A refiner of silver

[ellenscult]

This appeared in my Torah Forum digest this morning, so I thought I'd share it.

"The following was sent to me via our shul's e-mail list. I thought it was worth sharing. It needs no comment. I think the message is very clear.

Subject: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver"

There was a group of women that met for Bible study. While studying in the book of Malachi, chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled the women and they wondered how this statement applied to the character and nature of G-d. One of the women offered to find out more about the process of refining silver, and to get back to the group at their next Bible study.

The following week, the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him while at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest, beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about G-d holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse, "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but also he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver were left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that you are in G-d's hand, He has His eye on you, and He will keep holding you and watching you until He sees His image in you."

Comments

[st3v3.livejournal.com]

I notice in the earlier books of the bible that God is portrayed more anthropomorphically that in the later books; he walks around in a garden in Genesis and chats to Moses at the top of a mountain, for example. He makes mistakes, which he corrects with floods and such, and is unaware of things, like why Adam and Eve are clad in fig-leaves.

This story implies a similar idea of a more present, imperfect God, who creates impure silver then has to purify it.

Is this generally true in Judaism? I'm more aware of the christian idea of "God as an ideal gas", to paraphrase Alan Partridge - the all-knowing, always-present, totally-everywhere-and-everything, never-gets-it-wrong God. But the earlier scripture implies a tremendously powerful, but not all-powerful being, very knowledgeable but not all-knowing.

Any comments?

[ellenscult]

Well, one of the fundamental tenets of Judaism is that God created heaven and earth in seven days, and on the seventh day He rested. As in Christianity. But Judaism carries on to say that God didn't finish creating heaven and earth, so they're still unfinished. It's our duty to help in the work of creation and make this world as good a place as we possibly can.

I think all the other teachings go along the lines that God does things for reasons we can never know to achieve his purpose, whatever that is. So when he has to look to find Adam and Eve and asks what they've done, similarly with asking Cain where Abel is, that's done to make them think about what they've done and to give them the chance to show contrition for their acts. Among other reasons. It's not that he makes mistakes, just that he sets things going, and if we make a mess of it, he has to do a little cleaning up.

Having said that, he does seem a far more 'human' God in the OT (the Torah) with fits of temper, etc.

You can argue with God, though... *grin* One of my favourite bits comes when Moses is leading his people in the desert and they've been complaining about the food and complaining about being brought out of Egypt. Moses throws himself down on the ground and says (pretty much) "Give me some help, or kill me now! I can't take it any more!" And after the whole golden calf thing, God says, "You know, I can wipe these stiffnecked people out, and we can start again with your seed if you like." To which Moses says, "No, better not."

There's a great midrash (part of the Oral tradition) that a bunch of rabbis were having an argument, and it was one rabbi against the rest of them. So the one rabbi called on the ground to shake in support of him, and it did, and the river to flood, and it did, and finally the walls of the hall to come down. When the walls started sliding, the other rabbis said, 'Don't you dare! You (God) said you gave us your Word in the Torah, and it can't be added to or subtracted from - so you don't get a say now. Stop it.' And God did. Because that principle is too important to violate, along with the principle that the Jewish world must go with the majority decision, even if the one rabbi was right.

Good, eh? *grin*

[kissmeforlonger.livejournal.com]

I like that.

How true

[medains.livejournal.com]

Except that the heat of the fire doesn't always purify - only if you follow a good set of teachings (not necessarily those of a specific religion) will you become a 'more perfect' person. :)