Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Since The End Is Never Told We Pay The Story Teller Off In Gold (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Lady With The Fan")



 For the most part our children have figured out how to balance being American and living in Toronto. Sure they notice subtle cultural differences. For the most part, our kids' citizenship is not a "front and center" sort of issue in their world.  However in the days immediately preceding the United States Thanksgiving; our children have to explain Thanksgiving to their friends. Because we take them out of school, our kids need to explain Thanksgiving to  their teachers as a reason for an upcoming absence, a reason to get homework assignments and a reason to try and reschedule tests.  Sometimes the teachers are understanding yet curious, “a real Thanksgiving dinner that we see on TV?”  Our children explain that yes, their family gathers together, eats Turkey and all the trimmings, goes around the table telling family and friends one thing for which they are thankful. When our children’s friends ask why we celebrate Thanksgiving, why it’s such a big deal in the U.S., and why it’s such a big deal for Jews, our kids tell them that Thanksgiving has a story. It’s not just a meal, it’s not just a family gathering, watching a parade, a football game (maybe, if it’s not too boring!).  There is a narrative, a story, and the story is taught to every little child in every school and the story gets repeated over and over for decades and centuries and the story, is transmitted from one generation to the next, transcending economic class, transcending ethnic background, transcending social status. The story, the narrative highlights one the fundamental values upon which North America was built: immigrants coming to the New World fleeing religious persecution. The narrative includes the reasons for the special meal and includes a food that is distinct to North America, or at least it was distinct in the 1600’s: Turkey.
This Shabbat we read from Parsha Chayei Sarah, “the Life of Sara”. It is a rather odd name for a Parsha that discusses’ Sarah’s death, and Avraham’s funeral preparations including: a eulogy, crying, and the purchase of land for burial. The focus then shifts from Sarah’s death and Avraham’s caring for her to Avraham’s son Yitzchak and getting on with his life. Avraham instructs his servant to find a wife for Yitzchak from among his ancestors. The servant head back to Avraham’s homeland, he asks’ God for a sign so that he knows which girls is the right one for his master’s son. He finds the girl, convinces her to return with him, the girl leaves home and heads back with the servant to meet her new husband and her father –in-law. They get married. Avraham takes a wife and lives quietly in retirement. The Parsha concludes with Avraham’s death and the death of his eldest son Ishmael.
Structurally, the Parsha is rather peculiar. Between narrative of Sarah’s death and funeral and the narrative of Avraham and Ishmael’s deaths exists a narrative affirming life.  A father arranges to find a wife for his son. A young woman, Rivkah,  leaves home and marries Avraham’s son Yitzchak, a man who had a near death experience when his father tried to offer him as a sacrifice and who is dealing with the death of his mother.  This life affirming narrative is told three different ways. The first narrative occurs when Avraham tells his servant what to do: Return to the ancestral homeland, find a girl from the tribe, bring her back so that Yitzchak can marry her. The second narrative is Avraham’s plan coming to fruition. The servant returns to Avraham’s homeland, he prays to God for a sign that he should pick the right girl, he meets the girl and then meets the family. The third narrative is the servant’s recounting the narrative beginning with Avraham’s presenting the servant with this sacred task. Why does the Torah present this narrative three different ways and from three different perspectives: Avraham’s plan, Avraham’s servant (Eliezer) fulfilling the mission, Eliezer explaining all these events to Rebecca’s family? Why all the details? The Torah could have told of Avraham’s plan, and even included the events that allowed Eliezer to fulfill the plan. Certainly we don’t need to read Eliezer’s recounting of events to Rebecca’s family. The Torah could have said: “And Eliezer told her family all that happened.” Maybe we read the narratives’ reiteration gets us to look at it in more than just a cursory manner. The more we look at it, and hear about it, the more we begin to realize just how miraculous the whole story is. Maybe the narrative’s reiteration reminds us that the focus should be on life affirming events rather than death affirming events.  Maybe the subliminal message and the reason for the narrative’s reiteration is the sanctity of narrative. Yitzchak was dealing with lots of death, as was Avraham. Generally death marks the end of a narrative. For Yitzchak and Rebecca, both of whom were about to begin new stage of life together, they needed to have a new narrative, their narrative. For the narrative to be effective it had to include the past, an origin, it needs to embody point to a possible future, it needs to embody fundamental values, and it needs to have a way of being transmitted.
 Indeed Thanksgiving is beloved by the American Jewish community. There is a narrative about people coming to the new world to escape religious persecution. There are special foods. Families come together. The only difference between Thanksgiving and any Jewish Holiday is that Thanksgiving does not have any restrictions of a Yom Tov. However every Jewish family can relate to the immigrant experience, every Jewish family can relate to the importance of religious freedom. Every Jewish family understand the sanctity of a narrative, the telling of a story that links the past to the present and offers lessons for the future. Just exactly how important is the idea of narrative in Judaism. Halacha Jewish law includes commandment to tell the story of the Exodus, to read the Megillah of Esther twice on the holiday of Purim, to teach Torah to “your children”. Judaism commands us to transmit our narrative to the next generation.  So while we are eating turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes, we will be transmitting the story of Pilgrims, Native Americans, Squanto, the first thanksgiving, religious freedom, the Jewish experience and our family’s immigrant experience.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

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