Jewish Musings, Thursday, March 7

[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 who 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]

At the end of last week’s parshah Moses comes down from the mountain with the second set of tablets. He is glowing – so radiant that it frightened the people. He was not, of course, aware of this but soon covered his face with a veil for their sake. At the beginning of this week’s parshah all the instructions for building the mishkan are repeated and the building begins. We know that the period between “that thing that happened” and Moses coming back down was very awkward. What I had not realized is “that thing” (the golden calf) happened on Yom Kippur. To quote the notes in the Hertz chumash, “the great annual day of forgiveness and reconciliation. Based on the tradition, Rashi sees the events of Va-yakhel taking place on the day after Yom Kippur. Moses urges the people to translate their sense of a renewed relationship with God, of having been cleansed and forgiven, into action by keeping shabbat, and by contributing to the fashioning of the tabernacle”.

In the opening line of this week’s parshah “Moses convoked the whole Israelite community”. He is restoring the sense of unity and shared purpose. “Every Jew depends on…fellow Jews for the energy, resources, and courage wherewith to be a Jew”.

I think there is a lot here. I had never put it in context with Yom Kippur. My rabbi has pointed that our synagogue, which is over a century old, was founded the day after Yom Kippur. He reads into that that something must have happened back then that caused the building of a new synagogue on the anniversary of the day the Israelites began building the mishkan! Love that.


I’m getting ready for my trip now – in that special time of “I hope I don’t forget anything”. Have assembled the papers and called for a cab. Need to get up at 4AM so need to get myself to bed. I know that won’t happen until midnight, but it really can’t be later!

[hollygail]

I believe “Every Jew depends on…fellow Jews for the energy, resources, and courage wherewith to be a Jew.” I hadn't thought to word it that way myself, but as soon as I read it, I knew it was true. I think all of humanity has to depend on all of humanity for life to continue; if one country pollutes without regard to what that does to the entire planet, everyone on the planet suffers. That's more of an "on a grand scale" way of looking at things, but for sure I believe it's true for Jews. I believe Palestinians have a right to live free and healthy lives, and I don't put my trust in anyone Jewish who says the equivalent of a saying I haven't heard in decades, "The only good Arab is a dead one." But there's a line between being a "human being" and a "terrorist human being." Not all terrorists are Arabs, and not all Arabs are terrorists. Not all Palestinians support what Hamas did on Oct. 7 and not all Palestinians support the on-going behaviors of Hamas. To condemn all Palestinians is on the level of "the only good [fill in the blank] is a dead one."

It's really too early (6am) for me to talk politics...

[lee058]

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

Re today's topic: I feel ties to everyone Jewish; I look in the news for mentions of Jews, I talk with DS and DH about being Jewish (DS more often), and I relate to Jewish history and travels, even food.

Good points hollygail, about human beings being themselves.

Have a peaceful day, Lee