תורת רושל זלLetters to a Future Child
Noah Willis H ey man,
If you’re getting this when I hope you will, then you will have just graduated eighth grade. Congrats. High school is a lot different from middle school. I remember when I started high school. I was so ready to focus on the classes that I thought were important. I remember thinking that I was not going to pay attention at all in Talmud or Bible and instead put all of my effort into my secular classes. I will always regret wasting those classes Freshman year. However, at the time I thought that Judaic classes and Judaism overall were not important to me.
God is hard. I wrote an essay at the beginning of my Junior year of high school in which I explained at that time that I had a hard time believing in God, and thus Judaism. How could I look outside at all the pain, all the suffering, and believe in a God who allowed this to happen? How could I believe in a God who allows me to feel pain?
I would never imagine how important and meaningful these classes would become for me after I changed my mindset. So, to help ensure you do not fall into the same trap that I found myself entangled in, I am writing this letter to give you a glimpse into how meaningful living in this eternal covenant truly is.
Religion was and is still hard for me. But that is okay. It is supposed to be hard. I concluded that paper with the sentence: “I am comfortable with these struggles.” Struggling is inherent in Judaism. Israel literally translates to “wrestling with God” (another line I stole from that essay). Dr. Avivah Zornberg, a modern commentator, whose writing I am sure you will become well acquainted with, claims that “[k]nowing oneself, maintaining communication with oneself, [is] a spiritual ideal, requiring rigorous and transformative work” (The Beginning of Desire). Finding yourself and your Judaism requires work, but eventually pays off beautifully.
I first want to say that I understand. Having faith in
See Willis, next page
12
