Q&A: Hebrew Calendar
Hebrew Calendar
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi!
Do you think the Hebrew calendar expresses a sad nation, perhaps even one that is not mentally healthy?
For two months of the year one has to mourn {the Counting of the Omer and the Three Weeks}, and then there is another month of selichot, in which you confess 3 times a day and beat your chest over sins—”I have robbed, I have committed adultery,” and so on. Doesn’t this religious ritual express a problematic psychological structure in those who say it?
Also, does praying 3 times a day and saying the same text reflect an intellectual limitation?
Answer
Absolutely not. We have gone through a lot, and we do not want to repress it. Our general mood throughout life is not determined by these occasions. Confession belongs to certain times, and it is appropriate for a person to engage in self-examination. Cheerfulness that ignores failures is not a value in my eyes. You should not sink into depression, but nobody is telling you to do that. Nor do I know many people who actually do.
The second question has nothing to do with intellectual limitation, although I too find it hard to connect to fixed prayer, and I have already written about that.