<html><body><div>the second bit of part 2</div><div><br></div><div>Bob</div><div><br></div><div>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Rabbi Sacks went on that scholars and people of wisdom “were
puzzled by the instruction, ‘Come near.’ This seems to imply that Aaron had
until then kept a distance from the altar. Why so? Rashi gives the following
explanation:</span><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(82, 82, 82); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Aaron was <i>ashamed and fearful</i> of
approaching the altar. Moses said to him: ‘Why are you ashamed? It was for this
that you were chosen.’</span><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(82, 82, 82); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There is a name for this syndrome, coined in 1978 by two
clinical psychologists, Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes. They called it
the <i>imposter syndrome</i>.<sup> 2</sup> People who suffer from it
feel that they do not deserve the success they have achieved. They attribute it
not to their effort and ability but to luck, or timing, or to the fact that
they have deceived others into thinking that they are better than they actually
are. It turns out to be surprisingly widespread, and particularly so among high
achievers. Research has shown that around 40 per cent of successful people do
not believe they deserve their success, and that as many as 70 per cent have
felt this way at some time or other.</span><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(82, 82, 82); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“However, as one might imagine, Rashi is telling us
something deeper. Aaron was not simply someone lacking in self-confidence.
There was something specific that he must have had in mind on that day that he
was inducted into the role of High Priest. For Aaron had been left in charge of
the people while Moses was up the mountain receiving the Torah. That was when
the sin of the Golden Calf took place.”</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Remember, Aaron wasn’t a bystander in this incident. He’d
been the instigator of the casting and worship of the calf idol. He felt
paralysed, unable to continue. Literally, he couldn’t come forward to the sanctuary
as Moses commanded. His feeling of guilt, of unworthiness, of letting everyone
down was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>THAT</u></b> crushing.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Now, we don’t know what, if anything, there was in Philip’s
past or if he’d fallen afoul of any hearing on his suitability to meet and
instruct the Ethiopian. Jesus had taken care of that, in the sense first, that
He’d called Philip personally to be a disciple; and, secondly, that Jesus’
loving sacrifice on the cross had redeemed and cleansed Philip. God knew what
was going on when the Ethiopian needed help and it was Philip who was placed
there.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I’m not saying that you and I are afflicted with importer
syndrome. But we can be mighty reticent to approach some people, to act in the
name and with the power of Jesus. But we must accept the hope, the security,
the joy, of knowing that we abide in Jesus precisely when we go out, when we
talk, when we offer even as much as a smile, when we say to the person working
in the ditch – or wherever that person is – bless you! Bless you for making
Hill Street safer; bless you for taking the time to check me through the
process of paying for my groceries; bless you for helping me find that book at
the library; bless you for – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>EVERYTHING!</u></b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And as we say that, we remember that there is no one – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>NO ONE</u></b> – who is beyond
redemption, no matter <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>WHAT</u></b>
anyone else says, not even Aaron…</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Because it is in blessing that we are blessed. It is in
having this attitude, having this intent that, as we come to the altar, we
imagine Jesus’ smile, and hear His words, “Bless you!”</span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>NOTES:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p>
<h3 style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;'><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“When Weakness Becomes Strength Shemini 5778”</i>
<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;'><a href="http://rabbisacks.org/weakness-becomes-strength-shemini-5778/"><span style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(102, 0, 153);">When Weakness Becomes Strength (Shemini 5778) - Rabbi
Sacks</span></a> </span><span style='margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 102, 33); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;'>rabbisacks.org › Covenant & Conversation</span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;'></span></h3>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>2</span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>“The
Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention.”
By </span></i><span style='margin: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>Pauline Clance and
Suzanne Ament Imes in<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> <span style="margin: 0px;">Psychotherapy: Theory, Research &
Practice</span></i>, <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>vol. 15, no. 3,
1978, pp. 241–247. </span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1979-26502-001"><span style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(102, 0, 153);">The
imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and ...</span></a><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 102, 33);">psycnet.apa.org/record/1979-26502-001</span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'></span></p>
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