I'm on the El Al flight to Israel. It's almost full, just like the one I took 3 weeks ago. It was encouraging to see a giant pile of duffel bags and suitcases at LAX: donations for the war effort from friends of Israel.
I've been wrestling with this trip a bit. The last one was special; I cannot expect it will be the same. And I have also been enjoying my children and my wife a lot the past several days. It's hard to leave.
At the same time -- I know there are men deep inside Gaza right now who have left their wives and children at home for weeks, to fight a terror that not only threatens Israel, but all of us around the world.
I cannot sit this one out. I cannot stay at home and say, thankfully, that I and my loved ones are safe. I have to go; I have to write the story, at some personal risk. It is a duty, and it is worth the effort.
Something happened to me over the past two weeks that hasn't happened to me before: people have come up to me, over and over, and told me how closely they followed my writing on Israel.
I'm bearing witness in a way that I cannot simply do from afar. And so I must go. And I'm happy to go, happier still as the journey goes along. Happy to be there, to remind Israelis that they are not alone.
I don't know exactly what I will see. I'm starting in the north, then going south. There will be interviews, meetings, chance encounters. Maybe a rocket attack or two. We shall see. It will be worthwhile.
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!
