Does G-d Really Care What I Eat or What I Do on Shabbat?

Does it really matter to G-d what’s on my plate?
Does He care if I drive on Shabbat?
Is there even a way to know what He wants from me?

Indeed, we are unable to have a direct conversation with G-d the way two people would talk. We can’t pick up the phone, ask a question, and receive a clear, immediate answer. However, that doesn’t mean that G-d left us in the dark to figure out the mystery of life on our own.

After all, if G-d created this magnificent world for human beings, there must be a purpose to human life. Just as every object in our world has a purpose, so too does a human being. That purpose was defined by the One who created us. The answer to the question of life’s purpose was given at Mount Sinai, through the Torah.

The Torah is G-d’s message to humanity, revealing the purpose of our existence and the tools to achieve it.

That purpose is to receive the goodness that G-d wants to give us which can only be achieved by forming a connection with Him. The path to that relationship is the one He Himself laid out: by observing the Torah and its commandments.

As it says: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your G-d ask of you, if not…to observe the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you this day—for your own good.” (Deuteronomy 10:12–13) And likewise: “Observe and listen to all these words which I command you, so that it will be good for you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your G-d.” (Deuteronomy 12:28)

G-d asks us to keep the Torah and its commandments not for His benefit, but for ours—because only through them can we build a relationship with Him and reach the eternal goodness He wants to give us.

Of course, not every commandment or law in the Torah is something we can fully understand. While some of them have explanations that provide insight or help us relate to them emotionally or morally, the deeper reason for observing them isn’t based on our understanding, but on the knowledge that they come from the Creator Himself.

As the Kotzker Rebbe famously said: “I would never want to serve a G-d whose ways were fully understandable by a human mind.”

Or, in the words of the prophet: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways, declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8)

Even if we cannot grasp G-d's reasoning, the awareness that His will is the ultimate truth—the most good, most just, and most correct—should be what guides our choices in life. After all, His only agenda is our wellbeing.

The Malbim (a classic commentator) offers a beautiful explanation on the verse: “You have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me.” (Exodus 19:4)

He writes: “I carried you on eagles’ wings because you were sunken in the depths of Egypt’s impurity, and I lifted you from that pit to great heights—like an eagle carrying its young high into the sky, to a place no predator can reach. And I brought you to Myself, to be under My direct care—not under the forces of nature or fate.”

G-d is asking us to stop sinking into the distractions, habits, and desires that block our connection with Him. If we’re willing to take that first step and move away from the noise, He will take us in under His wing, like a loving parent carrying a child.