It is extremely rare for me to speak well
(extemporaneously) in a public setting. I am much
better with the written word than with the spoken word.
Tonight at the board meeting, however, I had a rare
moment when things seemed to click.
Our meetings always include, along with the business
matters of the month, an educational section (usually
short). We're a synagogue board of trustees; we should
learn some Torah, or discuss theology or philosophy,
at least briefly.
This afternoon our rabbi met with some Christian and
Muslim leaders to try to work out a joint statement on our
country's current hostilities. (I'm not sure what
purpose such statements serve, but we didn't go there.)
A point of contention for them had been the statement
"We pray for [adjective] soldiers". The argument was
whether it was necessary/permitted to pray for all
soldiers, or just for ours. So he put the
question to us.
The predictable arguments were made on both sides, and
then I got my turn. I said approximately the following
(and I'm trying to preserve words here). The question,
as stated, is incomplete; it doesn't specify the prayer.
There are certainly many
prayers that we ought to say for everyone in the combat
zone. However, we might reserve prayers for success
for the soldiers on one side.
Judging from the reactions I got, most people in the room
hadn't thought of it that way. While I don't think it
was particularly clever or insightful, I find myself pleased
by the positive responses I got anyway. Maybe it's just
that I usually trip over my words when trying to speak
in such situations.