Shabbat Gathering: Tragedy at our door.

Gud Shabbos Khaveyrim, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:

Zoom
Meeting ID: 883 8469 4181
Password: 822665
Phone: +1 312 626 6799

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Here we go.

Our synagogue learned some very bad news this week about Stormy. It was shocking.

I have been advised several times by several people that I need to read When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner (over 4 million copies sold!). I haven’t read it mainly because the book is so durn popular and I’m a bit of a snob about what I read. So, I’m finally going to give it a try and try to find some solace between its covers.

I’m caught in a dilemma. On the one hand, I want to believe that everything comes from Hashem. I want to believe that G!d has both made everything and is the animating force in all of creation. My big problem is that It’s hard for me to believe in a god that allows the suffering and death of so many people, whether it’s one person like Stormy or 6 million+ in the Shoah. Nothing that anyone has ever told me has cleared this up for me, and I have actively pursued an answer everywhere … except for R. Kushner’s book.

Sometimes I tell myself that because G!d is infinite and we, especially me, are so very finite, I’ll never be able to understand Hashem. And sometimes that works for me. On the other hand, I don’t care that G!d is infinite and unknowable. What is happening now — and throughout history — is cruel and indefensible. Full stop.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t spend all my time pondering this weighty question. Just like you I spend most of my time dealing with my property taxes and whether or not to ignore the check engine light on my car’s dashboard. But when it comes to the big question, why G!d allows or creates so much evil to parade around the world, I’ll play the part of a child and tearfully complain, “It’s not fair.”

I was raised in a religious family whose god was the benevolent Father who was generous with Their love. And I sometimes yearn to return to my childhood cosmology. Of course there’s no going back. There’s only going forward. So, that’s the way it is. If reading R. Kushner’s book sparks some sort of revelation for me, I‘ll be sure to pass it on to you, my friends. And, if you already know the answer, please pass it on to me. Afterall, we all get by with a little help from our friends.

And may it be for all of us a blessing.

See you tonight!
Mit vareme grusn,
(With warm regards,)

All my love,
brian.

PS

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