Joodse traditie als permanent leren

126.

His ends, and religion, as Jewish tradition understands it, is a way of serving these ends, of which we are in need, even though we may not be aware of them, ends which we must learn to feel the need of.

Life is a partnership of God and man: God is not detached from or indifferent to our joys and griefs. Authentic vital needs of man's body and soul are a divine concern. This is why human life is holy. God is a partner and a partisan in man's struggle for justice, peace and holiness, and it is because of His being in need of man that He entered a covenant with him for all time, a mutual bond embracing God and man, a relationship to which God, not only man is committed.

(...). God is in need of man, because He freely

made him a partner in His enterprise, "a partner

in the work of creation". "From the first day

of creation the Holy One, blessed be He, longed

to enter into partnership with the terrestrial

world" to dwell with His creatures within the

terrestrial world (Numbers Rabba, ch. 13,6;

compare Genesis Rabba ch.3, 9.) Expounding the

42

verse in Genesis 17:1, the Midrash remarked: "In the view of Rabbi Johanan we need His honor; in the view of Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish He needs our honor" (Genesis Rabba, ch. 30; unlike Theodor, p. 277)'⁴³

De mens, die Gods partner is, is in staat bovenmenselijke verrichtingen te leveren. Dit geldt zowel voor het individu als voor het gehele volk:

'What we have learned from Jewish history is that if a man is not more than human then he is less than human. Judaism is an attempt to prove that in order to be a man, you have to be more than a man, that in order to be a people we