On Religious Impotence, Psalms, and the War in Lebanon
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Opening Post by the Rabbi
On Religious Impotence, Psalms, and the War in Lebanon
Posted on 29/7/2006
According to my impression, a considerable portion of the Jewish people is now reciting Psalms at the instruction of various rabbis.
Some of the psalms being recited speak of our enemies who come to destroy us, and ask the Holy One, blessed be He, to save us from their hands and thwart their designs.
I feel a certain discomfort when reading these psalms. As is well known, there is no existential danger to Israel here, but rather fighting that certainly endangers soldiers and civilians (mainly through our own fault, as always).
Therefore there is certainly room for requests to the Holy One, blessed be He, to help us prevail, to prevent casualties among soldiers and civilians, and above all to save us from the politicians and officers who are leading our march of folly (well, I could not entirely restrain myself). But the hysteria about our enemies being poised to destroy us, and the desperate cries for divine help, seem to me somewhat problematic. The number of casualties from this war, soldiers and civilians alike, does not exceed the number of casualties in two months of traffic accidents (of course every single one is tragic, etc.).
In my humble opinion, this phenomenon points to religious impotence and ossification. It indicates a lack of attention to what we are saying in our mechanical prayers (this time, unusually, I actually did pay attention. But that is really not representative). Yet it seems to me that part of the issue is that we are bound to the wording of the psalms, and therefore cannot ask for what it is truly right to ask at any given moment. There is an aversion to composing prayers, and certainly to composing texts that would be recited in all Jewish communities (there is some sort of belief, or unclear assumption, that in our generation there is no one who is capable of and worthy to compose a general prayer).
This is only a point of order, a kind of catharsis regarding the experiences of the past Sabbath. Anyone who wishes to respond is welcome.
Source (the “Stop Here—People Think” forum): http://www.bhol.co.il/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=1998201