By Sanford Goodkin
How do you spend the year in between these days of awe? Do these days of
contemplation and asking for forgiveness ever improve us as a people or as
individuals, or is there so much fear of God’s retribution-never mind Katrina
and Rita- that we really never really change for the better? Are Jews doomed to
be fearful of every tomorrow? Are we in love with God or worried about what
He’ll do if we aren’t fearful of Him? Is Torah the recitation of ancient
fables, fears and warts or is it the review of what can be better, with less
fear and more effectiveness?
We are a humorous people even with all that fear. We bury our worries with
humor. So many of the great comedians are Jewish, or do they just know how to
promote their gags as a living. I heard the lovely Terry Gross interviewing
Phillip Roth, on PBS, recently. She asked him whether he was anti-Semitic
because so many believe he is. His books are like the comedians' routine of
making fun of the Jews. I was just sworn in as an honorary Deputy Sheriff and
heard another Jew, San Diego County Sheriff
Bill Kolender, make some wonderful humor about Jews and Gentiles, since he
occupied two important police jobs with which Jews are not usually occupied .
My feeling is that our humor is a reflection of our fear and our consciousness;
after all Jews cannot feel secure, when God promises His constant attention to
our fidelity to what we are supposed to be, as well as to our covenant with Him.
My own take is that we are special, as we travel through our lives,
making choices of good and stupid, stubbornly clinging to our violations of our
Torah and God’s commandments, practicing our humor. Well, what can He expect?
We are only human.
God sits in judgment of our actions towards each other, rather than towards Him.
He would love to see us practice that rule of gold, rather than be in awe of His
power. It’s time to relax and to partner His ideas 365 days. Then awe will be
replaced with the practice of love and tsedakah—righteousness—and He will
shed His countenance upon us and our and His wait will be over.
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