On Rosh Hashana it is written:
on Yom Kippur it is sealed:
How many shall pass on, how many shall come to be;
who shall live, who shall die;
who shall see ripe age, who shall not;
who shall perish by fire, who by water;
who by sword, who by beast;
who by hunger, who by thirst;
who by earthquake, who by plague;
who by strangling, who by stoning;
who shall be secure, who shall be driven;
who shall be tranquil, who shall be troubled;
who shall be poor. who shall be rich;
who shall be humbled and who shall be exalted.
Every year as I read these words, I cannot help wondering,- who are those in my family, friends, country,- to whom do these predictions refer for the following year?
We know last year's results:Australians have suffered from fire first and now water; New Zealanders have just overcome the earthquake,- but luckily except for the disastrous fires, no loss of life from the other natural disasters.
Did we think that stoning belonged to the dark ages of the past? Not so for the poor mother awaiting her fate in Iran,who still doesn't know whether she will be strangled or stoned,- but her leaders, Ahmadinejahd doesn't seem to be troubled, nor driven,- hopefully he won't reach his old age! Let G-d smite him with his own sword, sooner rather than later!
Poor Africans are dying of thirst and hunger in droves, women and children are raped daily, - but the evil ones are neither humbled nor smitten in too many parts of the world.
G-d must be very busy keeping up with all the natural disasters on the one hand and all the evils perpetrated by humans' inhumanity to humans on the other!The suffering of the poor trafficked women and children is not ordained,-they are just cruelly taken advantage of, due to their weaknesses. May G-d give them the strength to overcome their miseries and may the free world eliminate this tragedy.
So we continue with our prayer for peace and for humanity:
"Grant peace and happiness, blessing and mercy, to all Israel and all the world.Bless us o G-d, all of us together, with the light of your presence, for in the light of Your presence we have found (or hope to find!)the love of mercy,the law of justice,and the way of peace: for it is ever Your will that the people of Israel shall be (finally) blessed with peace.
Teach us to labour for righteousness and inscribe us in the book of life, blessing and peace."
THE SOUND OF THE SHOFAR HERALDS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW LUNAR YEAR AND THE DAWN OF, HOPEFULLY A BETTER ONE THAN THE LAST ONE, FOR THE WHOLE WORLD.
Miriam M.
No comments:
Post a Comment