“[For] six days, work may be performed, but on the seventh day, it is a complete rest day, a holy occasion; you shall not perform any work.” —Leviticus 23:3
In the same way that we leave part of our harvest for the poor, we leave part of our week for our connection with “the other.” This seems to me about not being greedy. To be grateful about how much was given to us, and to give back some of our bounty. “...you shall leave these for the poor person and for the stranger.” —Leviticus 23:22
And on Passover: “And you shall offer up one he goat as a sin offering, and two lambs in their [first] year as a peace offering.” —Leviticus 23:19
G_d wants us to be holy. For us to do this we need to reflect on our behavior (sin) and on our relationship with G_d (peace).
I have a hard time seeing G_d as peace, at least the one in the Torah. Way too much killing of the local residents in favor of the Chosen. Can a being who ordered these killings be peace? Perhaps if you follow the Kill them all and let God sort them out way of thinking. That is a kind of peace, when everyone you don't agree with is dead. —Anita
ReplyDeleteA couple of different ways to think of this. G_d is not peace, but rather a peace offering is when we give a gift to someone that we have offended, as a way of saying, let's end this bickering and be friends again.
ReplyDeleteOne could condemn G_d for not only allowing the unchosen to die, but in countless situations, to allow the chosen to die. I think the message is this: that G_d supported us to leave the womb (Egypt). It was a matter of cheering for one team, but not to the detriment of the other team.
We need a report card. H.
ReplyDelete