It is against Torah hashkafah to take offense to or reject a sincere question

SO

many individuals grow up with gnawing questions about the fundamentals of Yiddishkeit. Their questions may be trite and simplistic (Why do we keep Shabbos?) or profound and weighty (How do I know there is a G-d? How is it possible that Hashem knows every move I make, yet I have free will?).

It’s not the particular question that is germane — every sincere and thoughtful question is relevant and important. Rather, it’s the way the question is received and handled. Sadly, the questions are at times either rebuffed or repudiated by parents and teachers. The outcome is that some seekers despondently trudge through life with lingering doubts in ikrei emunah, and others tragically throw in the towel, religiously.

The Hebrew word for question, sh’eilah, is etymologically derived from the word sha’al — to borrow or request. According to Rashbam, Tosafos, Chizkuni, Kli Yakar, and other commentaries, sha’al, in this context, does not mean to borrow but rather means to request something that is one’s rightful possession — one’s natural entitlement.

It is against Torah hashkafah to take offense to or reject a sincere question. Just as water sustains the physical world and is free and accessible to everyone (this predates New York City’s water meters), so too should knowledge be available freely. This is precisely why, according to the halachic ideal, one should not charge tuition to dispense Torah knowledge (see Yoreh Deiah 246:5).

A young boy learning about the miracles of the Midbar asks his rebbi, “How is it physically possible that the people wore the same clothing for 40 years and it didn’t wear out?”

If the rebbi dismisses the question, and even worse, if he responds, “Are you mechusar emunah,” he leaves the child feeling stupid and confused.

You may be surprised to learn that the Rosh asks this very question on his peirush to the Chumash.

Instead of explaining that there is nothing beyond Hashem’s purview, he states that we find a parallel to this extraordinary occurrence in nature: When a snail grows, the shell has to be enlarged to fit the snail’s body. According to the Rosh, the clothing worn by Dor Hamidbar took on the property of the snail’s shell, which gradually extends by adding new parts at its opening.

We similarly find that the Ramban questions (and answers) how the teivah was able to physically accommodate an innumerable amount of species of all forms and sizes. The Netziv questions (and answers) the reality of finding fossils from prediluvian times (some posit he’s referring to dinosaurs), when all remnants were supposed to have been eradicated in the Mabul. The point is that not only is every question deserving of an answer, but there’s virtually no question that hasn’t been grappled with by Chazal. We should anticipate children’s questions and scour our repository of seforim and consult with gedolim for answers.

Our greatest geonim — including the Steipler Gaon of the past generation — wrote sifrei hashkafah, never shying away from issues that needed to be addressed, explicating Yiddishkeit in the vernacular of their respective generations. We must create an environment and a hashkafah curriculum where children who have sincere questions are encouraged to seek answers for the issues that are troubling them.

The late Sy Syms  said of his discount clothing chain, “An educated consumer is our best customer.” His slogan is a fitting credo for Judaism. When we avoid answering questions and penalize a child for asking, it compromises the integrity and absolute authenticity of our mesorah. It projects insecurity and appears to the child as if we have something to hide. How incongruous! Judaism has all the answers. We live in an age where Torah knowledge is awing the greatest scientists and most resolute atheists.

Let parents and educators be more candid and unveil the vast contemporary knowledge found in Torah, many such questions would be preempted.

Many Rishonim (among them Rambam, Rabbeinu Bechaye ibn Pakudah, Rabbeinu Bechaye ben Asher, Rav Saadya Gaon) hold that the mitzvah of emunah is not predicated on blind faith but on rational and objective knowledge. According to Chovos Halevavos, knowing and inquiring about Hashem, getting firsthand knowledge of Him, is a fulfillment of the Torah’s charge “V’yadata hayom… ki Hashem hu ha’Elokim — And you should ‘know’ today that He is G-d.” Other Rishonim advocate the approach of emunah peshutah. Rambam himself (Yesodei HaTorah 8:1) stresses that despite all the miracles they witnessed in Mitzrayim, the Children of Israel did not believe in Hashem wholeheartedly until they had firsthand knowledge and personally experienced the revelation at Sinai.

But either way, our children and students deserve answers. If we don’t provide them with answers, or they feel too uncomfortable and intimidated to ask questions, they will, chas v’shalom, go elsewhere with their questions. The street and the Internet are replete with individuals and material looking to snare the innocent away from Judaism. We don’t necessarily have to know all the answers. We do have to know that there are addresses to turn to for answers, such as qualified rabbanim, hashkafah books, and lectures.

Questions are part of the fabric of Torah. Avrohom Avinu asked questions, Moshe Rabbeinu asked questions. The value of shakla v’tarya, the dynamic of the exchange of questions and answers, is paramount in Judaism. Every Jewish toddler is educated with the four questions of Pesach. These four questions are such a crucial part of the Leil Seder that we actually engage in special, atypical rituals that elicit the questions. The Gemara, Rishonim, and Acharonim we learn are replete with questions, refutations, and even cross examinations.

We mustn’t discourage nor be intimidated by sincere and well-meaning questions. As parents and mechanchim, we should espouse an open-communication “questions welcome” environment and b’ezras Hashem be zocheh to raise doros yesharim u’mevorachim.

Rav Yitzchok Fingerer, a renowned speaker and author, is mara d’asra of Flatbush’s kiruv organization BJX (Brooklyn Jewish Xperience) and serves as rav of the kehillah.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1068)