Rabbi's Corner

Message from the Rabbi

There are four kinds of temperaments:
Easy to become angry, and easy to be appeased: his gain disappears in his loss;
Hard to become angry, and hard to be appeased: his loss disappears in his gain;
Hard to become angry and easy to be appeased: a pious person;
Easy to become angry and hard to be appeased: a wicked person. (Pirkei Avot 5:11)
יהוה passed before him and proclaimed: “!יהוה! יהוה a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, (Exodus 34:6)

Slow to anger and easy to forgive.  In this season of the year, we are concerned with the idea of forgiveness.  We think about who has wronged us and whom we have wronged. We ask God for forgiveness and we try our best to forgive ourselves.  
Often we conceive of God as embodying the best of ourselves.  We attach human traits to God so that we can relate to God. We think of God as compassionate and at times we ask God to exact judgment without bias.  Sometimes we seek God’s grace regardless of the transgression we commit.   Now apply it to yourself.  Strive to be your best self and you will discover something divine. 
This week’s Shabbat discussion will be entitled “Where is God?”