the same with my feeling of urgency about making aliyah - and soon - with my kids. Suggestions?

B"H
Mrs. Hawke,
I highly recommend you and your children to make aliya to this blessed land. Follow your intuition. The move here will not be regretted by you as far as your children's future is concerned. And as for Israeli society, although there is still much that needs correcting, it is still a wholesome society with a very strong national, cultural and religious foundation. Your children would only benefit from such a change. Americans here tend to associate together and move into the same neighborhoods, so if this will make your transition easier, you could always move to places like "Ramat Beth-Shemesh," or to Jerusalem's "Har-Noff" neighborhood, (as suggestions). Both places are religiously oriented. Just to get an idea how many ex-Americans, British, South Africans and Aussies are living in this county, try looking one day at the posts (advertisements/announcements) made over the "JANGLO" group forum, sponsored by Yahoo com. Perhaps you, too, could make use of their services. It's highly recommended that you join that group!!

Sincerely,
David Ben-Abraham

quote:

it is still a wholesome society with a very strong national, cultural and religious foundation.

Shalom David:

Especially in light of current events, and sentiments expressed for example by Rav Berel Wein's article in the Jerusalem Post, in what ways do you see modern Israeli society as demonstrating a religious foundation?

B"H
Dear Rob,
I didn't have in mind the government, per se, although it accommodates for the religious element, but I had in mind all the different conclaves of religious settlements, communities and neighborhoods, and, in some cases, cities (such as B'nei Barak and Jerusalem). Jerusalem religious population now make up the majority of the citizens huddled together in that city, and it's still growing! Ve'chen Yirbu!!

David

quote:

I get the same with my feeling of urgency about making aliyah - and soon - with my kids. Suggestions?

Depending on how old your kids are it might not be such a good idea to make aliyah with them. How old are your kids?

Quote "Everyone these days wants to believe in only the benevolent side of G-d."

I think the problem is that people don't want to take responsibility for their actions. Thus they make up such a philosophy that there is no consequents for their actions. G-d doesn't care what you do, thus you can do anything. By diluting the religion, it doesn't send anything meaningful to the children, so they try looking for other places for spirituality, like to new age Christianity.

In real Jewish thought, part of punishment is to help you realize that something is wrong and you must change it. Taking inventory of your actions and see where you need improving. (Though smart people would take inventory from time to time, before they need punishment to remind them.)