Why All the Rules in Judaism?

Judaism seems to be the ultimate restriction for a free-spirited, independent young person.

There are rules—lots and lots of rules. Judaism dictates the way you dress, the way you are supposed to act, eat, everything!

They are all rules, and rules seem to equal limitation. When there are rules, you cannot be boundless and free-spirited and independent. You must be docile and obedient.

Rules seem to equal limitationThe dictionary defines “rule” as follows:
“Noun: One of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere. Verb: Exercise ultimate power or authority over (an area and its people).”

This idea of exercising ultimate power over a person is one of my biggest problems in Judaism. How can G‑d do such a thing? How can He limit us so, by commanding and demanding rules and regulations from us? I understand rules are important in order to create order, but the rules G‑d has set for us are so . . . limiting!

Which is where the big problem came in again. How can a person be themselves within such a strict set of rules?

I found the answer through my art class.

Let me explain to you about art and me. Art has always been—and, I hope, always will be—one of my greatest passions. To me art represents no boundaries, no limitations, and a place where I am free to express my inner self. I began taking art classes at the age of five, and continued regularly until the age of fourteen. At fourteen I stopped my classes because they frustrated me immensely. My classes were so strict and demanding! The teachers expected me to learn so many rules—the laws of perspective, shading, angles, anatomy.

There was a certain way to hold the pencil, a certain pressure to put on the paper, a certain way to do everything. There was a certain way to paint—the one-touch rule, the transition from light to dark and from dark to light, how to mix colors and make shapes, and just so many rules. I didn’t have to follow all those rules in order to be good at art! Art was about free expression, and the constant stream of rules were blocking my creativity. I told my art teacher this, and she said to me, “Through the rules you can be truly free.” I thought about it, but didn’t quite understand it, and I quit.

I remember having a conversations with one of my friends around the time I quit, and I told her about what my teacher had said. She replied with, “Well, that makes no sense. Why can’t you just make up your own rules?”

Now this little piece of wisdom about rules, I could relate to. Why not make up my own rules? I was perfectly capable of doing art by my own rules. So that’s what I did. I ditched brushes and palette knives. I painted with my fingers. I followed absolutely no rules; I painted however I wanted, and I loved it. I felt absolutely free with my art, and it was great.

Art represents no boundaries, no limitations, and a place where I am free to express my inner selfI painted like this for a while, but eventually I gradually stopped painting altogether. To people who asked, I said that it was because I had no time; but there was something else to it.

Painting my way, I had reached a blockage. Art became more frustrating than it was before; it was so strange. I felt as though I had loads of creativity and ideas, but I lacked the skills needed to express them.

About two years after I quit art classes, I got an e-mail from the Art Institute of Chicago about early college programs for high-school students. I looked it up online, and it looked really cool. I signed up, eager for the opportunity to learn in one of the greatest art schools in the country, and hoping that they would help me with my lack of painting skills.

The first day of classes, the teacher gave us our assignment and we got to work. I, of course, began painting the way I’d been painting for a while already—with my fingers. I saw the other students looking at me from the corners of their eyes, and finally the teacher came over and asked me what I was doing. “It’s easier to paint with my fingers,” I told him. “It’s less limiting, and I can cover more space.” The teacher shrugged and told me I wouldn’t be able to do the assignment well if I were to paint with my fingers. I didn’t listen to him, and painted as I pleased. At the end of the class, we all tacked our canvases to the wall for our fellow students to critique. When I saw everyone’s paintings, I was so embarrassed. I was obviously the worst artist in the class. My painting was terrible.

The next week, I was determined to outshine everyone else and to prove to the class that I wasn’t as awful at art as I seemed. So I came to class and listened closely as the teacher explained how to mix colors and about painting with oils. (There was an entirely different style of painting with oils that I wasn’t accustomed to, my main medium until that point having been acrylics.) So I sit down at my canvas and start painting the still life set up for me.

It was boring and difficult. I wanted to give up. I hadn’t really caught onto how to paint in oils yet, and I was so frustrated with how my painting was coming out.

But I was set on proving to myself and everyone else that I wasn’t all that bad.

So I gritted my teeth while my instructor stood over my shoulder and coached me—telling me to paint slower, stop going over the same line twice, and how to shade the corner of the cloth I was painting.

As each week of the class went by, I noticed myself progressing. I was thrilled with my progress, and became more and more proud after every class, when my fellow students would critique my paintings. I was improving drastically. I followed every rule, painted with a paintbrush, used my palette knife to mix the colors, and mixed them right.

I was surprised at how much easier it was to paint when I got used to the rules. Now I had a method of expressing my ideas. Not only did I have the creativity, I had the skills as well.

Now I had a method of expressing my ideasBy the time the last class rolled around, I was one of the best artists in the class, an achievement I had worked so hard for.

And that’s when it all clicked. Following the rules helped me express myself. Through the rules, I was truly free. It was amazing—I couldn't believe it. I might have had all the potential in the world, but it was all over the place—I needed to harness that potential in order to express it.

I think that’s what G‑d has in mind when He gives us all these rules. Judaism is like art in a way: it’s a medium for us to express ourselves and be individuals, but without the structure and rules, we can’t do it properly.

Once we follow the rules, we can learn how to be individuals through the system.

It’s through our limitations that we can really truly be free.