Jewish Musings Thursday, August 15

[hollygail]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Frieda (hopefully)?
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[hollygail]

Earlier in Torah, when the people were "wandering" in the wilderness / desert, there was no water around. God instructed Moses to strike a rock, which he did, and water poured out of it. The people had enough water. Water in the desert is a big deal; I used to live in Tucson and believe me, forgetting to bring a water-filled bottle or canteen with you during the day is something you learn very quickly not to do. However, later, when there was no water and the people were getting on Moses' case about it, God told Moses to talk to this second rock. Moses hit the rock, just as he had the first time, and sure enough, water poured out. This time, though, he was punished for doing the same thing he'd been told to do in the same circumstance the first time. Although he'd been chosen to lead the Israelites out of oppression and slavery in Egypt to bring them to the Promised Land, God was not going to let Moses into the Promised Land (read: not let him finish what he'd been chosen to start). Moses requested, begged, you choose the verb, to be permitted to finish the job but God said no. How fair was that?

Have you ever thought that God was being unfair? What did you do about it? Did you talk to God, or even yell at God?

[gazelle18]

What DOESN’T resonate for me about this particular story is the cause and effect part. Moses did something, God in effect punished him for it. In real life, when someone does something bad , or stupid, or mean, there are often negative consequences. And that seems ok, perhaps even fitting. But when something bad happens to a good person (like in the book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People), we start to wonder, “Where is this so called God I am supposed to believe in/pray to?” I think this is a natural feeling. My husband’s parents were Holocaust survivors. Although they remained culturally Jewish, their belief in God did not survive the Holocaust.

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please pray for Israel.

Re today's topic: The whole question of why there is evil in this world makes me wonder about God's fairness. Somehow, I still believe, but there are many things that make me wonder.

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[peachymom1]

I think we all want life to be fair, or at least understandable. It isn't, no matter how hard we try, and that is beyond our understanding.

But that doesn't mean we should give up on fairness or understanding. I think we should keep trying to be fair, with ourselves and each other, and keep trying to understand the world. Even though we will never understand everything, we can keep learning and growing, and improving the world with fair behavior.

Of course God's decision not to let Moses enter the land was unfair. But I don't think God denied Moses access simply because he smacked a rock out of grief for his sister's death, instead of speaking to the rock. No human being does the right thing all the time, and God certainly would have known that. It's a pretty lame reason. We all can understand Moses's feelings about it.

But consider this. Moses knew he wasn't going to be allowed into the land, that he was denied his dearest desire, something he certainly deserved. AND HE KEPT RIGHT ON LEADING THE PEOPLE ANYWAY. Nobody can say that Moses only took the job because of a promised reward. Moses is the greatest hero in Jewish tradition, not because he was perfect, but because he had incredible devotion to his people, the people he didn't even know he belonged to at the beginning of the story. I think that's extraordinary.

[peachymom1]

Lynne makes a good point about cause and effect. Here’s my question: do we always see all the causes and effects? The Holocaust is a glaring example. God didn’t cause the Holocaust, so was it God’s responsibility to stop it? If you believe in a God that swoops in and rescues humanity, then yes, God should have stopped it. Personally, I think God should have swooped in and stopped the Holocaust, and stopped the bloodbath of the American Civil War, and stopped us from decimating Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The question is, do you (or does God) leave free will in place so humanity can achieve great things or rip it all to shreds, both alternatives with their accompanying aftermath and lessons learned? Or do you (or does God) control humanity like a marionette, deciding yourself how everything will play out, and never let Pinocchio become a real boy?

Although I wish we could stop horrible things from happening by getting God to intervene for us, I have to concede that God doesn’t work that way. I don’t always know how God works. So when it comes to how I believe in God, I trust the things that I do know for sure. I know I have the gift of life, which no human being has been able to quite explain yet; I know I have the capacity to love, learn, work, suffer, make mistakes, improve, dream, help others, and hope. I am grateful beyond even my own comprehension.

[louise]

Some very inspiring thoughts.

I have to confess to being in somewhat of a funk. Tisha b'Av season for sure. Several people I know have just lost their parents, a friend's partner passed, my landlord died. I have been with bereaved families 4 times in the past week or so. I'm freaked out about my landlord - have lived in the same house with him for 15 years and been his neighbor for maybe 30 more. He is the same age as I am. They were in Texas when he died, coming home today. I'm dreading going home and seeing her grief. I ordered flowers to be sent to her and may bake something too. She is Catholic. The service and funeral are Saturday. At first I was not invited but I inquired about it and I think she just didn't realize that it mattered to me. She is consumed with grief. I found someone to cover for me at a bat mitzvah this shabbat. I'm rambling. So many people.