Three Clueless Weeks

Last week we concluded the three weeks between our dawn-to-nightfall fast of the 17th of (the Hebrew month of) Tammuz and the 'round-the-clock fast of the Ninth of (the Hebrew month of) Av. The whole period, culminating on the 9th of Av, is centered on mourning for our destroyed temples & hoping that the third - and presumably permanent - will be built soon.

Needless to say I was not into it. I fasted on the 17th of Tammuz (July 15) & on the 9th of Av last Tuesday (August 5) for appearances' sake. We still live where we live (an entirely religious area) and I still have to set an example for the boys. Also, my wife would not approve of me not fasting. The "appearances sake" thing makes me something of a hypocrite. After all, I am doing something I no longer believe in. But I do not wish to start our friends' & neighbors' tongues a-wagging and bring opprobrium on our family. I think that is a legitimate concern. And as I said way back in Intro Post #5, my wife is the greatest blessing of my life & I will not do anything that could jeopardize our marriage (God forbid!!!). So if she would not approve of me not fasting, then fast I will and that is that.
 
I know that I've said before that as long as I am bound by the o'dox Jewish code (as it were) I must act according to it. But it isn't easy because my heart is elsewhere. Last Friday evening, as we sang the Lecha Dodi hymn welcoming in the Sabbath and we turned around to face the door at the end, I turned quickly and faced Mt. Gerizim for a second. As we say the "modim derabanan" prayer during the reader's repetition of the "Amidah" (see here) and we ask God to, "gather our exiles to Your holy courts to keep Your laws and do Your will," I add (after "Your holy courts"), "on Your holy mountain, Mt. Gerizim".
 
Reading the Israelite Samaritan version of the Torah every Saturday is a continuing wonder & fascination. I look out for the differences between the Israelite Samaritan version & ours and as they say God is in the details. Ferinstance, our version of Genesis 2:2 says:

And on the seventh day G-d finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.
 

The Israelite Samaritan version says:

And on the sixth day G-d finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. 

Capisce? I think the Israelite Samaritan version makes sense. To say that God "finished His work" on the 7th day implies that He worked on the 7th day. Given that imitatio Dei is important for us and we are commanded to rest on the 7th day because that's what God did, then it makes sense (methinks) that the Israelite Samaritan version makes more theological sense.

I told my wife yesterday as we were on our way to work that after the boys go back to school, I would like to take a day off work and go to Mt. Gerizim (for the first time in over a year) for a day. I need to be there. I think that if I can be there for just a few hours (to read the Torah & commune with God), that I'll feel better. Maybe I can make a once-a-year "pilgrimage" to recharge my spiritual batteries and so that I, the timid, may be well assured that such a place is my refuge, for it is the house of God, the protector, who saves the one taking refuge in Him and seeking Him by faith, in that place. I need to seek God by faith in that place, physically, so that I can keep it in my heart for another year. I need to run my hands over the flat rock of Givot Olam again.

nb