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Tot Shabbat

 We tried Tot Shabbat--but it involved a long drive, and it wasn't a "homerun." The central text was the Noah story--which, like most of the rest of the Bible, is essentially a horror film. But, at Tot Shabbat, the story became a cute opportunity for a song about animals. Something was left to be desired.


The reason I like Judaism much more than Catholicism is that--at least in my memories of college--certain forms of Judaism involve doubt, skepticism, questioning. I had a terrific literature professor who invited me to his home for Rosh Hashanah; what followed was a kind of seminar about the Bible, in which people basically said, "We don't have any answers, and that's fine."

In the Noah story, God becomes a homicidal maniac because He is irritated by His own creations. Whose fault is it that humans are bratty? One would have to assume it's God's fault. And yet the answer is murder and mass destruction?

Some people say that an answer to despair is mindfulness. Cultivate beauty. Stand in front of a painting and notice thirty--forty--fifty details. In the particularly challenging winter months, wake up early and look out your dark window; notice the individual needles on an evergreen tree.

It's not something we've fully mastered in this house. We have just a tiny bit of work left to do.
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