G-d’s supra-rational plan

“I thought I could fathom it, but it eludes me.” (Ecclesiastes 7,23) King Solomon, the author of these words, could have been describing our times. Nothing is making sense. Every morning, we wake up to a new reality, to a shift in world dynamics, to events we couldn’t have predicted 24 hours earlier. None of us can grasp the meaning of this whirlwind.

It’s an unsettling place to be. As rational, intellectual beings, it’s important for us to understand matters. Our ability to think, analyse, and internalise concepts is what sets us aside from other creatures Hashem placed in this world. When things appear irrational and inexplicable, we’re inherently uncomfortable.

Obviously, King Solomon wasn’t discussing 2025 in his writings. The Talmud explains that the “wisest of all men” was referring to one precept in the Torah which he was unable to comprehend: the ritual of the Red Heifer, the subject of the first chapter of this week’s Torah reading, Chukat. Seemingly he could appreciate the deeper reason for 612 of the 613 commandments, but struggled with this particular one.

For good reason, indeed. The Red Heifer is a process that enables ritually impure people to reach purity once again. The entire concept of pure/impure is beyond us. This isn’t a physical state that can be removed through cleansing or sterilising. The purification ritual itself is filled with inexplicable paradoxes. For instance, the individual who prepares the mixture is himself rendered impure in the process, though what he has produced can then be used to purify those who have been defiled. So the wise king admitted that he couldn’t explain this one.

Our minds can grasp the rationale behind most of the 613 precepts of the Torah. Some are rules that are logical and necessary for the proper functioning of society. Others are symbolic or refer to our history and we can clearly appreciate how they raise our spirituality and enhance our relationship with G-d.

Then there are mitzvot known as chukim – the plural for the name of this week’s Torah portion. Those are the commandments that appear to make no sense at all. They are hard for us because they don’t resonate with our intellectual side.

We need to remember that they aren’t irrational rules, they are supra-rational. There’s a reason, it’s just beyond us. Though we may be thinking human beings, our power of comprehension has its limits. The performance of these mitzvot actually strengthens our bond with our creator in a way that other commandments don’t.

We’re living in a world we don’t understand. What’s happening is, however, not irrational but rather supra-rational. There’s a reason, a method, and a design in what Tevya so aptly called “the vast eternal plan”.

The events of the past few weeks have catapulted us ever closer to the Messianic era, when the course of Jewish history, from that perspective, will be clearly rational and logical. We are waiting.