I was very proud of my son's exploits in a Little League doubleheader yesterday. He was great at the plate -- including a home run; he pitched an excellent inning; and he was very good at shortstop, his best position.
However, there was one unique moment that stood out -- and I didn't know whether to be proud or embarrassed.
Late in the second game, with his team up by several runs, my son pulled off what is known as the "hidden ball trick." It involves pretending to throw the ball back to the pitcher at the end of a play, but hiding it instead in your glove, then tagging the runner out when he tries to lead off the base, thinking that he is safe to do so. A YouTube favorite.
I knew exactly what he had done when I saw him hold up his glove with the ball in it. I cheered for him -- and felt immediately bad for the unfortunate baserunner who had been tagged out. I had to explain it to the other parents.
My son's coach was pleased, but I went over to the other coach to apologize -- sort of -- for my son's impish competitiveness and ingenuity. He said it was OK, a learning experience -- though I had the sense he felt it was 'just not cricket."
My son was thrilled and will probably tell the story to his friends at school for days. And to be honest, I laughed about it throughout the day. That's my son -- he always wants to win, and he is a trickster. Not just on the baseball diamond.
How am I supposed to feel about it? He's the young Donald Trump of little league baseball: very effective, but also... kind of a jerk, and he doesn't mind.
All I can really say that I know, upon reflection, is: he didn't get it from me.
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
