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Traces of God: Seeing God in Torah, History and Everyday Life

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Some of these essays struck me as a bit elementary, telling me things I already know (though I think I would have liked them more a few years ago when I was less well-read).

But on the other hand, every so often I read one that was genuinely interesting. A few that I liked:

*An essay on Jacob and Esau, explaining why first-born sons nearly always lose in the Torah. Gillman's explanation: "This is the biblical historiographer's way of telling us that ultimately God who governs the course of historical events, not the immutable laws of natural order."

*An essay on the birth of Samson. After an angel informs Samson's parents of his impending birth, the parents offer a sacrifice, the angel ascends in the flames of the altar, and the Tanach says "Umafli la'asot"- in the words of one translation cited by Gillman, "a marvelous thing happened". The same phrase ends the Asher Yatzar prayer (a prayer recited after we perform certain bodily functions). Gillman's explanation: "The normal functioning of our body is as miraculous as the angel's ascent to heaven."

*An essay on the boundaries provided by ritual commandments: "the purpose of the [boundaries] is to create structures. Structures provide a sense of order ... [and] shield us from the anarchy or chaos that are so much part of our daily experience."

*An essay on Pinchas, who takes the law into his own lands by killing on Israelite who is cohabiting with an idolater. How could the Torah condone such actions? Gillman explains that even though Pinchas may seem like a fanatic, he must have been "convinced that the established social and legal structures have collapsed, that anarchy rules, and that he alone is left to right the wrong that abound about him."

Rabbi Neil Gillman is involved in the very suspect occupation of Jewish theology, two words that are only uncomfortably paired in the history of Judaism. Rabbinical Judaism has stressed practice and adherence to the mitzvoth far more than to any set of beliefs or principles about God. The overall impression of the Rabbinical world view is that it matters very little (or not at all) what a Jew believes about God, as long as he or she adheres to God's commands.

Certainly, Gillman acknowledges this viewpoint. There is no getting around it. But of course it is nearly impossible to simply follow the mitzvoth and not have some idea of how or what God is. So in this group of essays, Traces of God: Seeing God in Torah, History and Everyday Life, Gillman goes about examining aspects of Jewish religion which border on, if not reside in, the realm of theology.

This series of essays explore a range of areas, and are divided into three distinct topics. As there pieces were written for a journal, Gillman often repeats himself in various places. This is both good and bad. The discussions can get a bit repetitive, but we also get to see how he thinks about a particular topic across a range of subjects.