Jewish Musings Thursday, April 27, 2017

[hollygail]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you who stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to do that but you are also welcome to chime in. And I'm curious about what makes someone read a thread but never post to it...

[hollygail]

Here's one English translation of the haftarah for this week's double portion, Tazria/Metzora.
- - -
2 Kings Chapter 7 מְלָכִים ב
3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said one to another: 'Why sit we here until we die?
4 If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Arameans; if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.'
5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Arameans; and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no man there.
6 For the Lord had made the host of the Arameans to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host; and they said one to another: 'Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.'
7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
8 And when these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
9 Then they said one to another: 'We do not well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace; if we tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household.'
10 So they came and called unto the porters of the city; and they told them, saying. 'We came to the camp of the Arameans, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were.'
11 And the porters called, and they told it to the king's household within.
12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants: 'I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.'
13 And one of his servants answered and said: 'Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city--behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed--and let us send and see.'
14 They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the host of the Arameans, saying: 'Go and see.'
15 And they went after them unto the Jordan; and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Arameans had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.
16 And the people went out, and spoiled the camp of the Arameans. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
17 And the king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate; and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
18 And it came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying: 'Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria';
19 and that captain answered the man of God, and said: 'Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?' and he said: 'Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof';
20 it came to pass even so unto him; for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died. {S}
- - -

Please take a look at verses 6 and 7. In difficult times, have you "heard" or thought you heard (or maybe felt a gut feeling or the equivalent) something perhaps unexpected and you reacted to it? Maybe the "difficult time" had to do with danger of some kind, or some other stressful situation you were in? What did you do? Do you (in general) get a "gut feeling" about things? And what makes you either take action because of it or ignore it or whatever else you may do?

[gazelle18]

Wow, I'm not sure if I get a gut feeling when I am in a difficult spot, a feeling which leads me to the best path. Often, i find , when I am faced with a sudden crisis, my body and mind freeze for a moment. It's almost as though I realize that quick, mindless action is not the best course, and I need to take a moment to think things through. Once I have decided on a course of action, I tend to go into "relentless" mode. Usially not pretty, but generally effective.

[savtele]

Boker Tov All! I didn't make it here yesterday - let me tell you about our day at the store:

Late Tuesday afternoon, apparently 2 young men stole a car outside of town. What they were high on, we do not know, but they crashed this car out in the country. They then walked to a nearby farmhouse, explained that they had had an accident, and could they get a ride to the gas station in town where they could get a tow truck. (country folk do help each other out) They were driven into town - where they proceeded to steal a car and a pick-up truck. They raced down the main road in town, & suddenly the car pulled in front of the pick-up (probably oncoming traffic) causing the pick-up to crash into a telephone pole - which fell down across the road. This was directly in front of the antique mall. No one was injured, all power was out, the pick-up was still driveable (?!!?) and took off after the sedan. KGW news came out - and on every picture of the happenings, "Hoffman House Antique Mall" "Cowgirls Trading Co" & our big yellow "antiques" flag - all prominently displayed! Pick-up truck ran out of gas a few miles down the road - our friend is in custody. (His buddy is still in the wind) When OR is finished with him, WA has outstanding warrants for him.

At 10 AM, the power company was out, putting up a new pole. Power was restored all over town, Dennis came in & reset all our breakers & made sure the lights and heat were working - and by 11 AM we were open for business! At which time, most of the town came by to make sure we were all ok. There really is no such thing as bad publicity! There were any # of people who came by "I haven't been in in a long time, I saw you on the news!" We kept the coffee-pot going, there was always a crowd on the deck checking out what went where, and the cash register rang all day long!

I do get "gut feelings" at times - I have learned that it is better to at least lean toward a reaction. Sometimes I am wrong. Often I am right. Depending on circumstances, I believe many gut feelings are born from experience & understanding - if something feels too good to be true, it probably is. If it goes against all logic, don't pursue. Of course, many of my "gut feeling" have to do with eating - "I really should eat now, there won't be time for it later" and then later, there IS time for it, so I eat again! Or I pack a nut bar in my purse "just in case."

I have today off - slept in an extra hour. I needed it. I'll be going for a walk in just a little while. It is raining, but I'll go between showers. (I'm ready for some sunshine!)

Have a good day ladies!

[lee058]

Hi everybody. Hope you are all well. I have been very busy today, and have lots to do over the next few days, but will write when I can. All is well, except that I am concerned about getting off the ibuprofen for my arm and shoulder. They still hurt, and I am worried about the inflammation returning. However, my doctor wants me off the ibuprofen, so I guess I have to wait and see what happens next!

As for gut feelings and difficult situations: I think they are a way of putting together subconscious signals. If I get a strong feeling of having to get out of a place, for example, I listen to it. If I get negative feelings about individuals, I do my best to figure out why. DS and I will be looking for a new therapist for him soon as his current doctor is retiring (DS saw him for 14 years, so this is a BIG change). DS and I will be very, very careful to listen to our gut feelings when reading information about doctors online and when we meet them in person, you better believe it.

I'll try and return later. Have a peaceful rest of the day, Lee

[peachymom1]

I do get gut feelings, and every time I ignore them, I suffer the consequences. So I have learned not to ignore them anymore. Better safe than sorry. I'm always interested in other people's experiences -- do you get a physical feeling or just a mental tug? I get a kind of odd feeling in my head, but sometimes in my stomach or a tightness in my chest. Sometimes I can't identify what the issue is or what the warning is supposed to be for, but if I sit down and breathe, and think carefully, it comes to me and I know what to do.

This sounds bizarre, even to me, but I think Lee might have nailed it -- maybe it's a coming together of signals that my subconscious is more tuned into than I am.

BTW, I didn't get a chance to talk about the mikvah yesterday. I have been to the mikvah, and it was an amazing experience. I'm thinking, though, that I will talk more about it when it's my turn to lead again, in a few weeks. I have some other connected thoughts that I might bring up.

I hope everyone had a great day today -- it's very windy and warm here, and it's supposed to get hotter. Bring on the iced tea!