Obviously, this has the possibility of becoming dry and lifeless, mere rote and obedience. Throughout Jewish history, the tension between the outer practice of the law and the inner spiritual experience of Judaism has occupied the attention of Jewish thinkers, at times resulting in great controversies or even schism. It is undoubtedly true that dedication to the law can come at the expense of inner experience. We shall try to show throughout the course why this need not be true, but the question remains why Judaism insists on the law as the basis for man's relationship with God. I would like to suggest three considerations.
Inner experiences are amorphous, transitory, and unrooted.
The relationship of the inner experience to the law may be compared to that of the flame to the candle. People undoubtedly have feelings, but if they aren't rooted in life- experiences, they lack reality. Tomorrow, we are not always sure that the great feelings of yesterday really took place, or whether they were genuine. On the other hand, feelings which are rooted in life, which arise out of basic patterns of experience, are permanent facts, sharing in the reality of the outer world which forms their basis. The first may seem to be less fiery, perhaps less impressive, but is undoubtedly deeper and to a great extent more real, precisely because the feelings arise from patterns of experience and not the reverse.