Reply To: Theological Conundrum (read at your own risk)

Avram:

My question is twofold. It seems from the statement of Antignos Ish Socho that ??? ?? ??? ???? ??? is more idealistic (that’s not a good word to convey what I mean but I can’t think of a better one right now) than ?? ??? ???? ???, and that there is some inherent value in serving Hashem this way. Now, does a person get any personal benefit from ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? You are alleging that he/she does, albeit a different form (relational vs. non-relational). To that I ask that if you are serving Hashem ??? ?? ??? ???? ??? in order to get the “reward” of the relationship than that is no less self-centered/selfish than doing it ?? ??? ???? ???, and if you are doing it purely for Hashem’s sake, then why are you doing it? Why do you care what Hashem wants?

To illustrate, Rabbeinu Yonah writes: ?????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? i.e. even if there was no reward you should still serve Hashem – out of love. What if there was no relational reward either? Would you still serve Hashem?