By Laura Seymour

Dear Families,

I’m not sure why, but I do love watching football, and this is a great time of year. Who will get to the Super Bowl, and what will the stories be?

On Jan. 6, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg wrote an article on Aish.com titled “When the Ravens’ Field Goal Went Wide.” That Sunday night, the AFC North came down to a single kick, and the kicker — who had been perfect all season at this distance — was in position to win the game and the division. He missed.

The story raises even more questions because apparently earlier that night, a priest had walked the field and sprinkled “holy water” in one of the end zones — and it turns out it was the same end zone where the kick was made. Later, Steelers captain Cam Heyward simply said, “The good Lord made a good decision that night.”

So is the message that G-d intervenes in a football game? Was G-d in charge of the gust of wind that made the kick go wide? Rabbi Goldberg says, “The same G-d Who orchestrates history also arranges the gust of wind that pushes a football a degree to the right. There is no realm of existence in which He is absent, no moment in which He is not present.”

Now, wherever you stand on belief in G-d’s involvement in our day-to-day lives, you really have to question whether G-d is a Steelers fan — does G-d really care who wins? Was there a message in the miss, and if so, who was the message for? Goldberg puts it this way: “For one side, that miss felt like a divine yes. For the other, a painful no. Yet both were part of His plan. G-d was present not only in the celebration, but in the heartbreak.”

All of us have moments in our lives when we are hoping for a particular outcome. There is that old joke about the man on a boat in the middle of the ocean praying to be rescued, believing G-d will save him, but he turns down the helicopter, waiting for G-d. Perhaps we don’t recognize that G-d is trying to help us, or perhaps we don’t like the help or the answer we got.

Definitely, that poor young kicker did not like the answer or the lesson the miss may have taught him. Goldberg says, “We are responsible for putting in our effort. G-d controls the result.” No matter what you believe, if the miss — or the answer — makes you stop putting in the effort, you are taking away the possibility of a result you can feel positive about.

How each of us views our choices and the control we have in our lives makes a difference in how we live. It is up to each person to decide. This is something to think about as you watch this year’s race to the Super Bowl.

The last paragraph from Goldberg is important: “Belief in God means recognizing that we were seen, that the moment was not random, and that our worth is not measured by the scoreboard. Because the real contest is not decided between the goalposts. It is decided in how we respond, whether we can find meaning, humility, and hidden sweetness even when the kick goes wide.”

Laura Seymour is Jewish Experiential Learning director and Camp director emeritus at the Aaron Family JCC.