tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624420178579748556.post5242504030091701761..comments2022-12-13T12:11:17.699+02:00Comments on Parsha'l Thoughts: You Send Me--Part 2Shelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02511343642691365840noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624420178579748556.post-44574911123656876002010-01-27T17:24:06.949+02:002010-01-27T17:24:06.949+02:00Sophie,
Thanks for your comments!
Doing what o...Sophie, <br /><br />Thanks for your comments! <br /><br />Doing what one is supposed to do anyway under duress does, to my mind, make the action less 'worthy' to use your phrase but it doesn't mean that the action is not at all worthy. <br /><br />Okay, let's take the parent example again. Let's say you have two kids with rooms so messy that you haven't seen their floors since last pessach. One of them cleans up their room after being asked to do so nicely just once whereas the other does so only after a lot of cajoling and possibly some help from you. <br /><br />Of course, you are going to compliment and reward each of them but you will likely differentiate between the first and second child for obvious reasons. <br /><br />As far as Egyptians in God's eyes: Of course they are God's children, as well. The midrash in this week's parsha famously chastizes the C of Israel for singing a song while God's children (the Egyptians) are dying in droves in the Red Sea. The entire premise of my comments about God and Pharaoh is that the latter is one of God's children and worthy of attention, be that positive, negative or both.<br /><br />Regarding your last comment--could be. I think the reality is that much of what we read in Tanach about God is simply a reflection of how we humans perceive God. We cannot help but translate Him/Her into anthropomorphic terms. One way of doing that is to see God as Parent Supreme. It can help explain some stuff but certainly doesn't explain everything.Shelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02511343642691365840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624420178579748556.post-72315212524244042392010-01-26T08:43:00.511+02:002010-01-26T08:43:00.511+02:00Doing it under duress doesn't make it less wor...Doing it under duress doesn't make it less worthy. If I take your parent/child mataphore still further, try to remember your days as a parent to small children: They were naughty, but after you got really angry and made them do whatever was right, if you didn't add "very good! good boy for doing that!" then it didn't amount to anything. I know that for sure, from my place in TTH (Terrible Twos Heaven). <br />Also, this line of thought brings a few other things to dwell on:<br />1. Pharaoh and all of Egypt are also God's children. (Who said xenophobia?)<br />2. To God, everybody else is a snotty 2-yr old who can't be counted on to do anything right by themselves. If I were a believer, I'd be distressed by that.Sophiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00230903868019114590noreply@blogger.com