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Me, at our torah book club- I really love this passage where Esau and Jacob make tentative peace. It's my favorite, maybe after Isaac and Ishmael burying their father together. Ah, that's such a toss-up.
Rav David, off the cuff- Hmm. Into all the parts about familial dysfunction, aren't you?
Me, who's just been read for filth in front of 10 other people- Listen-
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I'm pretty sure Avraham failed the test
like if I was given a test and the person giving the test very obviously told me that I was wrong and not to actually do the thing, I would assume I failed the test
also, that's about where the torah switches focus from Avraham to Yitzchak. There were no more tests after that, his story just kind of ends. His next big task is to just marry off his son and that's it he's done.
Like, I really don't think he passed that test I think he failed for refusing to question God for giving him a very unreasonable task.
And it's not like others haven't been rewarded for questioning or even fighting authority
like Yaakov is very definitely rewarding for tricking his Dad cause like right after it says he has a dream where God basically told him good job you will have many descendents. Then later on he literally fights an angel and it's a good thing cause he got renamed Israel as part of a blessing and now we're B'nei Israel
And Moshe definitely questioned authority that was like his whole thing. And even beyond Pharoah, he also had to reason with God to get them to not kill everyone.
Even Avraham that time he convinces God to not kill everyone in Sodom and Gomorrah if there are ten good people. There aren't but Avraham's questioning and reasoning with God is portrayed as a good thing.
Also, Judaism is generally very supportive of questioning authority and child sacrifices are very specifically banned in the torah, so It makes no sense that Avraham passed the test because he would've obeyed God even to kill his child. Like that moral is pretty inconsistent with the rest of the Torah.
so I definitely think Avraham failed that test.
Ragman (1991) is an eight issue mini series that incorporates jewish mythology with a hero. He is one of a limited number of Jewish superheroes, and his continuity is tied to that of the Golem. Ragman is sometimes compared to the other nighttime defender of Gotham City, Batman, and was a member of the Sentinels of Magic and Shadowpact.
a little bit about this week’s parsha. the video especially is relevant to today.
as i was reading through the parshiot in relation to adar and purim to prep for a little dvar tora/shiur, i was struck by a fascinating thought. my ancestor, Aharon haKohen, had erred in a unique manner. when the 'rabble' came onto him and demanded the golden calf, he, after witnessing his nephew Chur ben Miriam and Kaliev get killed by the mob for standing against the rebellion, thought wisely to distract the people and agreed to their plan in creating the idol. and yet, he was later punished for this discretion with the deaths of his sons, Nadav and Avihu, for saying 'lest b'nai yisrael transgress by killing a prophet and a kohen in one day' (which he and his sons were). Aharon avi haKohen's trait was that of peace seeking, and yet, this populace came upon him to ensue strife and discord, pressing on his kindhearted, peace loving nature to essentially force him into a role that ultimately caused the jewish people's spiritual (and physical) downfall.
it struck a chord with me, as i see jews swayed to their own destruction in the name of a false form of peace. in order for true peace and sanctity to be achieved, one must stand by their values, and refuse to bow to arguments made in desperation, fear, distortion, or manipulation. in spite of the 'rabble' and the desecration wrought from within, we jews overcome and withstand. only through education, perseverance, and true efforts for peace can tranquility be obtained.
shavua tov l'kulam, and may HaShem bring us peace readily within our days!
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floating down the river nile as a baby was probably the most relaxed i've ever been. Its similar to being in a hammock or a lazy river
In this week’s parasha, the Israelites are in a liminal place. Lead by leaders they barely know, recognizing in one moment tremendous miracles being done for them and in the next worried about their ability to sustain themselves, manna is a beautifully complex response. The more the Israelites experience a felt sense of nourishment — physically leaving their tents, going out, gathering the manna from the earth itself, eating it, feeding their households — the more they understand on a foundational and emotional level, beyond the intellect, that they will make it, they will be okay. It’s not enough to be given promises or even flashy miracles. They have to experience it, in small ways, every day.
When we feel a sense of destabilization in our own bones, as our ancestors did, we too have to slow down and intentionally take in all that surrounds us that is nourishing, supportive, even when the world around us is replete with tremendous challenge.
--My Jewish Learning commentary on Parashat Beshalach
Nourishing myself is something I need to get better at -- holistically. And Shabbat is a good way to begin, I think. I find the rest of Shabbat essential -- but I've not been able to be observant for a while due to my theatre commitments. Something to reflect on.
Shabbat shalom, jumblr.
i listened in on an online sermon this shabbat and resonated with the idea that it’s not on one person singularly to enter a community. the community needs to be receptive and welcoming to foster new connections, to care for people beyond immediate networks. to be like abraham & sarah, inviting the hungry into their home for dinner, never once considering it an interruption to their prayers.
but then, i was disappointed with the end of the sermon. after all this talk about fostering welcoming environments and reaching out to do the work to make people feel part of the community, they took an ableist turn. they said that there’s a magic to being together in person that cannot be replaced by screens and that if you can’t make it that’s fine, But that’s not where the magic of connection happens.
i was glad to see *some* people masked in the livestream, but is that where the work of being welcoming ends? why would someone so focused on discussing community and how the shul could be better about it turn around and be so cold to disabled, chronically ill, and immunocompromised people who cannot be “in the magic”? can you even call it magic at that point? the magic of connection, in religious and secular environments, cannot fully exist until everyone is included in that definition. if people joining through zoom aren’t experiencing the full impact, why is that? how can you incorporate that into your overall goal of being welcome? why is this concept of magic so limited in scope? how can we collectively push past abelist ideas of what creates a spiritual space and connection?
most people live by these abelist ideas that make full accessibility seem like “too much work” or “ruining the spirit of togetherness” (think: companies wanting employees in office for “morale” when there’s a pandemic). i wish these self-proclaimed progressive people and spaces would stop and consider how much magic they’re lacking by not opening their minds and expanding their idea of what community looks like. how much more liberating, caring, and compassionate torah could exist if we abided by our alleged morals. how can someone invoke the act of sarah and abraham stopping their dinner prayers to let someone they didn’t know join them for dinner because they were hungry, when they themselves turn away those who don’t show up in a way ideal to them? are you as righteous and kind as sarah and abraham if your disabled congregants aren’t Able to be present at your dinner table? hungry for connection, exhausted from living in a world made without them in mind, looking for a spiritual home to feel seen and included in everything they are embodying? absolutely not. you’re not even close to the basic act of human dignity the ancestors showed to their guest.
would sarah and abraham have shut the door if the hungry man couldn’t walk, see, hear, eat certain foods, talk, or communicate in ways they were used to? i like to think that would have made no difference. that man would have always been present at the table. so why are you shutting the door on disabled congregants? we need to move beyond inspirational words and do more tangible work to make this full table, full of magic and accessibility, actually happen.
