Here is a question to contemplate: Is Judaism a religion of faith or a religion of logic? Is faith the fallback option or is it logic? Which is our preferable default setting?
As thinking people, we might reason that logic is king, and therefore we should rely on faith only when we cannot logically understand something. On the other hand, if we want to be a more G-d-centric people, we might reason that we should put our faith in G-d more in the center of our lives, and only use our logical minds to help propel us to action.
Balancing our understanding of the Mitzvot and our need to put G-d first, is discussed in this week’s Torah portion, Behar-Bechukotai, and illustrated to us using the example of the sabbatical year.
The law of the sabbatical year states that when we farm our land, we must allow the land to lay fallow on the seventh of a seven-year cycle. The Torah tells us that the sixth year of every such cycle will be a year of plenty, supplying enough to last us until the produce of the first year of the next seven-year cycle ripens.
Any farmer understands that land must lay fallow for a year once in a while for it be most productive. What they have a hard time understanding is why they must allow it to lay fallow in the same year of a seven-year cycle. The farmer asks, “Where will our produce come from?” And G-d replies, “No worries; the last year will be your best year, and you will have enough to last the sixth, seventh and eighth years!” To believe this, takes faith.
Yet, what is fascinating is that the Torah says that G-d expects us to question his promise! When we ask, “What will we eat?” G-d answers that we should not worry, He has our backs. What G-d doesn’t say is “Why are you questioning me? Have some faith!” This teaches us a very important lesson: That while Judaism is a mix of faith and logic, our faith is not imposed on us by G-d—it has to come from within us.
Faith comes to us when we contemplate G-d’s greatness, like when we think about the wondrous ways of the world, the things that we understand, and even the ways of G-d that we don’t get. The more we meditate and contemplate about G-d, the stronger our faith will be.