spirituality » to rah por tion

Seeking
And Granting
Forgiveness

Parshat Bechukotai: Leviticus 26:3-27:34;
Jeremiah 16:19-17:14.

W

hen I was in rabbinical
an angry God to those who deserve
school, I spent a special
them?
summer working as a
I can’t believe in a God that would
Jewish educator at a camp. The land-
punish a child by giving him an illness
scape was gorgeous, the sunsets were
that caused him to forget the face of
stunning, and the teens were thrilled
his mother. Instead, when I read these
to be spending the days and weeks
lines in our Torah, I think of our people
exploring their surroundings and iden- trying to make sense of a broken world.
tities.
These words represent the hope that
One participant, Andrew, came with if we live our lives by Jewish values, if
a crazy story. When he was
we do everything right, then
16, he caught meningitis and,
we are safe from all the terrible
though he survived, he came
things that happen to others.
out of the experience with
It’s a beautiful hope, to be
complete and total amnesia.
sure, but we all know that bad
He couldn’t recognize his
things happen to good people.
parents, didn’t know his own
Often, really bad things hap-
name and had absolutely no
pen to the absolute best people.
memories before waking up
Rabbi Harold Kushner, author
Rabbi Jennifer of When Bad Things Happen
in a hospital bed. In the year
Lader
since his illness, Andrew’s
to Good People, reminds us “to
family had tried to recreate
forgive the world for not being
family trips, holidays, special moments perfect, to forgive God for not mak-
and had done their best to reintroduce
ing a better world, to reach out to the
their child to his life.
people around us and to go on living
During the last week of camp,
despite it all … no longer asking why
Andrew came to me. With tears in
something happened, but asking how
his eyes, he asked, “Can you help me
we will respond, what we intend to do
apologize for something I can’t remem- now that it has happened.”
ber doing? I must have done something
Andrew and his family had to forgive
really terrible for God to punish me
God for his amnesia, not the other way
like this. I want to make things right,
around. And in doing so, they were
but how can I say I’m sorry if I don’t
able to rebuild their faith, in both the
remember what I’ve done?”
divine and in the strength of their com-
I was stunned. What a heartbreaking munity, which rallied around them in
request.
their time of need.
In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat
We live the best lives we can and do
Bechukotai, the Israelites are promised our best to infuse ordinary moments
blessings for obeying God’s laws and
with meaning and holiness. And we
threatened with horrible curses should hope beyond hope that God is with
they choose another path: “I will order
us during our greatest joys and deep-
upon you shock, consumption, fever,
est sorrows, celebrating with us and
and diseases that cause hopeless long-
mourning with us, holding our hands
ing and depression” (Leviticus 26:16). I as we navigate the complexities of
have always found this concept of God
humanity.
particularly challenging, but even more
Jennifer Lader is a rabbi at Temple Israel in
so after meeting Andrew.
West Bloomfield.
It’s hard to open the newspaper (or
— let’s be real — the news app on your
iPhone) and read about the water crisis
CONVERSATIONS
in Flint, the frequent incidences of gun
• Have you ever felt as if God were
violence, increasingly present natural
punishing you?
disasters, plane crashes, and so on and
• What would you say to Andrew if he
so forth ... not to mention the fact that
asked you that question?
so many of our loved ones have been
• How can we infuse ordinary
touched by physical and mental health
moments with meaning?
crises. Are we to believe that these
things are punishments, doled out by

*

Marshall N. Cyrlin, M.D.

Glaucoma and Cataract Consultation
medical, laser, surgical therapy

Graduate:
Washington University School of Medicine,
St. Louis, MO
Internship:
Washington University, Barnes Jewish Hospital,
St. Louis, MO
Residency:
University of Illinois, Ill. Eye and Ear Infirmary,
Chicago, IL
Glaucoma Fellowship:
Harvard University, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary,
Boston, MA

Board Certified:
American Board of Ophthalmology
Member:
American Academy of Ophthalmology
Charter Member: American Glaucoma Society
Member:
American Society of Cataract
and Refractive Surgery

Attending Staff:
Sinai Huron Valley Hospital,
Commerce Township, MI
William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI

Dr. Cyrlin proudly announces the relocation
of his practice to Wayne State University
Physicians Group, Kresge Eye Institute at its
newly opened facility located at

26400 West 12 Mile Road, Suite 60
Southfield, MI 48034
248 263-2640

Appointments welcomed for new,
existing and former patients

June 2 • 2016

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