Jewish Musings, Thursday, October 27, 2016

[peachymom1]

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

[peachymom1]

Good morning! I can’t let the week go by without bringing up this week’s Torah portion. After Simchat Torah, we started reading the Torah from the beginning again, from Genesis 1:1 to 6:8. I don’t think I will ever stop appreciating the sheer majesty of the creation story. This is my favorite Torah portion of all, and we specifically chose this portion for DD28’s bat mitzvah, which was 15 years ago (ulp!). What a joy it was to listen to her chant this text.

When I was a kid, I loved to read Greek and Roman mythology, and I remember noticing even then that our God didn’t have to use violence or subterfuge to create and rule a universe, just words. To me it meant that words can have tremendous power, and that they should be used wisely and well.

Another thing that struck me, even as a child, is that in the first chapter of Genesis, the word “good” appears seven times. In each case, God “sees” that what God has created is good, and in the last instance, very good (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25 & 31). Why does God see that each creation is good? Doesn’t God know that it’s good, since God is the one who created it? Is goodness so important to point out that it has to be mentioned over and over?

I think so. I love that the Bible starts off with goodness. It helps me maintain a sense of optimism. Of course we all know there are terrible things happening in the world, but I still feel we have the power and potential for goodness. And from that goodness, we can make changes, help others and improve ourselves and the world.

When I think of my WLJ, I tend to focus way too much on what I’m doing wrong. What if I started paying more attention to what I’m doing right? What’s good about the way I’m eating? And in other areas of my life, what can I see that’s good in my family, coworkers, neighbors and friends? What good things can I do to help breed more goodness?

What’s good about you and your life? Are you a good listener? A good cook? A good friend, a good neighbor, a good musician, a good organizer? What good things have happened to you? Tell me about your goodness!

[happysavta]

Peachy, "Good" is like a C+. It's just a little above average. I want to excel at something. I want to be a great listener, or a great cook, or a great friend, or a great musician, etc., etc.

[peachymom1]

Frieda, how about "good enough?" I can be great at some things, but other things, I have to be satisfied with "good enough."

I'm a good enough housekeeper and a good enough cook, for example, and I'm OK with that. I can't be outstanding at everything. I tend to put more of my energy into my relationships. It feels funny to say I'm a great wife or a great mother, but I do feel I'm good at those things because I've put so much time and effort into being sensitive and conscientious about those relationships.

I look for goodness in people, not necessarily greatness. I appreciate a good friend, even a very good friend, but I don't think I would burden them with the expectation of being great.

A coworker who left the company last week took the time to come over to my cubicle and tell me I was the best executive assistant she'd ever worked with, that I went out of my way to take care of people and get things done. I almost cried. It feels wonderful to be considered efficient at my job, but even better to be appreciated for taking care of others.

[savtele]

Boker Tov All!

Frieda - you made me giggle! I want to excel also, but I don't seem to want to put in the time & effort to make that happen!

I AM a good listener, and a good cook - but I don't always want to hear/or violently disagree with what someone has to say & I don't always want to put an effort into cooking. So sometimes "good enough" will just have to suffice. Of course, when God did it, it WAS all excellence & perfection - which God was able to pronounce "good."

I hear people say all the time: "I agree 110%" As if stating "more than all" will make it so. We can ever only give 100%. There is no more.

So if today my culinary efforts reach to the level of opening a can of tomato soup & slapping a slice of cheese on some bread -this may, in fact, be a "good enough" lunch for today. There will be other days, when my efforts in my kitchen bring forth delectable foods. There will be days when deep and satisfying conversations go long into the night, and days when "Malaguena" wafts into the air from my guitar. Days when my knitting needles produce amazing cabled confections.

It's a balance. I cannot run at 100% 24/7. Some days the fact that I showed up with my hair combed will have to do. We'll just call it "good" for now!

[hollygail]

I am a very good teacher. I am a pretty good listener (at least, when I want to listen, which I do for my students). I am a pretty good cook when I want to cook. I am a very good (as in "loyal") friend. I'm fairly good at explaining things I know and understand.

I'm reading the 7th aliyah on Saturday at the Conservative shul where I teach the bnei mitzvah class. Am very much looking forward to it!

[louise]

I feel that I am a good friend and a good organizer (except of my own things). I have a petty good eye and I am pretty good at understanding interpersonal relationships.

For me in the way we are using "good" and the way the word "good" is used in breishit it does not mean C+ or average. When God saw that it was "good" that was "enough" to say - by which I don't mean that it was "good enough" but rather that "good" was enough to say about it. Somewhere along the way we got into "on a scale of 1-10" with the middle or high middle numbers being "good". We have become very good at, and so have a wide vocabulary for, judging things.

[peachymom1]

Louise, well stated, and thank you for articulating that. I think in Breishit, the text means good as in the opposite of bad, not on a sliding scale.

Angelika, I always have to stifle a BAER when I hear someone say they give 110%. That's just not possible. Maybe they try very hard, but you can only work within your own limitations. There's a paragraph I remember from E.B. White's book "Charlotte's Web," where Wilbur the pig explains to the goose that "less than nothing" has no meaning. To me, it's the same principle as the giving 110% idea. It's just not possible.

[lee058]

Hi everybody. Sorry this is so late; it's been another busy day. I really liked today's topic and everybody's comments. Good, great, good enough: We put these labels on what we do, and then think differently about them. Sometimes it's enough to just do the best we can, other times we can excel, and still other times we really do do a good job. I like to think that I usually do the best I can, but I know that sometimes I just muddle through. I think I'm generally pretty good at most of the things I do. Some things I actually am good at, and I try to remember to take pride in these.

For example, I am good at Scrabble. I used to play in competitions many years ago. That was back when I used to play every day. I still play but generally just a few times a month; a couple of times with DS and once a month with neighbors (that is fun).

I am good with colors and textures. I am not a neat person, but things around me are comfortable and attractive (at least I think so).

I am good at making lists and then pretty good at carrying them out. I am very good at food shopping; picking out interesting items and good quality produce, for example. I have a good memory for many things. I am good with DS most of the time, helping him out when he needs it and also encouraging his independence. I am good at keeping the peace in my house (this does take work).

I am good at being adaptable when I have to be (!), for example, learning how to get up at 4AM to get DS to work without complaining about it. And BTW, he will be on the early schedule for at least the next couple of weeks (!!).

I am good at lots of things that I don't remember to give myself credit for, but I am working on that.

One thing I am good at for certain is remembering to appreciate the little bits of joy and happiness that are so abundant in my life. Looking at the moon, listening to the birds, watching the squirrels race around, seeing the colors of flowers or leaves depending on the season, watching the trees move in the wind --- these are all things that I remember to pay attention to.

Thanks for this topic, it is making me feel good! I also feel good that DS unexpectedly has tomorrow off, so I don't have to get up early!

Have a peaceful night, Lee

[peachymom1]

Lee, it's an absolute joy to read what you just wrote. I've enjoyed everyone's comments immensely.