Elul Daily Message -
originally sent Sept 12, 2001
Dear Chevre,

Yesterday, my head spinning with news reports of the carnage left in the wake of the multiple terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC, I stepped outside my office to walk. The sense of peace that usually comes with walking, however, just wasnt there. Amidst the death cries of thousands I kept hearing the question: Does faith matter?

What good is faith in a world where religion becomes a tool for hatred, and jet liners are turned into weapons of mass murder? As I walked and worried, this is what came to me. I share it with you here in place of our regular Elul message, and I ask your indulgence for doing so.

First, faith frees us from the strangle hold of fear, and the anger and violence that often accompany fear. Faith reminds us to shift from thoughts of revenge to the pain of the victims and their families. In place of revenge faith fuels a passion for justice. Justice is foundational to peace. Revenge is antithetical to it.

Second, faith allows us to step beyond the arbitrary boundaries of self and other and feel a deep and active compassion for all beings.

Even the most blood thirsty terrorist restricts his attacks to his enemies, to the other he has demonized in order to excuse the evil he is committing. Those with a real faith in the One from whom all beings arise have no enemies for they see no other. All is God, all is One. Love, not fear, is the natural response of the faithful to those we often call strangers.

So here are two reasons why the world needs more not less faith; two reasons for not abandoning our faith in God, but in renewing it and the obligations to justice and peace that faith entails even in the face of such horror.

Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro
STAR Elul Project coordinator