Embracing Life's Ambiguities
Rabbi Irwin Kula teaches that rather than seeking simple and absolute answers to our problems, Jewish wisdom invites us to embrace the inherent anxieties of our contemporary life: its ambiguities, contradictions and insecurities. Rabbi Kula writes, “There is so much richness, so much dimension, in those tensions and anxieties. So many opportunities to deepen our understanding. Building a life is an endless and glorious project.” A Midrash tells of the angels on high frustrated with God’s decision to give the imperfect Children of Israel the Torah. Moshe confronts the angels: Who then will observe it (the Torah)? You angels? Only man can assume the Law and live by its precepts. Moses actualizes the Torah by embracing his complicated human-self. For this we say Lo Kam b’Yisrael k’Moshe od, no one human can replace, replicate the greatness of Moses. The prophet is human, after all.
Rabbi Irwin Kula teaches that rather than seeking simple and absolute answers to our problems, Jewish wisdom invites us to embrace the inherent anxieties of our contemporary life: its ambiguities, contradictions and insecurities. Rabbi Kula writes, “There is so much richness, so much dimension, in those tensions and anxieties. So many opportunities to deepen our understanding. Building a life is an endless and glorious project.” A Midrash tells of the angels on high frustrated with God’s decision to give the imperfect Children of Israel the Torah. Moshe confronts the angels: Who then will observe it (the Torah)? You angels? Only man can assume the Law and live by its precepts. Moses actualizes the Torah by embracing his complicated human-self. For this we say Lo Kam b’Yisrael k’Moshe od, no one human can replace, replicate the greatness of Moses. The prophet is human, after all.