Some of the times, I wish they would leave us alone!

Some of the times, I wish they would leave us alone!

This past week, I taught an adult class on the topic concerning “Miracles.” In Judaism, some of the rabbis felt that miracles were supernatural events. Others like Nachmanides felt that miracles were natural occurrences and that what made them special was their timing. In other words, when we needed “such and such” to happen, it happened! Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch taught that the greatest miracle of all was the survival of the Jewish people. Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism felt that a belief in miracles should not be part of modern Jewish thought. The Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidim, felt that miracles were everywhere, but that we put on blinders and are not able to see them.

It was this last thought which really intrigued me. I happen to know a woman who has battled metastatic melanoma for more than 10 years. Seven years ago, her family got together and held a Passover Seder which euphemistically her kids called the “Last Supper.” Her continued health and well being is nothing short of a miracle in my opinion.

On Thursday, I shared these thought with a group of economically poor people who were being fed at First Presbyterian Church as part of the Hot Dish and Hope program. Our congregation serves food there twice a month. Our community is grateful to Rev Sidney Batts, Sheron Summer and First Presbyterian Church for their wonderful leadership of the Hot Dish and Hope program.

I ended up my little message of hope with the ideas that every morning that we wake up is a miracle and that perhaps the greatest miracle of all is life itself!

People responded very warmly to my message; that is, all except one person. This one man afterwards came up to me and said rather aggressively that I was wrong and that the greatest miracle of all was that Jesus died for our sins. He wanted to give me a testimony in order to save my soul. The same man has accosted my colleague Rabbi Andy Koren on previous occasions.

I have pretty thick skin and so I was able to slough this off. However, I often receive emails, letters and oral testimonies from supposedly well meaning Christians. Once on Shabbat (the Sabbath), the cars in our parking lot had leaflets put on them. The leaflets encouraged us to accept Jesus. On Yom Kippur, after an article in the newspaper in which the author of the article said that Jews do not have a safety net in Jesus, my mailbox was destroyed. It was the only mailbox on the street to be destroyed and it was destroyed purposely on the holiest day of the Jewish year.

I have an acquaintance to whom I have explained many times why Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Nevertheless, he still wants me to explain to him what I do believe about the Messiah. One of the days, perhaps, I will. But I am hesitant to do so because I know that this will lead to an unwanted testimony from him to me.

I simply do not get it. When I am urinating at the hospital, having gone there to visit the sick, I often see on the urinal note cards urging me to accept Jesus. By contrast, we Jews do not take prayer books or prayer shawls into the bath room.

I simply do not get how being aggressive to others in supposed testimony of one’s faith encourages Brotherhood and Sisterhood. If you want me to respect you as a Christian, behave towards me and all people with justice and compassion. Become part of a joint partnership towards making our community a better place in which to live! Be a part of a joint effort whose goal is bringing more of God’s presence into this world!

In a movie a few years ago, there was a famous line “Show me the money.” To those who are so worried about saving my soul I say, “Show me (by your own personal example) your kindness.”

In his letter in response to the remarks of the governor of Alabama’s dismissive remarks towards those who are not Christian, (see previous blog post) my colleague Rabbi Jonathan Miller quoted the Prophet Malachi who taught: "Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?"

That about says it all as far as I am concerned.