“God is with me; I have no fear!”: The Spiritual Life of a Rabbi and Its Meaning for You

By Rabbi Dr. Steven Moss

Are you searching for God in your life? Are you looking for hope and faith during difficult times? In “God is with me; I have no fear!”, Rabbi Dr. Steven Moss shares his personal and professional encounters with God from his childhood to the present time. He hopes that his experiences will resonate with the reader to affirm or awaken a faith in God to help him or her through the good and tough times in life. This is an uplifting book to help the reader through the challenges of modern life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781716942648

Book preview

"GOD IS WITH ME;

I HAVE NO FEAR!"

The Spiritual Life of a Rabbi

and Its Meaning for You

RABBI DR. STEVEN MOSS

Copyright © 2020 Rabbi Dr. Steven Moss.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored,

or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical,

or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the

case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized

reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names

of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission

of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The

NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in

the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

ISBN: 978-1-71694-265-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-71694-264-8 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 05/11/2020

This

book is written with great thanks

to God. Also, a loving thank-you to my

wife Judy for her ever-present support

and to my dear friend Faye Robins, who

has been my spiritual support and editor.

I want to express my appreciation to

readers Rabbi Aaron Benson and Joel

Shapiro, and to my extraordinary

proof-reader Geri Burgert.

I will always appreciate the guidance

my parents, Doris and Ira, gave to

me and the spiritual presence of

Rabbi Zev Wolf Turbowitz, who is

with me every day of my life.

PREFACE

This is a book about faith. A faith in God. My faith and hopefully your faith as well!

I have written this book to welcome you to become a spiritual athlete along with me. This book is not meant to be read quickly. It calls upon you to read and then to reflect upon your reactions to the spiritual encounters I will share in this book. Each chapter is meant to stand on its own and should be read in this way.

As I share with you the moments in my life when I had experienced God’s Presence, I hope they will enable you to find your faith or at least strive to achieve such faith.

My sharing of these spiritual encounters with the ever present being of God is not to put me in a more spiritual place than you. Quite the contrary, it is my most humble prayer, that by my sharing these experiences, you will allow these descriptions to either awaken you to recall experiences you have had or be open to similar experiences with God when they occur in the future. I believe with perfect faith that such experiences are there for everyone.

Each chapter will present an experience I have had with God in my life, followed by my reflection on that experience. My hope is that this will open doors for you to write down your own reflections, meditations, and applications to be used in your daily life.

At the end of each chapter, space will be left for personal notes.

May God be with you, as

God has been with me!

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Many people find it quite challenging to believe that God is always with them. It does seem, at times, that such a belief is so far from everyday experiences. Yet, it was the Kotzker Rebbe who answered his students’ question, Where is God? with the now famous words, God is only where you let God in. The deep meaning of the Kotzker’s answer is so tremendous because it lets a person know that the Divine Presence is real. The acceptance of the awareness of the Divine is up to each individual.

Reflecting on the words and their expression of a belief in a living God, I can recall the morning prayer service in the Jewish liturgy that ends with a prayer entitled Adon Olam, which can be translated as Ruler of the Universe. After many years of being a congregational Rabbi, I am certain I can say that there are worshippers who look forward to Adon Olam because of its wonderful melody, either the traditional one or one of the multitude of others that are sung these days in the synagogue. I am also sure that there are those who look forward to the last of the prayer’s stanzas, because on Shabbat and holidays, it means the service is about to conclude and then the congregation can go into the social hall and enjoy a delicious collation called the Oneg Shabbat or Kiddush.

I would also like to believe, however, that there are those who are inspired by the words of this 15th-century hymn, and especially its last words, Adonai Li; V’lo Yirah, God is with me; I have no fear, which is a quotation from Psalm 118:6, because of the deep meaning and personal spiritual significance found within them. These