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’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!
