Muse
-
In One Day: A Poem
In One Day: A Poem
https://renaissancewomankippot.org/blogs/muse/in-one-day-a-poem
I cried out, "Why should I lose you both in one day?" Some people thought I meant you and your father I meant you and your brother. Had they asked, I would have told them. Now I tell you, my twins, Jacob, Esau...
-
Dinah Rising
Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, has long been a source of speculation, angst, misplaced blame, and a defiant reminder of the ills of the patriar... -
Sustainer of Life
Have you ever been in a situation so dire that it made you question your sanity? Your beliefs? Have you then been fortunate enough to have come full circle, by experiences which explain and even undo the damage because they lead to, or were guided by, a higher purpose? -
We cannot foresee all ends...
We cannot foresee all ends...
https://renaissancewomankippot.org/blogs/muse/we-cannot-foresee-all-ends
When a child is born, new possibilities enter the world, new potential arises. We don't know whether this child will grow to be a good person, a so-so, average person, or a wicked one. At the time of birth,they are all perfect. Just so, when unforeseen events happen, we don't always immediately know...
-
Rachel and Leah : Frenemies
Were Leah and Rachel enemies or, as sisters can sometimes be, "frenemies"?
Before the Covid Era, if I might call it that, there were details of my daily routine which I did not even notice, let alone appreciate, as I busily rushed from one errand to another. I did not take the time to stop and consider how each season contains the seeds of the next, and what a beautiful journey each day really is. During that era of enforced slowdown, I have come to appreciate the majestic artistry of the everyday, as well as to delve more into those Biblical stories which I thought I knew, such as the “baby wars “ between Leah and Rachel.
Rachel's journey from petulant child bride to beautiful but jealous wife to cooperation with her sister and finally, to becoming the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, and the ancestor of King David -all that- is honored in a bridal headdress style kippah I made in the past couple of years. Based upon re-reading the Biblical narrative, the commentaries in the Etz Chayim Chumash and those in The Women’s Torah Commentary, edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, and the extended midrash which is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, I have come to a different understanding of Rachel and her relationship with her sister, Leah. If you have walked in Rachel’s footsteps, I hope you will feel her transcendent journey in the headdress kippah which I created to honor her.*
Leah, sister-wife, friend and enemy, or “frenemy” in slang, was not necessarily less beautiful, or less of anything, for that matter. Jacob certainly had no problem in finding Leah attractive, especially when, as we read in B’reysheet, ch.30, she saunters out to greet Jacob in the field as he was returning from work. Saucily, she tells him,
”Come to me, for surely I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes”, and, as we are told, Jacob laid with her that night (no protest there)**
She was competing for Jacob’s heart, not his, um, attention.
As I learned from Rabbi Howard Stecker of Temple Israel in Great Neck, she does indeed feel at one point that she has succeeded in claiming Jacob’s love, as she says,
“This time, I will praise the Lord”.
Leah and her sister do seem to come to terms with each other, at least in the matter of packing up the household and running away from Laban, and in the matter of the theft of his household gods. If you haven’t read, or don’t remember, that scene in The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, do treat yourself and savor each word.
I can personally attest to the ability of rival sisters to cooperate, and even come to appreciate each other. My own twin daughters fought continuously for what seemed like years, until they found some common interests. Perhaps this is how enmity can be laid to rest: by appreciating each other’s qualities and by participating together in an important task, or even a hobby. The longest journey, it is often said, begins with the first and hardest step, as Bilbo Baggins says in the Lord of the Rings movie,
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the RingsAnd that is the sentiment we acknowledge when we wish someone “n’sia tova” a good journey, and more so, when they recite the “birkat gomel” upon their safe return. As we journey through this continuing “new normal”, may we come to appreciate all the kindnesses, great and small, which are shown to us and those that we are given an opportunity to bestow upon others.
* https://renaissancewomankippot.org/collections/biblical-mothers/products/rachel-kippah-headdress
** https://renaissancewomankippot.org/collections/biblical-mothers/products/leah-headdress-kippah
-
The Story of Serach
Sukkot, which ended recently, was an occasion to invite honored ancestral guests, such as Serach, into this outside, temporary dwelling. Never heard of Serach? For many years, neither had I...
-
We are all broken: can we heal? Yom Kippur thoughts from a Jewish artisan
Sometimes, a filament of a thought or a prayer comes to me as I'm working with wire, weaving strand after strand, hopefully, making a piece both beautiful and strong. Sometimes, I will have forgotten about a flaw which was present from the beginning, thinking, "I'll come back and fix that later,"...