Weekly Davar - Hard times: life's greatest educator
Resources
You need Flash installed and Javascript enabled to be able to stream this content
Download podcast
Bechukosai
(Leviticus 26:3 – end of book)19th May 2011
15th Iyar 5771
Following on from our very successful marriage seminar with Rabbi Pamensky, we are starting a series on wellbeing based on the principles of Innate Health: Thursdays, 8pm at Tikun, starting next week. The first session will be focused specifically on wellbeing within a marriage or serious relationship. Please be in touch with Jo jo@tikun.co.uk for more info.
Torah Portion
This portion talks firstly of the good that will befall the Jewish people if they live up to their billing of being a light to the nations and then it talks about what will happen if not. Unfortunately, the latter part of the portion is much more the story of Jewish history than the former.
This is an idea with regards to God that I believe is relevant even for an atheist.
There are a whole lot of terrible things prophesied in this week’s portion – all of which came true in Jewish history. We don’t look at this as a harsh and uncaring God. Quite the opposite – it is a part of God’s engagement and involvement in our lives; an important part of His love. A parent who does not get discipline his child when he consistently runs into the road for fun does not properly care about his child’s wellbeing.
The monotheistic definition of God consists of 3 elements – miss one out and it’s not monotheism any more. 1. Creator of time and space (not just fashioner of what existed already), 2. Sustainer – the active source of all forces at every moment 3. Supervisor – involved intimately in our lives, guiding and responding to us at all times. In other words, there are no accidents, no coincidences. All happens for a reason.
This third aspect is behind a very important perspective it Judaism: when something bad happens, a Jew doesn’t moan, doesn’t complain, doesn’t look to see who he can blame. He simply asks himself what he can learn from the experience. There is a message here – how do I learn it?
When we go through difficult times, we love to moan and feel sorry for ourselves; we love to complain and feel indignant; we love to blame and feel self righteous. Problem is – none of these approaches make us happy. In fact, they usually make us feel pretty unhappy. It’s never the circumstance that upsets us; it’s always the way we choose to experience it. And with painful circumstances, more often than not, we make one or more of the easy choices above – and in so doing, contribute to our own misery.
But there is a different possibility – and like I said, you don’t need to believe in God to see the world this way. When hardships come your way, why not try asking yourself what you can learn from what’s going on? Personally, I don’t believe there is something that could happen in our lives that we cannot learn from. And we usually learn a great deal more from pain than we do from comfort. Life is one big learning experience and all circumstance has the potential to guide us to be better people – better parents, better friends, better spouses, better children. When we are able to experience difficult times as a guide, not an imposition, it’s surprising how much growth there is to be had in life – and how gracefully we can navigate life’s difficult moments.
There are a whole lot of terrible things prophesied in this week’s portion – all of which came true in Jewish history. We don’t look at this as a harsh and uncaring God. Quite the opposite – it is a part of God’s engagement and involvement in our lives; an important part of His love. A parent who does not get discipline his child when he consistently runs into the road for fun does not properly care about his child’s wellbeing.
The monotheistic definition of God consists of 3 elements – miss one out and it’s not monotheism any more. 1. Creator of time and space (not just fashioner of what existed already), 2. Sustainer – the active source of all forces at every moment 3. Supervisor – involved intimately in our lives, guiding and responding to us at all times. In other words, there are no accidents, no coincidences. All happens for a reason.
This third aspect is behind a very important perspective it Judaism: when something bad happens, a Jew doesn’t moan, doesn’t complain, doesn’t look to see who he can blame. He simply asks himself what he can learn from the experience. There is a message here – how do I learn it?
When we go through difficult times, we love to moan and feel sorry for ourselves; we love to complain and feel indignant; we love to blame and feel self righteous. Problem is – none of these approaches make us happy. In fact, they usually make us feel pretty unhappy. It’s never the circumstance that upsets us; it’s always the way we choose to experience it. And with painful circumstances, more often than not, we make one or more of the easy choices above – and in so doing, contribute to our own misery.
But there is a different possibility – and like I said, you don’t need to believe in God to see the world this way. When hardships come your way, why not try asking yourself what you can learn from what’s going on? Personally, I don’t believe there is something that could happen in our lives that we cannot learn from. And we usually learn a great deal more from pain than we do from comfort. Life is one big learning experience and all circumstance has the potential to guide us to be better people – better parents, better friends, better spouses, better children. When we are able to experience difficult times as a guide, not an imposition, it’s surprising how much growth there is to be had in life – and how gracefully we can navigate life’s difficult moments.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Shaul Rosenblatt
No comments
Leave a comment
Boxes with an asterisk * next to them are required items
Registered in England as a charity and limited by guarantee. Company no: 5915569 Charity no. 1117028. Office Address: 1117 Finchley Road, London, NW11 0QB