3 And my name YHWH I did not reveal to them.
Exodus 6
Every generation has its own myths and truths. As each one differs from the next, so does the perception of God. What divine configuration do we perceive? “Oseh Shalom” – “Peacemaker” – from afar?
3 Making peace in the most exalted places
Job 2
Do we wish we could hold fast to that image, even though no image of God can ever really be grasped?
23 Cast your burdens on to YHWH who will sustain you, no righteous will ever be allowed to stumble
Psalm 55
Does God seem like the CEO of a multinational conglomerate? If everything goes well, who needs to contact God? When stocks fall and business is bad, then the employees begin to complain (and maybe even to pray). How much can any CEO really do? How much should we expect to be done for us?
3 My soul yearns for God, for the god of life; when will I arrive and perceive God’s presence?
Psalm 52
We don’t need any intermediaries to connect to the divine. We want to feel the awesome power and quiet assurance from somewhere in the cosmos. We want to be central to the plans of the cosmos, but we need some sign or reassuring tap on the shoulder.
2 Like a deer yearns for streams of water so my soul yearns for you God.
Psalm 42
We are waiting for our moment of revelation. We carry the burdens of life within us and yearn to be able to connect and perceive. Maybe the perception comes while we are yearning and not just living our daily lives.
3 Abraham and Sarah knew the divine by many names: Elohim, Adonai, El Elyon, El Shaddai, El Olam as did Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel and Leah.
Exodus 6
If so many of our fore-fathers were reported to be called to divine encounters, why weren’t our fore-mothers called to a journey to encounter the divine presence?
Is it possible that they never needed to travel far to sense God’s presence…?
When did Sarah and Rebecca sense God's presence?
When the bread was rising
When the meat was cooking
When did Leah and Rachel?
When they felt their unborn baby move within them
When the children were safely sleeping in their beds
They were always waiting patiently for the Shechinah
to settle down beside them at the fire and
to rock the cradle through their fingertips.
3 Yes I have imagined your holiness, to see your power and glory
2 My soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you.
Psalm 63
Midrash Harabah and English translations by Rabbi Gail Shuster-Bouskila ©2021