On the one hand, I feel that I have not changed with respect to gratitude mentioned in my earlier posts. I believe that for some time I have been grateful for the blessings of my life. If anything, the pandemic has made me even more grateful.
On the other, I feel that my perception of the Universe has changed dramatically. In my class with Rabbi Sisenwine, we discussed Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People. This spring, I read a book called “Evil in Modern Thought” by Susan Neiman. In that book, I was drawn to the writing of a French philosopher, Henri Bayle, writing in 1697. It would be inappropriate for me in this context to articulate fully why. Suffice it to say that Bayle makes a strong argument for a Universe that might be incompatible with the view of the Universe embodied in Judaism and indeed in the other Abrahamic faiths of Christianity and Islam. After the holidays, I would be happy to elaborate one on one with Rabbi Sisenwine and indeed the entire TBE clergy team on my views.
