"Who Shall Live" - The Unetaneh Tokef

[Lisa]

For me, the Unetaneh Tokef has always been the most memorable part of the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services.  Here's a video on YouTube about it that really got me.  I cried when I watched it. 



What do you guys think?

[MassuhDGoodName]

Re:  "What do you guys think? "

Well, Lisa, it's obvious that this G-d of ours does an awful lot of killing.  And for what reason?  Hard to figure out, because if you ask me He could just skip all this hardship and toil and either a)wipe out the world and everything in it and just get it over with, or b) bring Moshiach and stop all the killing and trouble.

However, there is good news!

He has kept and preserved "The Killer" - Jerry Lee Lewis!

Which proves that G-d does answer prayers!

[muman613]

Re:  "What do you guys think? "

Well, Lisa, it's obvious that this G-d of ours does an awful lot of killing.  And for what reason?  Hard to figure out, because if you ask me He could just skip all this hardship and toil and either a)wipe out the world and everything in it and just get it over with, or b) bring Moshiach and stop all the killing and trouble.

However, there is good news!

He has kept and preserved "The Killer" - Jerry Lee Lewis!

Which proves that G-d does answer prayers!

Massah,

Are you always this irreverant?

I do not share your pessimistic view of Hashem. While it is true that there is a lot of pain and suffering in the world, it is also true that there is a lot of beauty and a lot of majesty in this world. The very fact that we are alive and breathing each day is a miracle. I am awed when I sit in my yard and I see the world I live in. I am able to look past the pain and suffering and appreciate the life which blossoms in this world. I also have absolute faith that there is another world, a world where we are free from physicality and we are experiencing absolute pleasure. Of course there may be some soul correction in the next world, and this may not be pleasurable, I do have absolute faith that there will be reward.

It is obvious that you do not share my outlook on this life and the next life. But the process a Jew should experience during the Ten Days of Awe should allow him to humble himself before the mighty King in Heaven, the Master of the Universe, and yet come out of Yom Kippur feeling purified and new, prepared to face the coming year in the hopes that any evil decree has been nullified.

I have seen evil decrees, and I have seen redemption from evil decrees. I put my trust and my faith in Hashem and he has barely ever failed me. My resoluteness gives me strength against every adversary I have ever come against, and I still stand tall. Hashem asks us to be humble, yet to strive for our perfection. Truth and Balance are traits which we should seek. I like to point out that our teacher Moses was called the most humble man ever on the planet, yet he is also considered the greatest man ever for bringing down the Torah from Sinai. Is it a contradiction to be humble yet be great? I do not think that way...