There were three songs that really made me think about my faith.
Early in The Book of Mormon, the missionaries enter Africa. Their introduction to the poor living conditions is a song “Hasa Diga Eebowai.” While I cannot translate it from the bimah, it means “Expletive You, Gd!” Once the missionaries find out what the song means, they are distraught and upset. They think, How could I possibly say such a horrible thing to Gd!? While I do not think it is a song I will be singing around the house anytime soon, from a Jewish perspective it is not the end of the world. I admit, It makes me uncomfortable, but honestly, I am glad that the characters were engaged with Gd. Even if their language was unpleasant; even if they are angry at Gd for allowing them to live such miserable lives; they did not abandon Gd or ignore Gd. They cursed out Gd. Is it ideal? Of course not, but I would rather have someone come to my office and say they are furious at Gd then come and say that Gd has no place in their life. (Just to make it clear, if either situation is true, I would be glad to see you and discuss how we might change the situation.) When you do come into my office to discuss your relationship with Gd, I will discuss other ways you can express your frustration with Gd without resorting to curses.
Another song was called “I believe” in which one of the main missionaries sings:
“You cannot just believe part-way, you have to believe in it all
My problem was doubting the Lord's will, instead of standing tall
I can't allow myself to have any doubt, it's time to set my worries free
Time to show the world what Elder Price is about, and share the power inside of me!”#
My immediate reaction was, if that is Mormon faith, it’s clear why I’m Jewish and not Mormon. Of course, a musical does not necessarily accurately share the intimate religious beliefs of a person or religion. For a Jew, faith is important, but absolute faith is not the be all and end all. You can be a practicing Jew and have doubts. You can be a Jew and disagree with aspects of your faith. While ideally we do not pick and choose, cherry-picking the parts of our religion that most appeal to us, there are always ideas and ideals which will appeal to us more than others. For example, in biblical and rabbinic times, slavery was accepted practice throughout the world and in the Jewish world. I can find slavery abhorrent, yet recognize that it was once permissible as part of my faith. At the same time, I can admire my forebears for limiting the context of slavery and requiring slave owners to recognize that their slaves were people and treat them with respect. As a Conservative Jew, I can see that Jewish attitudes towards women have not always matched my worldview. As such, I choose to practice as part of a movement that uses our tradition to grant women the same responsibilities, obligations and opportunities as it grants men. Again though, I can be a Jew without believing in exactly the same way as you, you, Rabbi Freedman or Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. Ignoring the differences between Orthodoxy, Conservative and Reform Judaism, even within any one of those groups, different Jews have different concepts of how Gd acts or doesn’t act with the world, how the world came to be created, what happened at Sinai, etc. Not only is that ok, it is tradition. As they say, two Jews, three opinions. In the Talmud it says “Elu v’elu divrei Elohim Hayyim, “these and those are the words of the living Gd,” but it also says, “the halacha is according to Beit Hillel.” As much as we can respect different opinions, we believe that there is the possibility of A right answer, even if we have trouble finding it at times.
The third song that resonated with me, or didn’t resonate with me was a song called “Turn it Off”
“Turn it Off”
I got a feelin' that you could be feelin'
A whole lot better than you feel today
You say you got a problem...well, that's no problem!
It's super easy not to feel that way
When you start to get confused because of thoughts in your head –
Don't feel those feelings – hold them in instead!
Turn it off!
Like a light switch
Just go 'click'!
It's a cool little Mormon trick
We do it all the time
From a Jewish or psychological perspective, turning off our feelings is not ideal. This past year and a previous summer, I did chaplaincy training. One of the most important lessons was the importance of allowing people to feel their feelings. For someone to recover from grief, they have to grieve! While someone’s first reaction is to tell their friend to “stop crying, it will be ok.”; that is not necessarily the best reaction. Sometimes we need to cry. On the Jewish calendar we have an entire day devoted to crying! On Tisha B’av we are meant to mourn not only for the loss of the Temple in Jerusalem, but for all of the tragedies in our Jewish and maybe even personal lives. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we celebrate the new year, but we also beg for atonement. We plan how we can live a better life, but pray to Gd that we will be heard and forgiven. In one of the first Conservative Machzorim, printed by Rabbi Morris Silverman, the opening page is a poem called the “old prayer book.”
It begins:“This book of prayers, old and stained with tears,/ I take into my hand/ And unto the God of my fathers/ Who from ages past has been their Rock and Refuge/ I call in my distress. . .”
The poem reminds me that this time of year is known for tears. We look at old Tallitot, yellow not just with age, but with the tears of our ancestors, praying that their prayers would be answered, that they would have another day, another year, another Rosh Hashanah. Those Tallitot are also stained with the tears from Yizkor, from remembering those no longer here. I think our faith is stronger when we cry a little more, when we dance a little more, when we sing just a little bit louder. NOT when we “switch it off.”
IMPORTANT NOTE: All lyrics property of their authors and copyrights. Text taken from http://lyrics.wikia.com/The_Book_Of_Mormon_(2011)
Poem from: Rabbi Morris Silverman’s High Holiday Prayer Book, printed by the Prayer Book Press, Media Judaica, Bridgeport, CT. 1986
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