Q&A: Like a Shepherd Reviewing His Flock
Like a Shepherd Reviewing His Flock
Question
I always feel uncomfortable with this passage in the prayer service (which is supposed to be one of its high points during the High Holidays), not regarding the essence of the prayer itself, but with the idea most of us were educated with: that there is some kind of father or bearded grandfather sitting up there, counting, tallying, and examining. Someone or something that keeps accounts of our deeds here. This conception of God seems childish to me, unrealistic, and diminishing of God’s stature. I prefer to see God as an essential, exalted spiritual element beyond who I am, and as something that unites all these spiritual beings in the world. I would be glad and grateful to understand what the Rabbi’s opinion is about these conceptions.
Answer
Why did you decide that this is supposed to be one of the high points? I think the picture you describe is childish, and there is no reason to adopt it. This is a day of self-examination, and you are supposed to review yourself like a shepherd reviewing his flock. And even if the Holy One, blessed be He, does so, that is not bean-counting but a genuine interest in the condition of each one of His creatures. After all, He created us for some purpose, so why shouldn’t He check whether it is actually working?!
Discussion on Answer
So therefore what? Why should this or that liturgical poet, or these or those educators, determine what your outlook is, or what your relationship to Judaism is?
Maimonides, in his Principles, refers to the early enumerators of the commandments (the authors of the admonition poems) and dismissively calls them poets.
And how do you see these images? Do you really think that the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and decrees each person’s allotment? How do you see the connection between that and what actually goes on between a person and his Creator during these days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?
I have no idea what goes on between a person and his Creator during these days, and I don’t know who could possibly have such an idea. For me, this is first and foremost an appointed time from the Torah that must be observed. The contents that were inserted into it are the responsibility of those who inserted them. Therefore, in my opinion, it makes sense to make these days into days of self-examination for a person, and within that framework to repent. See Column 27.
You can also look at Column 241 on judgment and grace and their meaning.
I agree with the first part regarding personal self-examination. I don’t understand what point there would be for the Holy One, blessed be He, in mere “interest.” It doesn’t seem logical to me that He follows every creature. And the liturgical poem speaks about an act of “decreeing an allotment,” not just plain interest. I can accept all these as metaphors for something else. But the religious education I received, and that I still see today in our society, takes these images literally.