This will be a very short post. These words from the Gospel of John, stated by Jesus, form the basis of Christianity. This is as absolute as they come.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Now, if a man came up to you today and said the above to you, what would you do? You might look at him quizzically. You might ask him if he is Jesus returned to save us. Or you might think he belongs in an insane asylum, for believing that he is Jesus Christ, because we have all heard of that as a description of “crazy” and people who just come out and declare that they are Jesus Christ normally end up in the psych ward.

So my answer to that is I am a Jew.

Nothing comes between a Jew and his God. Nothing, and no one is needed for any Jew to address his God, any time, any place. Jews don’t absolutely need a Rabbi to conduct a worship service-the Torah commands that all you need is ten adult men, and you have a quorum (minyan) for worship. Since God is by definition everywhere, worship and prayer can happen anywhere. There is a standard worship service for Jews, but we don’t need a building or a Rabbi if we wish to worship God. And we certainly have no need of a gatekeeper to God, who stands alone and all-powerful, ready to listen to our prayers, and to help us become better people.