cellio | Entries tagged with shavuot

Today while studying with my rabbi I encountered some "interesting" reasoning patterns in the talmud.

We often see comments of the form "one who does such-and-such is worthy of a place in the world to come", or, conversely, "one who does such-and-such forfeits his place". But we don't hold that a single action either guarantees your spot or dooms you forever, so what gives?

One common approach is to view oneself -- and, perhaps, the entire world -- as teetering on a balance point at all times. A single mitzvah tips the balance for good; a single aveira (sin) tips the balance for bad. If you were to be judged at that time, that single action would have determined your fate. So each time you commit a sin you're betting on getting a chance to compensate for it. (My rabbi explained the basic argument; the conclusions are mine, so don't blame him for them.)

I saw another approach today. Tractate B'rachot (4b, page 4b4 in Shottenstein) says that one who recites Ashrei three times a day earns a place in the world to come. Why? Because, as it's explained in the gemara and later works, one who does this will surely come to understand its deep significance, and given that understanding will act accordingly, and thus will by his actions earn a place in the world to come.

I find the style of reasoning suspect. Why not just say that one who truly understands these words and acts accordingly earns a place in the world to come? Wouldn't that be more direct and more accurate?

We have a couple references to chase that might shed light on this, but we ran out of time. Next time, then.

At the end of the session he told me he enjoys studying with me, which makes me happy. I really enjoy studying with him, and would hate for it to be too one-sided. I'm looking forward to Thursday night's tikkun, too. We don't go all night, but we'll probably go until about 2am. A few years ago I went to another tikkun afterwards with the goal of going all night, but the style wasn't to my taste and going to it broke the mood that we'd achieved, so I don't do that any more. When my rabbi's done, I go home.

This video is a hilarious compilation of feline "I meant to do that" moments, some of them probably even real. :-) Thanks to

cortego for the link.

Dani's birthday was yesterday. I bought him a copy of Puerto Rico, a Rio Grande game, because that many of my friends can't be wrong. :-) So now we just have to get some locals together to try it out.

After several days of silence the third-party seller (through Amazon) said he'd refund my money. I don't think he ever shipped the DVDs. What an annoying twit. And according to his feedback, he's done this to lots of other people too. (Feedback also suggests that promised refunds don't always happen, so we'll see.) Why in the world would you set up shop and then not bother shipping, when your customers can get their money back through Amazon and Amazon can presumably nail you? I mean, it's one thing to rip off individuals through your own shop; most of them don't have the resources to nail you for small-stakes amounts, so you can probably rake in some loot. But the idea of being able to hide from Amazon or eBay or the like seems...unlikely.

This afternoon we helped Ann and Karen move. It went well, and the final unloading of stuff went much more quickly than I expected.

Mid-afternoon they passed around Luna bars, which I'd never had before. The one I had was pretty tasty, and according to the nutrition information, provides much better bang for the buck than other nutrition bars I've encountered. I may have to keep a stash of these at work. (Ironically, I just read the latest Consumer Reports, which had an article on nutrition bars, and it pretty much panned them all. Different strokes, I guess; they tended to use chocolate-flavored bars for their tests, and I much prefer non-chocolate flavors in such things.)

I wonder what bad things happen if you average well over 100% of RDA on Vitamin A. The nutrition-tracking software I use thinks I'm tending rather high on that, presumably because baby carrots are among my favorite munchies.

Thursday night is Shavuot (and Friday). The service starts at 7:30, with late-night study beginning at 10. (Tradition calls for staying up all night studying Torah, though we usually finish around 1:30 or 2.) I don't think there's any way I can get home from work, prepare dinner, eat dinner, and walk to shul in time for a 7:30 service, so maybe I won't try and will instead just go for the study (and the morning service, of course). I'm not sure yet. I don't want to skip the evening service, but I also don't want to bail from work early enough to make it feasible. And I don't think something like ravioli (which cooks quickly) is really ideal for a festive holiday meal.

Shavuot meals are traditionally dairy. Mmmm, cheesecake. :-)

Thursday night I went to my synagogue for Shavuot services and then Torah study. Our Shavuot evening service doubles as "confirmation" (10th grade), and the students write and lead the service. (Well, they don't change the key parts, but they add in a variety of readings that they wrote.) This year's group was fairly articulate. It was also rather smaller than the groups have been the past couple years. I don't know if that's a change in the number of people in that age group or the number of people who continue their religious education past bar mitzvah.

The Torah study afterwards was the smallest Shavuot study I've seen at Temple Sinai -- peak was about 15 people. It meant we had a nice intimate discussion and I enjoyed that; I don't think it's quite what the rabbi was planning, but he rolled with it.

Friday morning's service was in the chapel rather than the main sanctuary. I love that room. It was almost but not completely full, so it was the right call. Because the Reform movement only observes one day of holidays rather than two, the morning service included Yizkor. (This is a memorial prayer for ancestors, and also the martyrs of our people. It's said several times a year, at certain holidays.) I always feel a little weird sitting through Yizkor; I have no dead Jewish relatives, after all. In some congregations it's traditional for those with living parents to leave before Yizkor, but that's not true of my congregation.

Friday afternoon I read, napped, and practiced the Hebrew reading for Saturday. (SCA event, not synagogue.) Friday night, back for Shabbat services (with some exceptional singing from our cantor), then home to see Dani (awake) for the first time since Wednesday night.

Next year I should see if I can spend Shavuot afternoon with other people (whether I invite them for lunch or go elsewhere). It felt kind of lonely, and it's supposed to be a joyous holiday. Most Jews neglect this holiday somewhat to begin with; I should make more of an effort to hook up with those who don't so I can feel more a part of a community.

Tonight: Shavuot services and then late-night Torah study (tikkun leil shavuot). Holiday continues tomorrow, of course. Then Shabbat Friday/Saturday, SCA event Saturday, parental visit Sunday afternoon. Back after all that.

Chag sameach for those to whom it applies!

tigerbright was talking about possibly going to a tikkun this year, and that made me think again about my first one. ( Jewish memories ahead. )

Current Mood: nostalgic

Monica

more talmud study

short takes

Shavuot

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a memory

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