Quote of the Day

"I wish it were three hours later so I would have an excuse to go to bed."

-- Aaron, 6:15 p.m.

Yes, they are exciting times here on Delmont Avenue...

Parshat Chayai Sarai

This semester, I’m taking a course on poverty and social justice, and one of our units focused on land acquisition in the Bible. I’d like to share with you some of what I learned, since one of the more famous stories related to land acquisition is actually found in this week’s Torah portion, Chaye Sarai, the Life of Sarah.

Although called “The Life of Sarah,” our portion actually begins with Sarah’s death. Interestingly, she is not with Abraham when she dies, and once word reaches her husband, he begins negotiations to purchase a cave and its surrounding land not only for her burial place, but for the burial of his future progeny.

The story takes up the entire chapter, and I’d like to take a moment to go over the story together.

Genesis Chapter 23

And Sarah was a 127 years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
And Sarah died in Kiriath-Arba; which is Hebron in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the Hittites, saying,
“I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
And the Hittites answered Abraham, saying to him,
“Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us; in the choice of our tombs bury your dead; none of us shall withhold from you his tomb, that you may bury your dead.”
And Abraham stood up, and bowed to the people of the land, to the Hittites.
And he talked with them, saying, “If your mind is that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar.
That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me as a possession of a burying place amongst you.”
And Ephron lived among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,
“No, my lord, hear me; the field I give to you, and the cave that is in it, I give it to you; in the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.”
And Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.
And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will give it, I beg you, hear me; I will give you money for the field; take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”
And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
“My lord, listen to me; the land is worth 400 shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? Bury therefore your dead.”
And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, 400 shekels of silver, current money among the merchants.
And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders around, were made over
To Abraham for a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
And the field, and the cave that is in it, were made over to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the Hittites.

There are many striking elements of this story, and one mystery.

· First, the description of the negotiation is quite detailed, making this story actually longer than the Akeidah – the binding and near sacrifice of Isaac.

· Two, this is the only example of land purchase in the Bible that involves money. There is one other case of land purchase in the Bible, but there, the currency is in the form of sheep.

· The mystery involves the presence of the Hittites, who are associated with a region of modern day Turkey. The trouble is, there is no evidence that the Hittites ever lived this far south – so their presence in the story is puzzling. If this story was written in the late 8th century BCE, as many scholars surmise, it was the Assyrians who controlled the region. But even if it were written at another time, there was no time when the Hittites were in power here.

· Finally, regardless of that quixotic detail, it is clear that the author of this chapter is trying very hard to stress the legitimacy of the trade agreement. The Hittites offer to give the land to Abraham for free, and three times, the text tells us, Abraham pays 400 shekels for it and seven times, the text says, Abraham stated the contract in earshot of a group of Hittite witnesses. It is clear that there is a real emphasis on the sale’s validity.

What makes Abraham’s insistence on purchasing the land so interesting from a literary perspective is that up until this point, God has done nothing but tell Abraham that he is going to receive the land of Canaan as his inheritance.

In Genesis 12, Abraham is first told he will be given the land. In the next chapter, 13, God says to him: “As far as you can see, North, East, South and West, the land is for you and your offspring forever.” Then in Genesis 15, God tells Abraham that all of his offspring will get the land. Now, in Genesis 23, we learn that Abraham goes out and pays for a piece of it!

From a historical perspective, Abraham’s purchase raises some tantalizing questions. Was the emphasis on purchase and validity so strident because the author was trying to assert the right of the Israelites to live on land now being occupied by Assyria? And by naming the fictional Hittites, he avoided potentially enraging the ruling power?

Or is the land purchase story simply a later insertion by someone who just didn’t notice the incongruity of having Abraham purchase land that only a few chapters earlier had been promised to him by God.

Or, is the promise-purchase contradiction not a contradiction at all? God promised the land to the Israelites, but maybe that never was meant to mean we wouldn’t have to pay for it. Maybe it simply meant whomever we would buy it from would be amenable to selling – as the Hittites apparently were.

It’s a question we may never answer, but is fun to wrestle with.

This story of the purchase of the cave at Machpelah is the first story of land acquisition in the Bible, but it is far from the last. Our tradition gives us other, equally vexing stories that describe entirely different ways in which we acquired the land.

The books of Numbers and Judges describe a peaceful allotting of the lands by a Goral, or lottery, system. The Book of Joshua describes a bloody blitzkrieg series of battles in which the Israelites conquered the land in pockets, and decimated the local inhabitants.

There is, in other words, more than one version of the story. But those are other stories for another time.

An open letter from Alice Walker to Barack Obama

http://www.theroot.com/id/48726

Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear.

And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on.

One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate.

One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely.

However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies.

And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,

Alice Walker

The Obama victory: impact around the world

Like most folks I know, I was absolutely glued to the TV last night, watching the returns role in with baited breath. And I couldn't possibly go to bed without hearing Obama's and McCain's speeches. Hats off to John; I was immensely impressed by how gracious he was.

Of course the baby still got up three times last night, so color me Two Sheets to the Wind today.

I woke up this morning to read two touching emails from two friends who live abroad. I think their words illustrate just how much this Obama victory means not only to Americans, but to our friends all around the world. As the commentators were saying last night on CNN, this election has given us a real chance to redeem ourselves and our reputations on the world stage, and indeed it appears that is already happening.

From Liora, a Jewish woman from Holland:

CONGRATULATIONS !!!!

I heard this morning at the 6 O'clock News that Obama was elected. Barukh HaShem!!

The national Radio 2 broadcast Obama's speech and played "Coming to America" by Neil Diamond, then broadcast a little bit of Bush congratulating Obama, but that was faded out, followed by a (early seventies) Dutch protest song called "Mr. President" about all the killings which somehow don't bother the president in his sleep, and that was followed by: "Hit the road Jack (Bush) and don't you come back no more no more no more no more, hit the road Jack (Bush) and don't you come back no more!" (I thought that was quite funny!)

From Vera, a Muslim Israeli who will be coming to the U.S. to study next year:

Dear beloved friends and family,

Don't even wonder how Obama got me and Aead, people who live on the other side of the world, all excited about him becoming the US president. He is a miracle. As non-Americans, non-white, that are coming to the US soon, Me and Aead couldn't feel safe and so happy about coming to the states in the middle of a harsh situation and an economic crisis.

When we got to know Obama through his AMAZING speeches, he got us enthusiastic about him winning, he gave us hope although we live across the ocean he touched our hearts, and gave us the hope for a change. Last night we couldn't go to sleep (day time at the US is night time here), no one in our families understood why me and Aead are watching news from the states, they thought that we can go to sleep and then see the results in the morning. When he was announced winner, I couldn't stop myself from crying loud, Aead kept greeting me: Mabrook, Mabrook....

Now we feel much more safer about coming the the US, we feel hope in the air, we feel the positive energy that change has already brought. I want to thank you all, specially those who worked very hard to help Obama win, scarifies their time, put a lot of energy and efforts to help.

Thank you, Mabrook, God bless you. See you soon

Vera and Aead

Amen

A day that will go down in history

Aaron, Adi and I got up early and trekked to our local precinct, where the line was about 45 minutes long. I was thrilled to wait because it meant what forecasters have been predicting: People are coming out to the polls in record numbers. Given I live in a dense Democratic area, it was a pleasing sight.

Fortunately, my paranoia paid off. The voter registration rolls indicated that I had to show an ID to vote because I was a first-time voter in this precinct. Of course I am not a first-time voter here; I voted here nearly one year ago! But my paranoia had prompted me to tuck my driver's license and a paycheck stub as proof of my address in my pocket right before I left the house -- and it turned out I needed them.

Words escape me when I try to think about the momentousness of this day: Of what it will say about this country if we actually elect a black man as our president; what it will mean to our economy if we can stop pouring $341 million dollars a DAY on the war in Iraq and actually start reinvesting this money in our ailing nation; what it will mean to our civil liberties to have an ultra-right-wing Christian fundamentalist finally stripped of his power.

It's been eight v-e-r-y l-o-n-g years.

In closing, I'd like to share this email from my brother's girlfriend, who, along with Brad, left her job three months ago to volunteer for the Obama campaign. In recent weeks, they both have been overseeing the campaign in rural Red areas of Pennsylvania, and giving us fascinating updates from the field.

Talk about naches! I'm so proud of both of them and everything they have done! I have removed identifying details but the spirit of her message remains:

I just got "home" from the office, after a weekend with very little sleep. Looks like I won't get much tonight either, as I have to be working at 6. I figured, I'm getting so little sleep, why don't I send a message.

As exhausted as I am, I am so happy that I followed my heart and worked on this campaign. I will be very sorry to see it end - it has been such a great experience.

Our office in XXXX, our PA state co-workers who support us so well (you've NEVER seen an IT "help desk" like this one, I promise you), the entire campaign, and everyone who has invested something in this campaign share a common purpose of taking back our country. I am so honored to contribute just a little bit to the effort, which I believe will change the direction of our country and the world. The feeling being on this campaign is hard to put into words, but however it is described, it is overwhelming.

I think I'll take a little nap now and try to recharge my batteries to at least 1/4 full, which hopefully will power me through 8:00. Well, after that -- when our polls close, we'll be making Get out the Vote calls to support the campaign in Colorado and Nevada. I'm not sure I'll be able to watch the returns, but for some reason, that doesn't seem as crazy as it sounds.

Happy Election Day,
"M"

Source of the statistic on the cost of the war: www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home