“Punchline,” the 1988 movie starring Tom Hanks and Sally Field, might not have been on a par with “Spaceballs” or even “Airplane” for comic memorability. But one line, which I paraphrase here, has stayed with me for years. If your children have a choice of you going away on vacation for a week to Hawaii without them, or staying home with them stuck in the apartment during a blizzard, they’ll choose the blizzard every time.
The Israelites aren’t much different. They want to know that God is nearby all the time. This week, the Torah teaches us that God’s constant presence came as a pillar of smoke by day and fire by night. But the anxiety that comes when we are vulnerable if not abandoned is more than understandable. While we may sometimes wrestle with the idea of a present and caring God, our innate drive to protect our children from a harsh world is something we can get our heads around.
