This week is the last Sabbath before Passover, known as Shabbat HaGadol -- the Big Sabbath. That hints at the importance of the Passover holiday: the freedom and the exodus from slavery are the foundation of all that follows.
The reading is about the rituals of purification of one's body following a spiritual contamination (as evidenced by tzara'at, loosely translated as a kind of leprosy). Through cleansing, we experience rebirth and exert governance of ourselves.
This year, at Passover, we are not all free -- there are dozens of Jews trapped as slaves by Hamas in Gaza. Jews have celebrated freedom in such circumstances before, as in the Holocaust; our freedom transcends our physical situation.
Nevertheless, the fact that Jews are again slaves -- so close to Egypt, too -- reminds us of the importance of bringing the hostages home, and reminds us of the importance of what Israel is fighting for, against an ancient form of evil.
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1692/jewish/Shabbat-Hagadol.htm
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!
