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Vayishlach - Struggles I had a student once who proclaimed in front of his class on multiple occasions that he did not believe in God. As a teacher of Judaic Studies and a person with a deep belief, this did not trouble me as much as it did some of his other teachers. I knew that somehow in someway it was not that this student did not believe in God, it was that he did not know what or how to believe. We do not see the big miracles--no splitting of the Sea, no water rushing forth from a rock, no mountain shaking, no bush that is not being consumed. Instead we need to search out miracles. I know another person who does not believe in God. They stopped believing after a family member, a young child, died of cancer. Yet every time something good happens, their response is – Thank God. During the Shoah (Holocaust) many God-believing Jews lost their belief--How could God allow this to happen; while others found a stronger belief--Thank God I survived. There are times of tragedy when we struggle with our belief. We wonder where God was or how He would let something happen. Yet other times we look to Him for guidance and thank Him for answering our prayers. Judaism is a struggle -- not simply because of the expense of schools and camp and kosher food, not simply because we are bombarded by temptations of concerts/movies on Shabbat and a pepperoni pizza. Judaism is a struggle because of believing in one God, of depending on a God who depends on us. In this week’s Parsha, Yaakov has a dream in which he struggles with an angel. The angel (disguised as a man) injures Yaakov’s thigh. Injured, Yaakov continues to struggle, refusing to let go until he receives a blessing. He receives his blessing in the change of his name from Yaakov to Yisrael (struggle with God). We as descendents of Yaakov (Yisrael) are the children of the struggle with God. It is our duty to struggle with our belief in God. We must struggle with the hows and whys of our tradition. It is part of our heritage. During the last week of class with my student who said that he did not believe in God, he explained his beliefs. He said he thought that there was some power out there, something that created us, some moral compass, some guide on our journey, but he did not know what it was or what it meant. When I questioned him whether that power could be God? he answered, “perhaps.” Even opening oneself up to the question, the possibility of God is part of the struggle. It is what makes us Jewish, part of B’nai (the children) of Israel. AS A FAMILY: Discuss a struggle you had and how you solved it.
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