Am Yisrael, B'Eretz Yisrael, Al Pi Torat Yisrael... Today?

So I was reading a bit about the parsha on the Bar Ilan website, and a line from Hadag Nachash’s “Shirat Hastickerim” came to mind: Medinat Halacha-Halcha HaMedina; a “halachic” State of Israel can only lead to its dissolution. Here’s another example of why I consider myself a secular Zionist, and why I don’t think I am ever meant to delve into the political underpinnings of Israeli law.

According to the Torah reading for this week (Pinchas), daughters do not inherit from their fathers if the fathers have sons- that pasuk is somewhere in Bamidbar 27. Daughters aren’t neglected, rather they receive “support” from their brothers if they are minors/unmarried.

So what about today. In most circles we are familiar with, it is not necessary for the girls in the family to be “married off”. Young women develop careers and lives sometimes for a number of years spouse-free, and therefore require more than monetary support, but strive to possess the financial prerequisites for their own lives, as much as their brothers do. How does the Israeli government, and executors of our Jewish state, view this incongruity of halacha with modernity? Under Mandate law, regarding inheritance, the rabbinical courts ruled that there be “equal distribution of inheritance” among sons AND daughters. Rabbi Herzog and Rabbi Uziel, the chief rabbis, attempted to pass a bill bending this law towards a more halachic approach, but to no avail. What they suggested was that we turn back to a practice cited by the Rema and others called “takkanat chatzi zachar”; that the daughter would be promised a portion worth half of that of a male (or sometimes even a full portion) upon her marriage, and this would be considered part of her dowry (a nice loophole I think). I see the idea here being to give more kavod to the girl, sort of. Not quite sure where I get that from, though. But there have been attempts to have this practice reinstated, to halachic-ize the law.

I’m not quite sure what I think of this whole issue. I think it’s impossible to get the Knesset to agree to such an arrangement in our day and age. And there’s a big part of me that thinks that this is one halacha we should really examine more in this day and age, because it must still apply but how can we make it look more bearable.

And this is why I am a secular Zionist. I don’t believe in the possibility of a halachic state, just a Jewish one in the sense that Jews can safely congregate somewhere where they are free to be Jewish. This law, however, come to think of it, does restrict people from keeping the actual halacha if they so choose. That’s something they should fix. Hmmm. Let’s hear a big hurrah for Bnot Tzlafchad. They completely understood the importance of halacha, kedushat ha’aretz, as well as a mature and practical approach to their reality. Shabbat Shalom.

i heart photocopying

One of the reasons I find my current job so intimidating is because what I do matters. Not that my actions or attitudes don’t matter in my everyday life, but for the most part the everyday stuff doesn’t matter logistically in the “you file something in the wrong place, it’s not found, and everyone gets sued for lots and lots of money” type of way. One such activity I was introduced to yesterday is calling clients, mostly to bug them to attend meetings and medical assessments set up by their insurance companies. I know you all care so much about these details. Surprisingly, I found this whole “interacting with the clients” thing really saddening.

Background: When I have nothing to do, I read files. Straight through. The clients I’m assigned to, I know everything about them, from their addresses to exactly what time of day the injury occurred, to what the settlement offers are at the preliminary mediation sessions. (I know, more details, sorry.) Truthfully, after a few weeks I became a bit bitter and cynical towards the idea that all of these people are wasting years and thousands of dollars chasing after those whom they hold responsible for their injuries.

But when I actually spoke to the clients, just hearing real-people voices made their predicaments all of a sudden seem real to me. Some of these people are hurting, physically and emotionally. Many of them truly deserve compensation for all the things they won’t be able to do because of someone else’s negligence. The dates and times and housekeeping expenses and physiotherapy sessions and assessments all really do matter.

At the beginning of my time at the firm I was a bit disappointed with myself, because I felt I was doing something for the summer that wouldn’t “make a difference in the world” by helping people or leading to some improvement, somewhere, even a small one. Now I feel that I am—being part of the process, even the paperwork part, really is helping people.

writing in caps is fun

I’d like to take this opportunity to send a message out to a certain someone who shall remain anonymous- mainly due to the fact that I do not know his name, nor do I care to learn it. DUDE, GIVE ME BACK MY BENCH! I have been sitting on that bench from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m., Monday to Friday since the last week of June. That’s three weeks, buddy. My bench was the one farthest from the anthill across from the fountain. But wait, you know all this. Because you stole it. And it was totally premeditated. I’ve seen you in the park before, and I remember that time you came and sat down on the other side of MY bench, and then you had the audacity to comment on the weather. Excuse me for not having my guard up. I'm not an overly paranoid person, but maybe I should change that in order to save myself from these horrible situations that involve me sitting in unfamiliar territory dehydrating under the rays of the glaring sun, with ants at my toes. Bench-stealer. I strongly dislike you right now. Give it back, please.

Breishit

Hello world. And when I say world I really extend my greetings to the one or two people with whom I will be brave enough to share the existence of this blog. And maybe even my mom. Just kidding. I think it’s important that I lay out for myself exactly why I have made the choice to post my words online as opposed to writing them in a little notebook I would probably throw away. (I had a journal when I was in high school but I have a distinct memory of burning it discreetly one Lag Ba’Omer.):

1) It might bring relief to my friends who will not have to bear the brunt of my rants at three o’clock in the morning.
2) Maybe I will come a bit more self-conscious of my grammar when it’s up there for the world to scrutinize.
3) It appeals to my creative side which has become a bit stifled this summer, being smothered by binding machines, SOCs and disbursement checks. (I’m currently working in a law firm.)

A little bit about me: I’m almost 20. I’m from Toronto and I really hate when people joke about my Canadian background. Yes, I’m American too. I can vote in two elections for two different countries, I know both national anthems, and I know that the thirteen stripes represent the thirteen original colonies while the maple leaf doesn’t represent much of anything. I go to Brandeis University, which is a place that I love. I am very proud of being Jewish. I have a very short attention span, but books are my friends. I cannot live without music or ice cream. I am afraid of almost everything but I will never let on and I will almost always try. I struggle with a lot of things but so does everyone, so let’s relish it all together.

This pretty much sums up who I am, Yeah, right. Not even close. Not that I’m so deep or anything. But I got bored with all this typing, and the screen sort of hurts my brain.

So on this note, shalom, and I welcome myself to the unfamiliar turf of cyberspace.

Love,

Zahvi