• Home
  • About
  • Feedback
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Jewish Coffee House
  • Productions
  • Podcasts
    • Orthodox Conundrum
    • Intimate Judaism
    • The Maimonides Minute
    • Chochmat Nashim
    • Intellectual Spirituality
    • Ask the Rabbis
    • The Franciska Show
    • Let My People Eat
  • Blogs
    • The Scott Kahnversation
    • Avenue-(G)K Blog
  • Productions
  • Podcasts
    • Orthodox Conundrum
    • Intimate Judaism
    • The Maimonides Minute
    • Chochmat Nashim
    • Intellectual Spirituality
    • Ask the Rabbis
    • The Franciska Show
    • Let My People Eat
  • Blogs
    • The Scott Kahnversation
    • Avenue-(G)K Blog
 
Jewish Coffee House
  • Productions
  • Podcasts
    • Orthodox Conundrum
    • Intimate Judaism
    • The Maimonides Minute
    • Chochmat Nashim
    • Intellectual Spirituality
    • Ask the Rabbis
    • The Franciska Show
    • Let My People Eat
  • Blogs
    • The Scott Kahnversation
    • Avenue-(G)K Blog
  • Productions
  • Podcasts
    • Orthodox Conundrum
    • Intimate Judaism
    • The Maimonides Minute
    • Chochmat Nashim
    • Intellectual Spirituality
    • Ask the Rabbis
    • The Franciska Show
    • Let My People Eat
  • Blogs
    • The Scott Kahnversation
    • Avenue-(G)K Blog
JCH » Politics » Orthodox Conundrum

When God Says No: A Pre-Selichot Conversation With Rebecca Sarchi (Special Episode)

September 6, 2023 3:52 pm

The tefilot of the Yamim Nora’im – starting from Selichot and continuing through Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – are deep and meaningful, but also long and often quite hard to understand. But that difficulty is minor compared with the theological problem of how to relate to God when our prayers go unanswered… when He seems to have abandoned us… when rather than a divine nod of approval, we feel like we are getting God’s cold shoulder.

This is a topic which Scott discussed over the past two weeks in his Substack, Orthodox Conundrum Commentary; it’s also an issue that everyone must confront at one point or another.

To that end, Scott spoke with Rebecca Sarchi, a high school principal living in Johannesburg. Right before Tisha B’Av, her son Chaim tragically passed away; despite their intense tefilot and mitzvah observance, God still said no. Rebecca decided that she wants to address what happened, and describe the ways that a person can maintain faith in the face of unthinkable tragedy.

She does not provide answers; instead, she simply talks about her and her family’s experience. She mentions the importance of prayer despite the possibility of God’s saying no. She describes the need to cherish every moment, and to live fully in every second. She advocates going outside of yourself, and reaching out to someone else. No, none of these are answers; instead, they are lessons that can hopefully help us gain proper perspective as we enter the end of Elul, and begin the countdown to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108).

Check out the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/.

Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more – we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse.

Check out https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast.

Music: “Happy Rock” by bensound.com

Share and Like
« Previous Post
Next Post »
Join Us

Bonus Content and Groovy Goodies

dedicate a  podcast

advertise with us

Join the JCH community!

Subscribe now
FOLLOW US
Twitter feed is not available at the moment.
Like Us
About
DEAR COFFEE DRINKERS AND OTHER HUMANS, Jewish Coffee House is a startup podcast network, which produces and broadcasts both audio and video content. (Also jokes.) We're starting off small, but we plan to expand... Read more
Contact Us
We want to hear from you. Send us an email at [email protected]
Or give us a call
USA and Canada: (917) 724-2241
United Kingdom: 203-769-1465
Israel: 058-527-9885
For more contact info click here
Popular

Laws of Pesach Part 8 – Hilchot Chametz uMatzah 4:7-12

Join the Maimonides Minute for the re-release of our series on the Rambam’s laws of Passover. This shiur offers additional

Podcasts
  • Orthodox Conundrum
  • Intimate Judaism
  • The Maimonides Minute
  • Chochmat Nashim
  • Intellectual Spirituality
  • Ask the Rabbis
  • The Franciska Show
  • Let My People Eat
Copyright 2018. All rights reserved, Rabbi Scott Kahn.
Accessibility   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy   Contact Us
Scroll to top
Skip to content
Open toolbar Accessibility Tools

Accessibility Tools

  • Increase TextIncrease Text
  • Decrease TextDecrease Text
  • GrayscaleGrayscale
  • High ContrastHigh Contrast
  • Negative ContrastNegative Contrast
  • Light BackgroundLight Background
  • Links UnderlineLinks Underline
  • Readable FontReadable Font
  • Reset Reset