Dear Friends,
The speed trap…
The tabloid at the check-out counter…
The donut on the counter…
Living in a world of laws and rules, we are tempted to break them.
On the open highway, why not put the pedal down? Paying for our groceries, why not indulge in some scurrilous falsehoods? Trying to eat healthily, the chocolate-glazed with sprinkles sure looks enticing.
The world is filled with tripwires, waiting to catch our unsuspecting feet, hands and minds.
The Torah warned us regarding living among neighboring idolators: be wary of their gods, “…Lest they make you sin against Me, for you will serve their gods – for they will be a snare unto you.” [Ex. 23:33]
God was rightly guarded against allowing the Israelites to live among pagan neighbors. We would backslide and engage in idol worship, forsaking God, and serving falsehood. The enticing snare of immediate worshipful gratification would be too alluring.
And, God was right. It can be difficult to stay on the right and proper path.
How many made New Year’s resolutions six weeks ago, and since surrendered them on the waters of temptation? How many diets were begun and dropped – not consciously – but due to the donut on the counter?
And, watching snippets of the Impeachment Trial on television, we see how so many could fall to falsehoods and canards, tripwires of a pagan idolatry which lead people from honesty and truth. Beating a police officer and threatening to kill a legislator over devotion to an idolatrous deception – is exactly the snare against which God was forewarning in antiquity.
It is vital to overcome the pull of temptation – for Jew or Gentile.
Perhaps that is exactly why God kept us wandering in the desert for 40 years. God sought to mature us and teach us how to be the people of laws and rules we were destined to be. That training period needed a focus, fully free from distraction.
Today, in a world full of distraction and temptation on every corner, every computer screen and every kitchen counter, it is no less difficult. Our task, however, is unchanged. Only the circumstances have become more insidiously testing.
It is our task to avid the traps which come is so many shapes and colors.
“…for you will serve their gods – for they will be a snare unto you.”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
The speed trap…
The tabloid at the check-out counter…
The donut on the counter…
Living in a world of laws and rules, we are tempted to break them.
On the open highway, why not put the pedal down? Paying for our groceries, why not indulge in some scurrilous falsehoods? Trying to eat healthily, the chocolate-glazed with sprinkles sure looks enticing.
The world is filled with tripwires, waiting to catch our unsuspecting feet, hands and minds.
The Torah warned us regarding living among neighboring idolators: be wary of their gods, “…Lest they make you sin against Me, for you will serve their gods – for they will be a snare unto you.” [Ex. 23:33]
God was rightly guarded against allowing the Israelites to live among pagan neighbors. We would backslide and engage in idol worship, forsaking God, and serving falsehood. The enticing snare of immediate worshipful gratification would be too alluring.
And, God was right. It can be difficult to stay on the right and proper path.
How many made New Year’s resolutions six weeks ago, and since surrendered them on the waters of temptation? How many diets were begun and dropped – not consciously – but due to the donut on the counter?
And, watching snippets of the Impeachment Trial on television, we see how so many could fall to falsehoods and canards, tripwires of a pagan idolatry which lead people from honesty and truth. Beating a police officer and threatening to kill a legislator over devotion to an idolatrous deception – is exactly the snare against which God was forewarning in antiquity.
It is vital to overcome the pull of temptation – for Jew or Gentile.
Perhaps that is exactly why God kept us wandering in the desert for 40 years. God sought to mature us and teach us how to be the people of laws and rules we were destined to be. That training period needed a focus, fully free from distraction.
Today, in a world full of distraction and temptation on every corner, every computer screen and every kitchen counter, it is no less difficult. Our task, however, is unchanged. Only the circumstances have become more insidiously testing.
It is our task to avid the traps which come is so many shapes and colors.
“…for you will serve their gods – for they will be a snare unto you.”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
