True Religion Celebrates Diversity
Diversity within religion is not only a factor we must reluctantly accept; it is a cause for genuine celebration. It grants us the opportunity to encounter G-d since it is only in the face of the other that we can discover the part of G-d that we lack in our own face. The result of a relationship with a transcendental G-d is a growing appreciation of people's differences, not merely as tolerable, but as the essence of a rich and rewarding human and religious experience.
“Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common; celebrate it every day,” a wise man once said. Diversity is the trace of an undefined G-d on the human species.
One of the greatest challenges facing humanity today is the ingrained belief by many Muslims that those of us who do not embrace Islam as a faith and a lifestyle are infidels who need to be converted or killed. On another level, and in a far more subtle and fine way, one of the challenges facing many communities today (a challenge that has pervaded the history of all religions from the beginning of time), is a sense of tribalism that found a nest among many devout Jews. My way of serving G-d is the only true way, and if you have a different path, you are on the "wrong team." I can't respect you.
Many of us feel that in the construction of the "altars," the structures in which we serve G-d, there is room for only a single stone, a single path, one flavor, and one style – to the exclusion of anything else that does not fit our religious imagination or upbringing. Yet, paradoxically, it is precisely the paths of paganism, polytheism, or atheism, that invite a singular altar, made of one stone, while the monotheistic path of a singular G-d welcomes the diverse altar, made of many distinct stones. The structures constructed by man to serve G-d are, by definition, diverse and individualistic.
This does not mean that G-d condones every act done in His name. The G-d of the Bible created absolute universal standards of morality and ethics that bind us all. But these rules do not step from my ego and comfort zone, but rather from an absolute truth that includes and benefits every human being.
To the Jewish people, G-d presented an absolute system of Torah and mitzvos. Yet within this framework, every human possesses his or her unique path to Truth. One of the great masters put it this way: "The concrete laws of Torah are the same for us all, but the spiritual experience of Torah, the feelings of love and awe, contain infinite pathways, one for each person, according to his (or her) individual identity."
We may compare it to the 88 keys of the piano that lend themselves to infinite combinations. The very same keys allow for so many different expressions. Authentic religion must welcome, not fear, diversity, and individualistic expression. When you truly cultivate a relationship with G-d, a G-d Who is undefined by any image or color, you know that in the presence of other-ness, you can encounter a fragment of truth that you could never access solely within your own framework.
UFARATZTA
We therefore find in Tanna Dvei Eliyahu: “A man commits a sin and is liable to death before the Almighty what shall he do and live? If he was accustomed to studying one page, let him study two; if he was accustomed to studying one chapter, let him study two chapters....” This resembles a rope that is severed and then re-knotted. The site of the knot is twofold and fourfold thicker than the rest of the rope. So it is with the “rope of [G-d’s] heritage,” with the soul’s bond with its Source. If this relationship was severed, then repentance must re-knot the cord doubly and fourfold. And this is accomplished through the study of the Torah. Thus, Scripture states, “Through kindness and truth is sin forgiven...,” [Mishley 16,6] and “there is no truth but Torah....” Thus, it is through the study of the Torah that sin is forgiven. Similarly, on the statement in Scripture that “the sin of the House of Eli will not be atoned by sacrifices and offerings,” the Talmud comments: “By sacrifices and offerings will the sin of the House of Eli not be atoned, but it will be atoned through the study of the Torah and through good deeds....”
==== Lessons in Tanya P270.
The Rebbe would recommend to people that wanted atonement to focus on learning more Torah and giving Tzedaka etc. as opposed to depriving one’s body.
