No sooner had I finished my 450-page draft of the biography of Rhoda Kadalie, and sent it along on a path to the publisher, when I realized there were three blank pages between the table of contents and the acknowledgments. I had forgotten to put the dedication in before turning it in.
I was tempted to fix the problem (which I did) and send a new version (which I did not). I told myself: you have to let it go.
You have to let the publisher, and the editor, do what they do, and then you can make whatever fixes are needed. In fact, it's better to have at least one mistake that you know about -- a principle I learned from the holiday of Passover, when you leave a few pieces of leavened bread around the house the night before the holiday. The idea is that if you know there are a few crumbs that you will find, your awareness will be sharper to find those pieces of bread (forbidden on the holiday) that you don't know about.
It's done; it's in; it will continue to grow, in my mind and in the hands of the editor, but for now, I need to let that process happen by moving on, for now.
And I still have the monthly bills to do -- plus my taxes for 2021, ugh.
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!
