SIGNIFICANT LIFE EXPERIENCE P3.3

Question 1

Mark Weiner

Answer 1

→ Orthodox Judaism, strong sense of faith and belief
→ Comedian from New York City
→ He was a past member on Saturday Night Live, had a Nickelodeon show called Weinerveil
→ Avi was born 1986 and died 1991
All quotes about Weiner came from “looking for his lost smile”, “Of God and Weinerville” and an “interview with comedian Mark Weiner in 2017”.

Question 2

SLE

Answer 2

• 1986, Weiner’s wife gave birth to his first son Avi who was born with severe medical problems including multiple birth defects and Fanconi Anaemia, a blood disorder which is an inherited disease.
• He underwent multiple surgeries, 6 in his first year and passed away just before his fifth birthday.
• Life altering event, including suffering and death, and was an intense dramatic turning point in Weiner’s life that forced him to question his religious beliefs, practices and faith.
  “Then tragedy struck” looking for his lost smile

Question 3

GOD IS IMMANENT

Answer 3

• Intimate connection with adherents.
• God will protect his creations.
• Close, personal and loving relationship.
  “God is with me, I shall not fear” (Adon Olam)

Question 4

GOD IS JUST AND MERCIFUL

Answer 4

• God is a strict judge of human behaviour.
• Rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked (those who sin). “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger” exodus 34”6

Question 5

Prior faith

Answer 5

• strong, high level of faith.
• adhered to all beliefs and had faith in them.
• Seen through his engagement with practices

Question 6

Prior - GOD IS IMMANENT

Answer 6

Strong adherence, deep understanding of the belief
“I was not alone anymore” - shows his connection to God and that God is looking after him “loving God”
(looking for his lost smile)

Question 7

Prior - GOD IS JUST AND MERCIFUL

Answer 7

accepted this belief to be true, adhered to this belief

Question 8

Prior - Practises and expression

Answer 8

Weiner’s level of engagement is high. He is committed and devoted both in public and private
- Ethic of observing shabbat (day of rest) “Shabbat strictures” (weinerville)
- Ethic of observing kashrut (dietary laws)
- Ritual of prayer 3x day
- Ritual of attending synagogue
- Ritual of studying Torah (Hebrew Bible)
- Ritual of putting on tefillin (prayer object)

Question 9

During faith

Answer 9

• change in his faith
• weakened, fractured, unstable.
• His practices reduced and eventually his involvement stopped altogether.

Question 10

During - GOD IS IMMANENT

Answer 10

• redefining relationship with God.
• The belief that God is loving and looking out for him is challenged, questioned and weakened.
• broken connection and he is filled with anger and blame instead.
  “Couldn’t stop blaming God” (looking for his lost smile)

Question 11

During - GOD IS JUST AND MERCIFUL

Answer 11

• Questioning God’s overall justice.
• His prior adherence failed to protect him from suffering. - His belief in a just and merciful God is fading, eventually it will be rejected and stop. Does not believe God can be merciful if He allows such suffering to an innocent child.
  “How could God do this”

Question 12

During - Practises and expression

Answer 12

• Ritual of prayer - initially it gave him comfort, hope, assisted him - it eventually stops providing him meaning and he stops the ritual
  → Ethic of shabbat and acts of kindness, dropped the ethic - had no value and did not prevent bad things from happening (pressed buttons on shabbos)
  → held onto ethic of Kashrut (dietary requirements)

“Dropped virtually all other mitzvot”

Question 13

After - faith

Answer 13

• Rebuild relationship with God and Judaism.
• Reaffirms connection with God. His beliefs are reinforced/inforced and become stronger than they were originally.
• His doubts are removed and he has recommitted to both his beliefs and practices
• new understanding of previously held beliefs.

Question 14

After - GOD IS IMMANENT

Answer 14

He reconnected with the belief - it became strong again
“He began to crave a new connection to Hashem”

Question 15

After - GOD IS JUST AND MERCIFUL

Answer 15

• He reestablished that God is just and merciful and
• realised he too should be ethical and kind.
• Able to seperate suffering from r/ship w God as he longer blames God for his pain and understands that God’s ways are incomprehensible.
• God’s overall justice is no longer composed and he finds comfort with God.
  “God said ‘welcome back’”

Question 16

After - Practises and expression

Answer 16

• Returns to prayer
• Ethic of observing shabbat “gradually returns to mitzvot observance”(looking for his lost smile) - Further explores ethic of shabbat and acts of kindness, started observing again, saw it as a connection to God, way of being a good person

Question 17

MEANING DERIVED

Answer 17

• Through reconnecting to God, religion and doing mitzvot again, he finds meaning
• Helping others through acts of kindness
• Founding empathy labyrinth which provides him with purpose by helping others through torah values. The organisation uses the skills he has acquired through learning to cope with his own pain