{"id":47098,"date":"2019-01-25T01:34:42","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T07:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=47098"},"modified":"2019-01-25T01:34:42","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T07:34:42","slug":"off-the-pulpit-dont-grovel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/off-the-pulpit-dont-grovel\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Pulpit: Don’t Grovel!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

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Well, Monty Python may be British but their God sounds Jewish. When God first speaks to the prophet Ezekiel, the call begins: \u201cStand on your feet that I may speak to you (2:1).\u201d In Jewish prayer we bend for a blessing, but we say God\u2019s name once we have returned to an upright position. Falling to one\u2019s knees or on one\u2019s face is very rare, restricted to the high holidays.<\/p>\n

Judaism has elements of submission. We are not God, and remain conscious of the vast gulf between ourselves and the Eternal. Yet we are shutafim, partners, and invested with the agency and dignity of being God\u2019s messengers in this world. So when we approach the Divine in prayer or study or meditation, it is in recognition of the nobility of being human and the privilege of partnership. As the Psalmist says, God has made us \u201clittle less than angels, and clothed us in glory and majesty (Ps.<\/em> 8:5).\u201d Be humanly humble \u2013 don\u2019t grovel.<\/p>\n

(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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