Enduring story

Editorial

Bible Week, the ill-fated (at least in Arizona) November celebration of the Bible by state or city proclamation, falls during Jewish Book Month. For the people of the book, those of us who particularly value books and learning and whose history is recounted in the Hebrew Bible's enduring stories, Bible Week in an appropriate setting, such as the home and synagogue, would be a timely observance.

The Old Testament tells the story of the Jewish people, beginning with the covenant between God and the patriarch Abraham and continuing with the realization of divine promise through subsequent generations. It powerfully connects us to the past, inspiring a transcendent sense of peoplehood, as its stories are passed on from generation to generation. It also grounds us in the present and foretells the future, providing profound insights into the universal complexity of human relations.

Biblical characters, who at times seem larger than life, on close examination appear very human and very real. They possess the same foibles and frailties, the same weaknesses and strengths, the same insecurities and secret fears, the same propensity for evil, and the same capacity for goodness and compassion. Their lives turn on love and lust, on loyalty and betrayal, on rivalry and reverence. The endurance of the Bible is testimony to the humanness of its characters and the connection of their lives to our lives.

On Thanksgiving, which also falls during Jewish Book Month, we are reminded that we are indeed the people of the Bible, a book that without the need of a seal of approval from any governmental body, defines us as a people through the stories it tells, and as individuals through the qualities and values it transmits.

Having just gathered with family and friends around a holiday table to give thanks for each other and for our many other blessings, let us remember also to give thanks for a tradition that yields a still-unfolding story on which to anchor our lives and renew our spiritual bearings.

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