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CHAPTER EIGHT:Closing The Circle In Jewish Life Cycle: Rituals, Culture
And Us
A: Background
10. A Cycle Of Contrasts And Changes
The chapter on death and mourning closed with a quote from Kohelet –
Ecclesiastes, focusing on the author's observations concerning death.
His words indeed reflect some very deep and true ideas that lie at the
centre of the Jewish approach to the subject.
In closing the circle, let us return to Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), and what
are probably the most famous words in the book: one of the most famous
- and true - statements ever made about what it means to be a human being.
There is a time for everything
And a season for every activity under Heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tea down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain,
A time to search and a time to give up,
A time to keep and a time to throw away,
A time to tear and a time to mend,
A time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate,
A time for war and a time for peace…
Kohelet 3:1-8
The life of the human being is filled with contradictions: it is not
a life of straight lines, rather a life of curves and bumps. It is this
life that is both celebrated and reflected in the ritual of the life cycle.
If a culture can accept a real person as its object, a person
of curves and bumps, rather than a person who is being told constantly
to rearrange those inconsistencies into a life of straight lines, then
it is healthy and life-affirming.
We suggest that that is what the Jewish culture does, but who are we
to say? This may be how we see things: ultimately, it is you and your
students who must assess the evidence and draw your own conclusions.
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