I have been working especially hard this week -- not only on my usual job at Breitbart, but also on Rhoda Kadalie's biography. I discovered a new trove of her files when my wife and I pulled our remaining boxes out of storage on Friday -- remnants of our 2019 move that we could never unpack for lack of space. (We finally had the garage redone, and closets installed. It looks and feels amazing.)
In the interim between handing in what I thought was the final draft of the book, and finding the boxes, my publisher received criticisms from a reviewer of an early draft that were quite negative and strident. Rather than getting upset, I decided to focus on the constructive criticism and improve the draft. And in the interim, I found documents that addressed the criticisms, almost exactly.
So now I am working on what will be a much better final draft, aiming to finish by the end of October. Not only am I proud of the way I handled the situation, but I am actually glad for the negative comments, because they contained some good ideas and they delayed the completion of the project long enough for me to find ways to ensure that it is a truly extraordinary tribute to Rhoda.
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!
