{"id":81409,"date":"2020-10-13T13:57:36","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T10:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=81409"},"modified":"2020-10-13T13:57:36","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T10:57:36","slug":"reason-and-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/reason-and-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Reason And Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In Psalm 22, we once again hear David\u2019s plaintive cries:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy God, my God, why have You abandoned me; why so far from delivering me and from my anguished roaring? My God, I cry by day\u2014You answer not; by night, and have no respite\u201d (Psalms 22:2-3).<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard not to sympathize with David\u2019s feelings of abandonment. Certainly in our world, where God\u2019s involvement in our lives is at best behind the scenes, we frequently feel that He is nowhere to be found.<\/span><\/p>\n

As powerful as his words are, there is a nuance to them that isn\u2019t easily seen in the English translation. When he asks, \u201cWhy have you abandoned me?\u201d the Hebrew word translated as \u201cwhy\u201d is <\/span>lama<\/span><\/em>. That isn\u2019t the only word for \u201cwhy\u201d in Hebrew, and the choice here is significant.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other word for \u201cwhy\u201d is <\/span>madua<\/span><\/em>. Also found in Biblical Hebrew, it is a contraction of <\/span>ma yadua<\/span><\/em>, so it originally meant \u201cwhat is known.\u201d As such, it refers to the cause (in the past) of a thing or event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lama<\/span><\/em>, which is more commonly used in both rabbinic and modern Hebrew, has a different etymology. Formed from the prefix <\/span>l-<\/em><\/span>\u00a0and the word <\/span>ma<\/span><\/em>, it means \u201cfor what.\u201d Sometimes it refers to a cause in the past (like in Genesis 4:7 and 12:18), but it can also be asking about a future purpose, as in Exodus 5:22 and Job 30:2.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knowing that <\/span>lama<\/span><\/em>\u00a0can refer to a future purpose can help us understand some difficult passages. For example, after the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses asks God, \u201cWhy <\/span>lama<\/span><\/em>, God, should You be angry at Your people?”\u00a0 (Exodus 32:11). The question seems strange at first glance, since the cause of God\u2019s anger is obvious \u2013 the grave sin of idolatry.\u00a0 But since <\/span>lama\u00a0<\/span><\/em>can also mean \u201cfor what purpose,\u201d Moses is asking God, \u201cfor what purpose is Your anger?\u201d How will You achieve your goal for humanity if you destroy Your people now in anger?<\/span><\/p>\n

This may also be the same perspective that David asks in our psalm. He does not ask <\/span>madua<\/span><\/em>, what was the reason for God\u2019s abandonment. The reasons for the tragedies in our world are beyond us. But David wants to know, <\/span>lama<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 what is the purpose of all this? What lessons should I be learning? What should I be doing to make things better?<\/span><\/p>\n

Every language is richer in some areas, and poorer in others. English has far more words than Hebrew does, but unlike Hebrew (and some European languages), it only has the one word for \u201cwhy.\u201d With these unique nuances, we can understand that sometimes we need to look backward to causes, but in other cases looking forward, determining the purpose of an action, is the central issue.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":81411,"id":81411,"title":"ps22-why","filename":"ps22-why.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps22-why.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/reason-and-purpose\/ps22-why\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps22-why","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":81409,"date":"2020-10-13 10:57:12","modified":"2022-09-29 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