Jewish Musings Tuesday, July 9

[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]

Yesterday I brought up the water situation that turned out to be Moses' downfall. However, Miriam is known for her "ability" to find water during the trek through the wilderness during the 40 years of wandering. Debbie Friedman wrote a song about Miriam and water. Here's a URL of her singing it. You may find it of interest, especially if you've never heard it before.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jJXCpEqO54

More about this week's Torah portion. The Israelites complain about the lack of food and water in the desert, and “spoke against God and against Moses” (20:5). Because of their lack of trust God sends a plague of serpents against them, and many die from the snakebites. Then God tells Moses to make an image of the serpent and put it on his staff as an antidote; anyone who looks at it will recover from the snakebite. (21:4–9)

Here's what Rabbi Salkin has to say about it. The rod that Moses carried symbolized both his faith and his lack of it. Moses has a long history of using a staff. He kills an Egyptian taskmaster with his staff (Exodus 2:12). He casts his rod to the ground, and it turns into a snake (Exodus 4:3). He uses his staff to strike the Nile to turn it into blood (Exodus 7:20) and to part the Sea of Reeds (Exodus 14:16). Right after the Israelites left Egypt, he uses it to draw forth water in the wilderness (Exodus (17:1–7)). And, of course, in this Torah portion, Moses strikes the rock with his staff and later uses it to heal the Israelites. Tools have many uses, but the greatest “tool” is the faith and the inner strength that we bring to what we do.

I'm not so sure I agree with Salkin about the "greatest" tool, but consider the concept that we can use things both in the way(s) they were intended and also in new, previously unthought of ways. In your life, have you ever used something meant for one thing in a totally different way? What was the outcome?

[peachymom1]

Good morning everyone, I hope everyone is staying cool and hydrated. My area is under an "excessive heat warning," and it's expected to get to at least 98 degrees today. I have lots of water and iced tea on hand, and I'm not going anywhere today (I'm sending DH instead, LOL).

You might not consider education a tool, but I think most people think of a college education as a means for making a living. I earned a BA so I could be a teacher, but I never thought of education as merely a vehicle for a career. I did learn a lot in college, but the most important thing I learned is how much I DIDN'T know, and how much more there was to keep learning over a lifetime, whether formally or practically. And I got just as much out of those general education courses as I did from the ones for my major.

A college education is not required for the jobs I've had since I returned to the work force after being a SAHM. There have been times when my college experience has indeed been helpful for my job, like when a real estate appraiser needed a Spanish translator in the field for a day, and when one of my executives asked me to teach him some basic phrases in Italian for a business trip. But what college did do for me in the working world was teach me about deadlines, timing, teamwork, and good old-fashioned hard work. Many people over the years have told me what a shame it is that I'm not "using my degree," but I don't agree. Going to college taught me plenty of things that have served me very well throughout my adult life, not the least important of which is that it gave me an incredible sense of accomplishment and confidence in myself. I will never forget the amazing zing of pride I felt when the Chancellor called out, "Graduates, turn your tassels!"

[lee058]

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

I have my friend Carol coming over for Scrabble in just a couple of minutes so will have to cut this short.

re today's topic: What came to mind was using household utensils for things they weren't designed for. I can't think of any specific examples, but definitely have done this.

I'll try and write more later! Have a peaceful day, Lee

[peachymom1]

Since Lee mentioned household utensils, I can think of two examples. I use my pastry cutter to slice up hard-boiled eggs to make egg salad, and I use a metal potato masher to separate ground beef or ground turkey for browning.