My wife has been on the road a lot in the past two weeks. Last week, I was home alone with the kids; our part-time nanny was on vacation. So it was just me.
Maybe this won't impress the moms, who handle the complex multi-tasking of work and family on a regular basis, but I managed to keep all three of the kids happy and healthy and on time, while also doing my own work, exercise, etc.
This week, the nanny is back, so I have a much easier task. But it's still busy.
And you know what? It's the best kind of busy. My kids are incredible, we live in a beautiful place, and my work is flexible enough to allow me to balance things.
When I feel I should be doing more, or traveling more, or achieving more, I am reminded that few fathers have the luxury of being able to participate this fully in the daily routines of raising their kids. I miss them when I'm not with them.
I'm grateful for my job and for the work I am able to do, and for the partnership of the most incredible wife in the world, who has exceeded my wildest dreams.
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!
