Jewish Musings Tuesday, April 30, 8th day of Passover...

[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:
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!

[hollygail]

In the Diaspora, today is the final day of Passover (in Israel, it was yesterday, plus in some parts of the Diaspora, like in most or maybe all of the Reform movement and in a few Conservative congregations, yesterday, day 7, was the last day). For those who mark 8 days, today's Torah reading begins this way:
Deuteronomy 15:19 You shall consecrate to your God יהוה all male firstlings that are born in your herd and in your flock: you must not work your firstling ox or shear your firstling sheep.

There's a note about this first word, "you." Here's a quote from sefaria [Note to newgdt.proboards Admin: I have permission to quote from the sefaria website for purposes of teaching, and I'm a teacher of Torah, so please do not delete this post; thank you] about it:
"Moses couches both the celebration and allocation of harvests in terms of Israelite society’s basic social and economic unit. The phrasing of vv. 12, 18 [in a previous chapter] conspicuously omits mention of the householder’s (primary) wife. This means that she is authorized to carry out such activity in case her husband is unavailable. The wording also tacitly includes the case of a woman (typically a widow) whose household is not headed by a man."

This stood out at me partially because of Lee's comment from yesterday. Women in Torah, although rarely mentioned by name (which is one of the things I really like about the beginning of the Book of Exodus) are treated with respect in so many ways. (I usually point to the section about the five daughters of Tz'lof'chad when I want to talk about how well women were treated in Torah especially as compared to how women were treated in the surrounding societies, but that's for another time.)

In today's example of bringing an offering of the firstlings of the flock, if for some reason the man of the house can't do it (perhaps because he's deceased), his wife does it in his place. In a manner of speaking, when it comes to worship, a woman's place seems to be right along a man's side, doesn't it? Kinda makes me wonder about the separation in some congregations between where males sit compared with where females sit during worship services...

Comments?

[lee058]

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

Re today's topic and Passover: It's been a difficult holiday for me this year, what with all the protests and anti-Semitism that have been crawling out from under their rocks. Nonetheless, there has been plenty to celebrate. The main things are that we have survived another year, and that women are making more strides.

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[peachymom1]

Good morning and chag sameach! I don't like the separation of men and women in shul. Women are not so senseless and silly that they need to be stuck with only themselves and not distract the men. And men are not so uncivilized that they can't control themselves around women. Separating them encourages stereotypes and perpetuates sexist myths. That's my opinion.

I'm reading Torah this morning - I've done this one many times and am not nervous about it at all. The last day is usually well attended in my shul because of Yizkor, then I'm planning on an afternoon nap after lunch. I'm with Lee -- this has been a difficult holiday because of the crazy state of the world, and any escape (like a nap) is welcome.

[gazelle18]

Question: is the separation of the sexes in traditional Judaism mandated anywhere in the Torah, or required in the Talmud? Or is it simply a tradition?

[louise]

I'm not sure I'm following the question today! I don't understand the separation either.
Our potluck kiddush at shul today was a huge success - the rabbi and my matza lasagna making friend brought in hot dishes and we had tons of other stuff. Afterwards I had helpers to put all the Passover stuff away. This guy that was helping was a master of spatial relationships and fit way more back into our 2 passover tubs that I had in there before - yay!
I don't quite have it in me to put my own stuff away tonight. Will move everything out of the kitchen tonight or tomorrow morning and put it away over the next couple of days. I need a rest!