I Know What I Know, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

September 27, 2014 Martha Thomases 2 Comments

These are the Days of Awe, the time between Rosh Ha’Shonah and Yom Kippur, when Jews are supposed to look back over the last year and atone for their sins.  That’s “atone,” not repent nor promise to do better.  As Jews, we are supposed to make things right.  It’s sort of like being an alcoholic on the 8th step, but with blessings over the wine.

The Days of Awe are when our spiritual accounts are supposed to get settled.  When I was in Sunday School, I remember reading the parts of the Torah relating to slavery, that it was forbidden to own a slave for more than seven years.  Apparently, there are other things Jews are supposed to do during this seven year cycle, including letting one’s fields lie fallow and forgiving debts.  Those are the kinds of things we’re supposed to be doing.

In Israel, where even observant Jews often don’t own any fields (and therefore can’t let them lie fallow), there are some who question how to obey these laws.  Not the ultra-Orthodox, who don’t question much of anything, but more secular, open-minded Israelis, who may not believe in God, but are Jewish enough to want to make the world a better place.

My favorite part about the article in that link is the way the very people who come up with new ways to obey the commandments decide not to do them.  I, myself, can’t agree on what’s the right thing to do from one day to the next.  I feel a spiritual kinship.

It’s healthy to question one’s assumptions on a regular basis, and I’m grateful to have been raised in a tradition that encourages it.  True, the downside of that attitude is the nagging sensation that I’m missing something, making a mistake, and feeling guilty on a regular basis.  I’m never fully dressed without (a smile and) at least a little guilt.

Guilt is preferable to certainty, in my opinion.  People who don’t question their own motives and beliefs are dangerous.  I mean, it’s bad enough when people don’t believe in evolution, because that stands in the way of scientific research that might cure diseases.  And people who don’t question their own motives and beliefs can be even more immediately dangerous, especially to people with ovaries.

Unquestioned assumptions also lead to very bad art.  I feel sad for those people whose understanding of Judaism is limited to “satirical” videos like this.  For a funnier — and more vicious — perspective, they should check out Bruce Jay Friedman.

I don’t want the above example to give you the impression that all Jews are open-minded and repentant.  There is no single characteristic that applies to all Jews.  Sometimes, we think there is, and our assumptions about our homogenous nature leads to hurtful misunderstandings.

There are worse things than hurt feelings, like hurt bodies.  That said, hurt feelings are no fun, and we should each aspire to cause fewer of them.  We should take note of the thoughtless things we do that lead to unintentionally hurting other people, and stop doing them.

The worst that happens is that we pay more attention to what we’re doing, thereby enhancing the experience of being alive.  And the best thing that happens is that we pay more attention to what we’re doing, thereby enhancing the experience of being alive.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, is not telling you those things for which she is atoning, nor what she is doing about it.  Use your imagination.