Comments for Maggidic Blog http://www.jimbrule.com/blog We are healed by the very wound that G!d inflicts upon us. Sh'mot Rabbah 50:3 Sun, 16 May 2010 14:04:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Embracing the stranger… by Or Am I? http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/2010/05/embracing-the-stranger/comment-page-1/#comment-85 Or Am I? Sun, 16 May 2010 14:04:25 +0000 http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/?p=452#comment-85 Great Midrash, my first from you! BTW, if I had a choice between Talmud study and Midrash, I would choose Midrash everytime. So thank you for bringing me back to my first love. As much as I want to focus on the convert - who I agree we should love with all our hearts - this midrash keeps bringing me back to the stranger among us. So often, in addition to the convert (a full Jew), the stranger is often a "full member" of the community who feels marginalized, pushed to the side, invisible. Yes, women. Yes, those who are not knowledgeable about Torah or ritual. Yes, those suffering, whether from addiction or infertility, or financial hardship, or ... Or... Or... What a lovely midrash to remind us that the Holy One loves them all and we should do a better job loving them, embracing them, drawing them in closer too! Great Midrash, my first from you! BTW, if I had a choice between Talmud study and Midrash, I would choose Midrash everytime. So thank you for bringing me back to my first love.

As much as I want to focus on the convert – who I agree we should love with all our hearts – this midrash keeps bringing me back to the stranger among us. So often, in addition to the convert (a full Jew), the stranger is often a “full member” of the community who feels marginalized, pushed to the side, invisible. Yes, women. Yes, those who are not knowledgeable about Torah or ritual. Yes, those suffering, whether from addiction or infertility, or financial hardship, or … Or… Or…

What a lovely midrash to remind us that the Holy One loves them all and we should do a better job loving them, embracing them, drawing them in closer too!

]]> Comment on Shabbat, Mesopotamia, and the number 60… by allen zeesman http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/2010/05/shabbat-mesopotamia-and-the-number-60/comment-page-1/#comment-71 allen zeesman Mon, 03 May 2010 00:57:39 +0000 http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/?p=440#comment-71 Uriel I love this. I will never experience Shabbat in the same way again. Thank you. Uriel
I love this. I will never experience Shabbat in the same way again. Thank you.

]]> Comment on A single yud… by Gematria Scholar http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/2010/04/a-single-yud/comment-page-1/#comment-58 Gematria Scholar Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:42:21 +0000 http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/?p=429#comment-58 Many thanks for your observations on the Gematria. Also, by removing the Yod in Sarai and adding Heh to Sarai and Avram, the total Gematria was left undisturbed - i.e. the numerical value of the Hebrew text was unchanged. Many thanks for your observations on the Gematria. Also, by removing the Yod in Sarai and adding Heh to Sarai and Avram, the total Gematria was left undisturbed – i.e. the numerical value of the Hebrew text was unchanged.

]]> Comment on Healer of the broken heart… by Uriel Brule http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/2010/03/healer-of-the-broken-heart/comment-page-1/#comment-46 Uriel Brule Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:27:02 +0000 http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/?p=413#comment-46 Not all children bring honor to their parents, as you correctly point out. And yet, not all of them bring shame; did not Avraham bring honor to Adam and Chava? While you are correct to point out that we are expected to live in an honorable way, the challenge of this midrash is that it suggests that it is when we stumble that the Eternal One is drawn to us in love. As for casting out "man based thoughts," the Sages tell us that the Yetzer HaRav must be struggled with, but not eliminated. For without these thoughts, we would (God-forbid!) not have cities, families, or children! Judaism is a rich and complex theology that poses no "simple" solutions, and acknowledges the robust complexity of living in the world richly engaged with God and people. Not all children bring honor to their parents, as you correctly point out. And yet, not all of them bring shame; did not Avraham bring honor to Adam and Chava?

While you are correct to point out that we are expected to live in an honorable way, the challenge of this midrash is that it suggests that it is when we stumble that the Eternal One is drawn to us in love.

As for casting out “man based thoughts,” the Sages tell us that the Yetzer HaRav must be struggled with, but not eliminated. For without these thoughts, we would (God-forbid!) not have cities, families, or children!

Judaism is a rich and complex theology that poses no “simple” solutions, and acknowledges the robust complexity of living in the world richly engaged with God and people.

]]> Comment on Healer of the broken heart… by Denis http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/2010/03/healer-of-the-broken-heart/comment-page-1/#comment-42 Denis Tue, 23 Mar 2010 06:47:07 +0000 http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/?p=413#comment-42 Did Cain bring honor or shame to his parents? Did Aaron's descendents bring honor or shame to his father? Did Eli's sons bring honor or shame to his father? We honor our parents and our father's by behaving honorably...not through the brokeness of willful neglect of righteousness and not by the sinful indulgences of wicked ways. The Eternal One seeks us to honor Him just as we choose our sons to honor us; through the obedient and respectable lives that we strive earnestly to entreat them to through their upbringing. We bring no honor to our forefathers who knew, loved and obeyed the Holy Covenant that the Almighty gave to us by acting willfully in the brokeness of sin. Yes, through our contrition The Lover of Our Souls yearns mightily to heal us of our wounds and scars. We honor The Almighty by living righteously in keeping the divine love of obedience to the Commandments of the Covenant and by casting out all foreign gods, earthly distractions and man based thoughts. Just as our fathers failed to heed the cry of Moses and Joshua to completely eliminate the people and their gods from the lands that they would inhabit, so we are still today to be faithful to that same decree, that we will not follow any influence that removes our mind from the faithful dwelling in a place of obedience before Our Creator. Did Cain bring honor or shame to his parents? Did Aaron’s descendents bring honor or shame to his father? Did Eli’s sons bring honor or shame to his father?

We honor our parents and our father’s by behaving honorably…not through the brokeness of willful neglect of righteousness and not by the sinful indulgences of wicked ways.

The Eternal One seeks us to honor Him just as we choose our sons to honor us; through the obedient and respectable lives that we strive earnestly to entreat them to through their upbringing.

We bring no honor to our forefathers who knew, loved and obeyed the Holy Covenant that the Almighty gave to us by acting willfully in the brokeness of sin. Yes, through our contrition The Lover of Our Souls yearns mightily to heal us of our wounds and scars.

We honor The Almighty by living righteously in keeping the divine love of obedience to the Commandments of the Covenant and by casting out all foreign gods, earthly distractions and man based thoughts. Just as our fathers failed to heed the cry of Moses and Joshua to completely eliminate the people and their gods from the lands that they would inhabit, so we are still today to be faithful to that same decree, that we will not follow any influence that removes our mind from the faithful dwelling in a place of obedience before Our Creator.

]]> Comment on A deep mystery… by Carl Kinbar http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/2010/03/a-deep-mystery/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Carl Kinbar Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:25:00 +0000 http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/?p=401#comment-28 "I do not believe that we can successfully have a full encounter with G!d’s healing power as individuals. I believe that we must heal each other as agents of the Eternal One, in community. All too often we forget that the brit, the covenant we have with G!d is between G!d and people, not G!d and individuals." So true, but not said often enough. “I do not believe that we can successfully have a full encounter with G!d’s healing power as individuals. I believe that we must heal each other as agents of the Eternal One, in community. All too often we forget that the brit, the covenant we have with G!d is between G!d and people, not G!d and individuals.”

So true, but not said often enough.

]]> Comment on Tikkun for Tu B’Shevat by Tweets that mention Tikkun for Tu B’Shevat « Maggidic Blog -- Topsy.com http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/tikkun-for-tu-bshevat/comment-page-1/#comment-14 Tweets that mention Tikkun for Tu B’Shevat « Maggidic Blog -- Topsy.com Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:05:19 +0000 http://www.jimbrule.com/blog/?page_id=353#comment-14 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Uriel Jim Brule, Matzoh Ball Soup. Matzoh Ball Soup said: RT @MaggidUriel: Here is a #Jewish Renewal #Tikkun/Learning for Tu B'Shevat - the New Year of the #Trees by Rahmiel http://bit.ly/cnDxnq [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Uriel Jim Brule, Matzoh Ball Soup. Matzoh Ball Soup said: RT @MaggidUriel: Here is a #Jewish Renewal #Tikkun/Learning for Tu B'Shevat – the New Year of the #Trees by Rahmiel http://bit.ly/cnDxnq [...]

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