Conference taveng::bagels

1258.0. "May the Lord bless you and keep you..." by SHALOT::NICODEM (Avoid traffic; leave work at noon) Mon Sep 14 1992 17:07

	I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to write this note. 
I've been debating about it for some time, but it now looks as though
I'd better get it done if I'm going to do it. 

	I have become one of the more recent victims in the "Layoff
Wars" in Digital.  After almost 20 years (my 20-year anniversary would
have been in 4 weeks!), the "masterminds" who are architecting the New
Digital apparently feel that there is no future in Office applications
for Digital, and my entire group (the Enterprise Integration Center in
Charlotte, NC) is being shut down.  This Friday will be my last day at
Digital.  But rather than being a "weepy good-bye", or expressing some
of the bitterness and anger that is inside me, I am writing for another
purpose. 

	Although I have certainly been more active in other areas
within Digital, and in other Notes conferences, this is the only place
I have felt moved enough to share some of my final thoughts with those
whom I've come to "know" over the past several years.  I appreciate
the thoughts, the concerns, the openness, the sharing -- even the
"personalities" that have come through the various notes in this
conference. 

	I always made it a point of getting into BAGELS as one of the
first things I did in the day, or after being away for awhile.  So
many of the topics and discussions have challenged me -- challenged me
to evaluate so many of the things that I either take for granted, or
perhaps overlook entirely. 

	As those of you know who have seen some of my notes, I don't
really get involved in the political discussions, and seldom in the
cultural or holiday or travel or entertainment or other general notes.
 But I have had an intense interest in any of the topics that address
the Jewish people -- or anyone, for that matter -- in relation to
their God. 

	For me, that relationship has always been more personal than
ritual; more from the heart than from the head.  And as I write this
last note, that is what I would continue to urge for each of you. 
Continue your discussions, certainly; stimulate and challenge each
other.  But do not let the "jot and tittle" issues become stumbling
blocks.  I see too many notes from those who have turned away from
their upbringing because they see too much debate, too many
argumentative words and not enough action that bears up those words. 

	Don't attempt to judge an infinite God based on finite man;
man will always fail.  Man will always be able to be classified as
"hypocritical", for the simple reason that he will *never* be able to
live up to God's standards. 

	In His covenant with Moses at the end of the Torah, God
promised a restoration of Israel -- for all time.  But that
restoration was conditional; it is summed up at the end of the 10th
verse of the 30th chapter of Deuteronomy: 

	"...*if* you turn unto the Lord your God with all your
	heart, and with all your soul." 

	I am not an Orthodox Jew; I do not keep kosher; I do not abide
by every Talmudic principle.  I do not feel that lighting a candle at
one hour of the day compared to any other makes me better or worse in
the sight of God.  (Please... don't anyone take this personally; I
respect and honor your own beliefs as well.)  I *do* believe that what
is in my *heart* is the most important. 

	And that is why I take this time to encourage *all* readers of
this conference -- Jews, Christians, agnostics, or whomever -- to
re-evaluate the simple question:  Who is God, and what does He want of
*me*?  For myself, the answer to that is not to constantly question
His authority, or to re-define His laws in terms of my own "comfort
level".  Because if I do, I will find myself so wrapped up in
discussions of the "politics" of God, or the gender of God, or issues
like whether it is wrong to accidentally trip a neighbor's infra-red
motion detector light on the Sabbath, or how long I have to hold my
hand out of a window on the Sabbath,  or how many angels can dance on
the head of a pin... that I will lose sight of the real issues --
issues such as God's divine love, compassion, and mercy, as well as
His sovereignty and justice. 

	In that light, what God wants of me, I believe, is to
acknowledge Him *as* God... to acknowledge His perfection and my own
imperfection... and to keep my eyes on *His* goal -- eternity, where
"a thousand years are but as yesterday when it is past"  (Psa. 90:4)
-- rather than my own (which is typically centered around this
temporal life).  As Moses said in Psalm 90, "the days of our years are
threescore years and ten; and if, by reason of strength, they be
fourscore years... it is soon cut off... So teach us to number our
days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." 

	I believe that it all boils down to the words given to Solomon
just as he had completed the building of the temple: 

	"And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said
	unto him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this
	place for myself as a house of sacrifice...  If my people,
	who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
	pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,
	then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
	and will heal their land...  But if you turn away, and
	forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set
	before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship
	them, then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land
	which I have given them; and this house, which I have
	sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and
	will make it a proverb and a byword among all nations. 
	
	And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to
	every one that passes by it; so that he shall say, Why has
	the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house?  And
	it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of
	their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of
	Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and
	served them..." 

	Keep God first -- not just in "head knowledge", but in "heart
knowledge".  Not by ritual or rite, or because "the Law says I *have*
to", but because I *want* to.  Not argumentatively, but out of love --
love for God, and love for one another. 

	"For you are a holy people unto the Lord your God; the Lord
	your God has chosen you to be a special people unto himself,
	above all people who are upon the face of the earth.  The
	Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because
	you were more in number than any people; for you were the
	fewest of all people.  But because the Lord loved you... 
	
	Wherefore, it shall come to pass, if you hearken to these
	ordinances, and keep, and do them, that the Lord your God
	shall keep unto you the covenant and the mercy which he
	swore to your fathers. And he will love you, and bless you,
	and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your womb,
	and the fruit of your land...  You shall be blessed above
	all people."  --  Deuteronomy 7 

	Since I won't have the opportunity to say it later, let me say
L'Shana Tova to all of my friends here. May this coming year present
wonderful opportunities to enjoy God's love, and the advent of His Messiah. 
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. 

	"Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a
	new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of
	Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their
	fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring
	them out of the land of Egypt, which, my covenant, they
	broke...  But this shall be the covenant that I will make
	with the house of Israel:  After those days, says the Lord,
	I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
	their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my
	people. 
	
	And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and
	every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall
	all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of
	them, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and
	I will remember their sin no more." --  Jeremiah 31 

	Hallelujah! 

	Thank you again for the opportunity to share with you all. 

	Frank Nicodem 

Thank you. Nicely said.  Let's get to the wheat and get
rid of the chaff.

Good luck on your next endeavors.

Shelly (Sheldon)

    Good luck Frank,
    
    Malcolm

    Best wishes in your future endeavors.
    
    					Aaron

    That was beautiful, Frank.
    
    As the others have said, best wishes.  May the Holy One bless you with
    prosperity, security, and good health.  May this ending in your life be
    a new beginning for a satisfying livelihood.
    
    Laura

    Boy, I wish I would have seen this message before all these others
    that have replied to it!  I don't want to sound like a broken record,
    but...  Good luck and thanks for putting in your note.  Jake

    
    Very best wishes, Frank. Although we're not always in agreement,
    you are a gentleman who shows wisdom and respect for other beliefs.
    
    As for "jots and tittles" vs. duties of the "heart," I believe
    the two streams are by no means mutually exclusive - the former
    is the vehicle through which we prove the sincerity of the latter.
    Mere "belief" is a matter anyone can claim; the true test is 
    whether one is willing to subjugate his own desires to those of
    his Maker, *even* in the event that not every reason is understood
    (although we are commanded to *try* to understand).
    
    A story is told of a Jew who was eating a ham sandwich. Upon being
    rebuked for this transgression by a fellow Jew the former replied
    that he was a committed Jew in his heart, but what went into his
    mouth made no difference.
    
    The two drove off in the car of the sandwich-eater, and they stopped
    at a filling station. Before the driver could speak, his companion
    told the attendant to fill the tank with diesel fuel. The driver
    loudly objected that this would ruin the engine - which was made
    only for gasoline! Replied the companion, "don't worry - the intentions
    are good, therefore it can do no harm."
    
    With blessings for fulfillment,
    
    Yehoshua
    

Frank,

There isn't much more that I can say that I didn't already say when we chatted
on the phone last week. I'm still praying that the position which you discussed
with me works out. 

Hope to see you one of these days over here.

B'hatzlacha,

Cb.