There is an old (and not very funny) joke that when the spirits of the Children of Israel were low while they were wandering in the Wilderness, they turned to God for comfort. "We feel lousy, Lord," they complained. "What can we do?"
God responded, "Take two tablets and call me in the morning."
We can all smile at the image, but using TaNaCH, our Bible, as a source of comfort, empowerment, and spiritual uplift has always been an important integral part of our tradition.
One of our greatest challenges as modern religious Liberal Jews is to find ways of bringing God into our daily lives. It's difficult even on special holidays or at services to do this. While living our hectic lives, it's practically impossible.
Our rabbis weren't naive. They weren't "primitive." They weren't quaint. They found in the words of our ancestors insights, glimpses of light. And they encouraged us to read these ancient words to find similar resonating responses in ourselves.
The major book of the TaNaCH, Bible, which provides these glimpses and human responses to God and the world is the Book of Psalms. Here is a modest list of useful passages:
When God seems far away, read Psalm 139.
When you are discouraged, read Psalm 40.
When you feel lonely or fearful, read Psalm 23.
When you forget your moment by moment blessings, read Psalm 103.
When the world seems bigger than God, read Psalm 90.
When your prayers grow narrow or selfish, read Psalm 67.
When people fail you, read Psalm 27.
When you have sinned, read Psalm 51.
When you are in danger, read Psalm 91.
When you have the blues, read Psalm 34.
There's a real sense of being linked to our peoples' spiritual quest when we read their words and find that they apply to us as well. Their insights continue to be powerful and helpful. They SOMETIMES work for me. I hope they'll work for you as well. Rabbi Lipman's November, 2003 Message
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