Avinu Malkenu

ay goldenberg (ayg@juno.com)
Sat, 22 Nov 1997 23:37:15 EST

tsapling@aol.com asked:
>Does anyone know the age of the prayer for the high holidays called Avinu
>Malkenu: Our Father our King? Christians claim that Jesus was the first to
>come up with the theory of God as Father. The "Our Father our King" prayer
>shows that the idea was not foreign to Jews. Therefore when was it
>created?- before or after Jesus?

Yes! not only is this concept originally a Jewish one, it is also a very
basic component of the "image" of G-d (as it were), that G-d shows us in
His Torah.

See, for example, Psalms (103:13) "As a father is merciful towards his
children, so has Hashem shown mercy to those who fear him", and Deuteronomy
(8:5) "You should know in your heart that just as a father will chastise
his son, so Hashem, your G-d, chastises you." (translations by Artscroll).

These examples demonstrate two facets of the Father-child aspect of our
relationship with G-d. The Torah is replete with further examples, and our
sages develop this concept amply. (btw, this is very instructive with
regard to the importance given to one's relationship with human parents,
and to the Torah's ideal thereof).

AY Goldenberg