FOOD
FOR YOUR THOUGHTSDistinguishing Between Day and Night”
In Shacharit, the Morning Prayer service, there is a blessing we say that thanks G-d for giving us the intellectual ability to distinguish between “day and night.” This week I found myself wondering about what it means.
We are in gut-wrenching suspense. Will Disengagement be cancelled or not? Will the Arabs take advantage of the government’s weakness and attack? What other dangerous plans do Sharon, Olmert and Bush have up their sleeves? Will the State of Israel survive? How can we, how will we live through it?
How can we distinguish between good and bad, day and night?
Just like, “l’havdil,” to differentiate, we are all dying; we just don’t know how and when. “Geula,” Redemption and the Moshiach are approaching; we just don’t know when, though we certainly hope that today is sooner than yesterday.
Modern educational psychology stresses the different “intelligences.” Besides the classic Academic Intelligence, there are social, emotional, artistic, musical, sport etc. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to find the good in everything and not allow oneself to get depressed or feel hopeless or helpless.
Whatever situation we find ourselves in this coming week, we have to use it to our personal, spiritual and national betterment. No matter how horrendous things may be, we can’t let them paralyze ourselves into depressing inaction. And if G-d willing Disengagement is cancelled or postponed, that isn’t the end of the struggle.
Things are never how they seem. Remember that according to Judaism, the new day starts at nightfall. It neither starts at some man-proclaimed midnight nor with the first rays of the sun.
When still slaves in Egypt, it was during the Plague of Darkness we packed, and it was during the darkness of night when we escaped. According to Chaza”l, our sages, not all of the Jewish People left Egypt. Actually the majority stayed. They only saw the darkness, just like the Egyptians. A minority distinguished light in the darkness, and they were able to flee to be free.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. Soon after leaving Egypt the Children of Israel formed a golden calf and worshipped it. For that we were punished. Then the majority of tribal representatives announced that it would be too impossible to conquer the people in the Promised Land. The majority of the Bnai Yisrael voted with the ten spies. For that we were forced to suffer forty years of wandering the desert until a new generation was ready to enter The Land. Yes, not everyone sees the light. As Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) repeats frequently in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), “ain chadash,” “nothing’s new.”
We’re still wandering, but we’re getting closer, G-d willing, but it’s up to us. We have to use our G-d given abilities to distinguish between day and night and see the light in the darkness.
May we Merit the Moshiach and Geula Shleimah B’mhairah B’Yameinu!
Baile Rochel: The Little Darlings
Well, not quite so little. I’m referring to
those teenage boys I teach. Some of them are a bissel large,
but I can’t let myself notice that, or I’d never be able to
control them. On a good day they are adorable, but on other
days… I look forward to retirement. Those little darlings
respect strength. Every few years I have to prove I’m no weepy
middle-aged wimp and hope that my reputation won’t need quick
renewal. One year I wrestled a chair from a six foot two
(about 1.85 meters) senior. He wasn’t one of my students but
had walked into my classroom to “borrow” a chair. That’s one
of my “no no’s.” “This is no storage room,” I boomed. “You had
better give that chair back and if your teacher needs one, he
should go to the maintenance staff like I do!” I grabbed that
chair like a mother lion fighting for one of her cubs, with my
young impressionable freshmen watching in awe. Finally the
senior slunk out chairless. Ok, he figured that it didn’t pay
to fight such a nutty lady over a chair, even with an
audience. I’m probably older than his mother. Sometimes I buy
their respect with more skill and dignity. One day, all
dressed up for my son’s high school graduation, I approached
the school and saw some of my students shooting hoops. They
passed me the ball; I prayed real hard, and the ball went
right into the basket, after a professional looking tap on the
backboard. Of course, they may not have realized that I used
to be a gym teacher; though my specialty was Creative Dance
and Creating Games with Dead Balls. My proudest moment was at
a teachers training session when we were having an informal
basketball game. I found myself holding the ball, surrounded
by all the tall, agile athletes. Then I caught the eye of my
teammate, one of the other rare short and dumpy teachers.
Figuring that there was no way that I could throw the ball to
him over the octopus arms threatening us, I just rolled it to
him. Perfect catch!
The time has come for me to find a new success to buy respect.
All the witnesses to my previous ones have graduated, and boys
need proof before they fully accept a teacher. This year I
threw out almost half my seniors, since they hadn’t done
enough work in previous years to have a chance to pass the
finals. I told the administration that I only care about those
willing to work, and if a student only walks in to the
classroom to disturb, he’s not welcome. It took a while until
everyone understood that I was serious, and nobody appreciated
it more than the remaining students. Once they knew that I
would fight for them they worked harder.
I teach English as a Foreign Language, EFL, as it’s known in
the profession. It’s a very difficult job, especially since I
generally get the weaker students, those whose native language
skills are poor. And it’s so much more difficult to learn
grammar, literature, composition etc in a language you barely
understand. It took me quite a while to comprehend why they
looked blank when I gave examples from Hebrew grammar. Simply,
they don’t know Hebrew grammar. That propelled me on another
quest, to try to change the general curriculum. Now I
buttonhole everybody I know involved in elementary and junior
high school education telling them that there must be radical
changes in the foundation curriculum. Young parents are also
targeted. I urge them to take a good look at what their
children are learning and how. And of course, I tell them not
to be shy and not to trust the bureaucrats. Obviously, I don’t
win any popularity contests. OK, sorry, this isn’t very funny.
But let’s think of it differently. If the curriculum and
teaching methods were what I say they should be, I would never
have been asked to teach. That’s because a number of years
ago, during an unpleasant period of unemployment, I was asked
to “do what I could” with a few failing high school students,
even though I had never taught English before. After a few
minutes of training and lots of encouragement, I began
teaching the “little darlings,” and as the saying goes: “The
rest is history.”
Different laws for different people
Only the most
naive of us really believes that we're all equal under the
law, regardless of where we live.
In the
states, OJ S. and Michael J. were declared innocent, even
though the evidence, except to their fans and juries,
showed something else.
In
Israel, we also have seen left wing and pro Disengagement
politicians get away with major corruption when those at
the other end of the political spectrum are held to
stricter standards. And jailed teenage Arab terrorists
were able to do their state final exams, while the Jewish
anti-Disengagement teens were forbidden.
Apparently, in America, there's also different tax law for
different types of millionaires. It'll break your heart to
read this, nebich.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/16/opinion/16augustine.html?th&emc=th
TRUST
Do you trust
Michael Jackson, even though the American jurors declared
him innocent? Would you let your son, grandson, brother or
any other young male you care about sleep in the same bed
together with Michael Jackson? Tonight, on the Israeli TV
news one of the commentators very wisely said that he
couldn’t understand how any normal responsible mother
permitted her son to lay together in bed with Michael
Jackson or any other adult male. As a mother, grandmother
and suspicious by nature adult, I agree. But I couldn’t
help but wondering why all those outraged broadcasters and
social and political experts can’t transfer this wisdom to
our political and defense situation.
I have a few very simple questions, which to my mind are
very similar. Do you trust that the Arab terrorists Israel
keeps releasing will be law abiding and avoid
participating in terrorist activities against Jews and
Israelis? Would you want any of your loved ones near them?
Do you trust Abu Mazen to protect Israeli cities after
Disengagement? Would you want to live in Sderot, Ashdod,
Ashkelon, Yad Mordechai and the Southern Negev after
Disengagement?
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=83862
Do you think that the Arabs will be satisfied after the
Jews of Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron are made
homeless? Now for a different question: Have the Arabs
promised peace in exchange for Gush Katif and Northern
Shomron? If anyone can honestly answer yes to these
questions, then I guess they should pack up their young
sons, grandsons, nephews and brothers and send them to
Neverland to sleep with Michael Jackson. If you can
honestly say that you trust Yassir Arafat’s successor, Abu
Mazen, then trusting Michael Jackson’s should be real easy
for you.
Michael Jackson may be a tad peculiar, and he may even be
some sort of pervert, but remember: the godly American
System of Justice declared him innocent of any crime.
According to the jurors who spent months together
listening to the sort of testimony that kept “peeping
Tom’s” reading the tabloids, Michael Jackson was innocent.
He didn’t commit any crime at all. He wasn’t even
convicted of serving alcoholic drinks to minors. This was
all “child’s play.” Michael Jackson was just an innocent
victim. That’s what happened this week in America, the
country idolized by many Israelis. This week the Jewish
World celebrated the holiday of Shavuot. Shavuot is the
holiday that commemorates the Jewish People’s acceptance
of the Ten Commandments, which encompass, symbolize all of
the mitzvot, the G-d given commandments. Tradition
tells us that all Jewish souls, who would ever exist, were
together at Mount Sinai. We all said: “Na’aseh v’nishma,”
“We will do and we will listen.” First we promised,
without reading the fine print, without even knowing what
we were agreeing to.
As Jews our laws and standards are set. They were given to
us thousands of years ago, and we agreed. They are for all
of us. There’s no jury to decide according to someone’s
celebrity if he’s guilty or innocent. No other country has
the right to determine of borders and our means of defense
and commerce. While the rest of the world may
celebrate or condemn Michael Jackson, we have more
important things to worry about.
King David, the women before him
This is about King David's maternal line and the love of his life. We get all sorts of Parshat Shavua, Torah Portion of the Week pages/stories/summaries/lessons. Some good and some I'd like to rip up. Today was one of those days. Tomorrow starts the Shavuot holiday when we read Megilat Ruth, Scroll of Ruth. The one I read was so far from the truth. It gave a very censored/re-written version of the text. The truth is that Ruth, following her mother-in-law Naomi's instructions, seduced Boaz. The text is very clear about it. Boaz was one of the relatives of their dead husbands who could return their property or rights, if there was a child. Now, Ruth wasn't the only woman who seduced a man to become one of the maternal line to David. Tamar seduced her father-in-law Yehuda when he didn't marry her to his third son. Leah, in cahoots with her sister Rachel, slept with Yaakov and married him. Yehuda was one of their sons. Ruth, herself, descended from Lot and his daughters who made him drunk and slept with him in order to get pregnant, since they thought that they were the last people alive on earth. And, read the text carefully, it was Batsheva who was the aggressor with King David. Their relationship/marriage eventually produced King Solomon who built the Holy Temple. And this week's parsha included the Sota, a woman accused by her jealous husband of being unfaithful. The magic potion only works against her if her husband was a perfect husband. And then reading the Haftara about the birth of Samson. His mother was alone with the angel, but her husband trusted her and didn't take her to be tested. Just some food for thought when I really should be cooking for Shavuot or at least washing dishes.