Ghosting God, Ghosting Self
Day 141
“This is the day Adonai has made, I will rejoice in it.” Today, in much of the Jewish world is Simchat Torah, rejoicing in the Torah. Last night, across the Jewish world was a night of singing, marching with the Torah, at Beit T’Shuvah when I was there we would unroll the entire Torah reading the end of Deuteronomy and the beginning of Genesis. Each member of the community would point to a word and the Rabbis at the time would translate the word and this would be the “word of Torah” for the member for the entire year. Many people carried the word with them throughout the year and did their best to live into it. This practice we engaged in is very meaningful to many of us who were there. I carry these words of Torah, the Bible within me and continue to do the best I can to live into them.
To rejoice, in my opinion, has the connotation to live into what we are rejoicing about. I am calling out my fellow Jews to take a deep introspective look at themselves and respond to the question: Am I living what I am ‘rejoicing’ in or just having a party with my friends? This question is haunting me right now. I have been thinking about my ancestors, my parents, my aunts and uncles all of whom are deceased. I think about this being the 60th year I have said Kaddish for my father and each time I ask myself am I living the values he taught me, thank God I can say yes for these past 39+ years and even when I was ‘out there’, there were things I did that he would have wanted me to, like taking care of my mother and sister, helping my brother, showing up when needed. I rejoice in my father’s memory, I rejoice in his teachings, I rejoice in being the son of Jerry Borovitz!! I rejoice in the power of Torah, the power of the Bible in my life which my dad wanted his sons and daughter to learn about. I rejoice in the heritage of my grandparents and I live into their wisdom, their love and do the best I can to live these ways out loud.
This is the rub for me, I know so many people who claim to be ‘good Torah Jews’ who fail to love the stranger, who fail to love their neighbors, who fail to hear the call of God no many how many times a day God calls out Ayecha, who fail to pursue righteousness, who fail to do justly, to love mercy, and persist in declaring they are living in God’s ways! I am, once again, enraged by these liars and thieves these idolatrous and chameleons, these desecrators of God’s name. How can anyone who has read the Bible, who rejoices in the Bible, in the Torah, in the New Testament NOT see the subterfuge of these power-hungry deceivers? I am at a loss to understand this. That the Republicans still enjoy any support tells me how much We the People have fallen for the con, have drunk the kool-aid, have succumbed to the ether that these ‘fine christian folk’, these ‘frumma yidden’(orthodox Jews) are putting out! Yet, it seems as if we the people are still like fish, falling for their bullshit hook, line and sinker.
Hence my railing about rejoicing, there can be no joy when one is not living into the heritage passed down for thousands of years from Moses, from Christ, from God. There can be no joy when one is not willing to engage with at least 1 word of the Bible and live that word in all their affairs because the Bible, the Torah, the Gospels are as relevant in this moment as they were when they were first given to We the People. How is it possible for people to not know this, to not follow the ways of the Bible, the Gospels? It is possible only when we the people decide to be LAZY and let someone else tell us what is being said, let someone else explain how the words don’t mean what they mean and instead mean “we the power-hungry autocrats” want them to mean so their power is absolute. Rather than “making a decision to turn our lives over to the care of God”, as we say in AA, the priests and ministers, Rabbis and Imams want us to turn our lives over to the mendacious ones who seek and maintain power. UGH
I have fought this fight all my life, knowing what is right and good according to the Bible and watching “the one with gold rules”. I gave into the deep anger I had because of this societal norm and for 39+ years have dedicated myself to bringing a different message, a prophetic message of return, of rejoice in our heritage, in the love shown by God, Moses, Jesus, whomever for giving us this rich and enduring legacy of JOY, kindness, love, Truth, justice, mercy. I keep living into this legacy one grain of sand more each day. Thanks Dad!
ACTION STEP:
How are you rejoicing through action and improving one grain of sand more each day?
GOD BLESS, Stop Ghosting God, Ghosting Self, Rabbi Mark