Jewish Musings Sunday, June 2

[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!

[lee058]

hollygail, Good morning! I'll be back later when there's a topic. Now I need to get into the kitchen to put away groceries.

Hope all is well, Lee

[hollygail]

We have finished the Book of Leviticus. We now start the Book of B'Midbar, In the Wilderness (or Desert, depending on your translation). For the most part, we spend close to 40 years in this Book of the Torah.

One thing at a time though. In the first chapter, God commands Moses to take a census of all men over the age of twenty who are able to bear arms. The text lists the head of each tribe who will assist with the census, and then lists the population of each tribe. The total number of Israelites (or, more accurately, males over the age of twenty) is 603,550.

One learning we may glean is that Every Jew Counts (yes, I'm putting all three words in uppercase). Wherever we have lived, Jews have always been a minority. That is one reason why it has been necessary for every Jew to do the best that s/he can to ensure the vitality of Jewish life. A Chasidic teacher, Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, taught that there was the same number of Israelites — 603,550 — as there are letters in the Torah scroll. Just as the Torah scroll would be invalid if even one letter were missing, if any Jew slacks off, Judaism itself loses energy.

I personally felt this when Bernie Madoff made the news some years ago. In San Diego, there had been a very important resource for teachers of Judaics, SDCAJE, the San Diego Agency for Jewish Education (I never remembered, nor do I now remember, what the "C" stood for). This agency coordinated any and all resources any teacher across the Jewish spectrum could need to teach whatever we taught. There was a meeting every August before school started (the "Back to School" conference) and another one in January (the "Mid-Winter" conference). I went to both every single year. I studied with people from all over North America about a zillion different topics having to do with teaching. And then there was no money to continue the work of the agency. First one local organization stepped in, then another, but frankly, it was never the same as it had been when it had its own independent funding. It no longer exists at all. I'm still friends with some of the people I met in the early 1990s through that agency, but we've all moved on and don't get together twice a year any longer.

What are any of your experiences about being someone who "counts" in the Jewish community? (Yes, I know I'm opening up this category to a LOT of possibilities...)

[louise]

We all do count. That has long been how I describe my synagogue, or perhaps put another way, any one person can (and often does) impact the whole. This can be as basic as being the first 10 people so we have a minyan - which benefits everyone else who comes in or live streams - and goes on to sponsoring a kiddush, helping to clean up, offering a ride, leading a service (or just joining in), becoming a board member, and so on. There are some in the community without whom we can't picture functioning but somehow we do and, in time, new people come to take their places. Any one person may need help - it takes the whole community to provide it. I remember when I broke my wrist and could not drive my standard shift car volunteers from the community drove me to my follow up appointments with the surgeon. People helped me buy groceries (and open a bottle, cut a canteloupe, etc.). I have a friend who can no longer drive. She ubers to shul and I ofter drive her home. And so on.

[gazelle18]

I have always worked tirelessly for the Jewish Comminity and I am proud of that. As I have aged, I find that Kim really tired of attending meetings, making fund raising calls, and planning fund raisers. I feel kind of guilty about that. I’m trying to reason that I can be useful in some other, less stressful way.

[peachymom1]

My bff of 44 years is one person who made an incredible difference in my life, when I was young and impressionable and in need of some good direction. I met him when I was 17, working full-time and going to community college part-time. He convinced me it would be better to take on a full-time school schedule and work part-time, then transfer to a university. I could have transferred to the local state college, but he thought I should go to UCLA instead (where he'd gone), which I'd thought was out of my reach but was actually a much better match for me. This changed the entire course of my life and career. Then there's the fact that bff was our mentor and example of how to become Jewish and then actually create a Jewish life. Another life-changing arena for me and DH. He served as DH's best man when we got married, and he performed the ceremony when DD35 got married. He's an all-around mensch.

I think I mentioned that bff recently suffered a detached retina and had to have emergency surgery. He's extremely restricted in his activities right now, so DH, DS33 and I have been spending a lot of time at his house, bringing meals, organizing his paperwork, opening his mail, filing, making phone calls, whatever needs doing. He's made such a difference in our lives that we are glad of the chance to do something for him. My whole family's lives would be much different without this one person.