Reconnecting During These High Holy Days

Within the Calendar of Jewish Tradition, we have once again returned to the beginning of another New Year (Rosh Hashanah), and the ever-important intervening Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuva) until Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. We are taught to look back at the year that was, in order to better live the year that will be.

As any one of us looks back on our lives, whether it's the past one year or the past ten, we remember what we wanted to do - and did; what we needed to do - and tried; even what we should have thought twice about doing, before doing it.

We've all probably heard, ”To err is human, to forgive is Divine"? Well, here's my retelling of a Jewish version of that, from 18th C. Eastern Europe:

To err is human... and brings us closer to The Divine. How? Every one of us has our very own connection with God, as if we are tied to God by a rope. Our errors and wrongdoings -- those weaken our connection, as if to fray the rope, even causing it to come apart. But when we see this and repent, ask for forgiveness, and refrain from repeating those same wrongs - our connection is repaired. It's as if where that rope had frayed and come apart has now been knotted back together. And with that knotting comes an even closer, even stronger connection. So yes, to err is human... and so is doing something about it. For it is in our doing something about it that we not only reconnect ourselves with The Divine, we strengthen that connection.

God, however frayed or broken we think our connection to You might be, help us to know that we are also blessed with whatever -- and whomever -- it will take to strengthen our reconnection to You.

Amen.

[Hasidic Teaching. "Those Who Err Are Closest to God.” Rosh Hashanah Readings: Inspiration, Information and Contemplation. Ed. Dov Peretz Elkins. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2006. 5.]

What to Do, What to Do

Our lives are busy ones. Even when we're not busy, we're busy. If it's not work, it's family. And if it's not family, it's work. And somewhere in-between the two, we try, we really do, we try to fit in all the rest: the reading and shopping and cleaning and driving and cooking and exercising and.... and....

And so much more - it's endless really, all that fills our days. So much to do. So much. And sometimes it can seem like our being so busy actually makes life easier. Perhaps you've found yourself as I have, too busy to make certain choices, sometimes certain difficult choices. It is as if our being busy, our acting and our doing, is all that defines us and determines who we are: that who we are is what we do; and what we do is who we are.

And yet, we are not merely animals acting on instinct. We do more than just "do." We do more than just "act." We are human beings, and we are not so simple as to act without choosing. For before we act, before we do, we must choose. That's what it is to be human: to be human is to choose. For the gift of free will is precious; we all make choices: good and right, bad and wrong. We all do. But as busy as we are and as busy as we make ourselves, our lives and our legacies are determined not only by our actions; our lives and our legacies are also defined by our choices.

May we, who are so very busy, both find the time and make the time to make good choices.

Amen. 

Opening and Closing with Ecclesiastes

Exciting news. I've recently been asked, "So, where have the blog entries been? Doing other writing, or what? " Well, I'm quite happy to say: yes, and it's now been published.


I have co-authored an article with Rabbi William Cutter, Ph.D  which is based upon my research and rabbinical thesis, "Yehuda Amichai’s Open Closed Open and Ecclesiastes: An Autumnal Intertextual Relationship." 


The article is titled, "Opening and Closing with Qohelet: The Late Work of Yehuda Amichai: A Discussion of Patuaḥ sagur patuaḥ (Open Closed Open)."


[Some background: Qohelet (קֹהֶלֶת‎‎) is the Hebrew title of the biblical book Ecclesiastes. Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000) is Modern Israel's most well-known and deeply beloved poet - and one of the Modern Hebrew Language's most important, as well. His final work is translated as Open Closed Open, and in its original Hebrew: פָּתוּח סָגוּר פָּתוּח, Patuaḥ Sagur Patuaḥ.]


The article has been published in the latest edition of Hebrew Studies, Volume 51 (2010). Hebrew Studies is an academic journal devoted to scholarly articles on Hebrew language, linguistics, literature, and culture of all periods, which is produced by the National Association of Professors of Hebrew. You can view the Journal's Table of Contents (as a .pdf) here; the article begins on page 175. (The journal is available through the managing editor, Dr. Rick Painter.)

You can read the article's first four pages by clicking here; it begins with the following abstract (summary): 

Many critics have noted the densely wrought structure in Patuaḥ sagur patuaḥ, and have called attention to its rich intertextual allusions and use of refrains and key words. (One thinks of Kronfeld, Bloch, Arpali, Alter, Band, and Gold.) But the major articles have not fully treated the heavy burden of association to the book of Ecclesiastes, Qohelet. In Patuaḥ sagur patuaḥ, Amichai created a multi-layered foundation in classic sources which serves as an underpinning to the overall autumnal stance and skeptic’s vision of the 300 poem-units. In addition to the specific Qohelet allusions, there are nearly one hundred more elusive associations that emerge once the reader accepts the importance of the boldly etched references to Qohelet. The authors argue that, once Qohelet becomes the dominant metaphoric “trope,” other more transient and innocent associations to the biblical scroll take on greater significance. While resisting a glib “allegoresis” (a tendency to see Qohelet in every possible space), the fact is that the Solomonic wise preacher lies in wait in a surprising number of corners of this extraordinary and weighty collection.

The basis of the article, my rabbinical thesis, was the result of seemingly countless - and endlessly enjoyable - hours that I spent both translating Amichai's final collection in full, as well as identifying the truly overwhelming amount of biblical citations, references, and allusions. This was all a result of what I had discovered while reading and studying the book: there exists an intertextual relationship with Ecclesiastes that is profound in both depth and breadth.

I welcome your interest in the article and thesis and would happily make them available (although the thesis is rather comprehensive and a sure cure for insomnia).

I am deeply humbled, not only by Amichai's (greatest) work which continues to inspire, challenge, and delight, but also this work: what it took to do it, and what has come of it. It could not have happened without the assistance and guidance of so many exceptionally wise and remarkably patient people in my life: family and friends, mentors and professors, authors and scholars. Thank you all.