Nu?

If you ask three Jews the same question, you'll get four opinions. This blog is what happens when three Jews read the same parshah. The writers of this blog are not rabbis or rabbinical students. We are the people who fill the pews. Some weeks we will focus on one passage, one phrase, one word. Sometimes we will be funny, boring, witty... even wrong. The only thing we know for sure is that we aren't likely to write about the same thing, or--if we do--we aren't likely to see it in the same way.

February 4, 2012

Yitro – The God I Don’t Love

This parshah presents the essence of the God I don’t love.

I have been talking to my rabbi about this God, and saying to him: “This is not the God I believe in. Do I have to believe in this God to be a Jew?”

This God is vengeful, prideful, bossy, and all-too human. “Do this. Go there. Don’t do that, or I’ll kill you.”

This God is like a parody of a patriarchal, power-hungry tyrant.

I believe in the “god” that mythologist Joseph Campbell talks about: “God is a metaphor for a mystery that transcends all categories of human thought.”

A “metaphor for a mystery” does not act like God acts in this parshah.

1 comment:

beckyFebruary 5, 2012 at 11:51 AM
Man I was almost in tears as we read this parsha Saturday morning with the rabbi. When my heart tells me something is wrong, it's wrong. Maybe it's a misprint, maybe someone got it wrong when they tried to tell the story, but I don't believe in a God who inflicts pain and suffering to impress upon the people his power. I'm willing to learn more about this, but when religious teaching conflicts with what I know is just plain wrong, I will go with what I know. I ain't no Jim Jones follower. (hoping i don't have to duck any lightning)
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