Dec 21, 2010
at
9:33 AM
| Posted by
Rabbi Joshua
"In the past, Jews were forced to be Jews or to break away completely. Nowadays, every Jew is a Jew by choice. All of us have autonomy as to how we want to be Jews. Since being a Jew means being part of an organic being, there have to be all kinds of Jews: We need the religious, who are the backbone, and the atheists, who keep us from having faith in foolish things, and the whole spectrum in between. What do we bring into the world? Davening. The word davening comes from the Latin word divinum: to do the divine thing. Some people daven by praying, others by feeding homeless people and in these different ways, we become the instruments of God. God told Abraham, “Those people who will bless you, I will bless.” The planet is underblessed today, and our task as Jews is to keep blessing things."
-Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (from a recent article in Moment Magazine)
Posted In
Quote of the Day,
Reb Zalman
| |
Bless Our Creator for all of Creatiion.
Bless Yinon and all those who connect to them.
Bless all Israel.
Bless my Brother who brought me to Torah Study on 10/25/2003. May Our Creators blessed gift of this friendship be forever open & connected.
Bless Our Creatos' Glorious Light
Bless the Internet
Bless the those who keep the world connected by the internet.
Bless all the pain, joy, and daily miracles that each of our lives bring.
Bless all the people in our lives, past present & future.
May all that we do Bless our Creator.
Reb Yosh,
You think this quote could be a commentary on the book of Ya'Akov(James).
and Bless VirginiaMary TOS.
Thanks for this quote. As a Jew who recently moved back into Mj'ism after a sojourn into Orthodoxy, I am thankful to hear such a balanced and uplifting perspective. I find it particularly uplifting in regards to those Jews of patrilineal descent.
I don't agree with all of Rabbi Zalman's thoughts on Judaism, but this I can agree with totally.
Thanks again Reb Yosh.