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Rabbi Marc Gellman began his studies in 1969 at the University of Wisconsin, and went on to attend the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of ...
Read more about By Rabbi Marc Gellman, Tribune Media Services.
MANY FAITHS CAN EMBRACE 'THE LORD'S PRAYER'
By Rabbi Marc Gellman, Tribune Media Services
Q: I was asked the question, "Can people of all religions say the 'Our
Father?'" My answer, perhaps naive, is yes, because of the words of
this prayer. It comes from the Gospel given to us by Jesus, but one
that I feel people of all faiths could say together. What are your
thoughts? I view life as looking at what brings people together in
their beliefs, instead of what divides us. - P., via godsquadquestion@aol.com
A: I taught Father Tom Hartman how to say the prayer over bread in Hebrew, and he taught me how to say the Lord's Prayer, the Pater Noster in Latin. It was not a fair trade. The Lord's Prayer is one of the most perfect prayers ever written, and the prayer over bread, the motzi, is--well--a prayer over bread. The Lord's Prayer is found two nearly identical versions in the New Testament. The classic version (Matthew 6:9-13) reads:
"After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." (KJV)
The version from Luke 11:2-5 reads:
"And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil." (KJV)
The Lord's Prayer is the most famous and most central prayer in Christianity. I've always found this quite surprising since it never once mentions the name or divinity of Jesus. Nevertheless, it's the prayer at the heart of Christianity, and it is the Christian heart I love so dearly.
As to your question, Jews can pray this prayer. I do so myself, or when others pray it, I answer "Amen," which means I trust it is true. I'm comforted to be able to participate in some element of Christian prayer, and thrilled that this element is not some peripheral, obscure, or marginal prayer but one from the core of Christianity. That core is directly echoed in many Jewish prayers. It begins with acknowledging the sacredness of God's name. The Jewish prayer for the dead, the kaddish, begins in exactly this way.
The next spiritual move of the prayer is trust that however broken the kingdoms of earth may be, they will one day be swept up in the healing and peaceful kingdom of God. This is trust in the future.
Gandhi once said that to a hungry man, God is bread, and so the part of the prayer asking God to give us our daily bread is both a plea for simple sustenance and a prayer asking for simple sustenance and not lavish selfishness.
The part asking God to forgive our sins is importantly paired with our commitment to forgive those who sin against us. We cannot seek what we will not grant.
Temptation is the portal to sin. This is not a spiritual truth alone, but also the truth of how we fail to find our best selves. Buddhists call this temptation, tanha, which means grasping at something that's only an illusion. The single greatest gift of God is the inspiration to overcome our baser instincts.
The prayer concludes (in Matthew's version) with a prayerful admission of God's sovereignty. This is one of the hallmarks of Judaism, Christianity and particularly Islam, which share this deep humility before God's majesty and grace.
The Lord's Prayer is kosher for all 20Abrahamic faiths, and also consonant with my understanding of Hinduism. Buddhism may not hold a belief in God but deeply embraces the idea of forgiveness conveyed in this spiritual masterpiece.
I've often said that the mission of the God Squad is to remind people that we know enough about how we're different and not enough about how we're alike. The Lord's Prayer is not just a prayer but a proof text of how when we pray we are indeed all the same. Amen!
Q: Our daughter married a Jewish man in the Catholic Church, and all five of their children were baptized Catholic. The two boys were circumcised--one by the mohel, the other by a doctor. The children attended Mass with their mother until the oldest reached the age for First Communion. Their father then decreed that they should no longer attend Mass and could decide about religion when they were grown. Was this honest on his part? - Anonymous, via godsquadquestion@aol.com
A: As a rabbi, I think these children should continue to be raised as Catholics. An agreement to baptize, attend Mass, and make their first Holy Communion constitutes an agreement to raise them as Catholics. The sudden dictate of your son-in-law to prevent them from continuing their natural religious rhythms is cruel and arbitrary.
Your question raises an important element in the continuing saga of interfaith marriages that fills my e-mailbox every week: Sometimes, partners in interfaith marriages make promises to raise children in their spouse's faith that they intend to keep -- until they actually face the sacrifice involved.
I recall a case where a Catholic husband agreed to raise Jewish children to satisfy the desires of his wife. However, when their first child was born, he panicked and took the child to be baptized. The marriage collapsed over this act. In speaking to him, I was impressed with his honesty, if not his impetuousness. He said he felt blackmailed into agreeing to raise any children as Jewish. When he actually saw his child, he realized the claims of Catholicism were still strong in him and he couldn't uphold his end of the coerced bargain.
This problem is among the lurking dangers of interfaith marriage. We just can't know if what we agree to today about raising a child as yet unborn will be something we can in good conscience agree to tomorrow when the child is in our arms and in our heart.
(Send QUESTIONS ONLY to The God Squad, c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207, or email them to godsquadquestion@aol.com.
(c) 2009 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
This news arrived on: 04/16/2009
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