Targum/Feldheim, 265 pages
Remember "Our Lives," a book written for women, by women?
"Mirrors of Our Lives -- Reflections of Women in Tanach" is
also a book for women, by a woman, Rebbetzin Holly Pavlov,
but is the furthest thing from fiction. Inspiring, certainly.
Thought provoking, exceptionally. But firmly anchored in
chumash, midrash, meforshim, with insights into what
speaks to the Jewish feminine psyche due to years of
educating young women, primarily baalos tshuva in the
She'arim College of Jewish Studies for Women in Jerusalem
(located in Har Nof). Nothing `spacey' about this book!
"The wisdom of Sarah... the silence of Rachel... Leah's
gratitude..." reads the jacket flap. "Rivkah's insight. The
lives of the matriarchs, the remarkable women who helped form
the Jewish people, have long provided us with inspiration and
guidance in our own lives." And Reb. Pavlov goes on to plug
us in to these vital sources. And very skillfully, step by
logical step, creating a whole picture through meticulous
sequence, based on the text, that climaxes in a beautiful
tapestry of Torah- concept construction.
Since the name might not be familiar to all the readers,
Rebbetzin Pavlov and her credentials are solid, with a letter
of approbation from Rabbi Chaim Pinchos Sheinberg. In his
words, "The guidance provided by these Torah ideas will not
only elevate and strengthen the reader; they will give
practical tools that can be utilized in everyday life." Yated
columnist, Rabbi Zev Leff, quotes as being "very impressed
with the caliber of the Torah ideas it [the book] contains...
deep and intellectually stimulating ideas and concepts that
are brought down to the practical level to guide one's day-to-
day living."
In her own introductory words, "I discovered that sometimes
the questions mattered more than the answers, because the
search for truth reveals that the lessons in life are
endless, and a person's potential is unlimited.
"...much of what we need to know can be grasped by looking to
our Matriarchs, whose experiences, personalities and
struggles reflect our own. Their voices continue to ring out
with strength and wisdom and their examples serve as channels
through which Divine wisdom is revealed to us... It is
through this mirror that we can see reflections of our own
hopes and dreams, our fears and frustrations. Through this
mirror, we see ourselves as Jews and as women..."
This is not a review, but a sampling of a fascinating study.
Perhaps it is good that space only allows a taste, and that
we must suffice with excerpting a beautiful chef d'oevre. All
the more reason for the reader to seek out the original to
savor this book to the fullest.
We have chosen a piece on Rosh Hashona [abbreviated, far from
completed], with which the book begins.
"AND G-D REMEMBERED SARAH"
We live in a world where we think that seeing is believing.
In truth, however, human beings see only a partial, external
reality, and the depth of our insight is limited. Only G-d
can see the entire and unbiased truth, both externally and
internally. In addition, G-d confines our understanding of
reality, allowing us to see only that which He wants us to
see. Most of us, however, believe in our judgments,
unconscious of the fact that they are based on incomplete
vision.
This becomes apparent on Rosh Hashana [when] we approach G-d
in humility and repentance, no longer so sure that we have
seen everything 100 percent clearly and aware that we have
made errors...
On the first day of Rosh Hashona, we read about the
banishment of Yishmael from the home of Avraham and his
subsequent repentance. On the second day, we read about
Yitzchak bound at the altar. The purpose of these readings is
to draw us closer to G-d at this critical time so it is
curious that the first day's reading is about an outcast from
the Jewish people while we wait until the second day to read
about our Patriarch Yitzchak. Why did the Rabbis choose the
Yishmael reading for the Day of Remembrance?
What is the connection between a "bad boy" who is told to
leave home and the Jewish people?
This essay goes on to explore the sequence of the birth of
Yitzchak, the confrontation between Sarah and Avraham
concerning sending away Yishmael, and the subsequent
suffering of Yishmael in the desert.
DEPOSITS
Sarah was given a special gift. We might ask, however, is not
every pregnancy a special gift, especially one after so many
years of infertility? In order to understand why the Torah
implies that this particular pregnancy was special, we must
interpret the Hebrew word for remember. Our text uses
the word pakad... not the more commonly used
zachar. Why? The Midrash explains...
"Hashem said: `I am the keeper of deposits (pikadon).
Amalek deposited (pakad) bundles of brambles in My
care and I... returned to him bundles of brambles, as it
says: I remember what Amalek did to Israel' (Shmuel I
15:2). Sarah deposited mitzvos and good deeds in My care. I
returned to her mitzvos and good deeds, as it says: G-d had
remembered (pakad) Sarah."
The Midrash explains that G-d is the Master of Deposits, the
caretaker of deeds. He collects things and takes care of
them. Two examples demonstrate this. The first one involves
Amalek and bundles of brambles. What are these?
"Amalek came and battled Israel in Refidim" (Shemos
17:8).
Amalek attacked Klal Yisrael in the desert, after the
nation left Egypt and after the splitting of the Sea of
Reeds. G-d took this deed and, in a manner of speaking,
deposited it. Hundreds of years later, in the time of King
Shaul, G-d said: "I remember what Amalek did. It's in the
bank. I'm going to give Amalek what they deserve..."
In the second example given by the Midrash, G-d had on
deposit Sarah's mitzvos... an accumulation of ninety years of
her life. When the Torah tells us that "G-d had remembered
Sarah," we can understand that at this point G-d made the
decision to take that deposit "out of the bank" and return it
to her...
When a person does a mitzvah, such as an act of kindness,
this deed "belongs" to him. G-d is the Bank Manager and He
puts the deed in the person's bank account. G-d guarantees
that the act of kindness will be returned, but only when G-d
deems it to be the right time. The difference between G-d's
banking and human banking is that in a financial bank, a
person can go and withdraw his holdings when he chooses. In G-
d's bank, the choice of when and how the deposit is returned
is up to Him.
This is why the Torah used the word `pakad,' which
connotes repayment of deposits, righteous or evil deeds, at a
time and in a way that G-d decides. Nothing slips G-d's
`mind'... G-d had been accumulating deposits for Sarah, and
the time had come to activate the process of withdrawing
Sarah's holdings... in the form of the blessing of a
child.
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
G-d remembered Sarah on the Day of Remembrance... thus, the
returning of her deposit occurred on Rosh Hashana.
On Rosh Hashana, G-d sits in His heavenly court and judges
people. We read this chapter on Rosh Hashanah to remind
ourselves that the idea of deposit is connected to judgment.
G-d's judgment is based on "you get what you gave," measure
for measure. You deposit transgressions, you get back
transgressions. G-d the Bank Manager returns to us our
deposits. However, despite the fact that we know G-d judges
us on Rosh Hashana, we aren't always aware of the connection
between our deeds and what happens to us. Unlike the earthly
bank account, where a person who deposits dollars gets back
dollars, in G-d's bank, we deposit good deeds and get back...
perhaps a baby.
Another difference between a financial bank and the Bank of G-
d is timing. We can go to the bank to withdraw our deposit
whenever we so desire; the timing is up to us. When G-d
returns our deposit, however, the timing is not in our
control; it is up to him. We may not even be aware that the
withdrawal is happening. We might find out
retroactively...
This thread is again picked up later in this essay when it
discusses Yishmael's judgment, the bad deeds he had on
deposit, and his merciful treatment, notwitstanding:
G-d makes His judgment based not on human logic but on Divine
judgment, which includes Yishmael's situation at that moment,
his depth of prayer and his sincere repentance. G-d's
judgment is based on the internal, invisible, intimate
knowledge of a person to which we humans have no
access.
(We have purposely left many gaps, questions unanswered, so
as to whet the reader's appetite. "Mirrors of Our Lives" also
makes excellent reading for the upcoming parshiyos of
Bereishis -- and for reflection at all times.)
