{"id":30629,"date":"2018-10-26T03:43:03","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T10:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=30629"},"modified":"2018-10-25T21:13:03","modified_gmt":"2018-10-26T04:13:03","slug":"torah-n-this-old-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2018\/10\/26\/torah-n-this-old-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Torah \u2019n\u2019 This Old House"},"content":{"rendered":"

(thisoldhouse.com)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

My kids have developed a fascination with the PBS TV show This Old House<\/em>. They love watching how old houses are fixed, restored and cared for by these talented workmen. I have always liked this show, too, and, as it goes, this is a pretty safe way to share \u201cadult\u201d TV programming with 7-year-olds.<\/p>\n

Over Thanksgiving, one of my boys decided that we should all sit on the couch. Mommy would help one boy with his knitting and the other with his crochet and we would watch this show. Well? It would be a great weekend. (This kid also suggested we eat potatoes, noodles and rice for dinner, thus creating the ultimate \u201ccouch potato\u201d scenario!)<\/p>\n

While this may just be a funny episode in our family life, it\u2019s a good reminder that we\u2019re all quirky folk. My family might be different but, in reading the weekly Torah portions from Simchat Torah onwards in Genesis, we learn that, historically, the Jewish people originate from interesting stock. So, if we look to our ancestors (way, way back) to inform our understanding of ourselves, that might be a good thing.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of negativity in Genesis (Bereishit) in terms of how people behave towards one another. It\u2019s a reminder, without giving a list of every kind of licentious or bad behaviour, that we have the capacity to do each other great harm. There are murders and sexual assaults. There are also people held up as role models, despite their flaws.<\/p>\n

There are Abraham and Sarah, who welcome in guests, make them bread and offer them hospitality, and then Sarah demonstrates that having a sense of humour goes a long way. When told she would give birth to Isaac as an old woman, she laughs. This was a great response in many ways \u2013 she has a healthy sense of both humour and skepticism about the world.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Rebecca, who offers (more) hospitality to Abraham\u2019s servant. Isaac is so respectful of his father that he follows him up Mount Moriah to do a sacrifice \u2013 even when it seems clear that he will be killed.<\/p>\n

Genesis offers one story after another. Each one deserves examination. However, when doing a quick reading through several of these episodes, I saw how different the characters are from one another. Some individuals struggle with what they learn from G-d, and some are believers. Others, like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, are deemed irretrievably flawed, but Lot\u2019s wife, who is initially saved, is too curious or doubtful, and turns to salt anyway.<\/p>\n

I pondered some of this as we watched the guys from This Old House<\/em> go to Texas to help after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston. We described the terrible flooding from hurricanes and boat rescues to our kids in ways they would understand, so we talked about Noah and the ark. On another episode, we learned that one of the young apprentices on the show had passed away in his sleep, from a longtime medical condition. He was age 18. So we paused the TV show. We talked about how he worked hard and did a good job, and his family and the people he worked with \u2013 all loved him. That his death was a shock and very sad, but that we believe, as Jewish people, that when a person\u2019s body is buried, his soul goes up to be with G-d.<\/p>\n

There is no perfect way to talk about life-threatening storms or untimely death. Though we try to shield our kids from the hardest things in the news, truth be told, the gentle teaching of the craftsmen and parents on This Old House<\/em> was just right for my kids to understand. Between very basic Torah stories and real-life events, we had a lot of help in talking about these hard issues.<\/p>\n

Even as an adult, sorting through the stories in Genesis seems daunting, just as coping with the news has been. My husband and I have both lived in places where we\u2019ve experienced tornadoes and hurricanes. I wish I could spare others the experience of waiting in the cellar until the storm passes. However, I\u2019ve been struck by the commonalities I\u2019ve seen between our weekly Torah portions and these challenges.<\/p>\n