9/28/11 A fortress of faith sounds even sturdier than a wall of faith. It was today's Commercial Appeal newspaper’s lead in to Rabbi Grossman’s Rosh Hashanah message, but it reinforced my latest THOTS (Trusting Him On This Subject): walls/fortresses of faith are “besieged by hostile forces.” The Rabbi was recalling as an 11 year old finding his mother crumpled in the floor and crying because “her mother, eight sisters and one brother had perished in the Nazi gas chambers.” (CA guest column, 9/28/11) In later years, he read on the walls of such a gas chamber, Psalm 44: 17, "All this came upon us, yet we have not forgotten you." He ended with prayerful words, “May He who makes peace in His high places, make peace for us and all of Israel.”
I concluded that there can always be love, peace and respect for mankind in my wall of faith.
THOT: The mortar that holds my wall together must be grace. His grace extended to me. That grace extended by me to others. L'Shanah Tovah Tikatevu or “Happy New Year” to my dear Jewish friends who will probably serve apples today, in one form or another.
