{"id":67111,"date":"2019-12-17T14:16:08","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T12:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=67111"},"modified":"2023-07-14T15:23:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T12:23:03","slug":"the-value-of-impermanence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-value-of-impermanence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Value Of Impermanence"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[607,384],"acf":{"old_id":"67111","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33992,"related_cahpter":"374","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Including our own: the only way for the divine flow to move on is if we cede our place to those coming after us","content":"

The chapter starts out famously chipper: \u201cComfort, comfort My people, says your God.\u201d That\u2019s a mighty nice opening, and we settle in for the kind of soaring rhetoric and affirmative thinking that led the ancient rabbis to designate the Book of Isaiah as the book of comfort. Think hot cocoa and cookies, but in Hebrew speeches.<\/span><\/p>\n

With such robust positivity, we\u2019re not really prepared for what comes next. The Prophet is told to proclaim. When he asks for more specific instruction, here\u2019s what he\u2019s told to preach: <\/span><\/p>\n

All flesh is grass, and all its goodness like the flowers of the field: Grass withers, flowers fade when the breath of the Lord blows on them. Indeed, people are but grass: Grass withers, flowers fade \u2013 but the word of our God is always fulfilled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Somehow, the consolation we are offered is that people, like plants, fade. And that God\u2019s word endures. One simple way to interpret this odd comfort is to contrast the two claims. While it is indeed true (and elicits grief) that we age and die, we can take consolation in the eternity and reliability of God\u2019s word. By shifting our sense of purpose and even identity beyond the narrow confines of our own personality, our own biography, and re-centering ourselves in identification with God\u2019s purpose, we are offered the consolation of being part of something bigger, something transcendent and eternal. And that is, indeed, consoling.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is also possible to read the two statements as both offering comfort. In our being like grass, there is itself consolation. If we can love the people who came before us and those who follow, then we don\u2019t always need to be the dancers at the dance. Instead, we can derive comfort and meaning by knowing that our grandparents experienced many of the life passages that we ourselves have enjoyed, as have our parents before us. Seeing our children married under a chuppah creates a flow that transcends the narrowness of time. We are part of a flow.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the only way for that flow to move is if we, in turn, cede our place to those coming after us. In the passing and arriving of generations, there is rebirth, resilience, and a chance to get right what previous generations got wrong. Mortality and impermanence offer the consolation of belonging to something precious, tasting of something exquisite and ephemeral, that is briefly ours and then is shared in turn with those we have raised to cherish the moment while it is theirs.<\/span><\/p>\n

That flowing process is the word of God. The Divine is not found in static abstractions or timeless ideals, but in the pulsing hearts of those who live, struggle, give birth and pass on. The moment is precious in part because it ends all too soon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the flow of humanity, the vitality of the Jewish people, the advance of compassion, generosity, inclusion \u2013 these endure long after us.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":67116,"id":67116,"title":"is40-impermanence","filename":"is40-impermanence.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is40-impermanence.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-value-of-impermanence\/is40-impermanence\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is40-impermanence","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":67111,"date":"2019-12-17 12:15:56","modified":"2019-12-17 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