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All of us have limits to our patience. You probably know some people who have a short fuse and some who seem to possess an inexhaustible supply of patience. We are familiar with the experience of waiting on line, looking at our watches, and exhaling in a loud way. We also can marvel at a teacher who seems to just go with the flow. Technology seems to have shortened our patience quota. Have you ever sent a text message and watched your cellphone screen awaiting an immediate response? And if you don’t receive a response instantly you are annoyed? Are you now reluctantly nodding your head recognizing yourself in this scenario?

Have you ever wondered if God loses patience with us, and if so, what might the consequences be? Look no further than the story of Noah, or the Tower of Babel, or Sodom and Gomorrah. Even God has limits on Divine patience. This week’s Torah reading certainly demonstrates God’s impatience with the Israelites. To set the stage properly, they have only recently exited Egypt and then witnessed the Revelation at Mt. Sinai. We would think that the experience of the Ten Plagues followed by the parting of the Reed Sea would have been convincing of the power and awesomeness of God. It has been said that while Israel left Egypt, Egypt never left Israel. The generation to leave could not adapt to the blessings of freedom and One God. Ultimately God made them sojourn for forty years, as they could never acquire the faith nor skills necessary to live in the Promised Land. Only their children, most of whom were born into freedom, would be given their privilege.

Moses dwelt in God’s Presence for forty days and nights, and the as yet unrealized faith in God waned, the end result was the creation of a golden calf to worship. To say that God was irate is an understatement. God calls the Israelites a stiff-necked people for the first time, a tragic title that gets repeated many times, as their stubbornness is not a positive trait, and regularly referenced when they stray from God. This continuous inability to demonstrate gratitude to God, specifically through the performance of mitzvot, also becomes the foundational reason for the destruction of both Holy Temples.

I sometimes wonder what God must think of us nowadays. Our incredible achievements in the arts and sciences must give God great joy in seeing the creativity of His creations. Our inhumanity must sadden God greatly. Where  humanity sits on God’s scales only God knows. Likewise for each of us, as we ponder this weighty question during the Ten Days of Penitence leading up to Yom Kippur. God promised Noah that the world and all it contains would never be destroyed again, and set the rainbow as a promise. In out attempts to be god-like, we seem to have a penchant for the destructive side of our nature. Several sources that I checked listed 100 or more conflicts across the globe, which seem to reinforce God’s observation after the Flood that man’s innate nature is evil from his youth. Was God right?

I have no doubt that there can be things that we say or do that some might even characterize as evil. And we might also form the same opinion about them. Lost are our commonalities, those things that we both want. They are the bridges that must be crossed, the starting point for our coexistence, the way to begin to overcome misunderstandings. For those who have received email from me, you may have seen a quote from Master Yoda that rings as true today as it did when Star Wars first premiered on May 25, 1977: “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to H. H leads to suffering.” Why can’t we have a positive alternative, such as: “Ignorance leads to questioning. Questioning leads to understanding. Understanding leads to tolerance. Tolerance leads to respect.” I’m ready. The world is ready. Are you?