MAKE US WORTHY:

The right question: Countless minds are twisting themselves around the question of what to make of the Columbia tragedy. How are we to understand such adversity? (Rabbi Avi Shafran, 2/04/03, Jewish World Review)

If we are asking to make sense out of things, we are asking the wrong question. The right question, from Judaism's perspective, is a straightforward one: "What are we to do?"

We have been made to suffer. We have endured what the Talmud calls the "hiding of G-d's face" --- His pretending to not care, despite our knowledge that He does. What can we do, our question must be, to merit His uncovering His face, His provision of protection and help?

The answer, as it always does, lies in our commitment to being better, better people, better Jews. The Jewish reaction to such adversity is to summon the determination to improve. We may not be able to understand the present, but we can have unimaginable impact on the future.

No one of us can know why we are being so dreadfully tested; all we can do is mourn together.

And ask the right question.

And act on the answer.

That's why it's so frustrating when folks react to something like the shuttle accident by saying it's too dangerous and we should just put an end to manned spaceflight. We'll never improve as a species if we duck from difficult tasks and turn inward. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 6, 2003 12:05 PM