Dear Friends:
I'm delighted to share some thoughts with you through our new and improved website. Perhaps this will open new avenues of communication and dialogue for all of us.
King David wrote, many years ago,
"At night I lie down with weeping, but in the morning, [I awaken] with joy."
This short line is so uplifting; so energizing. It's a safe bet we have all gone to bed with worry and care and trouble on our minds; perhaps so much so that it has driven us to despair and sleeplessness. Even King David endured such nights, as he admits, plainly. But, he says, he awoke with joy in the morning, because he understood that a new day brings fresh opportunities to solve problems, or to strengthen his trust that God would not abandon him even when he faced the unsolvable.
Many of you know that I close Shabbat services with the final words of the Adon Olam, which reiterate David's wisdom:
I place my spirit in God's care; my body, too can feel God near.
When I sleep as when I wake, God is with me, I have no fear.
About 25 years ago, I recommended to a man about to undergo serious surgery that he recite these words from the Adon Olam before the anesthesia takes effect. He told me that in the operating room, while he was still conscious, he recited that line to himself repeatedly, until he fell asleep from the drug. He felt that this short prayer enabled him to face surgery with far less dread than he otherwise might have had.
In subsequent years, I have given this same advice to others, when they faced life's vicissitudes. Several people have commented, that they, too, began to feel a sense of calm as they recited these words, and allowed the meaning to penetrate deeply into their minds. Prayer doesn't always have to be a complicated, lengthy composition. But, if prayer is to be effective for us, we must be able to feel its power. That's a challenge we have to work at.
And, when we succeed, the rewards are immense.
During the course of this past summer, and, most recently, with the passing of my father (z"l), I found myself returning repeatedly to King David's words, and to the words of the Adon Olam. Both of these prayers strengthened me when I was weak. Both of these prayers restored confidence when I thought I might fall apart. And both prayers helped me regain a great deal of joy, that I might have otherwise lost, if I felt, for a moment, that a God Who cares for me does not really exist.
I've found our religious tradition and its words to be a remarkable source of wisdom, inspiration and security. These are some of the reasons why I revere Judaism.
