October 6, 2006

“On the globe of the microcosm the flow of prayer is like the Gulf Stream, imparting warmth to all that is cold, melting all that is hard in our life.  For even loyalties may freeze to indifference if detached from the stream which carries the strength to be loyal.  How often does justice lapse into cruelty, and righteousness into hypocrisy.  Prayer revives and keeps alive the rare greatness of some past experience in which things glowed with meaning and blessing.  It remains important, even when we ignore it for a while, like a candlestick set aside for the day.  Night will come, and we shall again gather round its tiny flame.  Our affection for the trifles of living will be mixed with longing for the comfort of all men.”    

Background

"The most striking finding of our study in connection with God and the synagogue is that, for the most part, the Jews we interviewed do not make any straightforward connection between the two.... They told us time and again that they do not come to synagogue expecting to find God there..." (The Jew Within: Self, Family and Community in America by Steven M. Cohen and Arnold M. Eisen) 

At Micah we take very seriously our search for God and the Sacred.  We are thus incorporating into our Shabbat Evening Services a short text by Abraham Joshua Heschel from his inspiring book Man's Quest for God followed by a very brief private discussion with those sitting around you in the sanctuary.  The Heschel texts will be also be posted here each week.