Volume 7, Number 3 - Cantors Assembly

as it is to bless Him for the good.” It is easy to believe in God when
things go well, but the test of real faith is what happens when we are
faced with disappointment, failure, and tragedy. The Talmud says that
there is a profound difference between an idolater and a believer in
God. To the idolater, if the idol grants him his wishes, he feeds him and
worships him. If he does not fulfill his requests, he smashes the idol into
a million pieces. But the true person of faith maintains his faith even
when faced with the greatest catastrophe.
This is why we say kaddish when we are bereaved even though
there is no mention of death in the prayer. It is a prayer of religious affirmation
said at precisely the time when it is most difficult to do so.
When we lose a loved one, we cry “Why did this happen to me?” And
we want to reject God, religion, and faith. Yet our tradition says: Rise
together with the congregation and say: Yitgadal v ‘yitkadush sh 'mey
rabbah: “Magnified and sanctified in His great name!” In every life
there are joys and sadness, lights and shadows. Someone once said:
“We should not pray to God: “God, please never leave me suffer!”
Everybody who lives, suffers, everybody has his share of tzoros. What
we should pray is: “Dear God, give me the strength to face whatever
life brings my way.”
Finally, the rabbis encourage another hind of prayer: Bana bayit
hadash v’kanah kaylim hadashim omeyr barukh sheheheyanu: If a person
builds a new house, or buys new utensils, or new clothes, he should
say sheheheyanu, he should give thanks to God. Other authorities
have added other occasions for saying sheheheyanu, for example, on
the holy days, or in the performance of any mitzvah which is
associated with happiness.
Our tradition encourages us to give thanks for our many blessings.
On Rosh Hashanah, we should give thanks for our husbands and
wives, our parents, and our children. On Mother’s Day we say a
sheheheyanu for mothers, but why not every day of the year? Fathers
are nice to have around, too, and we should give thanks for them every
day as well. And though our children may cause us headaches and
heartaches, life would really be very dull without them and would lose
so much of its meaning, so we should thank God every day for our
children.
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