Gmar Chatima Tova, Timing is From Gd

On Sunday morning, everything was so calm, peaceful and lovely, as I walked over to wait for my friends at the bus stop towards Kfar Adumim across from Ammunition Hill Jerusalem. I had gotten off of the 25 bus from Pisgat Zeev and had to cross a couple of streets passing the light-rail stop. I was a couple of minutes early for our scheduled 9:30 am pickup and thanked Gd that my timing was so perfect. At that time, I hadn't realized just how perfect.

I took a few pictures while I waited for them to show up.

Not that long after we arrived in Kfar Adumim, our phones started "beeping" from family WhatsApps, as everyone got messages of:

"I'm OK. How are you?" 

And then we discovered that just after 10am, less than an hour after I'd been walking around there, an Arab terrorist began a drive-by shooting rampage which resulted in the murder of two and the injuries of others.

Jerusalem resident Levana Malihi, 60, left, and police officer First Sergeant Yosef Kirma, 29, who were shot dead in a terror attack in Jerusalem, October 9, 2016. (Police spokesperson)
Times of Israel

The main lesson I internalized after I had been injured in an Arab terror attack just over twenty years ago, davka, less than a kilometer from there, was how little control we have over life and death. It's all in Gd's Hands. Sometimes just a few seconds make the difference, and sometimes it's not even an inch or centimeter. We don't know how Gd decides who will die and when.

Another "davka" is that my friends and I are now (in Matan's Al Haperek program) studying Job, Iyov, the man who went from being rich in every possible way to losing it all. Job tries to argue with Gd, demanding from Him the opportunity for a "face to face," so he can ask what he did to deserve such an awful punishment. As students of the Bible know, and as we discussed Sunday morning, Job didn't lose his family as punishment. Job was the "victim"of a bet between Gd and Evil to see if such inexplicable tragedy would cause Job to lose his faith in Gd.

Job is the perfect book to be learning in these difficult times.

Have an easy fast to those fasting on Yom Kippur.

Gmar Chatima Tova

May Gd Seal You in The Book of Life

Gmar Chatima Tovah, Free Will and Gd's Hands...

Traditional Jewish New Year's Blessing:
"Be a head and not a tail."
This is my "head" for the Jewish Year of 5777.

There's a basic aspect of Jewish theology/philosophy that can get rather confusing. On one hand we credit Gd with having power over everything, including ourselves, but on the other hand we stress the fact that we have Free will and must take responsibilities for our decisions and sins. That is what repentance is all about.

The traditional greeting this time of the Jewish Year is "Gmar Chatima Tovah," which is explained to mean "May Gd seal you in the book of Life." This greeting/blessing refers to the Teshuva, Repentance we're supposed to have done and can also be explained as "I hope Gd gives you a good grade." Or "I hope you passed the test."

That's because Gd has the power over life and death. Now, if that's the case, is it Gd, murderers or illnesses or accidents that kill us? This can get very complicated to explain.

Is death a way of punishing us? If Gd is punishing us by killing us, then are murderers really guilty or are they tools of Gd? How does all this jive with Free Will?

With my Matan "Al Haperek" group, we've been learning Job, and Job struggles over these questions, because suddenly his family and wealth are gone, and he is angry with Gd. He wants to talk face-to-face with Gd to ask why, but instead of Gd he argues with his friends. Job doesn't accept the answers his friends give him, and his friends have lost sympathy urging Job to get on with his life.

Unlike pretty much all other religions, Jews argue and delve into Judaism relatively freely. And I'm talking about strictly Torah observant Jews, not just those who think many of the Mitzvot are optional and irrelevant for today's life. What do you think that all those tens of thousands or more students do day and night in yeshivot? They don't sit around trying to memorize more and more restrictions. The Batei Medrash, Study Halls are filled with noise as the students read and argue fine points of religious texts, philosophy and observance with their study partners. And these students aren't just teens and young people in their early twenties. They are adults, parents, grandparents. Some only have time a few hours a day or week, while others "learn" as a job, getting a stipend or once they've retired and can live on their pension.

In the Rosh Hashanah prayers, there is a very famous one called  Unetanneh Tokef Prayer and in it we recognize that only Gd has power over life and death:

But we're still left with questions:

Is death solely a punishment? And then is it punishment only for the one who died or for the ones who loved him/her?
And aren't there times when death is a "gift?"

Thoughts for this new year, 5777...