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92nd Street YSpiritual Thought for the Week: November 11
The playwright, David Mamet, sharing the fruits of his Torah study with Rabbi Larry Kushner, writes about the near sacrifice of Isaac from our Torah portion of this week, Vayei-ra:
“Having acknowledged the voice of God, Abraham commits himself to do God’s will.
The true act of acceptance, however, the inception of the Jewish religion, is not
Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his beloved son, but his willingness to accept
The command not to do so…”
Points to Ponder:
- Maybe God does not want our dramatic gestures of faith. Maybe God wants us simply not to hurt another human being. Is it possible that “do no harm” applies to our spiritual endeavors and is not just the doctors’ credo?
- What “knife” (metaphorically speaking) might be in our hands that we could set down?
- How hard is it for us to accept getting what we want, like Abraham gets to keep his son alive rather than sacrifice him?
- We live in an age in which many people claim to speak for God. Is this good that so many are open to the Divine voice? Or is it dangerous because so many claim to hear God’s voice?
Please feel free to contact me with your thoughts. A challenging, challenging portion this week, to be sure…jag
