HAPPY BIRTHDAY – A RELIGION OF MERCY
By Dr.
Kind and
good deeds (gemillut chasdim), introspection, repentance, hope, and faith in
the loving kindness and faithfulness of G-d are essential to Judaism. These
qualities are in the foreground at this time every year and merit appreciative
discussion.
“Today is
the birthday of the world” Jews sing toward the end of the series of soundings
of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, the day that commemorates the creation of
humankind, Adam and Eve “in the shadow [b’tzeil] of G-d.” The primary purpose
of the shofar blasts crying out to G-d is to proclaim His sovereignty, — the
remembrance of His purposes, Promise and mercy.
The
centrality and nature of mercy to and in Judaism is often unappreciated. The
days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are perfectly timed to
highlight some of its features.
The
sovereignty of the Eternal One is intrinsic to our understanding of His mercy
as His primary trait. For the Jewish understanding of G-d is that He loves life
so much that He created worlds without number, each a vector of miraculous
complexities and order, an order that includes a world where our thoughts,
words, and efforts have consequences that can lead to every kind of abundance;
a world where the results of our deeds can teach and clarify our sense of who,
where and why we exist.
The orderly
creation that G-d gave and gives us rewards thoughtful labor and above all
teaches habits of attentiveness, self-scrutiny and wondrous appreciation of the
Creator.
To fully
acknowledge Him is to glimpse this magnificent power, its orderliness and its
love. The justice that infuses this order and providence is essential to our
ability to gain forms of mastery over our surroundings and our passions,
mastery that lasts so long and to the extent that we recognize that we are not
gods. The breadth of the Judaic sense of His mercy is revelatory, humbling,
thrilling and redemptive: He wants us to remember Him and take shelter in the
knowledge of His providence; and He provides for particular days when His
chosen people focus on these facts of life so that they can infuse their days
as much as possible and be diffused throughout the world.
“Today is
the birthday of the world; on this day He calls all the created beings of the
worlds [plural] to stand in judgment,” all of us. On this day, Judaism teaches,
the ways in which all human beings are family are emphasized as is the sense
that G-d cares for us (psalm 104) and about us. Thus the following verses ask
does He regard us “as children or as servants? If as children, have mercy upon
us as a father has mercy on children.” If only these saving, culture and
world-sustaining truths of Jewish loving kindness would pervade the world. “If
[we are regarded] as servants, our eyes are turned to You until You will be
gracious to us and bring forth our judgment as the light, O Awesome and Holy
One…”
So central
is the import of this passage to the purpose of Rosh Hashanah and to the
mission of the Jewish people that it is recited during the Amidah (daily
liturgy, recited morning, afternoon and evening, expanded on holy days) even on
Sabbaths when the shofar is not sounded. The greatest light the earth can bear,
the light of Shabbat includes this affirmation of the human family’s kinship,
their need and hope to be worthy of their loving Father Who fashioned all that
there is for their wonder and use.
We are His
children and servants; we are loved and need to understand our degrees and
times of service to be fully free and to have our ways reveal and brim with
that love.
Judge us
with the goodness of the light, the good light at the beginnings of creation;
bring us forth like the creation itself, the ultimate and foundational mercy
and goodness that we may return Your light to you, “O Awesome and Holy One.”
The entire
universe were created for human beings (modern science calls this purposeful
design “the Anthropon principle”) to be vessels of the compassion that is
light. “The lamp of the Compassionate One is the immortal soul [neshama] of
man, which searches the inner chambers” (our organs, to direct their respective
appetites toward magnifying the light; Proverbs 20:23).
One of the
most deeply buried truths of history is that Judaism is a faith of mercy, of
the most profound mercy and freedom based on gratitude to the creator and
redeemer. The blasts of the shofar that proclaim this have their historical
origin at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19-20) in verses recited repeatedly on Rosh
Hashanah, and as remembered and celebrated in psalms 47, 81, 98 and 150 as well
as many verses of the prophets. In recognizing His sovereignty (malkhuyot, one
of the terms for the blasts of the shofar) Jews remember His remembrance of
them, the mercies and loving kindness of His redemption from the centuries of
torment in Egypt and the eternal covenant He gave them. Thus the other main
term for the shofar blasts of Rosh Hashanah is zichronot, “remembrances.”
A
providence of mercy and remembrance are keynotes of Judaism sounded repeatedly
on Rosh Hashanah. “He sustains the living with loving kindness; He resurrects
the dead with great mercy. He supports the falling, heals the sick, and
liberates the bound…” These are key verses from the second prayer of Judaism’s
liturgy, the Amidah (“standing”). The sixth prayer also emphasizes these
qualities: “Forgive us our Father for we have sinned; pardon us, our King for
we have transgressed. For You are a good and forgiving G-d. Blessed art thou,
Eternal One, Gracious One Who forgives abundantly.” This is the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob and on Rosh Hashanah, these verses regarding His loving mercy
are emphasized at length. To know and remember Him and His sovereignty is to
know these qualities:
“Who is
like you, All-Merciful-Father, Who in compassion remembers His creatures for
life,” we ask. And the congregation, mindful that it is praying for the entire
world (which need not be Jewish, unlike the imperial or threatening claims of
other creeds) says with the prayer leader (who is called a visionary, chazzan,
a word cognate with “bridegroom” a beautiful and profound insight that
sanctifies society and marital love) “thus shall we crown You as King…
“To Him Who
arranges judgment;
“To Him Who
probes hearts on the day of judgment; to Him Who reveals hidden things in
judgment;
“To Him who
speaks justly on the day of judgment; to Him Who analyzes attitudes in
judgment;
“To Him Who
is benevolent and acts kindly on the day of judgment; to Him who remembers His
covenant in judgment;
“To Him Who
has pity on His creatures on the day of judgment; Who hearkens to cries of
prayer: He will reign forever and ever…
“To Him Who
purifies those who trust in Him in judgment;
“To Him Who
suppresses wrath in judgment;
“To Him Who
garbs Himself in righteousness on the day of judgment; to Him Who forgives
iniquities in judgment.
“To Him Who
is awesome yet accepts praises on the day of judgment; to Him Who pardons those
borne by Him, in judgment.
“To Him Who
answers those who call upon Him on the day of judgment; to Him Who performs His
acts of mercy in judgment…”
The Eternal
One Who made us all family “probes hearts to reveal hidden things” because His
judgment is a teaching, and the awareness that He is a loving Judge and of His
times for particular judgment (our birthday, for instance) is an opportunity to
honestly know ourselves as fully as possible in realizing that He knows us even
more fully than the most loving Father knows His children who are always before
his countenance… On Rosh Hashanah we have a chance to approach truth,
especially the truth about ourselves with particular clarity, especially if we
hearken to the shofar blasts, recall their history, and turn to Him in the
knowledge of our freedom, failings, striving and resulting dignity.
True and
full mercy includes judgment because we must distinguish, as G-d distinguishes
wrong from right, evil from good, error from truth, so we can learn, improve,
strengthen and nurture what is right, good and true, life-sustaining rather
than impairing. Creativity, productivity, generosity and abundance are the
keynotes.
Several
prayers in the Amidah address G-d specifically as “Merciful Father” and thank
Him for His gracious teachings. These prayers draw directly from the pattern of
creation and from the moment when He summoned Moshe to return to the dense
cloud above
He also
teaches that mercy requires restitution to those who have been wronged; it
cannot be only lip service. Thus at
Other
creeds denounce hellfire and the sword on people who do not totally adopt their
path. This is not the Jewish way, only that Jews be sovereign in the Promised
Land so that they can follow the ways marked out for them to indicate His sovereignty
to others. Other creeds appropriate Jewish terms for the Eternal One, —
Merciful, Compassionate, Gracious – but their behavior toward others does not
reflect these qualities. In the Jewish way, and regarding the Eternal One of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, “He has pity on His creatures on the Day of
Judgment.” He does not demand that they “convert or die” or go to hell… “He is
mindful that we are dust” and requires only Jewish sovereignty over its entire
land and that it be an example to which other nations can turn for the light of
mercy that is goodness and right living, for the generosity and faith He counts
as righteousness.
For He, the
Compassionate Father hears the prayers of every mouth, when they are directed
to Him “by those who turn to Him sincerely…”
Today is
the birthday of the world… What a wonderful gift it would be, it will be when
all the nations sound the shofar with a cry of joy and encouraged Torah to go
forth from Zion; when they will help rather than prevent His people and His land
from being intact, as He is One.
Happy
birthday, son of Adam; happy birthday, daughter of Eve…