Sorta Listenin’

You know those times when someone’s talking to you and you’re kind of paying attention but not really, until that person needs a response from you and you have no idea what to say? In my house, we call that “sorta listening” as in “Oh sorry, I was just sorta listening – better give it another shot and I’ll pay more attention, I promise.”

I relate this to how I gathered Jewish knowledge as a kid.

I relate this to how I gathered Jewish knowledge as a kid. Listening wasn’t the problem; I actually liked Sunday school. But as an adult, I realize that I was only “sorta learning.” My young mind just wasn’t equipped to understand or appreciate the richness of my heritage. Jewish waters are deep and vast, and constantly churning. So I took what I could into adulthood and was fine… until my rabbi suggested that there may not have been a cruse of oil that burned for eight days in the Temple. Maybe the writers of the Hanukkah story just needed a miracle in the narrative –for political reasons, maybe. What???

Or when a friend asked how it was that former slaves who escaped from Egypt so fast that there was no time for their bread  to rise had enough precious metal to build a golden calf?  You wouldn’t have wanted to see my face when  lessons from childhood were debunked — it was sad and confused. I knew that it was time to start over.

…we can take the time to explore and really, not just sorta learn Jewish ideas and traditions.

I’m so grateful to be associated with Chai Mitzvah! The sages are right — as a teacher I  do learn more from my students than any other source. I’m grateful that our groups are small, so that we can take the time to explore and really, not just sorta learn Jewish ideas and traditions. I’m glad that our format encourages all voices to be heard, so that I get to consider many different perspectives on the same question. (How did Israelite slaves come up with the gold for the golden calf??)  And I love being able to learn from Reb Deb who leads free community events.  If one has to go back to the beginning in one’s Jewish learning, Chai Mitzvah is a great way to do it!

– Jill Maidhof