Well, I just discovered a couple of posts that seem to have been saved as drafts that apparently never actually posted. Therefore:
"Though the Torah contains chapters that are, at most, of historical interest only, it also contains much that is relevant and vital today. If it sometimes expresses moral judgments we have discarded as unsatis actory, it also challenges us with ideals we are far from having attained. Moreover, for us as for our ancestors, the line between written and oral Torah cannot be drawn oversharply. We too read the text in the light of the experiences and associations that have become attached to it. Every great classic suggests or reveals new insights to each succeeding generation. And the Torah is the classic of classics." ibid.
Every week, I am amazed at the lessons people are still drawing from Torah. Many people in the Torah study I attend are...at a later life stage than I am...and they talk about what a certain passage used to mean to them and what it means now, and I'm fascinated by such discussions.
This week's portion is Va-eira, concerning the Israelites in Egypt and the plagues. This year, it coincides exactly with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday weekend (I can't quite think of a better way to phrase that). The discussion, drawing parallels between the Israelites' plight in Egypt and the plight of black people in this country, especially between the 1860s and the 1960s, ranged from Egypt to Birmingham to Haiti, and someone commented on the amount of money that is (rightly) being sent to Haiti right now, and why didn't New Orleans get that kind of attention after Katrina, and is sending Haiti money just a Band-aid on a severed artery?
Of course, no conclusions were reached, but I never leave a Torah study without having gained something.
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