Jewish Musings Monday, July 8

[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]

Yes, Peachy, we're going to look at other aspects of the weekly Torah portion.

Immediately after the death of Moses and Aaron's sister Miriam, the Israelites find themselves with no water. They turn to Moses and Aaron and lament that they had ever left Egypt. God tells Moses to speak to a rock and order it to yield its water. Instead, Moses hits the rock. That action brings forth water, but Moses and Aaron are punished for their lack of trust in God and God’s commandment. God tells them their punishment: they will not lead the Israelites into the Land of Israel. Shortly after this, Aaron dies. (20:2–30)

To be fair, the first time the Israelites in the wilderness are without water, God tells Moses to hit a certain rock with his walking stick and voila! out flows water. This second time, however, God instructs Moses to talk to the rock...

We don’t always get to fulfill our dreams. Moses and Aaron are not permitted to fulfill their dream of leading the Israelites into the Land of Israel. The story would have been nicer if they had been able to fulfill that dream, but it would also have lacked a certain reality. There have been many leaders who have not been able to complete their missions. Everyone leaves this world with some things left incomplete. But we try our best, and most of the time our legacy is much more powerful than we could have ever imagined.

What dreams have you had in life that you may or may not have been able to fulfill? If the latter, what stood in your way? How did/do you respond to not having been able to fulfill a dream?

The last full-time permanent job I had was also the best job I had. I was planning to stay until at least age 70, maybe longer if I was able. However, the wife of the boss (President / owner of the company) got jealous (she was also the person who got me the job in the first place), so he really had no option other than to get rid of me. Since one of the things I oversaw was HR, he had to reorganize the entire business (which he did) thereby eliminating my position. I floundered for a while. It was a time of high unemployment in the US; I had bought a house only a few years earlier and the real estate values plummeted such that the County Tax department had assessed my home's value at about $100,000 less than the amount of my outstanding mortgage. The state's unemployment insurance kicked in after two weeks and although I was receiving considerably less than my paycheck had been, at least it was something. The Federal government kept extending unemployment benefits and so I was able to collect for two years; two weeks later unemployment insurance payments ran out, an acquaintance called me out of the blue, asking whether I was looking for work and hired me (granted, at a much lower salary than I had been earning, but still, it was money coming in). It was a temporary position, though it lasted for much longer than expected, at which point he hired me himself at a company he was just starting. I stayed until he had to close, at which point I was over 65 and was collecting Social Security. I became "semi-" retired, still teaching religious school, although I started teaching at multiple congregations, thereby tutoring more and more b'nei mitzvah students... And here I am.

[lee058]

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

I finally had a chance to take DS out to eat at our favorite Jewish deli this morning, and we had a great time.

Re today's topic: What immediately popped into my mind was something I hadn't thought about for years. It hurt a LOT at the time, so I put it out of my mind. This happened not long after I graduated from college and was at the moment living in the PNW. I met some people who said they were getting a grant from National Geographic to go to India for a story. They asked if I wanted to go, and of course I said YES!! I got rid of several of my belongings so as to pare down what I'd be bringing along, told people about it, and was very excited. Then, shortly before we were supposed to leave, the grant fell through and the trip was cancelled. I was crushed.

I can think of other situations, but this is what came to my mind.

Anyway, life went on and I did too.

So here I am now!

Have a peaceful rest of the day, Lee

[gazelle18]

I ended up going to law school because a job in my preferred field (journalism) didn’t drop into my lap. Looking back on it, the fact that I didn’t end up becoming a writer was a big disappointment to me, and makes me feel like I didn’t fulfill a major dream. AND, all that said, I’m happy anyway.

[peachymom1]

When I was growing up, I wanted to be a doctor. I was curious about all kinds of diseases, how the body worked, everything. As I approached high school and realized this would be impossible (economically and logistically), my focus changed to leaving home by any means I could, as soon as I could, and I did achieve that. Once I got to college, I wanted to be a teacher, but when I got a teaching job, it turned out to be much different than what I expected. Very disappointing. Then I got pregnant and became a SAHM.

I never expected to be a career admin - I only ever took one typing class (in 8th grade) and learned everything else from temp jobs and college jobs. I thought I'd try teaching private school, or maybe think of some kind of medical career I could train for, but I ended up taking a permanent office job and took on more and more responsibility as time went on. I got very good at my job, and I do enjoy it very much. I like to take care of people, and that's what I do. So I'm happy after all. Who knew?

[louise]

I took a job at a company that sells book cover material before starting/continuing grad school. I ended up with a career in publishing - never went back to grad school. It's a good match for me

Would I have liked a husband, kids and a house? Well I've got what I've got and it's a pretty good life.