by Rabbi Koval
Last week I received a Facebook message from Bobby Rosner, proud grandmother of 6 grandsons, all attending JFX! "Boys 'R Us" read the sign over the threshold of her living room, when she hosted bris #6! She messaged me saying that her grandson, Jack Soroka, has a Jewish question for me. Love them high-tech Grandmas!
Yesterday, ever so cutely and politely, Jack asked me his question: "Rabbi Koval, why is there no Mrs. G-d?"
Adorable, I thought! I answered him that mommies and daddies help each other make a family, and G-d is perfect and needs no help, so there is only One, not two.
Well, sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected places, and Jack has really gotten me thinking about this concept. Why did G-d create loneliness and then fill the void with companionship? This question can be (and has been) applied to all of life's deficiencies. Great Jewish philosophers have tackled this one for millennia. In essence, why did G-d create an imperfect world? Why is there war, famine and strife?
The Talmud tells us that this was a debate between a great Roman philosopher and Rabbi Akiva! Rabbi Akiva said that G-d created poverty in order to give mankind opportunities to perform acts of tzedakah and chessed (kindness)! It follows then that every struggle, every challenge, every "deficiency," in our lives and in the lives of those around us, are really tailor-made opportunities for growth and harmony. When the deficiency is mine, it's for me to rise above the challenge and not let it weigh me down. When I see the deficiency within someone else, it's for me to help them get over the challenge.
So, Jack, not only did G-d make mommies and daddies in order to give each other the opportunity to complement and complete each other, He also gave us each other (everyone in our lives and in our world!) in order to challenge us to compliment and complete each other. Now that's living the high life!
