Living Judaism

Chapter One
In the Beginning
An old Jewish legend:
In the beginning-before the beginning-God's light filled the entire universe.
When God decided to create the world, He had to withdraw some of His light from the universe, so that there would be space for the land and the seas, the trees and the corn stalks, the butterflies and the lions, the ladybugs and the sea otters.
So God breathed in some of the Divine light, so that there would be room for all the things He wanted to create.
But what was God to do with the light-with the light of His Being that had filled the whole universe-now that He had breathed it in?
God put the light into jars, heavenly vessels that would hold His radiance.
And then God began to create: the sky and the earth, the dry lands and the waters, the fiery sun, the shimmering moon and the twinkling stars, the forests and the deserts, the creepy crawly things and the birds of the air, the fish of the seas and the animals roaming from here to there.
Everything was going so well. Creation was shaping up just perfectly. God was having a wonderful time!
But in the heavens, there was trouble.
God's light, which He had put into the vessels, could not be hidden away. For no vessel-not even a heavenly vessel-could contain the radiant light of God. The glory of God's splendor was accustomed to filling the universe, not being hidden away in little jars.
So it wasn't too long until-with a blazing flash-God's light burst out of the heavenly vessels.
The force of the mighty impact caused the jars to shatter into millions of little pieces.
And the light itself splintered into billions of little sparks.
The broken pieces of the vessels fell to the newly formed earth and became the ills and the evils that beset the world-little pieces of anguish and travail that, one day, will have to be collected, repaired, and made whole again.
And what happened to the billions of little shards of light?
Each of the little shards of light, the sparks of God, became the soul of a human being.
That which makes the lump of clay that is a human body into a living, breathing, person-a person capable of thinking and knowing, reasoning, and remembering, a person capable of doing justly and feeling compassion-is the soul. And the human soul is a tiny piece of God, a tiny fragment of God's light, a spark of the Divine that burst forth from the heavenly vessels and showered the universe.
God declared that the crowning works of creation were these human soulsman and woman, created in His image, created with a spark of His Divine Being. And to man and woman, God assigned a divine task and a sacred mission.
Each person, then and now, is to joyfully share the universe with God, to be His companion and helpmate, His resident caretaker and earthly steward.
And each person, then and now, is to be a partner with God in healing and transforming the universe: picking up the little pieces of the shattered vessels, repairing them, and making them-and the world-healthy and whole.
In every generation, in every time and place, human beings have developed religious and philosophical systems to seek and find God, to understand and fulfill God's word, to share with God in the ongoing process of the daily re-creation and transformation of the world, to enrich and ennoble their own lives.
For almost 4,000 years, Judaism has been-and continues to be-a wise and rewarding pathway to God; a clear channel for understanding and doing God's will, and for enhancing cosmic and personal existence. Judaism is a religion that is intellectually honest, emotionally satisfying, and spiritually uplifting. And Judaism creates a faith community that is deeply rooted, strongly bonded, and passionately loyal.
This book is your invitation into the world of Judaism.