A
college friend of mine recently found me on Facebook. We hadn’t spoken to each
other since graduation, but I was happy to hear from him. Since we had been out
of touch for so long, he began by summarizing the last nearly twenty years of his life. In
a few bullet-pointed sentences, he concisely explained how he had started a
Ph.D. program, left to work in the corporate world and married and had a child.
I was surprised how such a long period of time could be encapsulated so
succinctly, and I did my best to describe my adulthood in a few brief
sentences.
On
reflection, I realized that the past decade of my life could be summarized in
just one sentence — a verse from this week’s Torah portion, Genesis 25:22. This
verse describes Rebecca’s experience of being pregnant: “And the children struggled together
inside her; and she said, ― If so, why this me? And she went to inquire of God.”
This week’s Torah parasha Toldot
(Generations) tells the story of Rebecca and Isaac becoming parents. The
parasha explains that Rebecca and Isaac had struggled with infertility.
However, once they conceived, Rebecca found that pregnancy was much harder than
she had anticipated. She was in a great deal of pain and called out to God. Her
fragmented question: “if, so, why this me?” indicated the depth of her anguish.
Her question was an existential one; she longed to understand her place in the
world.
Rebecca sought God, who then responded to her in
turn. Until this point in the Torah, God had spoken to other people, but
Rebecca was the first person to take the initiative to address God directly and
prompt God to answer.
God told Rebecca that she was pregnant with twins,
and that these children would each lead a future nation. In responding, God
didn’t remove Rebecca’s pain but helped her see the bigger picture by imparting
significance to her suffering. God reminded her that her life — and her current
pain — was a part of something larger, and this purpose gave her strength to
endure.
Rebecca went lidrosh “to inquire” or seek
God. This verb is the root of the later word midrash (which means the
interpretation of Torah). Rebecca’s quest serves as a paradigm for the process
of Torah study, which seeks to gain an understanding from God of our life’s
purpose.
Like Rebecca, I too found child-rearing more
difficult than anticipated. This experience prompted me to question my place in
the world and reassess my priorities. Through the vehicle of Torah, I turned to
God for answers and discovered new meaning in life. This insight doesn’t remove
the struggles of raising children but imparts a sense of fulfillment. Rebecca’s
verse captures the spiritual journey of parenting.
The verse also encapsulates the spiritual quest of
the Jewish people since Rebecca’s time. Throughout the generations, the Jewish
people have found life far more challenging than we anticipated. In
crises, we turned to God and asked repeatedly, “If so, why this me?” Through
Torah, we sought and seek our purpose. In turn, God doesn’t remove our
suffering but reminds us that our actions have ultimate significance. This understanding
has given our people the strength to persevere through the ages.
As it turns out, summarizing a decade or five
millennia is easier than it seems. Only one sentence is needed: “The
children struggled within her, and she said, ‘if so, why this me’ and
went to inquire of God…” The rest is history.
Although paragraph structure challenges writers, it is essential not only to help organize the content logically but also to keep the reader interested to the end of the document. summarizing an article
ReplyDeleteNowadays, it is very difficult to look after the kids because time is running so fast. In limited time you have to solve different tasks and this era is very difficult of the kids but assignment writing give the easiest way for all level of students. This is nice to read about these tips and it is meaningful information.
ReplyDeleteHey friends if you want more and more robux for free then must try free robux its best way to earn robux
ReplyDeleteNow you can win free stuff online, free giveaways, enter every day to win latest iphones, smartphones, macbooks, laptops, accessories, technology and much more at ifreegiveaways.com
ReplyDeletethanks for post for android apps visit picbear
ReplyDelete