Jewish Musings, Sunday, December 24

[louise]

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:
Frieda (hopefully)?
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[louise]

I’m going back a week to the haftarah about Solomon, the two mothers and the baby. First of all, a bit of trivia is that while this story is very well known the haftarah is chanted only infrequently. That is because it goes with parshah Miketz which usually falls during Hanukkah and thus is replaced with the special haftarah for the holiday. This year the last day of Hanukkah was a Friday and Miketz was read the following day. Of course I jumped at the chance to chant the haftarah – it being not only rare but I love to chant a good story.

It tells the story of two mothers living in the same house, each the mother of an infant son, who came to Solomon. One of the babies had been smothered during the night, and each claimed the remaining boy as her own. Calling for a sword, Solomon declared his judgment: the baby would be cut in two, each woman to receive half. One mother did not contest the ruling, declaring that if she could not have the baby then neither of them could, but the other begged Solomon, "Give the baby to her, just don't kill him!" Solomon gave the baby to the one who wanted the baby to be spared.

I did not realize there were some other lessons in the story. One is the haftarah opens during a celebration – Solomon is offering a sacrifice on being granted his wish for wisdom. He is not too busy to listen to this tale the two women have come to tell him, even though they are both prostitutes. Also, each tells him their version of the story, which King Solomon then repeats, which in itself sets an important precedent, showing them each they have been heard. Finally, of course, there is the actual decision. I always thought he determined who the real mother was because she is the one that would not want her child killed, no matter what. I only just learned that perhaps the stronger reason is that while hopefully no one would countenance a baby being cut in half whether it was theirs or not, anyone who would agree to cutting a baby in half could not possibly be an acceptable parent.

Some things seem pretty obvious but I can’t help feeling that we are seeing stories acted out pretty regularly lately where basic moral principles go out the window with power being the important operating principle and where people and their problems are not really heard.

[hollygail]

Like when a woman who miscarries is charged with killing the fetus?

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please pray for Israel.

Today would have been my sister's birthday. I have been talking about her with DH and DS, and would like to share a little here too. It's been several years, but I still miss her a lot and stay in touch with her partner. I remember when I was a kid, and my sister and I used to spend weekends together, often staying at our grandma's apartment in Manhattan. We used to go to Chinatown, the museums, and around NYC. Then we would sleep on our grandma's ancient yellow leather pull-out sofa. We had so much fun!! As I got older, we used to go to political activities, where I learned a lot. She was a wonderful person.

Re today's topic: I think that everyone wants to be heard, and to feel that their opinions and lives have value. People who want power over others and don't care what anyone else wants are horrible.

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[peachymom1]

Lee, thank you for sharing memories of your sister. I know the blessing of a wonderful sister. May her memory always bring you joy.

I am sick to death of people putting power over everything else, as if controlling people is the central aim of life. It's hard to get through dark days sometimes, but I keep right on hoping.

My rabbi just got back from a trip to Israel, and he spoke about it yesterday and gave aliyahs to the congregants who went with him. It was moving and stirring, and I could barely choke out "HaTikva" when we stood up to sing it, but I'm glad I went to shul yesterday. I read two aliyot yesterday, and I felt honored to be standing at the Torah with people who had just gotten back from Israel. I thought of you, Louise. :+)

I had not thought before about the fact that the two mothers in last week's haftarah were truly listened to. That is quite an important piece of wisdom from King Solomon that people can consider and absorb.

[gazelle18]

Louise, thanks for summing up the story so beautifully. It’s one of my favorites. I didn’t know the part about Solomon repeating back each woman’s story. Love it.

And yes , the world is so sad and scary right now.

My Atlanta family is descending this evening, and I’ve been cooking and cleaning . I’m looking forward to the chaos!