Today is May 2, 2024 /
Today is May 2, 2024 /
Building Community Since 1954
A Progressive Conservative Synagogue Serving Central Florida
(407) 647-3055 | manager@tiflorida.org
50 S. Moss Rd., Winter Springs, FL 32708
Some things are best left in Hebrew where most of us can’t understand them. There is a certain blissfulness that comes from hearing the Torah chanted and not understanding a word of it. If it starts talking about bodily ailments or fluids, we remain lulled by the sweet melody and trope of our heritage. We don’t have to be assaulted by such uncouth or archaic concepts.
Who knows, if we knew more Hebrew we might not like what we hear. It might challenge our understanding of the world. It might make us uncomfortable enough that we have to rethink what we thought we knew. Or we could, as so many do in this society, simply turn away from whatever we disagree with and pretend it doesn’t exist. Any evidence that contradicts us is simply turned off or drowned out.
For today though, I ask that you challenge yourself to read the English if you are not fluent in Hebrew. Wonder at the world that was made but allow yourself room to wonder if your imagination of it is wrong. Perhaps we read the words through the lens of discrimination and prudishness that we have adopted only very recently. Perhaps for our ancestors, there was no shame in such ailments or fluids, simply consequences that needed to be addressed. Perhaps we must let go of what we think we know if the Torah is ever going to teach us anything.