I've watched the Whoopi Goldberg clip a few times and I can't believe she meant anything nefarious or bad by it. I can't stand her politics, and she hasn't been kind to opposing views (to say the least), but all she was spouting is the usual liberal line about the Holocaust -- i.e. that the lesson is about the universal tendency of human beings to commit evil, and the need for vigilance. (I was more offended by Ana Navarro's attempt to drag Nazis into the U.S. political scene as versions of her "white supremacist" political opponents.)
The ADL weighed in to criticize her. The ADL has become a racist organization, distinguishing between "Jews of color" and other Jews, which is a distinction that has no basis in Judaism. The fact is that the Holocaust was about race, and saw Jews as a race, but it also targeted Jews specifically, and the fact is that all of this is confusing even to smart people, which is why we should have a little more tolerance for people getting a few things wrong before a commercial break, even if they are wrong in a fundamental but well-intentioned way.
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
