There’s a game most of us play. When we are going through a difficult patch, we tell ourselves “It will be better when this happens,” or “It will be better next week, month, year…” At first blush, this might seem an optimistic way to think about the demands of our lives. Rather than allowing ourselves to imagine that the present difficult moment defines us, we look forward to a better future.
Sometimes lamb is just lamb, and sometimes soup is just soup. Other times, so much more. Reading Parshat Bo offers a yearly reminder that food is one way to understand a culture, and sitting and eating together can be just as filling spiritually as it is satiating.
It’s difficult to recall the sensation of pain, even if the pain was incredibly traumatic at the time it occurred. But what happens when the physical or emotional pain doesn’t lead to changes in behavior? We see just such an example in the Torah this week from Pharaoh.
Some people love new beginnings. If they see a door open even a crack, they push quickly through, so excited and certain that something wonderful waits on the other side. Perhaps there’s a party happening, perhaps all of life is a party to which they have been invited.
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When we take off our shoes, it’s not just that the space we’re in is holy and sacred; it’s that we ourselves are holy, and making a direct connection - holy to holy - is one small way we can connect ourselves to everyone and everything that came before us.
Our last Shabbat was spent in darkness, the way a Karaite Jew observes the Sabbath, or perhaps the way early humans lived before our ancestors learned how to tame fire. A tree fell in a windstorm; not only did it take down an electric power line, but it also ripped the electrical meter base off our house, removing siding with it.
