Reprinted from 2022
FROM THE HEART
The generations see God differently. Our forebears from the shtetl were filled with simple piety and related to the Almighty directly. Our generation is the product of rationalism, two World Wars, the Holocaust, and the establishment of Israel. Our view of God is more complex. Our children who are searching for their roots are seeking God in a more direct way than did their grandparents.
A young woman was born in a shtetl, grew up in Berlin, and then went to France where she married and, in time became pregnant. In the midst of her labor the doctor was talking to the husband in the hall when the woman began to call out for God. At first she said “Mon Dieux”. The husband looked at the doctor, who said, “not yet”. Then she began to yell “Mein Gott”. Again the doctor said “not yet”. She began to scream “Gottenu”, the shtetl cry for God, and the doctor said, “now is the time to go in. She is speaking from her heart.”
No matter how we speak of God, the most important thing is to speak from the heart.
Dr. Rabbi Alvin Kass