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Select Parsha Highlights:
A parsha of rewards and punishments. Follow The Way: Things will be Well. Diverge: Suffer.
A few psukim:
לו: וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֣ים בָּכֶ֗ם וְהֵבֵ֤אתִי מֹ֨רֶךְ֙ בִּלְבָבָ֔ם בְּאַרְצֹ֖ת אֹֽיְבֵיהֶ֑ם וְרָדַ֣ף אֹתָ֗ם ק֚וֹל עָלֶ֣ה נִדָּ֔ף וְנָס֧וּ מְנֻֽסַת־חֶ֛רֶב וְנָֽפְל֖וּ וְאֵ֥ין רֹדֵֽף:
-- And those of you who survive [the earlier punishments] I will bring fear in their hearts in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a rustling leaf will pursue them; they will flee as one flees the sword, and they will fall, but there will be no pursuer.
-- לז: וְכָֽשְׁל֧וּ אִֽישׁ־בְּאָחִ֛יו כְּמִפְּנֵי־חֶ֖רֶב וְרֹדֵ֣ף אָ֑יִן וְלֹא־תִֽהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ תְּקוּמָ֔ה לִפְנֵ֖י אֹֽיְבֵיכֶֽם
-- Each man will stumble over his brother, [fleeing] as if from the sword, but without a pursuer. You will not be able to stand up against your enemies.
(Anti-semitism?: A disease of the mind. Affects non Jews and Jews.)
-- לח: וַֽאֲבַדְתֶּ֖ם בַּגּוֹיִ֑ם וְאָֽכְלָ֣ה אֶתְכֶ֔ם אֶ֖רֶץ אֹֽיְבֵיכֶֽם:
-- You will become lost among the nations, and the land of your enemies will consume you.
(Assimilation?)
And much more.
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A couple of years ago, our child, Yoela, was home during a college break. Yoela observed that when preparing for Shabbat, that there seems to be a specifically Jewish attitude to time. An attitude absent in both assimilated and non Jewish students who came to Friday night dinners.
A seemingly unrelated conversation occured with a German high school student some years ago. We have long been friends with a Catholic family in Nuremburg Germany. Ten years ago, they sent their older daughter to live with us for a month. She lived in our Jewish house, and went to the local Jewish high school for a few days as a kind of intercultural exchange. Some years later, she sent me an email: "Raf, what is the Jewish perspective on the afterlife?"
More recently, this past weekend, I was at the memorial service for a cousin, Stephen Lesser. He died almost a year ago. At this memorial service, three or even four of the speakers referred to the principle: Show Me Your Friends, I'll Tell You Who You Are. It was uncanny how often this was referred to by speakers from very different walks of life.
I suggest that the first two above are related, and engaged directly in Bechokotai (among other parshiot). The last one above is directly spoken to when Bnei Israel are instructed not follow practices of foreign tribes. For example, in Kedoshim (a few weeks ago) (Vayikra 20:2) we had the prohibition on participating in the rites of Molech. This is one (of many) citations in Tanakh and Chazal that can be summarized: "You are what you do: You become a composite of your friends. Avoid problematic tribes. Make Jewish scholars your friends."
Steven Lesser was a giant. Shining through his giant-friends: Respected leaders in Asian studies, linguistics (across a handful of languages including Russian and Mandarin), history, Leo Beck Temple (in LA) and refugee care.
Turning to time: What is the connection between "time attitude" and perspective on the afterlife?
The perspective per this parsha: Stay here in the present. The afterlife will take care of itself.
Unpacking the parsha's decision tree gives:
- Follow the Tradition: You and the land prosper
- Drop the Tradition: You and the land suffer
When do consequences occur?
In your lives and the lives of your children.
Where do consequences appear?
In this world, in this life.
In other words: You (e.g. you, dear reader, and I, dear writer) have this life to reap what we sow. The parsha doesn't speak of an abstract afterlife. It speaks of our world and that of our children.
Any one of us can teach a child. Invent a gizmo. Sing a song. Cook a meal. Stroke a cheek. Kiss a forehead. Bandage an owie. Listen to a friend.
We all have this. Vast power.
Here in our three known dimensions.
The attitude of Bechokotai was summarized by the spiritual leader Richard Alpert (aka Baba Ram Dass): Be Here Now.
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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of G-d.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of G-d that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fears,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
- Marianne Williamson
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Баллада о времени / Ballad about Time
Владимир Высоцкий — Vladimir Vysotsky
translation: Alec Vagapov / https://allpoetry.com/poem/3514362-Vladimir-Vysotsky.-Collection-of-Lyrics-in-English.-by-vagalec
translation tuned by: Raf
performance by Дина Гарипова (Dina Garipova)
(Contemporary singer who seems to have one or more albums of Vysotsky songs.)
Ancient castle, worn out by time, is now clad
In a tender, green cover of sprouts,
But the reticent granite will throw off the plaid
To disclose the historical past it has had
With its conquests, crusades, fights and bouts.
Time has not wiped heroic deeds out.
Unveil what is hidden from view,
Take time by the throat and, no doubt,
It will open its secrets to you.
Heaps of fetters and locks will fall out like one,
And the numerous ages will seat to the bone,
And from hundreds of poems old legends will flood,
Tales of tournaments, archers, and sieges and blood.
Be prepared to listen to tunes you’ve heard of,
Look attentively, with comprehension,
After all, love is love and will always be love,
Even there, at your destination.
Steel would crack with a clank, at the slash of the sword,
And the bow-string would fume under tension,
Death would settle on spears, and groan, sitting squat,
Foes, appealing for quarter, would fall on the spot,
And surrender themselves at discretion.
Anyhow, not all survivors
Have retained their kindness of hearts,
Though they’ve saved their good names from rivals
And from downright lies of the rats.
It is good if the horse dashes off at once,
And the fighter has a good grip of the lance;
It is good if he knows how the arrow flies,
And it’s bad if it comes from the back, on the sly.
What about rogues ? Do you fight them ? OK.
Do witches inspire you with horror ?
Don’t you think, what is known as evil to-day
Will be known as evil tomorrow
‘cause for ages it’s been an unwritten law
That the cowards and traitors are battered,
That a foe is a foe and a war is a war,
That the cell is too dark, and freedom’s last straw,
And we always hope for the latter.
Time has not washed away these notions.
Just remove the top layer of mud,
And a flood of eternal emotions
Will gush out upon us like blood.
Nowadays it’s acknowledged as ever, old man,
That the price is the price, and that wine will be wine;
And it’s good if you’ve saved your good name from shame
And you have reliable support from friends.
Plainness, purity come from the ancients to us,
From the past we take fables and legends
For the good will be always the good : in the past,
And in future, as well as right now.
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Замок временем срыт
и укутан, укрыт
В нежный плед из зелёных побегов,
Но… развяжет язык молчаливый гранит —
И холодное прошлое заговорит
О походах, боях и победах.Время подвиги эти не стёрло:
Оторвать от него верхний пласт
Или взять его крепче за горло —
И оно свои тайны отдаст.Упадут сто замков, и спадут сто оков,
И сойдут сто потов с целой груды веков,
И польются легенды из сотен стихов
Про турниры, осады, про вольных стрелков.Ты к знакомым мелодиям ухо готовь
И гляди понимающим оком,
Потому что любовь —
это вечно любовь
Даже в будущем вашем далёком.Звонко лопалась сталь под напором меча,
Тетива от натуги дымилась,
Смерть на копьях сидела, утробно урча,
В грязь валились враги, о пощаде крича,
Победившим сдаваясь на милость.Но не все, оставаясь живыми,
В доброте сохраняли сердца,
Защитив свое доброе имя
От заведомой лжи подлеца.Хорошо, если конь закусил удила
И рука на копьё поудобней легла,
Хорошо, если знаешь, откуда стрела,
Хуже, если по-подлому, из-за угла.Как у вас там с мерзавцами? Бьют? Поделом!
Ведьмы вас не пугают шабашем?
Но… не правда ли, зло называется злом
Даже там — в добром будущем вашем? И во веки веков, и во все времена
Трус, предатель — всегда презираем,
Враг есть враг, и война
всё равно есть война,
И темница тесна,
и свобода одна —
И всегда на неё уповаем.Время эти понятья не стёрло,
Нужно только поднять верхний пласт —
И дымящейся кровью из горла
Чувства вечные хлынут на нас.Ныне, присно, во веки веков, старина, —
И цена есть цена,
и вина есть вина,
И всегда хорошо, если честь спасена,
Если другом надёжно прикрыта спина.Чистоту, простоту мы у древних берём,
Саги, сказки из прошлого тащим,
Потому что добро остаётся добром —
В прошлом, будущем и настоящем!
--end--