Reading the Bible

RABBI ALEXANDER GOODE enlisted in the Army in 1942 and was thirty-two years old when he completed Chaplain School at Harvard University. In January 1943 he said goodbye to his wife, Theresa, and their four-year-old daughter, Rosalie Bea. He boarded the troopship, SS Dorchester, for the fateful voyage that would see him and his fellow chaplains heroically sacrifice their lives for the sake of countless others.

Before the war, as a rabbinical student, Alex wrote a letter to Theresa, then his sweetheart. He shared some thoughts about his favorite poets at that time and then expressed some heartfelt thoughts about the most important book of his life:

Speaking of the Bible I might mention that by this time in my preparation for the career of a Rabbi, I have read most of the Bible, and when I say read I really mean studied carefully, at least three times, so that I am more familiar with this great library of our people than I am with any other volume I have ever studied or read. In it is stored such a mine of information and beauty that I am tempted to think with our ancestors who absolutely believed that everything in the Bible was true and that all things that man can experience under the sun are contained therein. So much is treasured up that I could not begin to describe its contents.

It really is heartbreaking that more people do not seek out its treasures.

No doubt many passages of Scripture were in Goode’s mind as he ministered to others amid the chaos of a sinking ship. When we study God’s Word and hide it in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) we build a resource of incalculable value to help us face difficult times. In a moment of decision, Scripture will guide our choice if we have been diligent in our efforts to not only read it but to understand and remember it.