Hope

Hope emerges for that which is left undone.  We do not, after all, hope for things which we possess.  It is a rare individual who even  can express thanks for the things we have.  For example, how many people do you you suppose wake  in the morning saying, “Thank You, God for not giving me cancer today?”  Most of us travel unexpressionless throughout life.  Except for uttering words of hope when we are needy.

We are the people of hope for at least two reasons,  We are hopeful because of all the abuse we have suffered throughout the millenia.  That suffering has made us look heavenward to gain succor in an often cruel world.  We are also hopeful because we are bidden to yearn and work for a better earth, a more whole world.  So much of our liturgy is consumed with improving life for others.  Also, think of the great emphasis Judaism places on tzedaka.

King Solomon began  and completed building the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.  Privy to God’s  confidence, Solomon understood that the future world  would bring destruction to Jerusalem, so he ordered his craftsmen to carve out a double cave beneath the city.  The double cave would house both the Ark and the original Tablets of God. 

On the day of the siege four hundred and ten years later, the Babylonians converged on Jerusalem.  The Jewish King Josiah  ordered the Ark and Tablets placed into the cave before sealing it.  There they remain today.

According to  the Masora ancient tradition, these sacred objects will be revealed when the Lord reveals the Ultimate Peace.

In the meanwhile, they remain hidden because of the fear that the Ark and the Tablets inscribed on Mt.  Sinai would be misused.  Only when humanity is ready to receive them again will the hidden location be divulged.

Hope keeps the dream alive.  It makes us believe in ideas as attainable possibilities.  Hope also demands work.  After all, if we hope, we must work for our goals.  That is the mystery and grandeur of life.