Who am I?

 

Who am I?

At Jewish Newport

January 23, 2021

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel, edited by Vicki Kaplan

Also at https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

God speaking to Moses from
the burning bush 
Schlapperitzin, Konrad abt 1445 

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island writes,

“One of the recurring themes in the early part of the Book of Shemot is the reluctance of Moses to serve as spokesperson to Pharaoh for the Jewish people. At least five times, Moses asks God to replace him with someone else - someone who can speak better than he. The Torah is not explicit, but apparently Moses had a speech defect which made him very insecure. 

“Why did God choose someone with a speech defect to represent the Jewish people? The Dreshot Haran says that, ‘Moses was chosen so that it would not be thought that it was his eloquence which made Israel and its leaders his followers. For men with glib tongues have been known to attract multitudes and to have their lies taken for truth. The very opposite, however, is the case with one whose speech is impaired. Even the truth he speaks will not be accepted unless it is absolutely transparent.’"

“What a great lesson for our age!”

---

It is striking how much effort God put into convincing Moses to become His messenger. Was God’s power not so total? Or was it that it would be preferable if people did His bidding because they believed in what they were doing, rather than because He commanded it?

To get Moses’ attention, God used a cheap trick, the burning bush. Sure enough Moses approached the bush to see what was going on. At God’s command, Moses took off his sandals. Nowadays, God would ask people to keep their shoes on to avoid stinky feet! After commiserating with Moses about the hardships the Children of Israel were experiencing in Egypt, God popped the question, “Moses, will you go to Pharaoh and give him my message?” Moses demurred, saying, “Who am I?”

Like a child, Moses continued to come up with excuses, finally playing the “I stutter” card. God said, “Don’t worry, I will be with you.” When that didn’t work, God lost his temper and said that Moses' brother Aaron could do the talking. And Aaron hasn’t stopped talking since!

The comedic approach was repeated. Pharaoh wouldn’t listen, so the God-Moses team pulled out every trick in the book, ten (plagues) in fact. One can imagine God and Moses trying having fun thinking of things disgusting enough to get Pharaoh's attention. If a river of blood doesn’t work, let's try locusts; if locusts don’t work, lice; if lice don't work; darkness...and so on. As Leo A Connorton Jr. told us in seventh grade English at Thompson Junior High School before he jumped onto his desk, “If at first you don’t fricassee, fry, fry again.” Mr. Connorton knew how to get our attention!

Mrs. Namel Chadash asks,

 “So Rabbi Mandel, (Oy, do I love that sweet name, Mandel.), did God have the same conversation with Joe Biden?”

Rabbi Mandel silently smiled.

So how did the God to Joe Biden conversation go?

G: “Joe, I’d like you to do some networking for me.”

Joe tried every trick in the book to avoid accepting the task.

J: “God, I want to be upfront with you. There is something you should know that will make it impossible for me to be your messenger.”

G: “Nu? That’s hard to imagine. Surprise me!”

J: “You won’t like this. I’m Catholic”

The heavenly choir laughed, a deep belly laugh. Even God smiled. 

G: “Joe, look closely at me. Don’t you see that in addition to a Magen David, I have a crescent and a cross. You need a better excuse than that.”

Joe: “Sigh! There is something even worse. I’m a democrat.”

A murmur went up from the heavenly choir.

G: “Joe, we don’t discuss politics up here. A few years ago we formed a heavenly commission. After a long debate and consulting an outside expert, we decided politics were divisive and would interfere with our work.”

J: “Who was the outside expert?

G: “We went to the obvious choice, Rabbi Marc Mandel! The closest he ever came to politics was a discussion about avoiding it. Maybe you know him?”

J: “Isn’t Rabbi Mandel a young rabbi at an old Shul?  Anyhow, I stutter. A spokesman with a speech impediment would not be a good spokesman. You deserve the best.”

The heavenly choir breathed a sigh of relief. God muttered under his breath, “Whew, that’s a safe topic”

G: “No problem, Joe. I don’t want you to sound too slick. I do want you to think carefully about what you say and make each word count.”

Joe: “I will do my best to represent your interests.”

G: “Who knows? Someday, maybe you will become a modern day Moses. Wait a minute. That’s going a little bit too far. How about the President of the United States. Trust me, Joe. If you make it that far, people won't worry about a speech impediment.”

The rest is history.

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!

What's in a Name?

 What's in a Name?

At Jewish Newport

January 9, 2021

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel, edited by Vicki Kaplan

Also at https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Newport, Rhode Island’s Touro Synagogue, had some words for Jewish Newport,

“We recently started reading the second book of the Pentateuch. Many people refer to this as the Book of Exodus.

“But, a more traditional name for it is Shmot, or names. Indeed, the book begins with a listing of the names of the people that were living in Egypt at that time. While we all understand that the Exodus from Egypt is a central theme of this Book, names are also very important, because it gives us a sense of who the people were and their families. Without these people, and their names, there would be no Exodus. 

“Today, this of course has become very popular. Genealogy is bursting at the seams, especially with the help of the internet. It's refreshing to learn how the internet is being used in positive ways, rather than some of the negative ways we have been reading about lately. Happy searching!”

---

The Hebrew Bible is obsessed with genealogy. There might be several reasons. 

As understood by the ancients, a people is a family that must have started with a man and a woman. Humanity consists of many related families, which themselves must have common ancestors. This takes us back to Eden.

A lot of our Torah is about Priests and Kings. They might be interested in family history to back up their claim to their positions, which were inherited. 

The rabbis who created Judaism, of the Mishnah and Talmud, were more concerned with ideas. They used the same information as the ancients,  priests and kings  to bear witness to receiving Torah at Sinai. “Our ancestors were at Sinai,” they assert. “They were there when Moshe came down from the cloud with two tablets that contained  עשרת הדיברות‎ (transliterated aseret ha-dibrot) also known as The Ten Commandments or the Decalogue. Translating from the Hebrew, it means ten words or ten statements. If you look for ten commandments, you will be disappointed. 

Chazal (all Jewish sages of the Mishna, Tosefta and Talmud eras) seemed to make “we were there,” the important thing. Then they proceeded to interpret Torah as they saw fit, giving their interpretations detailed genealogies by citing verses from the Tanakh as well as the opinions, real or imagined, of their predecessors.

One wonders if the rabbis, priests, kings and ancients took those biblical genealogies seriously. Perhaps it was just part of the game.

In 2018, Nathan H. Lents, Ph.D. wrote an article for Psychology Today, “The Meaning and Meaninglessness of Genealogy.” It’s a good read. Professor Lents enjoys learning about his genealogy, but does it really matter? And how accurate is it? He points out that as we go back in history there are not a lot of records, and a lot of assumptions are made about which records to use. Another complication is that births are often misattributed. We know this from the genetic record. And many adoptions were secret even if they were done within a family. 

Besides, he writes, does it really matter who your ancestors are? Isn’t it your cultural heritage that matters? 

He points out that although Jews have a Levantine genetic history, in each place where they live, part of their genetics is similar to the non-jewish population. Despite the genetic diversity, Jews share a distinct cultural heritage.

For African-Americans, there is another wrinkle. Many can trace their descent to a white slave master and an often unwilling slave. So they are descended from both slaves and masters. As an example, Professor Lents points out that Dick Cheney and Barack Obama both descend from a French Huguenot immigrant slave owner, Mareen Duvall, who arrived in Maryland in 1650. However, their cultural heritage is very different. 

Well it was fun writing this article. But I think it is time for me to get back to researching my genealogy.

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!

Clothes, The Outer Garment of the Soul

 Clothes, The Outer Garment of the Soul

At Jewish Newport

December 12, 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thanks to Rabbi Marc Mandel; edited by Vicki Kaplan

Also at https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island shared a dvar Torah with Jewish Newport,

“Mark Twain once said,  ‘Clothes make a man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.’  Little did he realize that this was the theme of this week's Parsha, Vayeshev.  It was the beautiful garment that his father gave him that helped propel Joseph on an amazing journey.  But it was a long journey. Shortly after Joseph received this beautiful garment from his father, he found himself naked in a pit. Suddenly, like Twain said, he was a person without influence.

 

“When Joseph was sold as a slave, he once again had his clothes back, and he was able to become a very successful manager for his owner. In fact his owner gave him almost complete reign over his household. But soon Joseph would find himself again without any clothes, as he struggled to extricate himself from the grasp of his owner's wife, who wanted to sleep with him. Once again, he was a man without clothes, with no influence, in jail.  

“Rabbeinu Bahya writes on the Parsha that, ‘The body is perceived as the outer garment of the soul. The kind of garment one wears is somehow related to the body underneath it just as the body is related to the soul within it.’ Is this what Mark Twain meant? Not sure about that, but certainly, Twain could have given a great sermon on the Parsha.”

---

About Jewish Newport

A dvar by Rabbi Marc Mandel, which often starts with the weekly Torah Portion, provides the inspiration. Since Covid started, sometimes I think of a topic after reviewing the torah portion, and ask Rabbi Mandel to write a dvar with that in mind. I try to find items that are interesting and, more often than not, off beat or fun. An image provides some pzazz! Along the way an editor cleans up my copy and makes suggestions.

Daydreaming

During the Covid era, Rabbi Mandel discusses the weekly parsha on Friday afternoon, leading us through commentaries available on sefaria.org, an online Jewish reference for religious literature.

I was spacing out during last Friday’s session when I heard, “Clothes are the outer garment of the soul.” It sounded profound!. “Just what Jewish Newport needs,” I thought. “And how can anyone not be interested in clothes?” 

Poland and France

Mark Twain was following in the steps of Shakespeare. In Hamlet, Polonius gave his son, Laertes, some fatherly advice about how to behave during a trip to France,

“Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 

But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;

For the apparel oft proclaims the man,

And they in France of the best rank and station

Are of a most select and generous chief in that.”

If Polonius thought that the French were better dressed, he probably had a field day comparing English and French cooking!

Polonius is Latin for Polish or a Polish man. Shakespeare had probably read an English translation of:  “De optimo senatore, a book on statesmanship by the Polish courtier Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki, which was widely read after it was translated into English and published in 1598 under the title The Counsellor.”[8] Goslicki was a Polish statesman and bishop educated in  Kraków's Jagiellonian University and at Padua and Bologna.

Goslki was the only Catholic clergyman who agreed to the Warsaw Convention of 1573, which guaranteed religious tolerance in Poland. King Sigismund II Augustus had died without an heir. Henry of Anjou, brother of the king of France, was under consideration by the Sejm. 

Henry had helped organize the 1572 St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre. The massacre began with the killing of Huguenot  (Calvinist) leaders in Paris and became a riot that lead to the murder of thousands more Huguenots throughout France. The Huguenot leaders were in Paris for the wedding of fellow Huguenot Henry of Navarre to Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. The wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572 on the parvis (forecourt) of Notre Dame Cathedral; the massacres began on August 24.

In 1569 Poland had combined with Lithuania to create the Polish-Lithanian Commonwealth. In addition to Catholics and Protestants, there were many Jews and also Muslims in the Commonwealth. Many Polish nobles were Protestant, and they feared a Polish St Bartholomew’s Day massacre.

The Warsaw Convention specified that any ruler should, “vow to preserve the general peace between people sundered and differing in faith and worship.” A delegation traveled to France to make sure Henry agreed to the terms. He did, and became the first elected King of Poland. 

Henry was King of the Polish-Lithanian Commonwealth for two years. When Henry’s brother King Charles IX of France died in 1574 he inherited the French throne. He left for France to become Henry III. When he failed to return to Poland the throne was declared vacant. 

There was a culture clash between Henry and the Poles. Henry was shocked by the weather and the rural poverty in Poland. The Poles wondered if everyone in France was as concerned with clothes as Henry was. Polonius knew what he was talking about. In the sixteenth century, being a well dressed guy would only get you so far!

Henry did bring some innovations back to France from Poland, including septic systems, baths that include controls for hot and cold water, and, speaking of food, forks.

Henry was assassinated in 1589. His Huguenot cousin, Henry of Navarre, who became Henry IV, succeeded him. To cement his rule Henry became Catholic. He also promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which granted religious toleration to the Huegonots. The edict was repealed by his grandson, Louis XIV in 1685. As a result, 400,000 Huguenots fled France.

From Poles to Clothes

That's enough about Poles. Let’s close with clothes.

We’ve learned that being well dressed affects the people around you. But does it affect you? I know I feel better when I dress up.

Psychologists have their sly ways of testing theories. In one experiment, people were asked to wear a lab coat. Half were told they were wearing a doctor's clothes; the other half were told they wore a house painter’s smock. Sure enough, the “doctors’ ” performance was better in attention-related tasks. “Clothes oft make the man” is a two-way street.

Psychologist Carolyn Mair, author of “The Psychology of Fashion” put it this way in an email message to NBC NEWS,

“Unless we’re naked, our appearance is mainly made up of our clothing. Therefore, clothing is fundamental in how we are perceived. In turn, this affects our sense of self-worth and ultimately, how we see ourselves compared with others, our self-esteem.

“Feeling of lack of control is one of life’s biggest stressors. Accepting that there are things we can’t control is helpful and controlling what we can, such as getting dressed, provides a sense of control.”

If you feel like getting dressed up, even if you don’t go out, indulge yourself. You will look better, and you will feel better.

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!

About the photo: Alyssa Perez, left rear; Julia Gonzales, right rear; and Kevin Alvarez, foreground, all students at the Academy of Careers and Technologies Charter School in San Antonio, Texas, model their creations exhibited in the "Hats Off to Fiesta!" event, sponsored by the University of Texas at San Antonio's Institute of Texan Cultures, as part of the month-long Fiesta San Antonio celebration Photographer: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-; Library of Congress

The Gift Giving Society

 The Gift Giving Society

At Jewish Newport

December 6, 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel, and Vicki Kaplan

Also at https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

P.S. gold star if you can read to the end!

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue, Newport Rhode Island, shared a dvar with Jewish Newport, 

“There is a custom in many families to give gifts during Hanukkah.  How did this custom evolve? Some would say that with all the holiday gift advertising in the month of December, it's no accident that Hanukkah has joined the club. 

“But, what if the origin was from this week's Parsha, Vayishlach, which always falls around Hanukkah time? Yaakov is very nervous about his meeting with his brother Esau, especially when he hears that Esauis bringing an army with him.

“The Torah commentaries teach us that Yaakov prepared for this encounter in three ways: 1. He prepared for war; 2. He prayed;3. He sent gifts to his brother.  

“Gift giving is an ancient custom and it has many meanings, which is beyond the scope of this short Dvar Torah. But, perhaps, it can answer our question as to why we give gifts on Hanukkah during this time of year. 

“Happy Hanukkah and enjoy your gifts.”

---

Here is an excerpt from the parsha that shows Yaakov in a funk, afraid for his life and that of his family,and the loss of his possessions, planning to regain the favor of his brother.

וַיִּקַּ֞ח מִן־הַבָּ֧א בְיָד֛וֹ מִנְחָ֖ה לְעֵשָׂ֥ו אָחִֽיו׃ 

heHe selected from what was at hand these presents for his brother, Esau: 

עִזִּ֣ים מָאתַ֔יִם וּתְיָשִׁ֖ים עֶשְׂרִ֑ים רְחֵלִ֥ים מָאתַ֖יִם וְאֵילִ֥ים עֶשְׂרִֽים׃ 

200 she-goats and 20 he-goats; 200 ewes and 20 rams; 

גְּמַלִּ֧ים מֵינִיק֛וֹת וּבְנֵיהֶ֖ם שְׁלֹשִׁ֑ים פָּר֤וֹת אַרְבָּעִים֙ וּפָרִ֣ים עֲשָׂרָ֔ה אֲתֹנֹ֣ת עֶשְׂרִ֔ים וַעְיָרִ֖ם עֲשָׂרָֽה׃ 

30 milch camels with their colts; 40 cows and 10 bulls; 20 she-asses and 10 he-asses. 

וַיִּתֵּן֙ בְּיַד־עֲבָדָ֔יו עֵ֥דֶר עֵ֖דֶר לְבַדּ֑וֹ וַ֤יֹּאמֶר אֶל־עֲבָדָיו֙ עִבְר֣וּ לְפָנַ֔י וְרֶ֣וַח תָּשִׂ֔ימוּ בֵּ֥ין עֵ֖דֶר וּבֵ֥ין עֵֽדֶר׃ 

These he put in the charge of his servants, drove by drove, and he told his servants, “Go on ahead, and keep a distance between droves.” 

וַיְצַ֥ו אֶת־הָרִאשׁ֖וֹן לֵאמֹ֑ר כִּ֣י יִֽפְגָּשְׁךָ֞ עֵשָׂ֣ו אָחִ֗י וִשְׁאֵֽלְךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לְמִי־אַ֙תָּה֙ וְאָ֣נָה תֵלֵ֔ךְ וּלְמִ֖י אֵ֥לֶּה לְפָנֶֽיךָ׃ 

He instructed the one in front as follows, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, ‘Whose man are you? Where are you going? And whose [animals] are these ahead of you?’ 

וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֙ לְעַבְדְּךָ֣ לְיַעֲקֹ֔ב מִנְחָ֥ה הִוא֙ שְׁלוּחָ֔ה לַֽאדֹנִ֖י לְעֵשָׂ֑ו וְהִנֵּ֥ה גַם־ה֖וּא אַחֲרֵֽינוּ׃ 

you shall answer, ‘Your servant Jacob’s; they are a gift sent to my lord Esau; and Yaakov himself is right behind us.’” 

וַיְצַ֞ו גַּ֣ם אֶת־הַשֵּׁנִ֗י גַּ֚ם אֶת־הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י גַּ֚ם אֶת־כָּל־הַהֹ֣לְכִ֔ים אַחֲרֵ֥י הָעֲדָרִ֖ים לֵאמֹ֑ר כַּדָּבָ֤ר הַזֶּה֙ תְּדַבְּר֣וּן אֶל־עֵשָׂ֔ו בְּמֹצַאֲכֶ֖ם אֹתֽוֹ׃ 

He gave similar instructions to the second one, and the third, and all the others who followed the droves, namely, “Thus and so shall you say to Esau when you reach him. 

וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֕ם גַּ֗ם הִנֵּ֛ה עַבְדְּךָ֥ יַעֲקֹ֖ב אַחֲרֵ֑ינוּ כִּֽי־אָמַ֞ר אֲכַפְּרָ֣ה פָנָ֗יו בַּמִּנְחָה֙ הַהֹלֶ֣כֶת לְפָנָ֔י וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵן֙ אֶרְאֶ֣ה פָנָ֔יו אוּלַ֖י יִשָּׂ֥א פָנָֽי׃ 

And you shall add, ‘And your servant Yaakov himself is right behind us.’” For he reasoned, “If I propitiate him with presents in advance, and then face him, perhaps he will show me favor.” 

This is a family reunion that might not go well. Esau had plenty of reason to be angry; Jacob stole his birthright. But we don’t know what Esau was thinking. Perhaps he was bearing gifts for Jacob.

Why do people give gifts? It seems like someone should write a book about it. I took an intro to Anthropology course at NYU from Professor Colin Turnbull. I still have a few of the books he assigned, including “The Gift, Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies” by Marcel Mauss. 

Marcel Mauss lived from 1872-1950. He was Jewish and was born in Epinal, Vosges, France. His mother’s brother, Emile Durkeim, founded sociology as a subject for academic study. His cousin Claudette was the mother of Maurice Bloch, who is noted for his work in cultural anthropology. Bloch and Turnbull, my professor, both studied people in Africa, Bloch the peasants of central Imerina and the Zafimaniry people who lived in a remote forest, both in Madagascar; Turnbull, the pygmies in Zaire and the Ik in Uganda. On his first trip to Africa, Turnbull got a job from producer Sam Spiegel helping to build the boat for the film “The African Queen.”

Turnbull was also interested in music, and his recordings of Mbuti music have been released on Smithsonian Folkway as, ”Mbuti Pygmies of Ituri Rainforest.”  Now that sounds like a catchy title. If you have Amazon Prime, you can stream it for free.  For example, Bachelor duet with Lukembi

https://youtu.be/3k3n_gBdNL4

“The Gift” was first published in 1925 in a magazine, and republished as a book in 1950. An English translation, which I have, was published in 1954 with a nice introduction by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, a prominent British social anthropologist. Pritchard points out that Mauss’s vast knowledge of languages, including Russian, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit Celtic Hebrew, other modern European languages, and the languages and cultures of Oceania (Micronesia) enabled him to compare many different cultures without leaving France. Sometimes he was able to understand field reports better than the original researchers.

In the first chapter, Gifts and the Obligation to Return Gifts, he contends that even where a gift in theory is voluntary, “in fact they are given and repaid under obligation.” He also says that before we had a modern, impersonal economy, people traded items by giving gifts, a “gift economy”.  He presents several examples, including the Maori and the Native Americans of Northwest America.

In the latter, in a ceremony called potlatch, wealthy members of  tribes that lived along the coast of Alaska and British Columbia gave gifts or even destroyed items to demonstrate their status and wealth. The system predated the use of money or barter. You had to be invited to a potlatch, and by accepting the invitation you were accepting the obligation to reciprocate either by a potlatch or a gift. Elaborate ceremonies involved many people. 

If you received something, you were accepting a future obligation or a challenge to give more than you received. This was a form of interest without using money. We might think of loans and interest as modern innovations, but that is incorrect. The words are new, but the idea is not.

Mauss analyzed so-called “primitive” societies and looked for applications in modern society. Theoretically, we believe that our economy is not a gift economy, but is that correct?

Mauss says, “In...our social life...we must always return more than we receive. He points out by French social insurance the community attempts to repay a worker for his service to an employer with “a certain security in his life against unemployment, sickness, old age and death,”  and that this is owed in addition to wages from his employer. Other examples are the philanthropy of the wealthy which is an obligation of their wealth. When we go to a party, there is an unwritten expectation that we will bring a gift, or that we will reciprocate with a party of our own.

He points out that “the rich man’s expenditure on luxury, art, servants and extravagances recall the expenditure of the nobleman of former times or the savage chiefs whose customs” he described. In all of this, do we do things because they are useful or are we trying to show our status and obligate others to respond in kind? There is often an unwritten expectation at a wedding, for example,that the gifts will equal the cost of the affair.

“We contend,” he concludes, “that the best economic procedure is not to be found in the calculation of individual needs. I believe that we must become... something more than better financiers, accountants and administrators. The mere pursuit of individual ends is harmful to the ends and peace of the whole, to the rhythm of its work and pleasures, and hence in the end to the individual.”

A gift, or any transaction includes an obligation, and that is what makes the world go round. Yaakov was aware of the obligation a gift imposes, and he hoped Esau was too.

Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!

If your Esau is approaching, have your gifts ready!

Why is my left foot different from my right foot?

 Why is my left foot different from my right foot?

At Jewish Newport

November 7, 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel, and Vicki Kaplan

Also at https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

Room devoted shoes in Cluny Museum, Paris Publisher: Chilton Co., Philadelphia, 9/29/1897, NY Public Library 

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue has a message for Jewish Newport about hospitality,

“In this week's Parsha, Va'yera, we learn about Avraham's hospitality as he welcomes guests to his tent on a scorching hot day. At one point, Avraham says to his guests, ‘Enjoy some water; bathe your feet and recline under the tree.’ 

וַיֹּ֜אמֶר הִנֶּ֣ה נָּא־אֲדֹנַ֗י ס֣וּרוּ נָ֠א אֶל־בֵּ֨ית עַבְדְּכֶ֤ם וְלִ֙ינוּ֙ וְרַחֲצ֣וּ רַגְלֵיכֶ֔ם וְהִשְׁכַּמְתֶּ֖ם וַהֲלַכְתֶּ֣ם לְדַרְכְּכֶ֑ם

“Why did Avraham tell them to bathe their feet? Rashi quotes the Talmud that explains, ‘There was a custom among some idol worshippers to worship the dust on their feet, and Avraham did not want any idol worship in his home, since he grew up in a home of idol worshippers and didn't want anything to do with this custom.’ Yet, Avraham offered his guests great hospitality and kindness, even though he did not accept their views on life.

“Is there a message for us today in America from this chapter in the Torah?”

___________________________________________________

Washington, D.C. A busy shoe store on the last day on which war ration shoe coupons may be used. Bubley, Esther, photographer June 1943, Library of Congress

This got me interested in the esoteric subject of feet! Did you know that two thirds of people have different-sized feet? If you are in the foot care business, your patients expect you to explain this.

In Cincinnati, The Center for Foot Care is ready, “One explanation is that since the majority of the population is right-handed, they can only comfortably lift their right hand and left foot forward without losing their balance. Consequently, the foot opposite the dominant hand is exercised more, creating the slight variance in the sizes of the feet.” 

That is one of many possible explanations on their homepage, https://cincinnatifootcare.com/foot-health/normal-different-sized-feet/

Many people have closets full of shoes that they rarely wear. Perhaps this explains why Imelda Marcos, who was the first lady of the Philippines, had 3000 pairs of shoes! Would you let your significant other’s shoes come between you?

When Abraham offered a foot bath to entice the visitors to accept his hospitality, which they declined, he was not concerned about how different their feet were.

Right now America is in a tizzy. Many of us are overwrought by the political situation and it is affecting our relationships with friends and relatives who disagree with us. Just as Abraham did not have a litmus test about feet, I hope we can let go of the politics that interfere with our human relationships. This will make it much easier on a personal level, and who will help us when we have to take on that dreaded task, shopping for shoes?

Certainly there are times when politics are more than inconvenient, and there is danger involved. For example if you grew up in the Soviet Union or another dictatorship, one could never be sure who was cooperating with the regime as an informant, either voluntarily or by coercion.

Jewish Newport wishes you a Shabbat Shalom and Happy Feet!