The case of the screaming latke

I’m back to reviewing an actual book for this Book of the Week blog; namely, The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming : A Christmas Story by Lemony Snicket. Lemony Snicket is the name used by Daniel Handler to write a 13-volume series of children’s chapter books collectively called A Series of Unfortunate Events and other related works. The books managed to be fresh and hold my interest even though one might argue that only the details and clever use of words change from book to book.

Anyway, The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming  is much better than I thought it would be.

His explanation of Hanukah is quite reasonable and much more detailed than you would expect. I’m not sure his origin of the dreidel is correct, but he is not the only one who has said it was used to trick soldiers into thinking that Jews were playing games when they were really studying. Similarly, on Lag B’Omer, children play with bows and arrows. I can’t help thinking of scenes in movies where the gambling hall is quickly transformed into a classroom when the police arrive. We do things the other way round.

Some points he makes: Hanukah celebrates a military victory. There is a miracle that has to do with oil used in rededicating the Temple in Jerusalem, so eating fried foods, such as potato latkes, is a popular custom. Gifts are not the most important part of the holiday; lighting the Hanukkiah is.

And, as the latke who can’t stop screaming tries to explain to Christmas objects that also don’t normally speak, Hanukah and Christmas have nothing to do with other. Although, as the pine tree says, “But different things can often blend together. … let me tell you a funny story about pagan rituals.”

There is even a nice moral, which probably has nothing to do with Hanukah specifically: “It is very frustrating not to be understood in this world. If you say one thing and keep being told that you mean something else, it can make you want to scream. But somewhere in the world there is a place for all of us, whether you are an electric form of decoration, peppermint-scented sweet, a source of timber, or a potato pancake.”

As in the books in his Series of Unfortunate Events, Mr. Snicket uses the occasional big word and then defines it in a way that only fits the context in which it appears. For example: ” … arrondissement, a word which here means ‘place where something was being born.’”

There is a hint of “The Gingerbread Man,” in so far as the latke jumps out the frying pan, runs around the community, a word which here means “places where there are Christmas objects,” and—to give it all away—gets eaten in the end.

What is Chanukah?

I remember reading in a Jewish textbook that Chanukah is a celebration of religious freedom; the book compared the Maccabees to the Pilgrims. Both Chanukah and Thanksgiving are probably based on the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. (see II Maccabees 10:6-7) There is a nice connection between the Maccabees’ struggle against a foreign foe and our early American history. Chanukah is about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I remember how shocked I was to learn that there is another way of seeing Chanukah. Elias Bickerman’s The Maccabees: An Account of Their History from the Beginnings to the Fall of the House of the Hasmoneans points out many contradictions related to the holiday and its background. For example, the Maccabees were fighting to return to traditional Jewish practices—not for freedom of religion—but one of the first things they did when they regained the Temple was to create a new Jewish holiday!

The Talmud’s question, “Mah Chanukah? (What is Chanukah?),” includes a long discussion about oil and Hillel’s explanation that we increase the number of lights we burn each night of Chanukah because we always want to increase in holiness. There is no mention of oil in the Books of the Maccabees.

Three different slants on the holiday. Who is right? Does it even make sense to ask that?

Our library has the Books of Maccabees (I and II), the works of Josephus, Bickerman’s short book, the Encyclopaedia Judaica, and other books of Jewish history and holidays. I invite you to read them, come to your own temporary conclusions, and find what inspires you to increase in knowledge, good deeds and holiness.

Happy Chanukah!

Abraham’s Search

When we first meet Abraham in the Torah, he is no longer a spring chicken. What was he doing for the first 75 years of his life? There are midrashim that suggest he was figuring out that there was one, and only one, God. And that he did his best to convince others of this fact.

One of these stories describes how Abraham began to worship one aspect of nature only to realize that another could overpower it. Jacqueline Jules’Abraham’s Search for God relates how Abraham concludes that there must be a God who exists outside of nature and is more powerful than anything in the world. I like the logic of the story; it uses a proof by contradiction: If you assume that X is greatest, but there is always something greater than X, then there is no X such that X is greatest. Similarly, there is not largest number.

Other cultures also have stories about what is most powerful. In one instance, a mouse king wants his daughter to marry the most powerful being in nature and concludes that such a being is a mouse. In another, a stonecutter keeps changing into what he thinks is most powerful and, as a mountain, realizes too late that a stonecutter can chip away at him. A Jewish version of this story, The Stonecutter Who Wanted to be Rich by Getzl, restores him to his original, human form.

All of these stories are circular. The Abraham story shows that there is something (Something?) beyond the circle.

A Midrash on the Akeda

This week’s recommended book is Mordecai Gerstein’s The White Ram: A Story of Abraham and Isaac. It is the winner of the 2007 Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winner for Younger Children given by the Association of Jewish Libraries. But, although it is a beautifully illustrated, colorful picture book, it deals with an adult topic: How can a just God–the Hebrew of Genesis 22:1 refers to a God of Justice, not of Mercy–ask anyone to kill someone? In particular, how can God ask Abraham to kill Isaac? One answer is that God made arrangements way in advance so that Abraham would not kill his son. Gerstein’s book looks at the Midrash about the ram who was created on the sixth day of Creation to act as Isaac’s replacement. How much more in advance can you get? (The first tongs are said to have been created then as well. After all, if you need tongs to make tongs, then how else could the first ones have been made?)

Some midrashim answer questions that the text raises; the above story shows that God is good, in spite of what the text might seem to say. Sometimes, a midrash uses the text to give meaning to a contemporary problem. We plan to discuss in this week’s TILT (Temple Israel Library Talks) some of the midrashim of the Middle Ages in which Isaac is killed by Abraham and why Jews of that time needed this interpretation. Join us in the library on Wednesday, November 9, at 1:30 pm.

TILT – balancing opposites

I’ve begun a series of discussions on most Wednesdays at 1:30 pm in the library at Temple Israel. They are called TILT, for Temple Israel Library Talks. Their main objectives are to have fun playing with stories, learn from each other, and spark conversation.

We usually look at several versions of folktales, both secular and Jewish, and see how they are different. Especially how the Jewish versions differ from the secular ones, because that tells us something about Judaism. I use picture books a lot because I like them. I enjoy the pictures, which can be beautiful, and the way in which the illustrations tell their own version of the story in the book. Since picture books are short, no preliminary reading is required. As one quickly discovers, many of these books have much more to say to adults than to children.

This week, I’m looking at Lilith and Eve. The Bible has two Creation stories. In the first, God creates man (ha-adam) as male and female. In the second, God creates man, (ha-adam), and then creates woman to complement him. Are these two different descriptions of the same story? Or was there a first woman, say Lilith, and a second woman, whom Adam named Eve? And if the latter, then what happened to Lilith?

Lilith and Eve are traditionally opposites. Lilith is a demonic destroyer of children and Eve a nurturing mother. Or Lilith is the outspoken equal of Adam and Eve is meekly subservient. There are many kinds of opposites.

After a brief explanation of the sources in which Lilith is mentioned, I want to explore stories in which opposites are featured, particularly those in which an Adam chooses (between) a Lilith and an Eve. Jane Eyre comes quickly to mind. A more complex set of relationships occurs with Jacob and Esau and their parents. There’s Vashti and Esther. Cain and Abel. Odile and Odette. Like Ko-Ko in The Mikado, I have a little list, but the task of filling up the blanks I’d rather leave to you. Please join the conversation, either virtually here or really in person.

Be careful what you wish for

Isaac Bashevis Singer’s A Tale of Three Wishes is a charming story about three children who think they have squandered their wishes made when the Heavens open at night on Hoshanah Rabbah, only to learn that they must work for what they want. Shtetl life, folk religion, Jewish customs and values are in this apparently simple story. Although the mysterious watchman they meet is not named, I am convinced that he is the Prophet Elijah, who appears in many Jewish folktales as the stranger who sets things right and then disappears. (More on him in future blogs.) The story starts by noting what a Jewish town needs. Which leads to the question, what do we need in a modern Jewish community? School? Synagogue? JCC? Mikveh? Kosher Butcher? Library? Cemetery? Sunsets? Chocolate?

Living a Spiritual Life

Merle Feld’s A Sprititual Life travels easily from the mundane to the spiritual.  She talks about raising young children  and shares a poem she wrote about this topic, “Report from the trenches.”  But her poem applies to so many difficult times in people’s lives,  not just the overwhelming feelings a parent gets:

  The trouble is
  there are three kinds of people—
  the ones who’ve never been there
  and so don’t understand,
  the ones who are there now
  and can barely stay afloat themselves,
  and the ones who’ve got it all behind them
   and wouldn’t go back for all the world.
— in “Report from the trenches”, A Spiritual Life

In spite of her pessimistic outlook, she must believe that some of the ones who’ve been there  are willing to go back or she wouldn’t have written her book  and wouldn’t be coming to Temple Israel on October 23.  I hope to see you there. [nudge, nudge, wink, wink]

Starting A Spiritual Life

Merle Feld is coming to Temple Israel on October 23. Go and hear her!

We have her A Spiritual Life in the library. I’ve only just started it, first by glancing at it backwards and reading the poems, which are easily seen and, even better, understandable by and meaningful to me, a person who doesn’t get most poetry. We seem to have come of age Jewishly at about the same time and our paths have overlapped. She has a delightful style of writing, using her own experiences to explain what was happening in the world around her.

I’m looking forward to reading and hearing more. I’ll share more next week, when I have gotten deeper into her book. Happy Holidays!

Some Thoughts on the Adekah (Genesis 22:1-19)

Vayalchu sh’nahem yahdav…. Vayalchu sh’nahem yahdav.

(And they went on, the two of them, together…. And they went on, the two of them, together.)

These three words, redundant by themselves, bracket the verse in which Isaac asks where the burnt offering is and Abraham answers,” G-d will see to a lamb for an offering, my son.” So why the double redundancy?

Vayalchu would suffice: They went on. It does not require sh’nahem [the two of them]. No one else is around, only the two of them. And then, why yahdav [together]? Of course they are together: Abraham has already said that he is taking the boy up the mountain with him.

Maybe the two of them are acting as one; after all, yahdav and ehad (one) have the same root. There is a movement from the general to the particular, from many-the verb is plural-to two people to a unity. (And vayalchu and halacha have the same root; we could do a nice d’rash about Jewish law as a unifying force. But that’s not what I want to talk about.)

Okay, Abraham and Isaac are together. But why repeat this immediately after the next verse? What has changed to require this repetition? Isaac now knows what is about to be done to him! He has figured out Abraham’s word play: he, Isaac, is the lamb that will be provided. Whatever the two of them together meant before Isaac learns the meaning of his trip, it now must mean much more.

How does Isaac react? By staying with Abraham. Why? He could have run away. He could have laughed or screamed; his name suggests laughter and shouting. He could have tried to kill Abraham before Abraham tried to kill him. Perhaps he does these things. Maybe the fire mentioned at the beginning of the trip and not later was put out in the struggle.

All that the text tells us is that finally he remains with his father. To argue his case? To submit willingly? Tradition says he submitted eagerly. I prefer to think he stayed, hoping to persuade Abraham that all of this was terribly wrong and to give Abraham the chance to not do it.

What is the final outcome? Abraham does not alter his course. He fails the test. G-d never talks to Abraham again. Abraham does not bless his son; G-d must do it. Abraham’s descendants do not become a Jewish people until Sinai, when a multitude becomes one by accepting Halacha (but I said I wasn’t going to talk about that).

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NEW!!! Wednesday Library Programs to begin

 I’m excited! I’ve done this before, but never at Temple Israel. Please let me explain:

The Why: Join me as we explore our library and, through it, our lives and the world around us, meet old friends and make new ones, and have fun playing with text.

The When and Where: On Wednesday, September 14, at 1:00 PM, I am starting a series of Library Programs in the Temple Israel library. They will be held approximately three times a month.

The Who: The programs are for adults who like stories, older people looking to talk about Jewish issues, young parents interested in learning aspects of Judaism that you don’t get in religious school, singles looking for some intellectual talk that doesn’t require preparation, people who want to know what’s in our library, electronic innocents who want to figure out how to use an online catalog and a computer, fans of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer who want to create a Buffy-themed Seder, anyone who enjoys the serious fun of text study. In other words, come one, come all!

The What and How: I’m open to suggestions. I like looking at a theme in a variety of stories. I like using picture books because they are short enough to read at the beginning of a program, are not intimidating, and can introduce a serious topic. A few possible topics for future programs are

• • Forgiveness and Teshuvah: a High Holy Days look at Gershon’s Monster and The Sunflower
• • A guided tour of the library highlighting favorite books
• • The Lilith / Eve dichotomy in stories: Choosing between opposites
• • The Jewish Home Library – virtual and actual: a discussion
• • Being Virtually Jewish
• o Jewish websites
• o How to use a blog, a wiki, the Internet, search engines, our catalog!
• o How to use a computer, software, social networks, email, listservs
• • The Golem: Power and Politics, with a computer connection side note
• • Elijah stories in Jewish and secular literature and song, film, TV, …
• • Jewish art and ritual objects
• • Graphic Novels
• • Jewish Mysteries and Science Fiction

But I’m open to suggestions. Come and we’ll talk.

During the first, introductory session, we’ll look at multiple versions of “The Crowded House” story to talk about

• • the ways that experiences alters our perceptions of reality,
• • attitudes towards rabbinic authority in the four major branches of Judaism,
• • the difference between Saturday and Shabbat,
• • having control over our circumstances,
• • the value of cooperation,
• • the changing nature of Judaism,
• • stories as primary historical sources,
• • the use of repetition in folk tales,
• • “house” as a metaphor for the world,
• • wisdom,
• • respect,
• • trust,
• • happiness,
• • suggestions for future programs,
• • whatever interests you,
• • the relationship between crowded agenda and houses,
• • and Jewish humor.

No prerequisites or preliminary study required.

Remember you can always email me at rmyers@tiwestport.org with questions, comments or suggestions.

I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday at 1:00 PM and sharing my love of Jewish stories.