My eldest daughter qualified for the L.A. County Fire Department's junior lifeguard program yesterday. I'm thrilled, of course, because the training is really intense and she will learn an incredible amount on the beach this summer.
But what I'm even happier about is the way she qualified. As a 12-year-old, she had to prove she could swim 100 yards in 1 minute and 40 seconds. We trained for weeks, and she hit her best time last Friday: 1:46. I believed she could do it.
The test day came on Easter morning, and she went all-out. The time: 1:40.56.
She had failed. One might have thought that they would have let her in -- half a second! -- but they did not. Standards are standards, and apply to everyone.
But she had one more chance to make it. The lifeguards gave her coaching about breathing and so on, and advised her to rest for 20 minutes. When she hit the water the next time, she went even harder. All-out, for 100 yards.
I couldn't tell whether she would make it or not; I didn't time her test myself. When she hit the wall, they told her they would tell her the time when she was out of the water. She dragged herself onto the deck: 1:36. She had crushed it.
There is nothing like watching a child face obstacles and overcome them. I love the fact that the lifeguards stuck to their standards. I also love the way that she pulled herself together and maintained a positive outlook. She'll never forget it.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
