What's the Point of God If God Doesn't Intervene? With Rabbi Yitz Greenberg (306)

Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and members get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! What's the point of God if God doesn't intervene? Rabbi Yitz Greenberg has spent more than sixty years wrestling with the meaning of faith after the Holocaust, and one of his central claims is that God increasingly expects human beings to take responsibility for the world rather than waiting for divine intervention. But if that's true, what role does God actually play? And what does it mean for covenant, religious obligation, and prayer? In this conversation, we discuss Rabbi Greenberg's understanding of Judaism as a religion that demands that we "choose life"; why he has significantly revised his famous idea of the "voluntary covenant"; why he believes God's increasing hiddenness represents not divine absence, but a more mature stage in the relationship between God and humanity; and what all of this means for the relationship between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews. We also discuss one of his more controversial claims: that Christianity may itself be part of God's plan for bringing the biblical message to humanity. And finally, I ask what prayer means in a world where God increasingly leaves the work to us. When we ask God to heal, to provide justice, or to repair what is broken, are we asking God to act, or are we accepting responsibility to act on God's behalf? This is a wide-ranging conversation about God, Torah, the Holocaust, religious pluralism, Christianity, human responsibility, and what faith means in a world where God may not intervene in the ways that we expect. Listen to the new Naaseh weekly podcast! Each week, host Ari Levisohn, joined by Rav Jeremy Tibbetts or Lazar Berman, starts with a close reading of the Parsha and asks what happens when we try to actually live it - not only in our own lives, but in the communities we create - and the kind of society we're trying to build. Because Torah isn't only meant to describe a better world. It's meant to help us build one. The Bereishit episode of Naaseh is out now. Find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts , or YouTube. Rabbi Yitz Greenberg just released his new two volume set of classic essays, Life Against Death. Listeners to Orthodox Conundrum in the United States and Canada will receive a 40% discount, and a 50% discount for bulk purchases of ten or more copies of the set. Just go to JPS.org, and include the discount code 6AF26 for a regular purchase, and discount code 6LIFE2V50 for orders of ten copies or more. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). If your business is interested in advertising to our engaged Orthodox audience, or if you'd like to sponsor an episode in honor of a loved one or simcha, please reach out to [email protected] to support meaningful Jewish conversations. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to [email protected] to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com