Leading our Children to Transcendence

Judaism for the Thinking Person

The oldest, continually used blessing in the world is the Torah's "Priestly Blessing." May God bless you [with bounty] and guard you. May God's face radiate grace (of getting your needs met) upon you. May God turn God's face to you [when you don't get what you need] so [you do not feel alone but meet God there and] God places peace within you.

The Rabbis stress that the person blessing is merely a "window" to letting God in, but in this Dvar Torah I question whether this isn't exactly what we wish to avoid -- letting God in. We want to let us in! We spend our time building a world of domestic familiarity and home, and build our children up with their accomplishments. Transcendence runs absolutely against that: it puts you in the context of the Eternal drama, not your own: achievement, knowledge, and the cathedral of the self [we telling our hero stories] take a far second place in transcendence, where our ego is seen in its puniness, and we feel the calm of taking our place in the eternal dramas of humanity, nature, and experience. Transcendence teaches gratitude for participation in the human journey, calm, perspective, and the movement toward shalom (contentment) in one's lot, rather than protection. In this sermon, I ask how we lead our children to be prepared to encounter God, not us.