This week, the Jewish holiday of Sukkot changes the traditional reading. Instead of the final portion of the Torah, Ve'Zot Ha'Brachah -- which we read a couple days later, on the holiday of Simchat Torah, before starting over with Genesis -- we read a special portion from Exodus for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
The portion revisits the reconciliation between God and the Jewish people, when Moses begs Him to forgive them for the sin of the Golden Calf.
As with many reconciliations, the end result is that the two sides are even closer than they were before. In addition to revealing his presence to Moses, God gives the Jewish people the three yearly pilgrimage festivals, including Sukkot.
I was reflecting this morning on how special this holiday is, as I performed my morning prayers outside, in my family's sukkah (temporary dwelling). On this holiday alone, we not only have special rituals; we create our own sacred space.
That's unique, in terms of Jewish practice. Normally one does not pray alone; it is preferable to pray with a quorum, or minyan, of ten men in a synagogue. In Biblical times, people were discouraged from having personal altars at home.
And yet, on Sukkot, while we still are supposed to pray with the community, we are also commanded to create our own little sacred space. It is temporary, and fragile, but it is also very real -- bringing holiness into our home, and vice versa.
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!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
