Is It Kosher To Argue With God? 1A (Part 1 of 10)

Is it OK to argue with God? To be angry at God? It’s a tricky question. On the one hand, we’re taught that God is perfect, all-knowing, and we’re… flawed mortals. And while there’s some disagreement about to what extent God is involved in the tiny, mundane details of our everyday lives, we generally assume that things happen for a reason — a God-ordained reason — and are therefore “good,” and we should accept them, without putting up a fight.

But that’s easier said than done… especially when you’re experiencing something difficult in your own life.

Is there any room for pushing back against these kinds of things? For entering into an argument — or to choose a nicer word — a “discussion” with God?

There is some precedent for this in our tradition. There are stories, throughout the Bible, of people who experienced some kind of tension between their will and the will of the Almighty, and they took it upon themselves to argue (or at least “discuss” it) with God. Apparently they thought that it was “kosher,” that it was OK to do.

Was it? And if it was “kosher” for them to argue with God, is it also kosher for us?

In this sweeping 10-part audio series, Rabbi Fohrman grapples with those questions by examining three different “case studies:” the story of Chana, from the Book of Samuel, who suffered with infertility and let God know how she really felt; the story of the Mekalel, the “Blasphemer,” from the Book of Leviticus, who had the audacity to “curse” God; and the story of the daughters of Tzelophchad from the Book of Numbers, who boldly petitioned God to change the laws of land inheritance — and were granted a win.