Windows & Doors

Anne Frank Found God in a Tree, Where Do You?

Friday April 17, 2009

The Anne Frank Center USA is embarking on a project to plant ten saplings, begun as cuttings from a dying tree in Amsterdam which figures significantly in the famous Diary of a Young Girl. And in doing so, they invite each of us to consider where we find God.

Her diary records the following spiritual practice which inspired one of the best known heroines of the Holocaust. She writes on February 23, 1944:

"From my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind. When I looked outside right into the depth of nature and God then I was happy, really happy."

Where do you find God? Is there some physical object or act which regularly connects you as deeply as that tree did, Anne? What?

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Comments
Karen Moore
April 20, 2009 9:40 AM

That is unfortunate for you because your last name indicates that you are from a prominent Jewish priestly tribe. Israel is now calling on all of those with the last name Cohen to register in order that their priestly garments be fitted for the new temple that will one day be rebuilt on the Temple Mount. Jehovah YHWH exists in more than someone's mind. He is Elohim the Creator and his Son Yeshua is the true Messiah. There is more here that you quite understand my friend. You see Yeshua is the only way to heaven. Trace your roots--and you will see!

Your Name
April 20, 2009 6:26 PM

God lives in my heart. But often I find him as I kneel in my garden upon my hill in the vast green beauty of my home here in Kentucky.

Today as I was listening to NPR I found a voice with such heart and understanding. Someone who holds in his hand, a true message of peace. That was you Rabbi

I only wish I could have made the trip to Louisville to visit you tonight and listen to you speak in person.

victoria weber
April 21, 2009 10:46 AM

one of my favorite places where i find God is the ocean,especially when there is a storm and the ocean is furious, i see God in all his glory,,,,another is the scenes he paints for us every day in the sky the Great artist paints us a new scene every minute of every day,i thank our Lord daily for these gifts

Andrea
April 21, 2009 1:50 PM

I am not Jewish, I am a Christian, but that doesn't mean that i do not respect those of the Jewish faith. I find God inside my heart, in the air and trees...in the sky and on the ground...I find him working his deeds throughout the world, but mostly I find him when I am alone and can speak to him with all that I am with no distractions. That is mostly when I am asleep. I love God. He is my Savior... my grandfather fought in WW2 and is unable to speak about what happened there or what he saw. I want to say that I will make an effort to teach my students the effects of evil and what one girl's words could do to so many.

I have read her diary....i watched movies on it...and every time I cried. I wanted to be there with her to hold her through the pain and suffering as I imagined what that atrocity of a man did to so many. I wanted to be able to change her fate every time I read a line from her diary or heard her speak in one of those movies. I read Night by Ellie Wiesel...and I cried then...I cry because I know it was wrong and that...that whatever you want to call Hitler....deserved to have been tormented beyond anything...instead he took the cowards way...

I am a Christian, but I love all of God's people.

melitta
April 22, 2009 11:00 AM

please the Holocaust in all our memory.

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brad.jpg Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism. Listed as one of the nation’s 50 most influential rabbis in Newsweek, and a regular commentator on Court TV, he is the creator of the popular series, Building Bridges, airing on Bridges TV, and the co-host of the weekly radio show, Hirschfield and Kula.

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