Jewish Musings, Friday 9/27 (save for tomorrow)

[lee058]

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:





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]

This is Friday's thread, as I have a dental appointment this morning. I'm writing this on Thursday.

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

Today's topic: Peace.

Do you think peace is possible? The world is so tumultuous that sometimes I despair. Yet I still have hope. Maybe I am naive, but I still hope that people will join together and stop fighting.

I worry about Israel every day. As a Jew, Israel holds a special place in my heart. I also feel strongly about peace in the USA. I want the anti-semites to, oh how I can put this? Just disappear once it becomes clear how disgusting and preposterous they are. I would like to see lawbreakers get punished. Things have gone way too far on college campuses, for example.

At the same time, I generally feel peace in my life. My home is safe. My family is safe. I try to consciously stay calm and relaxed, as much as possible. I stay away from news that is too upsetting (not completely; I do read a lot about Judaism, anti-semitism, Israel, and other related topics). I just won't watch TV news that is too violent and repetitive.

I am lucky; I have the luxury of living a quiet life. As I said at the beginning of the week, I am grateful that my great-grandparents and grandparents came to the USA. I am also grateful that my family lives in Northern VA, a liberal area, where I can have a political yard sign without being afraid of retribution.

What thoughts would you like to share about peace?

Have a peaceful day/weekend, Lee

[hollygail]

I "came of age" in the 1960s. I joined the Student Peace Union when I was 14 and was active in peace demonstrations and anti-war demonstrations for a long time. You all know about my dedication to the peace movement during my teens and 20s. What I don't remember stating on this thread is that I considered myself a pacifist until after my child was born. When he was still an infant I realized that if anyone were to come into my house to harm my child and there were a gun handy, I'd shoot the intruder. That's when I realized I wasn't exactly (at least my definition of) a pacifist.

There's an Aesop fable about the frog and the scorpion. The scorpion asks the frog for a ride to the other side of the river / lake / stream / whatever the body of water is. The frog says no, you'll only sting me in the middle and we'll both drown. The scorpion promises not to because it will also drown if the frog does. So the frog says yes. And sure enough, when they get out to the middle of the body of water, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog looks at the scorpion and says, "Why did you do that? Now we'll both drown." And the scorpion says something like, "Because I'm a scorpion" or words to the effect that that's its nature. You can just as easily make a couple of changes to the story such that it takes place in the Middle East and the punchline then is, "Because it's the Middle East." This one seems to indicate that there will never be peace in the Middle East because it's the nature of the Middle East. As things get worse, I feel myself gliding ever so slowly closer and closer to that conclusion...

[gazelle18]

I am wondering if there was ever a time where there was actual “peace on earth.” By that, I mean that there were no armed conflicts or hostilities anywhere in the world. I wonder if humankind is as bad as the scorpion in the story Holly referenced. (And yes, sometimes I wonder if the world would be a more peaceful place if women were in charge.)

Good shabbos all!

[peachymom1]

I don't think peace is possible as long as people are running the world with too much testosterone, greed and hunger for power.

In Judaism, we don't deny that we all have urges and wants, in addition to needs and inclinations. But we are also reminded that we can be kind, fair and wise. Peace itself is possible, if people will do what it takes to achieve it. Is it more our nature to grab and conquer, or to build and share? Humankind has been debating that for years. We Jews keep hoping, praying and sacrificing for peace. I wish everyone else would too.

I heard a slightly different version of Holly's story. In it, the scorpion is picked up by a man during a cold snap and warms it up under his coat, after the scorpion promises not to sting him. When it does, and the man demands to know why (with his dying breath), the scorpion replies, "You knew what I was when you picked me up. Why did you expect me to be anything else?" Animals behave the way they do because they are programmed to do so, basically. But people can be better, we can choose a different way, and yes, we can bring peace if we want it badly enough. But maybe it will take a Messiah to bring it.

[louise]

I too live in a very sheltered environment - meaning safe. I know I'm really blessed. Anybody catch any of neanyahu speaking to the General Assembly? I didn't see much but I know that he was booed and MANY of the diplomats left when he began to speak. I don't see how there will ever be peace in that part of the world but these days it seems to be true everywhere!