God as a Role Model

One of the most central teachings of Judaism is that we are to try to emulate what God does. Imitating God is one of the highest acts of holiness. The basis of this belief is to be found in Deuteronomy chapter 11, verse 22 wherein the Torah commands us “to walk in Gods ways.”

The rabbis then asked, "What is it that God does that we should imitate?" Several examples are given.

In Genesis, God makes clothing for Adam and Eve. Thus according to the sages, we too should clothe the naked. But even this is open to interpretation. On one level, it means that we should put clothing on our children. It could also mean that we should give clothing to the needy. Giving old but usable clothing to Goodwill comes to mind here. Yet there is even a higher level. It is only humans who wear clothing. Therefore clothing the naked could mean that we are to do anything that will make people more human. This means anything that we can do to educate people to become more civil and more educated, especially in Torah and in ethical and human values. This lesson is one that really needs to be learned by those who are currently attending healthcare forums for the expressed purpose of shouting their anger and preventing legitimate discourse.

What else does God do?

Well God visits the sick. After Abraham’s circumcision, the Torah states that "And God appeared to him by the Oaks of Mamre." Therefore, we too should visit sick people. Often, there are many other things that come into our lives which seem to give us an excuse why we do not have enough time to visit the sick. This I call the tyranny of the calendar or lately in my case, the tyranny of the blackberry.

Nevertheless, we are to make the time to go and visit the sick. We are to go and listen to them, cheer them up, pray and meditate with them and simply to “be there” to let them know that they are loved. The rabbis even tell us that one who visits the sick relieves some of the pain of the illness.

God also comforts mourners. The Torah states: "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that G-d blessed Isaac his son" (Genesis 25:11). Therefore we too should comfort mourners. We should go and visit their home after the funeral. There too we should be good listeners and we should pray with them that God out of the “valley of the shadow of death,” they should find the light of healing.

God also buries the dead. At the end of Deuteronomy, the Torah states that God buries Moses in a valley. (Deuteronomy 34:6). If God buries Moses, even the more so, we are to participate in the actual burial of our dead. This is the basis for the Jewish belief that at the end of a funeral, each individual actually shovels three spades of earth into the open grave. This is actually called a “Hesed shel Emet,” an act of loving kindness. This is such a holy act because of the fact that it is something for which the person from whom it is done can never repay us. Giving a loved one or a member of the community and honorable burial is as it were a great favor, and honorable deed, a favor which the diseased cannot return.

I have always loved this ritual. It provides a sense of closure and it seems to give such great honor to the dead. At my father’s funeral, I watched as some one hundred and fifty people participated in this Mitzvah. There were people there that I had not seen in years. It was a though I was watching my father’s history and the history of my childhood pass by in front of my eyes. I felt a sense of gratitude towards those who had come to his funeral and who were participating in his actual burial.

For this reason, I have also found it rather strange to attend a funeral when the community leaves before the casket is lowered and there is no opportunity to shovel dirt into the grave. I often find myself asking, “When are we going to finish what needs to be done?” I also think that it is a little strange that we allow grave diggers who did not know the person to complete this task. I imagine that one hundred years ago in North Carolina, everyone helped bury the person who had died. In modern times for some reason, we find this to be too distasteful. In so doing, we have lost an opportunity to imitate God, to do what God did when God burying Moses more than three thousand years ago!

One of the strangest passages in the entire Talmud seems to imply that God even prays! This is really problematic. To whom does God pray?

We Jews are absolute monotheists. Earlier in the service we recited Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad. Listen Jews! There is only one God. Listen people the God who created the universe is also the same God who is found within each one of us.

The passage in question begins with Rabbi Yochanan saying that he once heard Rabbi Yosi once ask the question “How do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, says prayers?” A verse is quoted from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 56:7) the verse states "I, meaning God, will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in the house of My prayer". However, the words My house of prayer could also be translated as the house of My prayer.” If so Rabbi Yosi asks, what is God’s prayer?

Rabbi Zutra answers that the prayer of God is “May it be My will that My mercy may suppress My anger, and that My mercy may prevail over My other attributes, so that I may deal with My children in the attribute of mercy and, on their behalf, stop short of the limit of strict justice.”

Why would God need to say such a prayer? The answer is not so simple.

Elsewhere in the Talmud (B. Rosh Hashana 17b), there is a passage wherein God actually teaches Moses how to put on a prayer shawl or a tallit in order to pray for the forgiveness of the people. The passage in question occurs after the sin of the Golden Calf and God is showing Moses by example how to ask for forgiveness on their behalf.
So now if we go back to the original passage of God’s prayer – Following that passage, there is a scene is described wherein Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha once entered the innermost part of the sanctuary and saw God. God asked the Rabbi Ishmael to bless whereupon Rabbi Ishmael said, “May it be Your will that Your mercy may suppress Your anger and Your mercy may prevail over Your other attributes, so that You may deal with Your children according to the attribute of mercy and may, on their behalf, stop short of the limit of strict justice!”

What had Rabbi Ishmael done here? He had repeated the original prayer of God!

The great medieval commentator Rashi says that the verse, “To walk in all His ways (Deut 11:22),” means that just as God is merciful, so too should we be merciful. Just as God does acts of kindness, so too should we do acts of kindness.

So the importance of this is that God is the ultimate role model. God clothes the naked, visits the sick, comforts the bereaved, buries the dead, teaches us how to pray and how to put on a talit and, most importantly, deals with the world through kindness, compassion and love.

For those of us who are parents, let us realize that for our children, we too are the ultimate role models. If they see us being angry, they will be angry. On the other hand, if we are compassionate, they will be compassionate. If they see us taking care of our elderly parents, then they will take care of us when we are elderly and in need of care and love. If they see us praying, they will take prayer seriously.

The list could go on and on.

Rabbi Levi Cooper of the Pardes institute in Jerusalem writes: “Education is not just about telling someone else what to do, how to act or when to speak. Education is more about modeling worthy conduct. In truth, the educator teaches the self. The passion of the educator breeds enthusiasm in the student; conversely the student can "smell" an educator who lacks fervor or who has lost eagerness. Our sages paint the image of God as an educator teaching by example, passionately praying. God does not just command: "Pray!" The pedagogic lesson that the sages suggest is more refined; God encourages us: "Pray as I do." If God teaches by modeling desired behavior, surely when we educate - as parents, as community leaders, or in any setting - our first order must be to teach by example.”

Friends. On this holy Shabbat, may it be God’s will that we will become imitators of God that we will do what the Torah says that God does. Above all, may we, especially those of us who are parents, accept the challenge of being good role models for our children.