Rabbi Ari Shvat
Question
What is religion from Torah View? What is faith and belief and trust? What's the difference and its relation to religion please help me understand/
Answer
Judaism is not a "religion", but rather a set of ideals and way of life through which God can be seen by mankind through the 613 mitzvot of the individual Jew, and especially, through the Jewish Nation. We believe in a Perfect Monotheistic God, whose perfection is seen through the actions which He commanded us to do in order to be Godly, and we believe and trust that He runs the world in the perfect way (which includes giving us Free Will), and have faith that this is the case, even when we don't understand. This is not blind faith, but a trust based upon 3,700 years of seeing the greatness of creation, the benefits and genius of the Torah, and the reliability through which He runs the world of individuals and history, especially, Jewish history, slowly advancing mankind to a moral maturity, including our Free Will. In short, our loving Father has 3 basic "roles" which harmonize and interact: He is the Creator, the Torah-Giver, and the God who watches over us, and runs history and our every-day lives.
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