Moment magazine asked a number of Jews: What do Jews bring to the world? Writer Nicole Krauss said, “I once heard Shimon Peres joke that the greatest Jewish gift to the world was dissatisfaction.” Krauss goes on to point out how the Jewish tradition is a questioning tradition. The Jewish book known as the Talmud may be the only sacred book in the world that invites its followers to doubt.
In the Talmud we find Jewish rabbis arguing about everything. If the rabbis finally refute an argument, it’s considered a form of failure, Krauss says. The point is to keep the argument alive; to learn to live within the uncertainties.
I have to admit that I want everything nailed down. I’m uncomfortable with uncertainty. Yet, I realize that part of maturity is to accept the fact that life is wonderfully wild. I will keep trying to revel in open-endedness.
No one knows—not even me. (Jesus—Mark 13.32)
If you have an opportunity today, say, “I don’t know.”
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