Where the ancestors sleep

It’s the Jewish High Holy Days on the Upper West Side. These are the days where my neighbors at Barney Greengrass go through their annual avalanche of orders. He’s always got one round  the clock day filling orders from across the country getting ready for the trucks to arrive  early in the morning the day before Kol Nidre.  Gary sends his crew over on Friday to borrow three of our tables and this year has rented out the empty store room where Schatzie the Butcher used to be. After all these years, I still enjoy being part of this in some small way, classic Upper West Side, classic New York.

Tonight our gang gathers for Bible Study again and we’re looking at Genesis 22: 20-23:20. This section begins with a genealogy of the children of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. Not a guy we heart a lot about.  Other than liking the fact that he has a son named Buz, there’s a couple of things to note. This section is included (clearly) as a demonstration as to how Abraham will be a father of so many countless offspring. Also in this list we find Aram, the ancestor of the Arameans whose language was the lingua franca of this corner of the midEast from  911 BCE until 70 CE. It is an ancestor of both written Hebrew and Arabic and is the liturgical language of the Chaldean Orthodox Church, portions of the Jewish liturgy and probably the language Jesus spoke most frequently.

Next we come to the death and burial of Sarah. Abraham needs to seek out a place to bury his wife, but this will also afford him an opportunity to gain possession of land, a permanent holding, in the land that was promised to him. Abraham is a stranger and alien in the land as opposed to the Hittites, descendants of Het, who are described as the people of the land.

Abraham comes into this negotiation without many troops but due to his successful hustles involving his wife, Pharoah and Abimelech, a very wealthy man. What follows is a marvelous and richly detailed bargaining with Ephron, a leader of the Hittites, who apparently owns this cave at the edge of his field. The bargaining is so detailed and nuanced (and so familiar to anyone who has ever bargained in the Middle East) that it can only be an accurate account. Abraham comes out of this with his land, for the right price.

Our commentator Wes Howard-Brook notes that :

* There is no other land negotiation like this in scripture

*  Abraham’s acquiring this land through negotiation and purchase is in stark contrast to the later stories of Joshua who gains territory through sacred violence and ethnic cleansing.

* However, YHWH never appears in this story. Yes YHWH promised the land to Abraham but never said exactly how that was going to take place.

* Are there yet other ways to acquire land?

Our friend Steve continues to argue that these are stories with early and deep roots and that the traditional source argument for Yahwist (J) and priestly (P) origins still stands.

Marsha has her eye on Abraham the clever hustler.

Russ and I are reflecting how this the origin story for a very troubled place in Palestine, Hebron. Revered by Jews and Muslims alike  as the burial place for the patriarchs and matriarchs, some legends even  have Joseph there, and if you go deep enough, Adam and Eve. And is said to be at the periphery of the Garden of Eden.

The city of Hebron has a quarter of a million Palestinians in residence and a few hundred (no more than 850) Jews who control 80% of the city’s territory. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebron). I remember seeing both Muslim and Jewish prayers watched over by Israeli Defense Force soldiers with automatic weapons. Abraham’s ancient purchase continues to echo through to today’s mosque/former church/former mosque/former church/former synagogue and the automatic weapons. Orthodox Jews point out that Jews were forbidden from praying at  Hebron for over 700 years. And today Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank. Occupied territory. 

It is our hearts that define us, not our technological achievements.

8/24

So tonight we, Marsha, Russ, Steve, Leila  and I gather to continue our adventures through Genesis beginning at the end of chapter 19 with hapless Lot again.  Even though he wanted to settle on the little town Zoar, for some reason he wants to become the first official caveman in Genesis so takes his daughters and moves into a cave with his (now ) unpartnered daughters.

Concerned that they have no other way to carry on their family, assuming there’s no other men around, and as perhaps payback for Lot’s previously offering them up to the aggressive Sodom mob, they get him drunk and get him to have sex with them. The resulting children, Moab and Ammon, are good negative backstories to explain the general disdain for Moabites and Ammonites. As she was reading the story, Marsha drew a breath because she could see what was coming. But then she expressed her admiration for their willingness to cross boundaries to keep their line going, to do what was necessary regardless of  moral strictures.

Next (20) as Abraham and Sarah go to Gerar, we get a replay of their previous experience with pharaoh in Egypt. Once again, Abraham presents Sarah as his sister. Once again, God alerts the ruler, in this case, Abimelech, as to what’s going on and once again, Abraham goes off with oxen, sheep, slaves, land and silver. Considering how well this hustle continues to go for Abraham, no wonder he keeps doing it.

A couple of notes though. When God speaks to Abimelech and refers to Abraham as a Prophet, that is the first time he is referred to in that way. And perhaps because of Abraham’s power, granted by God, to bless and curse, regardless of Abraham’s courage or integrity at any given moment. So God leaves this in Abraham’s hands and when Abraham prays for Anbimelech, he is blessed. And perhaps that is the only ultimate point of this story, the complete dependability of God’s keeping God’ s side of God’s covenant. Steve points out how different this is than a contract, which is always conditional.

Next we come to the birth of Isaac. (20) So in honor of the significance of laughter in his conception story, he is named Isaac. And his circumcision at 8 days marks the beginning of the tradition of the bris. History’s first. Now Sarah’s laughter is of joy, not derision, but pure laughter.

Isaac and Ishmael are being raised together and Sarah seeing Ishmael playing with Isaac leads her to demand that the two be put out.  Howard-Brook raises various possible  meanings of the word playing (metzacheq) ranging from normal play to mocking to sexual connotations. (Steve sees all that as unnecessary…Sarah is is solely concerned about inheritance. )

Abraham loves and cares for both his boys and is deeply troubled until God promises to take care of Ishmael as well. He too, will be a nation, though apparently not as blessed as Isaac’s progeny. (The Muslims, of course, have a different version of this story…) About to perish in the desert, Hagar places her child under a bush. (Obviously the teller of this tale at this point  doesn’t see Ishmael as a teenager) She prays, God responds, water is provided.  They live in Paran and Ishmael gets an Egyptian wife.  Here we see that God’s care and concern is universal, just as a woman from another culture and people has faith equal to Abraham and Sarah. (This story in Islam becomes a connection to Mecca…)

Finally, Abraham makes a covenant with Abimelech over a disputed well. (Beersheba) And then Abimelech returns to the land of the Philsitines, or as we know them, Palestinians. Our stories and identities rooted in myth as well as history, and in scripture, they are one and the same.

Beyond any theology or ideology or mythology, what strikes me most about these stories is the insight into humanity. The written versions of these stories are at least 2500 years old, in oral form even longer. But I am taken by Abraham’s anxiety around power, his love for his children. Sarah’s anxiety for her child, Hagar’s intense love for Ishmael. Our technology has grown exponentially. The hearts of those who use that technology are unchanged.  The human heart remains a work in progress, constant and unfinished. It is our hearts that define us, not our technological achievements. The telling of stories to explain our adventure in living is the same never ending story. Ours to continue.

                                                                 ****

8/25

Late in the day. I step outside. Again, a half-naked person asleep on the steps. And this time I recognize him….it is Edward, the only person to have been permanently banned from our steps. (Due to all the times I had to clean up after him.) I try to wake him. Tell him he knows he’s not supposed to be here.  He semi nods, waves his hand.  He’s pretty far gone. Next time I come out, I try shaking his foot. He semi nods, still doesn’t move. As I'm leaving the building, I notice a trail of urine from Edward all the way down to the sidewalk. As I get on the bus, I call Leila to tell her the police will have to be called.  Later she texts me to tell me they had to take him away. E very so often, he returns into my life. He returns to the steps.

Of promises.And covenants. And yes, circumcision.

7/27

Tonight, Marsha, Russ, Deacon James and I meet for Bible Study. We’re back in the chapel, while Dion is working on the FARMIGO food distribution. Tonight we’re into Genesis 17. Where God promises Abram that at 99 that he will be the father of multitudes, which he finds laughable. Though not as laughable as Sarai when she gets the news.  This is the covenant cutting with Abram, (b’rit) which requires as a sign the actual cutting of the foreskin of the penis. So we have to stop a minute and ask why. Marsha suggests that it was initially a public health issue that maybe got retrofitted in this way. It has remained to this day, though it has gone from standard medical practice to semi-controversial, you know, like with debates in Tikkun magazine and all.

I remember the b’rit of my 3 sons. The old rabbi who performed his free hand style with a cool and quick hand.  (This was after we had to get the hospital to take it off of our standard bill.) The hip baby books said if you wanted to get a circumcision, go natural, get a moel. The first was at a friend’s, the second in our apartment community room and the last at our house’s back yard. The first had 6 ministers and 3 rabbis. There was of course a degree of shock for the protestants on hand. My father, who’d always wanted a baptism, was more than content. Somehow this ceremony made the child and his name official. Today there are alternate naming ceremonies. But I still remember my brother-in-law John holding the babies at each bris.

It wasn’t just Abram. And not even just the Hebrews. It was everyone, slaves and all. (damn, not only am I a slave, but this too?) And these are adults. Abraham is 99 years old! Even Ishmael at 13. For this reason, Muslims have a special circumcision ceremony at that age. (Or earlier, varying by culture) I remember the street in Duisberg, Germany where in addition to being the Muslim bridal gown capital of Europe, there are shops selling little prince like outfits for boys for this special occasion. Anyways, it remains shrouded in mystery.

Abraham is promised ,the land of Canaan. Well what about the people who are already there? Even though this is a story told to justify what has already been done, what about the Canaanites? Abraham pleads for Ishmael, and he too, will father a great nation, but no covenant.

We enjoy the fact that Sarah’s question is whether she will have pleasure at her late age, the word implying dampness, wetness, the precondition for fertility, but the point is pleasure…Far from the Catholic tradition of sex for only procreation, the Jewish tradition has always recognized pleasure.

There’s also this whole run around with Abraham and Sarah as to whether she laughed or not. She says, NO, but Abraham knows she did. All that laughing (yitzhaking), which can also mean mocking or sexual activity, will name the child. Abram and Sarai are now Abraham and Sarah and a child is coming who will be named for laughing.

So what,we wonder? Marsha suggests well ,at least it’s never too late. Even when you think everything is barren and it’s all over, there’s still hope. I want to believe that. Sugarman, Rodriguez gets found, rediscovered. Old man Bebo, one of the creators of Cuban son, is found in a Sweden piano bar and starts a career again. Angelo Romano has his first real gallery show at age 80+. So, there’s till hope.

And always, we see an empire telling its own mythic story for its own reasons.

Once again, we walk out as the Antigona cast is ready to go on. Russ and I will head to the Gate for a recap.