Done With Religion!

“Why do it?”

We were having lunch in the company dining area and the young lady in Sales asked me a very simple question.

“I’m an Israeli. That means I know a lot of people who are secular, and a lot of people who are religious. I know people that just do these things without ever thinking about why they are doing it. So tell me, why do you do it?”

It took me some time to come up with an answer.

My answer shocked me as much as it surprised her. It dawned on me that I no longer perform mitzvot for religion.

“My wife and I do it because it makes us happy. I used to pray, observe Shabbat, learn Torah, and keep Shabbat out of a feeling of obligation. Now I do it because it makes me really happy. My wife and I are happy people. Our children are happy people.”

She seemed very pleased with that answer. So was I.

My life, at least on the surface, shouldn’t look happier today than 15 years ago. Like then, I am barely one step above entry level in my career and about a couple of paychecks ahead of my expenses. I still rent an apartment.

The daily obligations of family, job, and keeping the mitzvot are as pressing as they ever were. Even if I do come into money, do the responsibilities of serving ones wife and children, and serving Hashem ever cease? Would anyone ever want them to?

Unexpected difficulties come up all the time. From surprise backdated fees for this and that, to a series of meetings about my children’s school, to someone in the family not feeling well and having to see a doctor.

It doesn’t change a thing. Life is beautiful, and every day is filled with joy.

We live in the Land of Israel. We fight for the ongoing mitzvah of Personal Holiness. We push ourselves, no matter how hard, to see every adversity as a personally wrapped present from our loving Father to us.

Life is sweet.

We love being outside. Any place with blue skies, trees, flowers, and the noises of birds, and other creatures revives not only the body, but the soul. It is something every Israeli, native and newcomer, feels. I met a guy, a secular guy who missed being tied to his land so much he quit his job just so he could spend the next two months traveling the Israel trail, a hike that traverses the entire length of the country. His words echoed what we all feel here: “My soul needed to breathe.”

My wife and I love each other. Thanks in no small part to Hashem’s Commandment of Shalom Bayit, and Rabbi Arush’s The Garden of Peace, we love each other more today than the moment we got married. I gain strength from her. She guides me on the right path, preventing me from making mistakes, and helping me correct the ones I already made. Sure, we have our difficult moments. It wouldn’t be a normal marriage without them. But in following the Commandments on how to handle these moments, Hashem makes every other moment pure bliss. We gain so much joy from our children, our lives together, and each other.

We love Shabbat. We love the time together. We love the hikes within the city. We love the food my wife spends days preparing. We love the afternoon hours when we sit, relax, play, and read. It is pure fun. The holidays are no different.

There was a time in our lives when we did this out of obligation. There was a time when we did it because it was new and exciting. We lived in Judea and Shomron for a while so some of it included a whiff of politics and ideology.

Not anymore.

While our degree of happiness will never dictate whether or not we would perform the Mitzvot, the reason we love G-d and our Torah is pure and simple:

Hashem makes us happy.