OMG! A seminary student of all people had the audacity to take Obama’s note to God out of the Western Wall and give it to the media to publish. Of course the national news and every one of us condemned this behavior. How dare we expose the personal prayers of another human being? I could not help think, what if the prayer had said something incriminating. Just what if Obama confessed on that small piece of paper a great sin, would we have reacted the same? Maybe, then we would have felt justified looking at his personal words. I hope not. Which made me think, when Obama wrote that message, did he have to think that it might be read? Did he have to edit his own prayers? Has our exposure of political figures became so pervasive that they even have to be wary when writing to God. I can’t answer whether Obama was thinking that it would be read when he wrote that note, but I can say if he did, then as a society, as a people we seriously need to scrutinize our behavior. On Yom Kippur, we repent in the plural asking God to forgive Our sins - not only our sins as individuals. but our sins as a collective community. We repent this way because even if we never committed the sin, we are still responsible for each other and must them repent for the ones committed in our society. Everyone has the right to write to private note to God, so this year I will be asking for forgiveness for all of us for having read it.
This summer my son Emet learned to swim. He could “ice cream scoop” and be water safe, but this summer with the great instruction of Brooks at Tumbleweed Swim School, he learned to do freestyle, backstroke, and even to dive into the water. As a mother it was thrilling to watch him reach this landmark. But as a rabbi I could not help thinking about the teaching from the Talmud (the Oral tradition of Judaism) that says as parents we are obligated to circumcise our son, redeem him, educate him, find him a wife, give him a profession and lastly - teach him how to swim. I will admit the last one seems a bit odd in the grouping. But when the Talmud was compiled, the main mode of transport was by boat. Swimming was essential. Even though boat is my least preferred mode of travel, this summer I felt as if I put a check on this the all important list. Emet was circumsized at his bris on the 8th day of his life. He was redeemed at his pidyon haben on the 31st day of his life in front of 500 people. And this summer he learned to swim. (I am assuming that since I had a proxy for the first command, I was okay to have a proxy for this one too.) Even though it may be a while before I make another check on the list, it seems with half of my list complete, my husband and I are well on our way to raising our child. I will keep you posted on the progress in the other areas along the way.
I have worn glasses for as long as I could remember. In high school, I thought they made me look mature. In college, smart. In rabbinical school if I had not worn glasses, I definitely would not have fit in. But after umpteen years I was done. I had tried every contact known to human kind. But they gave me allergies. Plus they always began to bother me at the most inopportune times. (Imagine being interviewed by Matt Lauer on The Today Show when my contact suddenly starts to irritate my eye and he asks me if I am winking at him.)So after much thought I decided to look into having lasik surgery to correct my vision. My brother had done it in the early days and he had to have two subsequent procedures to correct his vision, so you can imagine my fear. But after meeting Dr. Arthur Benjamin of the Benjamin Eye Institute many times, I felt I was in the most trusted of hands when the day finally arrived. Fast forward - Dr. Benjamin is preparing my eyes to be lasered. He asks me again if I want a sedative and I say no. But I do make one request; the nurses and staff gather in a circle around me. I pray for the doctor to have the ability to heal. There is silence and he begins by opening my eye with a speculum. Uncomfortable but not unbearable. Then the second part-the actual laser procedure. It smells like burning but I try to ignore the rancid scent. Thirty-six seconds later, both eyes are done.I go home a bit blurry and a bit fearful. What if it does not work? People often come out of the surgery being able to see, but my eyes are still blurry. I ask God for faith before I fall asleep at 7 pm that night. At 1 am I wake up, look at the clock and, annoyed that I am up in the middle of the night, reach for my glasses and start to head toward the bathroom. 1:00? Wait! I saw the time. I saw the clock more than 5 feet from my face without my glasses. I look again. 1:01. Still seeing it. I can’t even remember a time when I could see. 1:02. I love it. 1:03, I should close my eyes and try to sleep again. 1:04. It’s a great night.
OMG! A seminary student of all people had the audacity to take Obama’s note to God out of the Western Wall and give it to the media to publish. Of course the national news and every one of us condemned this behavior. How dare we expose the personal prayers of another human being? I could not help think, what if the prayer had said something incriminating. Just what if Obama confessed on that small piece of paper a great sin, would we have reacted the same? Maybe, then we would have felt justified looking at his personal words. I hope not. Which made me think, when Obama wrote that message, did he have to think that it might be read? Did he have to edit his own prayers? Has our exposure of political figures became so pervasive that they even have to be wary when writing to God. I can’t answer whether Obama was thinking that it would be read when he wrote that note, but I can say if he did, then as a society, as a people we seriously need to scrutinize our behavior. On Yom Kippur, we repent in the plural asking God to forgive Our sins - not only our sins as individuals. but our sins as a collective community. We repent this way because even if we never committed the sin, we are still responsible for each other and must them repent for the ones committed in our society. Everyone has the right to write to private note to God, so this year I will be asking for forgiveness for all of us for having read it.
This summer my son Emet learned to swim. He could “ice cream scoop” and be water safe, but this summer with the great instruction of Brooks at Tumbleweed Swim School, he learned to do freestyle, backstroke, and even to dive into the water. As a mother it was thrilling to watch him reach this landmark. But as a rabbi I could not help thinking about the teaching from the Talmud (the Oral tradition of Judaism) that says as parents we are obligated to circumcise our son, redeem him, educate him, find him a wife, give him a profession and lastly - teach him how to swim. I will admit the last one seems a bit odd in the grouping. But when the Talmud was compiled, the main mode of transport was by boat. Swimming was essential. Even though boat is my least preferred mode of travel, this summer I felt as if I put a check on this the all important list. Emet was circumsized at his bris on the 8th day of his life. He was redeemed at his pidyon haben on the 31st day of his life in front of 500 people. And this summer he learned to swim. (I am assuming that since I had a proxy for the first command, I was okay to have a proxy for this one too.) Even though it may be a while before I make another check on the list, it seems with half of my list complete, my husband and I are well on our way to raising our child. I will keep you posted on the progress in the other areas along the way.
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