The Great Chasm
"A very tough choice is coming your way today, and you might not quite know how to handle it -- should you go with your gut in a snap decision, or research all the angles and deliberate for days? The stars say that if you get your ego out of the equation, you will be able to make this important decision easily. You are a work in progress, and sometimes you don't know what's best for you. That's why forgetting 'what's in it for you' is a smart way to go every now and again."
Its funny.
I like to check my horoscope. Its interesting to see what they have to say. These people that sit around and make up these nice sounding epithets. I always read these things with a sense of amusement. Sometimes coincidentally it may relate to my life at the moment and others its soo way off its laugh out loud-able.
There are people who really set their lives according to their horoscope. They call their psychics religiously paying them hundred of dollars a conversation. Every decision, every day is planned around whether the moon of Saturn is in the orbit of Venus. Their chi may be off.
Most people have some sort of higher power they put their faith in. Karma always gets you. The feng shui has to be just right. People pay thousands of dollars to have their furniture placed just right. Atheists put their faith in science and man.
No one believes in nothing.
Clearly, most of these things are ridiculous. Real psychics no longer exist. There are many mitzvot in the Torah that prohibit the various forms of the magic. We are not allowed to look into our futures, not allowed to contact the dead. These things do exist. The power of magic exists in the world. It is a koach hatuma but it does exist.
What do we put our faith in? What greater power do we trust?
Do we ask the advice of our Rabanim as religiously as the psychic fanatics go to their psychics?
I think that the hardest is actually living the way we say we believe. I say i believe that everything G-d does is for the best. But do I always behave that way? Do I always internalize the lessons that I say I have learned? Probably not. The dichotomy leaves me confused; it leaves me feeling like a hypocrite at times. Why wont my heart just listen to my head?
How much easier would life be if the two would just cooperate?
But I digress.
Our belief system is not just that. It is our life. It is what rules or rather should rule every minute of everyday. Being Jewish is not just something that we can just happen to be while living the rest of our lives. It is not a separate entity. It is our entire being.
Sometimes we forget. Sometimes we slip. That is inevitable But what do we return to? What is our source of comfort? Who do we trust explicitly more than anyone else? I think that says a lot about a person.
In the mean time I still read my scopes with amusement, still call my rabbi for my halachic questions, and hope and pray that G-d helps me close the chasm between my heart and my head.
Um, what about all the ppl who wait on line, and pay big bucks for, these Kabbalists, who perform parlor tricks and take people's money for blessings? Where does that fit?
ReplyDeleteKabbalists rarely have to do with religion. A rabbi is someone one goes to if they have a halachic question, not if they need a red bracelet.
ReplyDeleteIf I have a question, I ask my father and he cracks open a sefer. Usually my question is not of great import, and he can answer it easily. And if there is doubt, then I do without.
I think our faith is more about a belief in God then the guidance of a rabbi. When it comes to day-to-day life, when it is understanding all that comes is from Him, that is more of an issue nowadays then calling up one's local rabbi.
Emunah cannot be provided by a rabbi. Being frum is about recognizing Hashem.
Faith is a belief in god - for sure. I think that's a far cry from what Judaism has become - which is a bunch of rabbis making up more and more rules and squashing individual freedoms.
ReplyDeleteA rabbi can be a Kaballist and I dont think that they perform "parlor tricks" for an audience to make a quick buck.
ReplyDeleteTrue that emuna cannot be provided by a Rabbi but a rav can provide spiritual guidance and offer advice for spiritual growth. In judaism we do put great emphasis on having a Rav. Definitely the ultimate belief is in Hashem.
As for Cymnalines comment about Rabbis making up a bunch of rules to suck the individuality out of judaism..its not true. It depends on the community and it depends on what circles you run in. There has been a movement towards conforming to the "norms" which have always found hard to abide by. I cannot fit myself into a box and coming from an out of town community I have felt little pressure to do so.
haha, the stars want you to get your ego out! Nice advise. I think I have to follow it too.
ReplyDelete