A few Services

 I went to worship this saturday, as well as torah study. In Torah study we started in on Noah and the great flood. Throughout all of it we looked at it as a literal story which I have some qualms about. But there are some incredibly interesting points to it as well.

 The first comment I would like to make mention of was that throughout the Torah (and likely the Tankakh as well, although I haven't gotten into that as much) you see the growth of God. This makes interesting connections between Judaism and Other religions principly polytheisms where the Gods have very human faults and connections. This comment was made in conjunction to the promise God makes Noah immediatly after he dries the floodwaters. God promises to never cause another flood, to never again wipe out all life on earth because of the sins of man. This feels to me like regret, and having said that I have to wonder if this is a real reading or if maybe it's the human hand transcribing what had happened. Perhaps however it is because the mightiest thing about God is Love. If god knew the world must be cleansed and yet every death struck him because of his intense love, perhaps the regret was not suprising. It is important to remember for me as a religious man, that God's love permeates everything.

 Another thing I want to talk about is that at this point God also tells Noah that man should not kill man because all men are created in God's Image. There are countless interpretations of this, the most idiotic in my opinion is that God is a Man. A big male with a beard in the sky. Another is that our souls are infused with God's love. That our ability to love and care for those around us that makes us in God's Image. My limited understanding of kabbalah puts us being made in God's image meaning that God's power and light is inside us. That we have the power to create and invoke the name of God.

 If each of us is filled with the power and light of God, if in short each of us is not just made by and loved by God, but infused with the energy of God it means that any malice we do our fellow man or woman is malice done to God directly.

 So far every member of the Clergy at Beth Isael has made me feel very welcome. I don't feel judged and everything thus far has been great. The lessons we have learned have been spot on with my own interpretations and the services have been beautiful. I have seen three Bar Mitzvah's so far. I really hope that this community can be there for my family growing up.

 On another note my friends, Phillip, Desiree and Scott have been exceedingly supportive.