The first blessing before the Shma concludes with a cascade of descriptions of G-d. “…worker of wonder, creator of innovation, master of war, sower of righteousness, grower of salvation, creator of healing, awesome in splender, a lord of wonder. In His goodness forever renewing daily the work of creation.” If you recall, the beginning of this blessing talked about G-d being the creator of all, praised by all by virtue of their existence, simply in their being. Here, we see G-d described not in terms of His/Her creations, but in terms of His/Her actions (worker, creator…), our perceptions of them (healing, righteousness…), and our reaction to them (awe, wonder.)

The list of divine actions is diverse, and in a certain sense contradictory. For those who see G-d as their big teddy bear in the sky, the description of G-d as a master of war is jarring indeed. At the same time, those who imagine G-d as the sky thunderer will have trouble wrapping their heads around G-d as the creator of healing.

Put another way, the same remarkable expansiveness and inclusiveness we saw in describing G-d last week, as the creator of all, both good and bad, is repeated this week in terms of G-d’s actions.

To understand this, I turn to my favorite psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung, who developed the concept of archetypes, “instantaneous dramas” that are experienced by virtually all of humanity and that shape our lives. The Oedipus archetype that so fascinated Freud is one famous example, but there are so many more, found in the mythology and literature of nearly every culture on the planet: gods rescuing heroes, gods loving humans (one way or another!), gods of death, gods of planting and harvest, gods who offer gifts of healing, and so forth. The world positively churns with these constantly changing actions. Life is like a kaleidoscope, ever shifting, but still filled with divine goodness at every moment. And all of this is generated from one mind, one unique mind, that encompasses all, creates all, and sculpts all.

Truly, a “lord of wonder.”

Rabbi Robert L. Wolkoff