'Why' does not mean 'why'

“Why?” I asked the question several times as I pondered whether I would attend “an evening with Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis” an 80-year old Jewish lady who survived the Holocaust and has since then dedicated her life to promoting a rediscovery of the Jewish faith.

 Given the current worldwide tension, it seemed prudent to stay away from anything that remotely qualified as a “target” for Islamic extremists.

Nonetheless friendship and a fatalistic sense of purpose sent me off. The program started and the frail little lady came on stage, a grandmother in a cocktail dress with a soothing manner to her speech but with precise logic and process.

She began by asking why are “tests” necessary in life and to guide us to accurately understand ideas we must always go to the first instance something is laid down because the first is always definitive. Then she recalled how God “tested” Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Why did God “test”? Why do doctors test their patients, why do professors give “tests” to their students?

Essentially we need tests to determine the true condition of the spirit or of the mind as well as the body. Tests bring to the surface the things that need to be addressed, to be healed or to be corrected. In order to discover wealth of character, one must dig deeply into the soul. It is through “tests” that you become wiser.

When “tests” come or happen in our lives our natural response has often been to ask “why?” Unfortunately modern language is very far from the Hebraic or foundational meaning of “why”. The modern “why” essentially questions (as unacceptable) the occurrence of an event in our life, but the Hebrew meaning of “why” as God intended is actually: What does God want me to learn from this?

There are no “accidents” in life for people of faith. So one wastes time contesting or challenging “why” something has happened in their life. Instead, you dig deep to understand the purpose or relevance of an event. A second meaning or application of “why” is: What does God want me to do in this situation? 

So rather than get stuck in the mud we should try to learn and turn a situation towards God’s evident plan or divine purpose.

The wisdom of the rooster

Growing up or perhaps while in the concentration camp of Bergen Belsen they learned to thank God for the wisdom of the rooster.

The rooster knows the difference between darkness and light.

As such we must likewise live knowing the difference between good and evil. We must never compromise what is right or we will suffer for allowing wrong. To this day, the lessons of the Holocaust repeat itself in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe where hundreds up to hundreds of thousands are slaughtered in genocide or ethnic cleansing because the “world” and people like you and me did not stand up to ”crow” about good and evil.

The rooster knows its purpose. It marks the turning of darkness into light. The rooster crows to announce the break of dawn. It is not affected by mood swings, it performs its task because it knows its purpose. Do you know the purpose why God placed you where you are for a time such as now? Are you even trying to understand your purpose? “Who you are is not what you do”.

As she focused on knowing our purpose “Esther” shared the time in the concentration camp when her grandfather told the little children: “always try to smile… that others may have courage.” Your face is public property as well as your smile. “Because of that, my heart may not smile but my lips will. As long as I have life in me, I will do what I must. The rest is up to God”.

The rooster reminds us that no matter how dense the darkness, the morning will come!

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Don’t try to impress this lady with titles and scholarly achievements. As she put it: “I have known scientists who built gas chambers, I have known chemists who formulated the poison, I know of doctors who made lamp shades out of our skins. And they were always impeccably polite. They always said “Bitte Schoen” and “Dank Schoen” (Formal Please and Thank You in German).

At a time when Israel has become an “aggressive” state, Esther reminded us of how the Old Testament Joseph went from slave to savior of Egypt by becoming second only to Pharaoh but when Joseph died, the Israelites assimilated and gave up being Jews. The saviors became just like the saved. They fell into slavery under the Egyptians. It is a lesson well worth reflecting because it is the same sin that we Filipinos are so guilty of.

From the second richest nation in Asia before World War II, from the only Christian nation in Asia, we have fallen into the arms of many conquerors and saviors. We embraced their way of living but in the end they ravaged us as a people and left behind the cultural diseases.

In the old days we had similar practices as the Jews. We kissed or were blessed by the hands of our elders. We made the sign of the cross as we left home or began on a journey. We dedicated our work and our harvest to God almighty. We rejoiced and shared in our abundance while we repented of our sins at lent, and mourned for each other in wakes. Each day was ended at sunset on our knees in fervent prayer. In all things, just like the Jews we gave glory to God.

To whom do we give the glory now? And when “God’s glory” departs as it has from the “Temple” and from the Israelites in the past, do we even stop to wonder why? Whether you are Jew or Gentile, even a Muslim, there can only be one God. To walk away from him is to walk away from Life.