So, I'm back from shul. And exhausted.
Sep. 25th, 2004 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xiphiasYeah. Sleepy. Yom Kippur is really, really spiritually uplifting and all that, and totally, completely exhausting. It takes a lot out of you. Really, I suppose, it takes EVERYTHING out of you -- that's the point.
And now I've got to do class prep for tomorrow morning. Sleepy. . .
Anyway, there was a bit of excitement this afternoon at services. We were having a discussion on what "forgiveness" was, and how it worked and all that, and all of a sudden there was a crash and a circular hole appeared in one of the windows.
So I ran outside to see what happened. If someone HAD thrown a rock at the window, I wanted to make sure to get outside before they got away.
I saw a ten-year old boy, in a kippah and a little suit jacket. He was holding a paper airplane and looked a bit shaken.
"Did you see what happened?" I asked.
"I didn't do it," he replied.
"Didn't do what?"
"Nothing," he said.
"Aha," I thought.
I walked back in, and Cherie (the rabbi), asked me what I'd found out. I reported the conversation, and a wave of relieved laughter swept the chapel.
I sat back down and realized what I SHOULD have done. Which would have been to tell the kid that everyone in the chapel was really worried because they thought someone had attacked the shul, and everyone would be really relieved and happy if they found out it was just an accident. But I didn't do that, and I'm kicking myself. It would have been an excellent learning experience for the kid, and I missed that opportunity.
As far as we can work out, there was already a circular crack most of the way through the window. He probably leaned on it, and the combination of that pressure, along, probably, with the temperature change between his hand and the window, caused the window to crack the rest of the way, and blow in. It was double-paned glass, and the inner window didn't break, so nobody was hurt.
We also had an interesting discussion, later in the day, about the book of Jonah. I still stand by my claim that it's really a parody of the book of Judges. I mean, c'mon. Jonah is the ONLY prophet who ever had any success in changing people's behavior. He's also the only one who was sent to a non-Jewish nation, and the whole story is really piss-your-pants funny. Giant fish! Cows covered in sackcloth! A prophet complaining to G-d, "Isn't this JUST what I said would happen? Didn't I SAY you'd just wimp out and forgive them?" Giant squash plants! The capital of the Assyrian empire acting righteously! I mean, this is all funny, funny stuff.
Y'know, Isaiah's prophesies are like sixty-six chapters of some of the most beautiful poetry the world has ever seen. Eziekel, same thing. Jonah? His prophesy is five words: "Forty days more, Nineveh is overthrown." Okay, it's six words in English. It's five words in Hebrew. That's ALL he says. He doesn't even stick in the "Repent or Else" bit. The king of Nineveh has to figure that out for himself.
Which doesn't mean that it lacks important, true lessons. It's partially because it's a parody, and because it's so funny, that it contains such impressive lessons about redemption, repentence, and finding the right way
And now I've got to do class prep for tomorrow morning. Sleepy. . .
Anyway, there was a bit of excitement this afternoon at services. We were having a discussion on what "forgiveness" was, and how it worked and all that, and all of a sudden there was a crash and a circular hole appeared in one of the windows.
So I ran outside to see what happened. If someone HAD thrown a rock at the window, I wanted to make sure to get outside before they got away.
I saw a ten-year old boy, in a kippah and a little suit jacket. He was holding a paper airplane and looked a bit shaken.
"Did you see what happened?" I asked.
"I didn't do it," he replied.
"Didn't do what?"
"Nothing," he said.
"Aha," I thought.
I walked back in, and Cherie (the rabbi), asked me what I'd found out. I reported the conversation, and a wave of relieved laughter swept the chapel.
I sat back down and realized what I SHOULD have done. Which would have been to tell the kid that everyone in the chapel was really worried because they thought someone had attacked the shul, and everyone would be really relieved and happy if they found out it was just an accident. But I didn't do that, and I'm kicking myself. It would have been an excellent learning experience for the kid, and I missed that opportunity.
As far as we can work out, there was already a circular crack most of the way through the window. He probably leaned on it, and the combination of that pressure, along, probably, with the temperature change between his hand and the window, caused the window to crack the rest of the way, and blow in. It was double-paned glass, and the inner window didn't break, so nobody was hurt.
We also had an interesting discussion, later in the day, about the book of Jonah. I still stand by my claim that it's really a parody of the book of Judges. I mean, c'mon. Jonah is the ONLY prophet who ever had any success in changing people's behavior. He's also the only one who was sent to a non-Jewish nation, and the whole story is really piss-your-pants funny. Giant fish! Cows covered in sackcloth! A prophet complaining to G-d, "Isn't this JUST what I said would happen? Didn't I SAY you'd just wimp out and forgive them?" Giant squash plants! The capital of the Assyrian empire acting righteously! I mean, this is all funny, funny stuff.
Y'know, Isaiah's prophesies are like sixty-six chapters of some of the most beautiful poetry the world has ever seen. Eziekel, same thing. Jonah? His prophesy is five words: "Forty days more, Nineveh is overthrown." Okay, it's six words in English. It's five words in Hebrew. That's ALL he says. He doesn't even stick in the "Repent or Else" bit. The king of Nineveh has to figure that out for himself.
Which doesn't mean that it lacks important, true lessons. It's partially because it's a parody, and because it's so funny, that it contains such impressive lessons about redemption, repentence, and finding the right way