It’s Our Story
Last week’s Torah reading was mostly the story of Noah and the Flood. One of the more curious elements of the tale is what happens when the earth dries out enough for the animals and their human tenders to exit the vessel.
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Crimson Stuff
As I heard the word exit my mouth, I thought, “Oops! Bad choice…”
On Sunday morning, our Galeem (“waves”) Sunday school students searched for chametz, reviewed the order of the seder, sang “ma nishtana,” left Egypt by walking between the watery walls of the Reed Sea, examined the seder plate, dipped vegetables in salt water, made matza/maror/charoset sandwiches, ate egg matza and hard-boiled egg, helped me find the afikoman, and sang some more.
All within an hour.
On hand were a reporter and photographer for the Press of Atlantic City. A lovely gallery of photos was posted on the Press site with an accompanying article.
Before and after the seder, I was interviewed. In one of those interviews, I said, “The main focus is, as we did today, teaching the young’uns, because if we don’t do that, then we’re spinning wheels, there’s no value to it. We are fulfilling a biblical injunction, which is: we are to teach this stuff to our children.”
“Stuff.” What an unfortunate choice in this context! I heard it; I couldn’t retract it, erase it from the video camera facing me. Stuff.
By coincidence (perhaps), coming up soon in the Torah reading cycle is a purification ritual for one whose tsaraat skin affliction has healed. The kohein / priest takes “two live pure birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff (sh’ni tolaat), and hyssop…” (Leviticus/vayyika 14:4) The meaning of the various pieces of this puzzle can be parsed another time. For now, it’s the “crimson stuff.”
“Sh’ni tolaat,” crimson stuff, is also translated as crimson wool, though, to me, it is more enigmatic when it could be … anything — stuff.
Or stuff can be everything. What I meant by “stuff” is the everything — the heritage, culture, ritual, literature, lore, music, practice, superstition, joy, pain, history, victory, and challenge — of being Jewish. I could imagine others hearing just “stuff.”
Lesson: when being interviewed, weigh your thoughts and measure your words carefully before speaking!
I hope you enjoy all of the stuff that comes with — and add your voice to — celebrations of Pesach.
chag sameiach! חַג שָׂמֵחַ