The search for religious meaning and the danger of interpretations

As the we approach the month of September and Rosh Hashana begins to lurk on the horizon, we are a nation in ongoing mourning, because the events of October 7th are still ongoing for so many people: How many are mourning loved ones, or waiting for family members held hostage in Gaza, or are still displaced from their homes, or breathe in deeply every time their phone beeps as they check to see if their best friend in reserves duty is still safe?

In the wake of such deep tragedy, it is only natural to search for religious meaning. The truth is, there are many religious interpretations a Jew might make of October 7th, all of which have a solid foundation in Jewish texts:

• We were disunified, so God sent us a tragedy to unify us. Maybe from this unity, we will grow to merit the Messiah.
• The Messiah comes with birthing pangs and is born out of tragedy; just as the State of Israel was born from the Holocaust, so too, this terrible tragedy will help give birth to the next step in our redemption.
• Who are we to question God? We cannot understand His ways.
• We do not know and can never understand God’s will, but we must cry to God and ask for mercy for the Jewish people, pray for the release of the hostages and do all we can to strengthen the Jewish people at this time.
• We were not dedicated enough to the land of Israel; this is a test from God to see how willing we are to fight for it.
• The tragedy is a sign that we are no longer worthy of having a Jewish state in the land of Israel; exile will be forthcoming, just as it was after the First and Second Temples.
• The tragedy is a wake-up call -we almost deserve to have our sovereignty in the land of Israel destroyed, but God is giving us a final chance to repent and to once more be worthy of having a Jewish state.
• We must all engage in personal reflection and ask how we can be better people and how our individual sins may have contributed to the national dis-merit that led to this tragedy.
• It is not the Jewish way to obsess over the reasoning behind God’s actions and where tragedies fit into the Messiah’s coming. Carry on, observe halacha, and keep praying that the Messiah will come today, but don’t put too much religious meaning into guessing where your moment in Jewish history is located relative to the Messiah’s appearance.

This list is not exhaustive. Some of these interpretations work together, while others contradict each other. But they all point to the complexity of interpreting religious events. The prophet Amos prophesied that we would face a famine not “of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). And so it has come to pass. If only we had a prophet with direct channel to God who could help us understand the difficult moment of Jewish history that we live in.

I am not here to argue for one interpretation or against another. I am simply here to remind people that, because there are multiple interpretations with a firm basis in Jewish text, when claiming that one interpretation is valid, we must do so with the humility of understanding that other interpretations are valid as well. To claim that we know, with 100% certainty, why God acted as He did, is an act of theological hubris.

We should also keep in mind that when people do have a certain interpretation, and act based on that interpretation, they are acting because by the logic of their interpretation, what they are doing is best for Israel. I may have an interpretation that is diametrically opposed to theirs, and that accordingly mandates a diametrically opposed course of action in order to do what is best for Israel. But underlying both of our diametrically opposed positions is the same value: wanting to do what is good for Israel.

May we all know better days ahead and may the hostages return home safely and speedily to their families. I pray that the new year is a year of miracles and redemption, so that all these conversations become irrelevant.