Good Vuch

"So, as we go on this journey in search of ancient wisdom..." Seven Shepherds, by Chaim Dovid plays, Shabbos has ebed away. A nice Shabbos with rest and Torah and health and comfort. Thank G-d.

Rashi says that VaYishritzu means that they gave birth to sextuplets. Sforno says that this word relates to the word for creeping, crawling bugs. The Jews had degenerated to a low level. Thus, the understands the next line, which states that the new king did not know Yosef, along these lines as well. Sforno says that Yosef as certainly recorded in the annals of the kings. He says that this line is really telling us that the king could not reconcile the behavior of this people with what he knew about Yosef. And he could find no reason to treat them with kindness.

Aviva Zornberg takes this approach and develops it. I started copying out this piece from her book and recommend you find it and read the whole essay. The part that I wrote out is now up at parshapost.

I think that many of us are misled, by the medrash which says that the Jews did not change their names, mode of dress, and language, to think that they maintained a high level of identity. I think that my friend Steg is right in understanding that this medrash is actually telling us that all they had left were these externals to set them apart as a people, but that their spiritual essence had almost petered out.

I'm listening to a mix - just heard Yehudah Solomon's Hesped, followed by Neshama singing Shomer Yisrael, Av Harachamim by Kol Salanika, and now Yosef Karduer's Mizmor LeDovid.

What else can I tell you nice people? Sometimes when I'm doing my routines, I pause and pose that question to the audience. I see it as related. I'd like one day to d a one man show, which would be like a live blog, just me talking and sharing poems and Torah thoughts and and and.

Right before Shabbos, and I mean right before, I got a call from a dear old friend who is also my dentist. We both have a hard time saying goodbye and the following thought came to mind: Some people are so good at being the one to say they have to go - even at a very young age. I have high school students who I'll pass in the hall and start to sat hello to and before I get to the second L they'll say in a deep, authoritative voice - "I'd love to chat Rabbi Fleischmann, but I have a class awaiting me..." Then there are people like me and my friend who can be talking (listening) to someone for twenty minutes until we say, "Sorry, but I'm supposed to be at a wedding right now and I'm late." "Why didn't you say so?" they ask. "Because I was engrossed in talking with you..."

I recently wrote about Ebert's review of The Wrestler and then it disappeared. The link is here. I like Ebert's reviews and the wisdom he sometimes imparts. Years ago in a review of JFK he cited a mentor critic who once said, "A man sees a movie, and a critic must remember that he is that man." (On a similar note, in a debate with Siskel, Ebert once said strongly, "It's a movie, Gene!"). The smart aside in The Wrestler is this, "There is always a chasm between pros and their audiences. That's why so many show-biz people marry each other."

Pursuant to nothing else in this piece per se:

Once upon a time

Writers wrote about topics

The theme is now them

Now writing is self conscious

The writer being right there