ATONE DEAF:

Yom Kippur: The fast track to love and forgiveness (Rabbi David Aaron, 9/24/04, Jewish World Review)

There is a cryptic verse in the Book of Psalms (139:16), which, the Sages say, refers to Yom Kippur:

The days were formed, and one of them is His.

Everyday of the year we see the world from our perspective but, on Yom Kippur we get a glimpse of the way the world looks from G-d's perspective and everything changes in light of that perspective. We see it all from the perspective of the World to Come where you get to see the whole picture.

The Talmud teaches that in this world when something good happens to us, we praise G-d — "Blessed is He Who is good and does good." When something bad happens we must say — "Blessed is He Who is a true Judge." However, in the future we will say - "Blessed is He Who is good and does good," even about the misfortunes in our lives.

In other words, when we will look back and see the whole picture, we will realize that every bad event that happened to us contributed to G-d's plan to bring upon us ultimate goodness. This is also true about every bad act we that we did.

In the concluding portion of the PBS series on Freud and C. S. Lewis they did a good job of showing how Freud's atheism and insistence on the primacy of the subconscious leads ever deeper into only the self, while Lewis's conversion experience took him completely out of self and directed him towards God and his fellow men. Then when they cut back to their panel discussion the atheists were, predictably, obsessed with the question of how evil can exist in a world made by God, as if each of our particular misfortunes matter more than the whole of Creation and as if the world only makes sense if good things happen to me. It was unintentionally illustrative of the poisonous selfishness that makes secularism untenable.

MORE:
Dodger Star Will Observe, and Play on, Yom Kippur (Steve Springer and Jason Reid, September 24, 2004, LA Times)

After wrestling for weeks with an impending collision of faith and work, Dodger slugger Shawn Green said Thursday that he would play in one of two crucial games scheduled this weekend during Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest observance.

"I talked with family and friends and got advice from a lot of people. When it came down to it, I realized that I just had to do what I feel is right and what's most consistent with my beliefs," Green said. "Everyone has different ways of expressing their beliefs. For me as a Jewish person and a teammate, I feel that this is the right decision for me." [...]

"I struggled with it. I definitely learned a lot through the experience, how important it is to do what you feel in your heart," he said. "Everyone can have their opinions, but religion is your relationship with God and how you want to handle it."

Although there has been support for Green's decision in the Jewish community, it has not been universal.

"I respect Mr. Green's commitment to the team," said conservative Rabbi Charles Savenor, associate dean of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. "It's impressive to see his connection to the club, but I implore him to reconsider his choice as to how to observe Yom Kippur. There are so few opportunities that people have in this world to make a public statement as to who they are and what they are. This is half a statement, and half a statement doesn't really say anything. It sort of misses the point."

-Wind of Terror, Wind of Glory: We cannot know God's majesty without his terrible holiness. (Daniel Tomberlin, 09/24/2004, Christianity Today)

Not long ago, I stood by the bedside of a dying saint. This man had been a member of my church for 50 years. He was known throughout the community as a kind and gentle man. He never lost his temper or spoke ill of anyone. For the last six years, he had spent his life in a nursing home, suffering from one ailment after another. As I stood by his bed with his family, his son-in-law looked into my face and asked, "Can you please tell me how God gets any glory for this?"

Our spirituality encourages us to proclaim our victories, but we lament in silence. We have room for a God who is active in our affairs. We even have room for a Satan who is active in our affairs. But we have little or no room for a God who seems indifferent to our suffering. Certainly, we have no room for a God who moves to afflict. But the Scriptures give us such a testimony.

In the first chapter of the book of Job, we are introduced to a man who is a saint in every way. His flocks and children are among the many blessings of God in his life. But one day a dreadful storm blows into Job's life. A messenger brings the news to Job: "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine … and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died" (Job 1:18-19, nasb).

The Hebrew word for wind is ruach, also translated into English as "spirit" and "breath." This same word is used in Exodus, where we are told that the Red Sea was parted by a blast from the nostrils of God (Ex. 15:8). The great wind of God plays a significant role in the life of Job.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 24, 2004 9:47 AM