Shabbat Gathering: Tevet, Rashi, & cuddling.

Gud Shabbos Khaveyrim, as is our custom, we will gather tonight at 5.45p ct to welcome Shabbat. These are the coordinates:

Zoom
Meeting ID: 883 8469 4181
Password: 822665
Phone: +1 312 626 6799

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Here we go.

Wednesday marked the beginning of our month of Tevet and there's a lesson for us to learn about the importance of cuddling. Really.

I'm still enjoying / learning from the book I've mentioned here at least twice before, For Times Such as These by R. Ariana Katz and R. Jessica Rosenberg and I’ve turned to it again, this time to find out what the rabbis have to say about Tevet. The chapter included an interesting commentary by Rashi that I never heard before. (This is one of the many things I love about Judaism: It is sooo deep and sooo wide that we constantly come across new stories and commentaries. We never get bored.)

But first: Rashi?

By most measures, Rashi is one of the best known Torah commentators. Rashi lived from about 1040 to 1105 in France. I believe it is nigh on impossible to study Torah and not learn something interesting from Rashi's commentaries. For example, take what he said about Esther, King Achashverus, and Tevet.

Rashi says…

We know the story well enough to remember it was up to Esther to save the Jews. To do this, King Achashverus had to like Esther a lot so he would favorably consider her request to save her people. Hashem sent Esther to the king during Tevet to make sure their relationship got off to a successful start. How's that? In the northern hemisphere, Tevet is a very cold month and back in Esther's day, there wasn't any central heat. Rashi believes those weather conditions were propitious. He wrote that, because it was cold, the king needed someone to snuggle with in bed to stay warm and found the perfect cuddle partner in Esther, and this ensured that Esther endeared herself with the king. Hmmm.

Make love not war.

One thing we can notice about this story is how Rashi inserts Hashem. One thing we usually learn about the book of Esther is that there isn’t any mention of Hashem in the text. It’s human agency, not Divine, that drives the story. But Rashi couldn’t leave well enough alone. Actually, Esther’s bedroom diplomacy fits into the Purim story without any need for a heavenly backstory.

I don't know if you're blessed with a cuddle partner in your life or if you prefer to turn on the electric blanket. Some of us enjoy our nocturnal solitude. And some of us actually prefer to sleep in a chilly room. But none of us like to be well and truly cold and we should be grateful to Hashem that those of us reading this newsletter, Baruch Hashem, don’t have to struggle to stay warm enough to survive. We are most certainly grateful to Hashem for keeping us warm when so many others in this world can't even find shelter. King Achashverus repaid Esther's kindness many times over. Perhaps we'll consider performing more mitzvot to thank Hashem for the grace of Their many blessings.

And may it be for all of us a blessing.

See you tonight!
Gud Shabbes!

All my love,
brian.