There is a surprising silence around the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Perhaps that's just because the first day is devoted to opening statements rather than questions; perhaps that's because it's a liberal replacing another liberal, and it will not affect the current balance of the Court; perhaps that's because she's the first black female nominee, and so her confirmation is assured in a way that it would not be for another nominee.
It's also possible that she's met the bar for qualifications, and that Republicans have other irons in the fire. There may be more qualified judges, but Supreme Court justices are rarely the most qualified judges. They're the most qualified who have a reasonably good chance of staying on the bench the longest. I'm sure there are good judges who never get a chance because they started later.
She's very likable; she has a beautiful family; she mentioned God in her opening statement. And she's radical in some of the most destructive ways. But she'll be on the highest court soon, and she'll likely be there for a very, very long time.
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!
