Tag: Jewish

horror and sorrow

I don’t have words that adequately express my horror and sorrow at the death, injury, trauma, and destruction in Israel and the Gaza Strip.

We know that more will be added.

The fate of hostages that Hamas has taken is a primary concern for people around the world.

I understand that Israel is trying to warn civilians to leave northern Gaza before they invade but it’s impossible to re-locate so many people in such a densely populated area when there is a total embargo on bringing in aid, there is no electricity, there aren’t safe shelters, and the borders are sealed so they can’t leave Gaza. There are two million people in Gaza, about half of whom are children and teens. Only a tiny number are terrorists and militants. The vast majority are trapped and suffering.

We don’t know how this immediate situation will resolve but we do know that it is another chapter in a decades-long struggle. We don’t know when or if there will be a resolution that brings about lasting peace.

I am also struggling with reports of attacks against Jews and Muslims around the world. I know in the United States many synagogues and temples are being offered extra security as they prepare for Sabbath services.

All the major religious traditions teach peace. Secular philosophers teach peace. How can some still not hear that message and live it?

One-Liner Wednesday: loyalty

“I am loyal to the inconveniences of kindness.”
~ ~ ~ from an extraordinary poem/meditation by Reb Irwin Keller that was shared to FB by one of my friends of Jewish heritage
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Please join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday! Details can be found here: https://lindaghill.com/2019/08/28/one-liner-wednesday-wtf-melani/

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

An ancient call for peace

In my church, today is the Second Sunday of Lent, and, in the current cycle of readings, the Hebrew Scripture passage is from Genesis 22 about Abraham planning to but then not sacrificing his son Isaac.

The deacon who preached this morning pointed out that the Canaanites among whom Abraham lived practiced human sacrifice, specifically of children, so that, by telling Abraham not to kill Isaac, God was highlighting a difference between God and other gods that were of the contemporary culture.

He continued explaining that the prospect of the call to sacrifice Isaac is so disturbing that modern scholars decided to see how the ancient Jewish scholars interpreted the passage.  The ancient understanding of this passage was that God did not want any killing in the name of God. Not just sacrificial killing, or killing of children, or killing of those of one’s own religious tradition, but any killing at all.

It is humbling and horrifying that the Abrahamic faiths did not heed this call over the millennia and into the present day. So many millions of lives lost “in the name of God” with more being added each day.

My prayer today is for the mercy of God and the universal recognition that we are called to peace, love, and respect for one another, not killing.