Jewish Musings, Thursday August 29

[louise]

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!

[louise]

Thank you for your thoughtful responses yesterday.
Lee, I hope you are feeling better.

I’m going to say enough about the blessings and the curses in this shabbat's torah reading to show that I barely know what I’m talking about (sorry). Some of the text is from The Office of the Chief Rabbi (post Rabbi Sacks). What hit me was the mixed use of singular and plural – we discussed this a little at morning minyan.

“See, (in the singular) I am giving you (plural), today a blessing and a curse” The blessing and the curse are listed as singular here although there will be a list of each to follow because it’s reduced to the basic of blessing if you obey and curses if you do not. This is always problematic for us right there because of the implication that bad things don’t happen to righteous people (and the converse). The part about the singular and plural that is striking to me has to do with taking responsibility for ourselves but also to our role as part of a community. “We have dual responsibility – I live by myself for myself and at the same time, I am an important cog within the wheel of Am Yisrael. When Hashem delivers his commandments, they are addressed to me personally, for my life, for the enhancement of my existence, and at the same time, what I do has a direct impact on the fate of the nation as a whole.”

There is something similar in the Shema in that while the first 2 paragraphs refer to mitzvot, loving God, etc. but the first paragraph of the Shema is in the singular, addressed to the individual Jew, while the second paragraph of the Shema is in the plural, addressed to us all.

So that’s the kernel I toss out to you. Hopefully you will find something there.

Btw my therapist is getting better. He is on a course of medication that is reducing the symptoms. It needs time but sounds hopeful.

[hollygail]

Thanks for the good news about your therapist!

I decided a long time ago not to worry about whether the "you" in Torah is in the singular or the plural. I don't take Torah as necessarily "God's word" but rather Torah teaches me (in general) how to be a good person (or a better person). It's the lessons I learn from Torah that make Torah important for me. I have read several divrei Torah over the years written by real scholars about the singular and the plural in the same sections, but although I often find the points interesting, overall, I stick with my "the lessons we learn" philosophy.

I'm reading Torah Saturday morning for a small Renewal chavurah which does not follow either the full kriah (reading the entire Torah portion) or the triennial cycle; the Torah reader can choose whatever verses the readers wants to read. Someone else (a very long-time friend of mine) is doing the drash and is not required to talk about the same verses that the reader is reading (although I told her which verses I'm reading just in case she wants to make connections). I'm reading the opening seven verses. I love the idea of being given the option to choose positives or negatives in life. I was raised in such a way that I was a negative person. Then, in my middle 30s, I learned how not to be negative and I've been a positive person ever since. Let me tell you, living as a positive person is much better!

[lee058]

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

Re today's topic: I liked the comments about how sometimes we are told things as individuals and sometimes as Jews in general. I agree with Holly about using our writings to learn how to be better people.

Have a peaceful day, Lee

[peachymom1]

I do think of the mitzvot as being directed to us all, both as individuals and as a community. I think it's important to consider both our personal behavior and how we represent our people.

As far as blessings and curses go, we all know that life is not fair and we don't always get rewarded for goodness and punished for badness. But we still need to be reminded that choosing blessings is an expression of the kind of people we want to be, whether or not we get rewarded for it. And choosing bad behavior is also an expression about the kind of people we decide to be, regardless of whether curses actually come to prove it to us or not.