(ז) יוֹצֵ֥ר אוֹר֙ וּבוֹרֵ֣א חֹ֔שֶׁךְ עֹשֶׂ֥ה שָׁל֖וֹם וּב֣וֹרֵא רָ֑ע אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה עֹשֶׂ֥ה כׇל־אֵֽלֶּה׃ {פ}
(7) I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe—
I GOD do all these things.
I make weal and create woe—
I GOD do all these things.
The People's Prayre Book, Shema and Its Blessings, PAGE? JUDITH PLASKOW
45:7, "I form light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil" as "who forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates everything," the Rabbis introduce a euphemism that avoids attributing evil to God. Of course, it is true that "everything" includes woe and evil, but the word conjures - and is probably meant to conjure- the plenitude of creation, rather than its destructive or negative aspects.
This alteration of Isaiah raises the question of truth in liturgy. Do we want a liturgy that names the truths of our lives, however painful or difficult they may be, or do we want a liturgy that elevates and empowers, that focuses on the wondrous aspects of creation alone? Are these goals in conflict, or can hearing truth itself be empowering? In The Book of Blessings, Marcia Falk comes down on the side of truth. If God is all in all, she argues, then the divine domain must include the "bad," and the bad ought to be named. Her blessing here says, "Let us bless the source of life / source of darkness and light / heart of harmony and chaos, / creativity and creation.
"
What does it mean, however, to pray to a God who is "heart of chaos"? The naming of this truth that if one God is responsible for the universe, then that God must be responsible for evil-surely elicits feelings of protest as much as reverence. "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" Abraham asks God, arguing over the intended destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah (Gen. 18:25). We might pose analogous questions in the context of and in relation to the liturgy as a whole. Shall not the king leave room for his subjects? Shall not the father honor the independence of his children? Is it not our obligation to struggle against the "bad" in the universe, whatever its origins? Thus our prayer might need to be expanded in the direction of protest. The masculine and hierarchical images of the prayer book in many ways capture the truth of our social and religious structures. We can seek to change those images as a step toward change in the structures, or we can name them as evil and woe and, in the context of a covenantal relationship, protest against them.
45:7, "I form light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil" as "who forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates everything," the Rabbis introduce a euphemism that avoids attributing evil to God. Of course, it is true that "everything" includes woe and evil, but the word conjures - and is probably meant to conjure- the plenitude of creation, rather than its destructive or negative aspects.
This alteration of Isaiah raises the question of truth in liturgy. Do we want a liturgy that names the truths of our lives, however painful or difficult they may be, or do we want a liturgy that elevates and empowers, that focuses on the wondrous aspects of creation alone? Are these goals in conflict, or can hearing truth itself be empowering? In The Book of Blessings, Marcia Falk comes down on the side of truth. If God is all in all, she argues, then the divine domain must include the "bad," and the bad ought to be named. Her blessing here says, "Let us bless the source of life / source of darkness and light / heart of harmony and chaos, / creativity and creation.
"
What does it mean, however, to pray to a God who is "heart of chaos"? The naming of this truth that if one God is responsible for the universe, then that God must be responsible for evil-surely elicits feelings of protest as much as reverence. "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" Abraham asks God, arguing over the intended destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah (Gen. 18:25). We might pose analogous questions in the context of and in relation to the liturgy as a whole. Shall not the king leave room for his subjects? Shall not the father honor the independence of his children? Is it not our obligation to struggle against the "bad" in the universe, whatever its origins? Thus our prayer might need to be expanded in the direction of protest. The masculine and hierarchical images of the prayer book in many ways capture the truth of our social and religious structures. We can seek to change those images as a step toward change in the structures, or we can name them as evil and woe and, in the context of a covenantal relationship, protest against them.