God Have Mercy!

September 28, 2011 James Pyles 2 Comments

Isn’t this strange, that a created being should take part in its own creation? Can a caricature hold the pencil in his artist’s hand? Can the characters of your own story edit your words? Can the figments of your own imagination tell you what to imagine?

Yet here we are, created beings pleading with our Creator, “Grant us life! Good life! Nice things! Be out there, in the open! Get more involved with your world!” Here we are, in the inner chamber of the Cosmic Mind, where it is determined whether we should be or not be, participating in that decision.

We are created beings, yet there is something of us that lies beyond creation.

-Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
“Pleading to Exist”
Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe
Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
Chabad.org

Earlier this week, I talked about how we are like plants in a garden that must cooperate with the gardener for our existence and well-being. Yesterday, I commented that we act as co-creators with God of the “rebooted” universe on Rosh Hashanah. In the words quoted from Rabbi Freeman above, we see that we are indeed unique created beings in that we participate in our own creation and continued development. We are the painting and God is the artist, but both God and man have their hands on the paints and brush. Yet, do we dare contend with God?

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? –Romans 9:20-21

Of course, God has the final say, as one of these men understood:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” –Luke 18:9-14

Apparently, this is a lesson that the tax-collector knew all too well, but not so the Pharisee. The tax-collector wasn’t just asking God for goodness and favors, he was pleading for his very life. By comparison, the Pharisee was very confident in the status of his life and his relationship with God, but according to the Master, his confidence was very foolish. The Pharisee was depending only on his outward appearance and behaviors and assumed that if other people were impressed, God would be impressed, too. Not so.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. –Matthew 23:25-28

I’m not inditing all of the Pharisees and I don’t believe Jesus was either (consider Nicodemus), but he was declaring that many people in positions of religious authority were being hypocritical by behaving as if they were obeying God and harboring “hypocrisy and wickedness” inside.

It’s the same with us. Not only should we take the opportunity afforded by Rosh Hashanah to examine what we are doing, but what we have inside our hearts. Do we say we love our fellow man but curse him behind his back? Do we claim devotion to God but still deliberately sin in secret?

At sundown tonight, Rosh Hashanah begins and continues for two days. Like a certain tax collector, let us beg for God’s forgiveness, let us plead for a life with great dedication to God in the New Year ahead.

For the holiday, I won’t be submitting meditations on Thursday and Friday and because Shabbat begins when Rosh Hashanah ends, my next blog will be on Sunday morning.

L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

Uncategorized

New Genesis

September 27, 2011 James Pyles 8 Comments

On Rosh Hashanah, G-d takes Himself to court. He looks down from above at this world and, as I’m sure you may realize, it doesn’t always look so good.

G-d is within this world as well. He is found in every atom of this world. It may sound strange, but this is what is happening: He as He is above takes Himself, as He is present within this world, to trial.

Only the soul of Man can argue on His behalf. So we do that, as lawyers for the defense. All that is required is to awaken the G-dliness within our own souls.

The spark of G-d within us below connects with the Infinite Light of G-d above. The circuit is complete and the universe is rebooted with a fresh flow of energy for an entire year.

-Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
“G-d’s Lawyers”
Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe
Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
Chabad.org

This is a very strange Rosh Hashanah meditation but then, Rosh Hashanah is a very strange time. I suppose you can look upon the quote from Rabbi Freeman as midrash, mysticism, or metaphor, depending on which one best fits your personality, but just how can God judge Himself? Isn’t He supposed to judge us?

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. –Revelation 20:11-12

This image is very reminiscent of how Judaism pictures God during the High Holidays. According to the Talmud, the Book of Life is opened on Rosh Hashanah and closed again at the end of Yom Kippur. This event repeats on an annual basis. According to Christianity, the Book of Life is opened only once, as we see in the above-quoted passage from Revelation. While it may be difficult to imagine, I think that Christianity’s and Judaism’s different visions can be reconciled. I’ll get to that part in a minute. Back to my previous question.

How can God judge Himself? Isn’t He supposed to judge us?

When it was the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And during the ninth hour, Yeshua (Jesus) cried out with a loud voice, “Elahi, elahi, lemah shevaktani?” which is interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Some of the men standing there heard and said, “Look! He is calling to Eliyahu!”

One of them ran and filled a sponge with vinegar. He placed it on a cane, gave it to him to drink and said, “Leave him alone, and let us see if Eliyahu will come to take him down!”

But Yeshua gave a loud cry and breathed out his life. –Mark 15:33-37 (DHE Gospels)

Here, perhaps we see God judging both Himself and us. If Jesus was meant to bear the sins of all mankind and to take the punishment that was upon us, this then is our judgment. That the judgment falls upon the King of Kings, the Son of God, he who is mortal and sent by the Divine, then in this, we can say that God judges “Himself”. That we are all created in God’s image and that the Divine spark resides in each of us can also be thought of as God “judging Himself”.

But didn’t all this happen only once? If so, why bother (at least from a Christian perspective) observing an annual Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?

Time is not a train of cars hitched one to another, one year dragged along by the year preceding, the present hitched tightly to the past, the future enslaved to the present. Rather, every year arrives fresh from its Creator, a year that never was before and could never have been known before its arrival.

That is why we call Rosh Hashanah “the birthday of the world” in our prayers. The past has returned to its place, never to return. With the blowing of the shofar, the entirety of Creation is renewed. From this point on, even the past exists only by virtue of the present.

-Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
“Reboot”
Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe
Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
Chabad.org

Midrash, mysticism, or metaphor…take your pick. From the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s point of view, the Universe is recreated every year at Rosh Hashanah. The “reboot” opportunity for our lives isn’t just poetic imagery, it’s a metaphysical reality. Are you having trouble believing that? Then what about this?

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. –Psalm 103:11-12

Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”

And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. –Hebrews 10:17-18

Once redeemed, God not only forgives our sins, it’s as if our sins never existed in the first place. It’s as if our very lives have been “rebooted”, as if the person we were had died and in our redemption, we have become brand new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Bible allows for a metaphysical reboot in the lives of human beings. Why not in the “life” of the Universe as well? Does the Universe have a “soul”? Rabbi Freeman seems to think so, along with an existence in space and time.

The universe has a soul. All that exists in the soul exists in space and in time.

In the cosmic soul there is a mind, a consciousness from which all conscious life extends.

In space, there is the Land of Israel, a space from where all space is nurtured.

In time, there is Rosh Hashanah, a time from which all time is renewed.

Rosh Hashanah, meaning Head of the Year. Not just a starting point, but a head. For whatever will transpire in the coming year is first conceived in these two days.

Midrash, mysticism, or metaphor…take your pick. From the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s point of view, Creation itself has a distinct and unique existence, not only as a physical reality, but as a mystic and metaphysical presence, expressed as a soul within a specific time and place. Existence is reset and a new life is begun at Rosh Hashanah and given a new heartbeat emanating from Israel and circulating its “blood” throughout the rest of the world. It’s as if Creation were a pool of water. Each year at Rosh Hashanah, God drops a pebble into the pool. The water is so disturbed that the ripples completely wipe away what had existed upon and within the water and everything becomes brand new again. A new universe, a new chance, a new life for each of us. A new relationship with God is offered if we want it. It’s as if salvation were given to us on Rosh Hashanah. For a Christian, it’s like being “saved” all over again.

Do we need to be saved each year? Maybe. I’m not saying salvation expires every year, but consider this, Christian. At some point in your life, you accepted the Lordship of Jesus over your entire being. Chances are, you had no idea what was going to happen next and how much you would have to change who you were and what you were doing. It was exciting at the time but, like your wedding day and the days afterward, what was once exciting and new can become an old, tired routine.

Rosh Hashanah is an opening of the door to the moment of salvation again. We can make a decision not to live within apathy or to settle for a second-best relationship with our Creator. We don’t even have to settle for a renewal of what once was. We can have it brand new, shining and perfect again.

Rosh Hashanah can be many things. When you are in a relationship with the One, Unique, Creative God, that relationship is not limited by physical and temporal boundaries. It exists on levels beyond which any human can experience. Nevertheless, those levels exist. We may not be acutely aware of them, but we can still take advantage of those places in time and space that man has not touched. God is there and God can do wonders. We can be His partner in those wonders and participate in recreating the Universe and recreating us. We can be new again, and the voices of God and man can echo back and forth between the Heavens and God’s footstool, upon which we dwell, as if reverberating between mirrors.

The words we say are spoken in the heavens. And yet higher. For they are His words, bouncing back to Him.

On Rosh Hashanah, we say His words from His Torah recalling His affection for our world; He speaks them too, turning His attention back towards our earthly plane.

We cry out with all our essence in the sound of the shofar; He echos back, throwing all His essence inward towards His creation.

Together, man and G-d rebuild creation.

Judgment is rendered and suspended. God and man together speak the Word in a shofar’s blast, and the Universe is again is new.

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Wednesday, September 28th.

L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

Uncategorized

The Garden of Ha’azinu

September 26, 2011 James Pyles 2 Comments

At every moment, your Creator must decide, “Should I put up once again with this little creature’s imperfections and blunders, or is it time to measure things by the scale?”

Then He looks at the scale you use to measure others. And with that same measure, He measures you.

-Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
“Reciprocal Tolerance”
Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe
Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
Chabad.org

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. –1 Corinthians 3:5-9

The First Fruits of Zion (FFOZ) commentary on this week’s Torah Portion Ha’azinu compares the teachings of the Torah given to the Children of Israel to the acts of the Apostles spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Corinth. Paul was the first to bring the Gospel message to the Gentiles there, but if he “planted the seed”, then he credits Apollos with “watering” it. Yet the seed, the water, and the growing of the plants all come from God.

And look what we’ve done with what He’s provided. I don’t necessarily say that as a compliment to humanity.

Rabbi Freeman shows us that perhaps God considers our lives each day and ponders about whether or not to extend our existence into tomorrow. This is based on the measure of how we show or fail to show kindness and grace to others. What a terrible way to judge us.

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown this coming Wednesday (1 Tishrei), and it is believed in Judaism, that at the “head of the year”, God opens the Book of Life, in which are inscribed the names of those who will be extended into the coming year. From Rosh Hashanah, it is said that we have ten days until Yom Kippur to be inscribed into the Book of Life. Perhaps God does “reconsider” our existence from time to time, or at least annually.

That may not fit your view of God or your view of your continuing life, particularly if you are a Christian. In Christ, we believe that we have been redeemed once and for all, thanks to the gift of God’s grace through the atoning death of Jesus. Nevertheless, this does not mean we cannot fail the Creator and it does not mean that we can’t be better tomorrow than we are today. It also doesn’t mean that there are no further consequences for our actions, including the consequence of death.

The FFOZ commentary on Ha’azinu includes this parable:

Consider the story of a foolish gardener. In the spring he planted some seeds and watered them. He was pleased when they began to grow, and he assumed that he could simply wait for the harvest. He did not think to water the young plants again. “After all, I have already watered them,” he said to himself. The plants shriveled up and died.

If God is our gardener, then we are indeed fortunate, for God will not neglect us or fail to water and care for us. But we are self-willed “plants” and we have some control over whether or not we allow ourselves to be “watered”. Words of Torah rain on us from heaven (Deuteronomy 32:2) but do we allow our “roots” to soak up what we need for life? Even though we’ve been “saved”, and even if you believe that salvation is difficult if not impossible to forsake, can you still not forsake living the life God has given to you? Unlike the plants in a garden, God offers care but we must willingly accept it. We can say “yes” or “no” or simply ignore the provision of rain, sunshine, careful weeding, and fertilizer. Who we are in Him depends as much on us and how we choose to live, as it does the generous hand of God.

In Judaism, a new year is coming soon. It’s an opportunity to hit the “cosmic reset button” in our lives. If we have failed Him, and we most certainly have (Romans 3:10), then we too, as Christians, can take this opportunity to turn our “no” into a “yes”. The gardener is here. Let Him sow good things in us so that we can be the good fruit of His harvest.

L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

Uncategorized

The Words of His Image

September 25, 2011 James Pyles 2 Comments

Plants live in a world of earth, water, air and sunshine. Animals live in a world of the body and its senses. Human beings live within a world of their own words.

The sages called us “the speaking being,” saying that our soul is filled with words. When our words leave us, our very being goes out within them. We conquer with them. We declare our mastery over Creation with them. Our words tell us that we exist.

For us, nothing truly exists until we find a word for it. All our thoughts of every object and every event are thoughts of words. Our world is a world not of sensations and stimuli, but of words.

Build your world with precious words. Fill your days with words that live and give life.

Memorize words of Torah and of the sages. Have them ready for any break in your day. Wherever you go, provide that place an atmosphere of those powerful words.

-Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
“Life in Words”
Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe
Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
Chabad.org

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. –James 3:7-12

People are very careless with their words. Even the best among us tends to slip in what we say from time to time. More often than not, these “slips” are an indication of the difference between how we publicly present ourselves and what we’re really thinking and feeling inside. In that, we use our words, not to represent the person we are, but the person we want others to believe we are.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. –2 Corinthians 10:5

Yes, we are supposed to “take captive every thought”, but that’s easier said than done. As we see from both Rabbi Freeman and James, words are extremely powerful and have tremendous impact, for good or for ill. Words of Torah, kindness, and compassion are wonderful and can change the world around us for the better. But if we use the same mouth to utter words of praise to God, yet speak curses to men, what are we telling people about our inner being and what are our words allowing to become “real” in the world?

Taming the tongue and the mind that generates our words takes a lot of discipline. But there are rewards:

If you see someone’s faults hanging out and you truly want to help—whether it be a friend, a spouse, your child, or even your nemesis—don’t say a word about what you have found wrong.

Find something wondrous about that person, perhaps something that nobody ever mentions, and talk about it—to yourself, to those who will listen and sympathize.

In very little time, you will see such a new person, you will believe you are a maker of wonders.

Indeed, we all are.

-Rabbi Freeman
“Wonder Making”
Chabad.org

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. –1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

Our words create wonders and even miracles in other people, if we choose them carefully. It’s amazing to think that something as simple as a word spoken by a single human being could be so powerful. Yet if our words can possess such might, remember that with a word, God created the universe:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. –Genesis 1:1-4

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm. –Psalm 33:6-9

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. –John 1:1-3

The words of God are immense, and when they reach the hearing of man, it is no small and simple thing:

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” –Exodus 20:18-19

And yet when God speaks, His words are always for our benefit. God gave the words of Torah at Sinai to the Children of Israel, and the Torah detailed every aspect of the Jewish lives as a unique community. But there are so many “words”:

But why so many mitzvos? Why so many dimensions to Torah? We have positive and negative commandments. The mitzvos also include logical laws, logic-defying laws, and everything in between. We have intellectual mitzvos, emotional mitzvos, agricultural mitzvos, business mitzvos, mitzvos dealing with food, dress, housing, and family life. The Torah include every medium of teaching known to man: stories, legal codes, numerological calculations, history, philosophy, ethics, poetry, metaphorical and mystical works.

Ethics of Our Fathers commentary
“Multiplicity”
Elul 22, 5771 * September 21, 2011
Chabad.org

It is said that God made man because He desired to dwell in “the world below”, in our world. To prepare the world, He gave the Torah to the Children of Israel, His “light to the world”. However, for God to truly inhabit our realm, “then the Divine presence must permeate its every aspect.” Man must be refined by the word of God “down to his every element and component” so that the human life will “become a vehicle for the fulfillment of the Divine will.”

While the Torah as given at Sinai was not expected to be placed upon the shoulders of the rest of humanity, not even the non-Jewish disciples of the Master (see Acts 15), we are not left wanting in this regard. That said, it isn’t always clear what are the specifics of Christian obligation to God. Put another way, if the Torah is the Word of God to the Children of Israel, is there a separate “Word” for Christianity?

The “official stance” of the church is that the Law (Torah) has been wholly replaced by the Grace of Christ for everyone (Jewish and Gentile Christians) and the Law is therefore irrelevant. The “One Law” branch of Messianic Judaism declares that Jewish and Gentile believers are equally obligated in lifestyle to all of the 613 commandments that typically believe constitutes the Torah. Jews (including many Messianic Jews) see Gentiles (Christians and otherwise) as being obligated to only those “words” spoken to Noah in Genesis 9, commonly referred to as the Seven Noahide Laws (although some in the Messianic community believe this is modified for Christians by the Acts 15 letter specifically and by the teachings in the Gospels and Epistles generally). Most people settle on “the system” that works for them. Some of us continue seeking His will daily.

(I previously examined the difference between Noahides or “God-fearers” and Gentile Christians in two blog posts: The Sons of Noah and Children of God)

Both Jews and Christians spend all their lives looking at the Bible, reading, studying, and gleaning insights from inspired teachers and Rabbis. We’re trying to understand who we are and who we are supposed to be in the eyes and words of God. What are the commandments of God for our lives? How are they different from person to person? How are they different from generation to generation? How are they different between Jew and Christian? How can we teach others what we are always trying to know in ourselves?

The Word of God and the words of men are tremendously important and powerful. But while God is not careless with His Words, men most certainly are. The Word of God is wielded with great care lest disaster should strike existence. If man would utilize an equal amount of care over his words, how blessed we would be, for in speaking kindness, charity, compassion, and words of Torah, we would re-make the world in His image.

So shall it be in the days of Messiah.

Uncategorized

Nitzavim-Vayeilech: Standing Before God

September 23, 2011 James Pyles 1 Comment

No moment in human history was as sad as the moment in which the Lord said to Moses, “and I will surely hide My face in that day on account of all the evil which they have done, because they have turned to other Gods (Deuteronomy 31:18)

-Abraham Joshua Heschel
God in Search of Man
Page 155

You have seen all that the Lord did before your very eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his courtiers and to his whole country: the wondrous feats that you saw with your own eyes, those prodigious signs and marvels. Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. –Deuteronomy 29;1-3 (JPS Tanakh)

Faith is an act of the whole person, of mind, will, and heart. Faith is sensitivity, understanding, engagement, and attachment; not something achieved once and for all, but an attitude one may gain and lose. -Heschel, page 154

That’s a terrifying thought. As the month of Elul wanes and the High Holidays approach, we seek to remove the burden of our sins from us and re-establish our connection with God and with our fellow human beings. To do this, we must connect to our faith, not as mere belief in the existence of God, but in the total knowledge and dedication that God exists and that He is alive and involved in the matters of mankind and in the lives of each of us individually. However our faith and understanding must transcend our own biases and personalities, for it is so easy to confuse our will with His will.

The thoughtless believes every word, but the prudent looks where he is going –Proverbs 14:15

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. –Acts 17:11

And why dost Thou permit faith to blend so easily with bigotry, arrogance, cruelty, folly, and superstition? -Heschel, page 155

The prophet Isaiah even lays this last question at the feet of God.

O Lord, why dost Thou make us err from thy ways and harden our heart, so that we fear Thee not? –Isaiah 63:17

Even when we seek God earnestly and with great energy, we often make the hideous mistake of substituting our personality flaws for His justice, mercy, and will. This is the reason that secular people turn away from God and claim that “religion” is the root cause of all evil acts in the world. It is exactly because, in our worst moments, we people of “faith” really are guilty of all that we are accused, including intolerance, bigotry, hatred, and violence. And we claim that all of this error and sin is in the Name of our God and not sprouting from our own faulty human reasoning and emotions.

God saw the truth and spoke it to Moses in the hours before the great Prophet’s death, as recorded in Torah Portion Vayeilech:

The Lord said to Moses: You are soon to lie with your fathers. This people will thereupon go astray after the alien gods in their midst, in the land that they are about to enter; they will forsake Me and break My covenant that I made with them. Then My anger will flare up against them, and I will abandon them and hide My countenance from them. They shall be ready prey; and many evils and troubles shall befall them. And they shall say on that day, “Surely it is because our God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us.” Yet I will keep My countenance hidden on that day, because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods. –Deuteronomy 31:16-18 (JPS Tanakh)

What a bitter epitaph to the life of the Prophet Moses, who had dedicated everything he was to the preservation of the Children of Israel, in obedience and devotion to the God of his fathers. How can we go on in the face of such disappointment and failure?

This is the certainty which overwhelms us in such moments: man lives not only in time and space but also in the dimension of God’s attentiveness. God is concern, not only power. God is He to whom we are accountable. -Heschel, page 158

And yet:

More particularly, the word nitzavim the core of the blessing given by G-d does not mean merely “standing.” It implies standing with power and strength, as reflected in the phrase: nitzav melech (I Kings 22:48. See Or HaTorah, Nitzavim, p. 1202.), “the deputy serving as king,” i.e., G-d’s blessing is that our stature will reflect the strength and confidence possessed by a king’s deputy.

This blessing enables us to proceed through each new year with unflinching power; no challenges will budge us from our commitment to the Torah and its mitzvos. On the contrary, we will “proceed from strength to strength” in our endeavor to spread G-dly light throughout the world.

What is the source of this strength? Immutable permanence is a Divine quality. As the prophet proclaims: “I, G-d, have not changed,” (Malachi 3:6) and our Rabbis explain that one of the basic tenets of our faith is that the Creator is unchanging; (See Rambam, Guide to the Perplexed, Vol. I, ch. 68, et al.) nothing in our world can effect a transition on His part. Nevertheless, G-d has also granted the potential for His unchanging firmness to be reflected in the conduct of mortal beings, for the soul which is granted to every person is “an actual part of G-d.” (Tanya, ch. 2) This inner G-dly core endows every individual with insurmountable resources of strength to continue his Divine service.

-Rabbi Eli Touger
Commentary on Torah Portion Nitzvaim: Standing Before G-d
Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. II, p. 398ff; Vol. XIX, p. 173ff
Chabad.org

It is God’s blessing upon us that gives us the strength to respond to Him with unswerving faith and that “our stature will reflect the strength and confidence possessed by a king’s deputy.” We can only speculate who the “king’s deputy” is, although I have my own opinion on the matter. However, in our personal struggle to approach God and stand before the King, we must never forget that the battle does not belong to us only as individuals.

Only that which is good for all men is good for every man. No one is truly inspired for his own sake. He who is blessed, is a blessing for others.

There are many ways but only one goal. If there is one source of all, there must be one goal for all. The yearnings are our own, but the answer is His. -Heschel, page 162

And yet:

In moments of insight God addresses Himself to a single soul. -Heschel, page 163

We can only see the world from our own point of view, but God sees everything from everyone’s perspective. He knows our wants and needs as individuals and He also hears the cry of His united Creation. For a Jew, Heschel says that even “the individual who feels forsaken remembers Him as the God of his fathers.” But the rest of us who don’t share that history and lifeline, must also remember that “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27). He created mankind, men and women, all of us in His own image. We are all His and in that, we can all be said to be “one”.

May our standing before G-d “as one” on Rosh HaShanah lead to a year of blessing for all mankind, in material and spiritual matters, including the ultimate blessing, the coming of Mashiach. -Rabbi Touger

As we watch the approach of this year’s end and another year beginning to dawn, may we know before whom we stand and have faith and trust that the strength we need to appear before the King, He has already granted us through His blessing, to the Jew and the Gentile alike.

May the Messiah come soon and in our days.

Good Shabbos.

Uncategorized

God is Searching

September 22, 2011 James Pyles 2 Comments

Most theories of religion start out with defining the religious situation as man’s search for God and maintain the axiom that God is silent, hidden and unconcerned with man’s search for Him. Now, in adopting that axiom, the answer is given before the question is asked. To Biblical thinking, the definition is incomplete and the axiom false. The Bible speaks not only of man’s search for God but also of God’s search for man. “Thou dost hunt me like a lion,” exclaimed Job (10:16).

“From the very first Thou didst single out man and consider him worthy to stand in Thy presence.” (The liturgy of the Day of Atonement) This is the mysterious paradox of Biblical faith: God is pursuing man. (adapted from Kuzari II 50 and Kuzari IV 3) It is as if God were unwilling to be alone, and He had chosen man to serve Him. Our seeking Him is not only man’s but also His concern, and must not be considered an exclusively human affair. His will is involved in our yearnings. All of human history as described in the Bible may be summarized in one phrase: “God is in search of man.” Faith in God is a response to God’s question.

-Abraham Joshua Heschel
God in Search of Man
Page 136

For the past several mornings, I’ve been exploring the wine-dark depths of the soul. Naturally, the soul is found wanting (Romans 3:10). It’s not a pretty picture to sit at the bottom of a deep well and contemplate both the physical darkness and the darkness of the human spirit. I know that God wants us to repent, to turn from sin and to return to Him. More than that, He wants us to sweep away the barriers that inhibit such a return; barriers like discouragement, depression, guilt, and conflict. I’ve heard that we are what we think, but thought is a habit, like cigarettes. Even when we know some thoughts are bad for us, it’s not so easy to quit.

Up until now, I’ve been picturing this struggle as one we have to fight alone, or at least one in which we are expected to do most of the heavy lifting. If I got myself into that deep, nasty hole, I’m supposed to get myself out again, right? God’s waiting at the top encouraging me, but I’ve still got to make the climb alone.

Now Rabbi Heschel is suggesting that God is climbing down after us with a rope ladder and a flashlight.

I’ve heard that before.

I’ve heard that when Israel went down into Egypt, God went down with them:

“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.” –Genesis 46:3-4

It is said that when the Jews were exiled into the diaspora and Herod’s Temple was utterly destroyed, God went into exile with His chosen ones. It is said that He was also imprisoned in the camps with His people during the Holocaust. Whenever the Jews suffered, God suffered with them. Whenever they were raised up from the depths, God lifted them.

For God is not always silent, and man is not always blind. His glory fills the world; His spirit hovers above the waters. There are moments in which, to use a Talmudic phrase, heaven and earth kiss each other…Some of us have at least caught a glimse of the beauty, peace, and power that flow through the souls of those who are devoted to Him. There may come a moment like thunder in the soul, when man is not only aided, not only guided by God’s mysterious hand, but also taught how to aid, how to guide other beings. The voice of Sinai goes on for ever; “These words the Lord spoke unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice that goes on for ever.” (Deut. 5:19 Aramaic translation of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel and to the interpetation of Sanhedrin 17b; Sotah, 10b; and to the first interpretation of Rashi) -Heschel page 138

But that’s Sinai. What allows the rest of us to also hear “a great voice that goes on for ever.” except perhaps the death of the tzaddik, the great Rebbe of Nazaret, Jesus the Christ? But even if we dare to claim a portion of the Kingdom of Heaven through the blood of the Lamb, what else might prevent the God of Israel from finding the son of Noah in the abyss?

However, it is the evil in man and the evil in society silencing the depth of the soul that block and hamper our faith. -Heschel page 141

It seems I’ve come full circle, or have I?

The Shechinah, the presence of God, is not found in the company of sinners; but when a man makes an effort to purify himself and to draw near to God, then the Shechinah rests upon him. -Heschel page 147

In the spirit of Judaism, our quest for God is a return to God; our thinking of Him is a recall, an attempt to draw out the depth of our suppressed attachment. The Hebrew word for repentance, “teshuvah”, means “return”. Yet it also means “answer”. Return to God is an answer to Him. For God is not silent. “Return O faithless children, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 3:14) -Heschel page 141

But all this says is that God is in search of the Jew. Is he also in search of his other creations, of the rest of humanity?

What choice do we have but to believe this is true; that God seeks everyone, the Jew and Gentile alike. To not believe this is to abandon hope forever. Christians take it for granted that they are close to God but closer to Jesus. Unfortunately, a careful examination of that certainty shows that one of the requirements is the belief that God draws closer to Christians at the cost of becoming more distant from the Jew.

The approaching dissolution of the Jewish economy, and the erecting of the evangelical state, shall set this matter at large, and lay all in common, so that it shall be a thing perfectly indifferent whether in either of these places or any other men worship God, for they shall not be tied to any place; neither here nor there, but both, and any where, and every where.

-Matthew Henry, Commentary on John 4:21-23
as found at Derek Leman’s blog

I can’t accept that. God is a God of all or He is a God of no one.

So if the faith of both Jew and Christian leads us to believe that God is meeting all people halfway, so to speak, then we must, even without waiting to see His light, reach up to Him as He is reaching down to us. We must take the hand He is extending, grasp tightly, and begin to climb.

He has found us.

We must not wait passively for insights. In the darkest moments we must try to let our inner light go forth. “And she rises while it is yet night” (Proverbs 31:15) -Heschel page 143

"When you awake in the morning, learn something to inspire you and mediate upon it, then plunge forward full of light with which to illuminate the darkness." -Rabbi Tzvi Freeman