Jewish Musings Sunday, July 7

[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]

This week's Torah portion is Chukat חֻקַּת "The Ritual Law," Numbers 19:1−22:1. What many (dare I say "most"?) people think about when they hear the word "chukat" is the red heifer. Here's why. God instructs Moses and Aaron on the laws of the red cow, also referred to as the red heifer. A red [reddish brown] cow with no blemishes is to be ritually slaughtered and burned. Its ashes will be used to purify anyone who has been in contact with the dead. (19:1–21)

Some laws in Judaism don’t seem to have any good reason for being. The law of the red heifer is a great example. While generations of Jewish teachers and scholars have worked very hard to figure out the deeper meaning of this ritual, it remains a powerful mystery. It was considered one of those biblical laws that the ancient Israelite had to follow on faith — “just because God said so.” The red heifer reminds us that we cannot understand everything in life, or in Judaism. Some Jewish customs might not seem to make sense; we call them chukim (as compared with mishpatim, the laws that seem more logical). Ritual circumcision and keeping kosher are two examples of chukim. But whether we understand them or not, they are still an important part of Judaism.

Are there (or have there been) such "laws" or rituals or habits in your life that seem not to have much logic? One for me is counting. When I walk up or down a flight of stairs, ninety-something percent of the time I count the steps. Why? No clue, none at all. I live in a two-story house; I know very week there are 15 steps between downstairs and upstairs, yet I count each one almost every single time I walk them (I did so twice so far today: after I woke up and went downstairs to start the tea in the microwave and upstairs to sit down at my computer).

If you do (or have done) anything similar in your life, have you ever considered the reason(s)?

[lee058]

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

re today's topic: I have a few things that I do that might seem weird to someone else. One is to keep lots of lists. My reason for doing this, though, is because I feel like nothing would get done if I didn't!

Another is to keep track of food and bathroom timing. I do these because I get spacy if I wait too long without eating/drinking, and the latter because I'm on diuretics (sorry for the TMI).

I'm a little compulsive about needing to know the temperature outside; I check the weather channel every day at least a couple of times even if I'm not going outdoors.

I'm sure there are plenty more, but that's all I can think of right now.

Have a peaceful day, and remember to drink lots of fluids, Lee

[louise]

Keeping kosher is one thing I do because God said so. I'm sure I have my own compulsive mishagas but nothing is coming to mind right now.

[gazelle18]

Hmmm, interesting question. I have a lot of personal “laws” that would make no sense to anyone else. For example, if I see any change on the sidewalk, even a penny, I MUST pick it up. This is not a superstition; I don’t think that lightening will strike if I don’t pick up the penny. But for some reason, I MUST do it.

[peachymom1]

I for one am glad we don't have to worry about red heifers purifying us anymore. I've pretty much always considered this bit of Torah to be a holdover from some older, pagan ritual that couldn't feasible be observed. There are more interesting things going on in this week's parashah, and I'm sure Holly will bring them up this week.

DS33 and DDIL got here from San Diego on Wednesday and left yesterday, and it was just a wonderful visit. I took Friday off and have completely enjoyed a four-day weekend with plenty of loafing time. I read three aliyot yesterday and did fine with the first two, then stumbled over the third one and had to start over. But then I chanted it perfectly, so I felt much better about it. We have a new assistant rabbi who gave her first d'var Torah yesterday, and I thought she was great, so I'm looking forward to hearing more from her.