Philosophers who were influenced by Kierkegaard include Martin Buber, Albert Camus, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Reinhold Niebuhr, Jean Paul Sartre, Joseph Soloveitchik, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Kafka, Baruch Spinoza, as well as Simone de Beauvoir.
Soren Kierkegaard, a devout Christian, was mainly concerned with his own eternal happiness and with his own relation to Christianity as a means of securing this happiness.
What contrast to the beliefs of mortal man that occurred when, in 1250 BCE, an unruly rebellious band of former slaves took a giant leap of faith in God, an awesome heavenly spirit whom they could not see!! Such a degree of inspiration is in itself miraculous; eventually, it was followed by other things that occurred, like the splitting of the Red (Reed) Sea, thus enabling Pharaoh’s former slaves to cross onto dry land. When their cruel pursuers attempted to reach and recapture them, the waters returned to normal, and their enemies drowned.
It was then that the group of former slaves began to see God (Hashem) and accept Him in their hearts as His chosen people as their savior, the one to whom they could pray. God is eternal – yesterday, today, and forever more. He is the creator of all things that exist as He reminds us in our daily prayers. He wants and deserves praise for all that He has done for us, His chosen people, whose purpose in our daily lives is to set a good example for humankind.
The Torah, our book of faith, was dictated to us through Moses, our leader and prophet. It teaches us about the daily lives of imperfect mortals like us and is read every Shabbat (repeated on Mondays and Thursdays). And we, who are living today, are strong because we read it annually with continuity from beginning to end.
The Five Books of Moses are divided into sections. They start with Genesis and tell of the beginning of creation. The sections that follow are Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
I have a tradition of thinking about what God created each day. It is obvious that His favorite is Shabbat, which He gifted to us as His day of rest and relaxation from the work that absorbs us on the other six days of the week. The creator of all things deserves praise for all that He has done for His people.■
The writer, a retired teacher who lives in Efrat, is co-organizer and director of Writing the Wrongs.
