First Reading of Parashat Emor on Day 20 of the Omer: Health Care & Public Libraries

I mentioned earlier that I really don’t get into this particular parashah, most years, until after the Monday morning reading, which is the first public Torah reading, of Parashat Emor. The year before last, I made some comments that do not seem, this year, to be very clear, as I read them again. It’s bad when you read your own comments from just two years ago and cannot remember what you meant to say. This is why the Rabbis established the Chevrutah (partner learning) system. Anyone want to study Torah (or even Daf Yomi) in the Public Library with me? So, back in 12022, I said:

“The parashah also details some of the use of that authority for gathering purposes,” which I assume was meant to refer to the use of authority for gathering in resources for later use, I hope, kind of like what Joseph did in Egypt. But without the turning everyone into the property of the big guy, Pharaoh, of course. Hopefully. Like, gathering volunteered resources to improve local neighborhood public libraries, hopeful. But now, I need to reread the parashah to figure out what on earth I was talking about. Obviously authority had much to do with it.

Sorry about that, folks. We’re now just past the halfway point in the Torah, and parshiot are starting to get longer, as they do for the summer, when we read some of the longest portions of the year, if I recall correctly. Many a parashah in this book, Leviticus/VaYikrah, are a leyner’s nightmare, due to the repetitive nature of the text as details of sacrifices and layout of the Tabernacle are described. But Parashat Emor (פָּרָשַׁת אֱמוֹר) does not, as I recall, give us much interesting gristle to chew on. Just gristle. I’ll chew on it some more while reading the text. Feel free to chew me out for being lame today. I’ll get back to the main library tomorrow, since it is better equiped.

So, Sunday night begins the 20th day of the Omer:

“

20

5 Iyyar · Sun night, 12 May

יְּסוֹד שֶׁבְּתִּפאֶרֶת Foundation within Beauty

Hebcal’s Day 20 line of their grid for the Omer count, this year, 5784.

“

.

Thanks once more, HebCal, for giving us The Official Ideas nested ideas for the day, .

And once again, here is my personal idea note as, it hit me some years ago , in a post jotted down quickly back then, with my own not so official ideas:

And getting back to the connection between public health and the public library system, it should be obvious, based on the number of people who get so much information on public health and on getting to their doctor’s appointments via information desk employees at our public libraries, not to mention the social workers rotated into many inner city libraries in cities like San Diego, and even the role that library staff play in administering anti-overdose medications like Narcan in public spaces, that libraries are a critical part of the American public health infrastructure, nowadays. Not only for information on health and body basics, but even for providing information on how to access resources like public transportation or rides for the elderly and disabled to doctors’ appointments, and of course providing information on why and how to get vaccinations of various types, and obviously the updating of basic public health sanitation information for current events related issues. So my Omer count includes the intersection of these two key public resources so that we can remember to support and improve both of them, which gives more in the sum than either of the individual parts. Or the whole, when combined, is greater than the sum of its parts, as the saying goes.

Shavuah Tov, and healthy counting at the library, gang,

Shira

Speaking of Parashat Emor on Day 19 of the Omer: Hope in Health Care

Sunday begins the new week, and the new parashah, פָּרָשַׁת אֱמוֹר in this case, which begins with the word Say/Speak, hence the name of the Parashah, although we actually read the first three aliyot of this week’s parashah at Minchah on the Shabbat before the week officially starts (but since by the time you daven minchah, Havdalah cannot be far off, I guess it was deemed a good idea to start in on the new parashah a bit early…). So, Motzei Shabbat begins the 19th day of the Omer:

• Saturday night, 11 May 2024
• 4 Iyyar 5784
• 19th day of the Omer
• הַיּוֹם תִּשְׁעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם, שְׁהֵם שְׁנֵי שָׁבוּעוֹת וַחֲמִשָּׁה יָמִים לָעֽוֹמֶר
• Today is 19 days, which is 2 weeks and 5 days of the Omer
• הוֹד שֶׁבְּתִּפאֶרֶת
• Hod sheb’Tiferet
• Splendor within Beauty

”

.

Thanks again, HebCal, with the traditional Jewish idea set .

My personal idea set is here, originally explained, in a post some years ago, with my personal 7×7 concept of non-official ideas:

To be frank, I don’t remember too much in general about Emor until we start reading on Monday mornings, most years, and then by the Thursday morning reading I have generally started to catch up. So, give me a few days on this parashah, please, and do feel free to contribute your own thoughts on it: (I am quoting HebCal, which gives the Sefaria location/translation choices, out of lack of time/energy to do better at the moment)

“

Parashat Emor is the 31st weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading.

Torah Portion: Leviticus 21:1-24:23

Emor (“Say”) opens with laws regulating priestly behavior, working in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), and consuming sacrifices and priestly food. It describes the biblical holidays of Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, and ends with a story about a blasphemer and his punishment

“

Project Do Better focuses heavily on public health care, which is of course one reason that Health Care figures so prominently in my personal seven (forming the 7×7 Project Do Better grid, at least for the ShiraDest community of the Project, since every community is free to shape the Project to their own needs…) concepts.

I am still in the week of Health care, and day 5 of each week is Hope. I see that I will need to do something about the image, as it is getting cut off mostly by day 5. My idea for this day is that hope is an integral part of healing. Anyone care to elaborate on that for me, please?

I hope that tomorrow I will have time to Do Better.

Shabbat Shalom, and I Hope for accessible Health Care for all of Humanity,

Shira

Ending the Week of Parashat K’doshim on a Chai Note

Chai, Y’all, as some Jewish Southerners, like my friend Dvorah/Elizabeth, who now lives in an Intentional Community, like to say! Today is Shabat Parashat Kedoshim, assuming that my scheduled post has not gone awry, which is Life Day, Chai, Day 18 of the Omer, and our final and full reading (ok, on the Full Kriyah, aka the Annual Cycle, which is mostly only still read in the Orthodox world, the vast majority of Conservative/Masorti, Reform, and Reconstructionist congregations, Chavurot, and Minyanim having gone with the Triennial cycle years ago) of this parashah, and my last comment on the importance, even the beauty, of standing up for one another, and working hard not to do to our neighbor that which is hateful to ourselves. Hopefully I will have time to ponder and maybe even leyn/chant again from this parashah next year, and thanks again, HebCal:

“

• Friday night, 10 May 2024
• 3 Iyyar 5784
• 18th day of the Omer
• הַיּוֹם שְׁמוֹנָה עָשָׂר יוֹם, שְׁהֵם שְׁנֵי שָׁבוּעוֹת וְאַרְבָּעָה יָמִים לָעֽוֹמֶר
• Today is 18 days, which is 2 weeks and 4 days of the Omer
• נֶּֽצַח שֶׁבְּתִּפאֶרֶת
• Netzach sheb’Tiferet
• Eternity within Beauty

”

.

I mentioned in previous posts that the above quote from HebCal is the official 7×7 grid of days within days of concepts around the Sphirot is citing the official story, as it were, of traditional Jewish ideas (each week being nested in one of either gvurah/strength, chesed/mercy, etc in the traditional view) by the folks of Hebcal, and my own system is mentioned, first, in a post some years ago, with my own personal 7×7 concept of non-official ideas:

This week my focal concept is Health Care for everyone, particularly on the public health care system. Since this is day 4 of this week, it intersects with public transportation, thus making this particular day a day of focus on public health care as it hits the public needs for transportation accessibility in order get to accessible health care services. But the two ideas also interwine in that transportation all by itself relates to health, especially when a sensitive person spends lots of time stuck in traffic jams watching other drivers being unkind to one another, and also to the pedestrians. The stress of driving, traffic, and having to keep up with the needs of owning a car can also take a toll on a person’s health, no?

I see that I missed the green on the Transportation row for this post, but I don’t have time to fix the image before scheduling it just yet, as I need to run, but the next day’s image will hopefully be corrected, if I have time to Do Better.

Shabbat Shalom, and Choose Life for all of Humanity,

Shira

Finishing the Week of Parashat K’doshim During Sphirat HaOmer

Today is Erev Shabat, and thus still Day 17 of the Omer, thank you HebCal. This week’s parshah will be read for the third and final time this year tomorrow morning, but I still find the verse

“do not stand idly by while the blood of your neighbor is shed “

to be the most powerful verse in the parashah, personally.

That counting of the seven weeks from Pesach to Shavuot (Passover to Pentacost), on the official 7×7 grid of days within days of concepts around the Sphirot is cited with the official ideas (each week being nested in one of either gvurah/strength, chesed/mercy, etc in the traditional view) by the folks of Hebcal, and my own system is mentioned, first, in a post some years ago, with my own personal 7×7 concept of non-official ideas:

1. empathy

2. housing

3. health care

4. transportation

5. hope

6. libraries

7. free legal consumer education for ending poverty-related debt traps

I am creating a spreadsheet with colors that I add each day, as I have time, similar to what Birgit and I started yesterday, as shown in the Featured Image above.

For, with, and because of all of our well-pondered ideas, Project Do Better aims to contribute tools for current and future use that can help all of humanity reach all of our goals, both as individual people, and as an entire united HumanKind.

Shabbat Shalom, and (as Rigoberta Menchu Tum said) Salud Para Todos,

Shira

On Empathy, Smoking, and Suicide the Week of Parashat K’doshim During the Omer

This post began over a year ago, and has sat in my drafts folder awaiting the time to be edited and posted. Both due to lack of time in my life for any writing, and also due to the difficulty of dealing with this topic. This week, two things are happening that I feel are very important. First, this week is Parashat Kedoshim, the weekly Torah portion in which we read one of the verses which for me is what the Torah and all of human rights stands upon:

“do not stand idly by while the blood of your neighbor is shed “

I discussed this just a little bit a few years ago, but as I was also standing on one leg, probably hopping over a stumbling block, I did not have time to go into any details, then. The idea of not doing to your neighbor what is hateful to you, and also of not standing around allowing others to be harmed, goes together with not putting a stumbling block before the blind: they are things that anyone with empathy does not do to other human beings. We’ll get to the smoking and suicide after mentioning the second important thing going on this week.

That second thing is that this is also the period of the Omer. Now, the Jewish community is counting the days (even if some of us have lost the official count, already!) between the seven weeks from Pesach to Shavuot (Passover to Pentacost), and many are contemplating the official 7×7 grid of days within days of concepts around the Sphirot. I mentioned those official ideas (each week being nested in one of either gvurah/strength, chesed/merci, etc in the traditional view) in a post some years ago, and I also mentioned in that post my own personal 7×7 concept of non-official ideas:

1. empathy

2. housing

3. health care

4. transportation

5. hope

6. libraries

7. free legal consumer education for ending poverty-related debt traps

What would be your seven concepts, Thoughtful Readers, for each week (and thus each day having your two concepts for your own 7×7 grid)?

Now, applying all of this to the problem of smoking and suicide, connecting the dots for those who have fewer allergies, here is how putting the stumbling block of body triggers in front of the life-blind, aka those who struggle with suicidal thoughts regularly, works. A non-empathetic smoker knows that a neighbor is allergic to smoke, but continues to smoke near the windows or doors anyway. That neighbor has then to deal with sudden intense heightening of the constant suicidal thoughts, every time smoke enters his or her space. If that smoke-allergic suicidal neighbor has no strong support system, this is a serious problem. For those with no family support and, such as those in the foster care system, orphans, or even people with nominal family, but who are effectively emotional orphans, such as children of addicts, children of narcissists, and children from abusive families or abusive family systems, there needs to be a way of replacing the nuclear and even immediate extended family with healthy support systems that act as family. That is where Phase II of Project Do Better comes in, with the Serving Adults who volunteer to find and support all of the vulnerable people, children and adults who want that help, by helping to deliver the necessities of life and also connect everyone with others seeking to build connections. Phase I, of course, works earlier on building up the existing public health care infrastructure, which is partly where this issue must be dealt with on the front lines, from smoking and vape prevention, to suicide counseling, to dealing with the physical traumas caused by the substances being put into the air by those smokers and vapers.

For all of these important reasons, Project Do Better aims to contribute tools for current and future use that can help all of humanity reach our collective goals, both as individual people, and as an entire united Homo Sapiens.

Updated repost: Parashat Mishpatim, “Na’aseh VeNishmah” as Do First and Buy-In Later, via Education?

This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Mishpatim (פרשת מִשְׁפָּטִים),  the 6th in the book of Shemot/Exodus, and the 18th weekly Torah portion in the annual cycle.    This year, 5783, we looked at last week’s parashah, Parashat Yitro from a Public Health point of view.    As with last year, this week, traditional congregations (and maybe a few Masorti/Conservative Movement folks) will read of the inter-generational (in theory, or at least in Midrashic legend) acceptance of […]

Parashat Mishpatim, “Na’aseh VeNishmah” as Do First and Buy-In Later, via Education? — Inspiring Critical Thinking and Community via Books, Lessons, and Story

Parashat Yitro 5783, Delegating Authority, and Public Health Effectiveness?

   In this week’s parashah we see how a visit from an older more experienced leader, like Yitro, can provide guidance on delegating authority to accomplish tasks that would not get done otherwise, not to mention burning one out in the attempt.  Last year, we asked about  Parashat Yitro, and Laws, versus Policies. 

Photo by Sora Shimazaki on Pexels.com

  This year, we ask how those policies can be implemented more effectively for the good of all of us, and how laws can be passed or changed using processes that share power, as Yitro urges his son in law to do.    And as both Gandhi and Dr. King did.    Public health care especially requires good awareness of how to share knowledge and power effectively for the good of the hospital system and of those who may need it.

 

 

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how Phase I of Project Do Better, linked below, can work from both the top down, at the federal level, and from the grassroots up, at local and state levels, to enhance Public Health Service offerings of mental health services to all residents.

2.) Write something that uses those thoughts.

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

Learning via Story from Show and Film Reviews

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Nonfiction Planning  & Historical Fiction Serial Stories

 

Thoughtful Readers,   please consider    #Project Do Better.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Parashat Bo (בֹּא) 5783, Unnecessary Deaths, and Equal Access to Health Care

        This week’s parashah is Bo (“Come!”), the 15th parashah overall, and third portion of Shemot/Exodus.  The last of the plagues, the first Pesach/Passover, and the Exit from Egypt are all in this week’s annual cycle of the portion for this week.

  Last year, we asked about Parashat Bo, and when Come really means Go,  from a linguistic and other points of view.   From an access to health care point of view, such a basic human right and whether everyone has actual access to that right shows the status of a society, and partly, how just or injust that society is.  This, in turn, shows how stable and prone to revolution or violence that society might be at a given moment in history, which is important for preventing violence, by checking inequality in various areas.

  The first pass-over is not what I would consider an example of justice, nor is it what I would want to hold up as an example of fairness, since the First Born who died were mostly, if at all, not implicated in the decisions and policy-making of that Pharaoh, even if some of those eldest children probably had a hand in upholding the unjust system, as overseers, inheritors, and heads of families.  It is, however, an excellent example of unequal distribution of resources, from information, to wealth, and an unhappy example of the consequences of injustice, that we can avoid in the future.  We really can Do Better.

–

     Last week was the start of the book of Names/Exodus: Parashat Vaera 5783,  looking at the role of humility in public decision making and health care outcomes.

     While there are many ways to help increasing empathy,  Language Learning as a Fourth Tool for Empathy Building is both fascinating and practical.

     Empathy building is a crucial task, particularly in our contentious society today.  The task is tiring, and cannot be done all at once, but with careful planning, education, and greater cooperation between the generations, it can be done.

     We can really Do Better, and Project Do Better proposes a long term plan.

–

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Parashat Vaera 5783, Generational Reparation via Humility, and Public Health Care

        This week’s parashah is Vaera (“And Appeared”), the 14th parashah overall, and second portion of Shemot/Exodus.  The first of the plagues hits Egypt, and whether they originated from the explosion of Thira/Santorini, or from some other source, the ensuing catastrophe is the start of a crisis for Egypt and for the enslaved Hebrews.  Last year, we we had No Words for this disaster but words of rebuke for the rejoicing angels, while the year before, we asked about how Moshe/Moses, analogously to Holmes,  looked at Aaron as Watson, via Moshe’s humility (or act of humility, in accepting his brother to speak for him).

   Now, we wonder whether humility, and acknowledgment of one’s less strong spots, can help to build bridges, and pave the way to repair the wrongs done in the past.  Acknowledging the failings of our public health system in the United States would be a worthy start, a humble start, to repairing those gaps through which many people are allowed to fall, in this country.  That start needs to happen soon, to stop the waste of human potential for solving the urgent problems confronting our world now.

–

     Last week was the start of the book of Names/Exodus: Parashat Shemot 5783, Generational Trauma and Public Health Care .

     While there are many ways to help increasing empathy,  Language Learning as a Fourth Tool for Empathy Building is both fascinating and practical.

     Empathy building is a crucial task, particularly in our contentious society today.  The task is tiring, and cannot be done all at once, but with careful planning, education, and greater cooperation between the generations, it can be done.

     We can really Do Better, and Project Do Better proposes a long term plan.

–

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Parashat Shemot 5783, Generational Trauma and Public Health Care

        This week’s parashah is Shemot (“Names”), the 13th parashah overall, and first portion of Shemot/Exodus.  This is the famous “and there arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph”  parashah.  Mosheh/Moses is born, rescued and adopted by a daughter of Pharaoh, runs away after killing an overseer, and reintroduced to the promise made to his forefathers.  After the names of all of those who went down to live in Egypt with Jacob/Israel are recorded.   Now we begin to see the long term effects of family relationships, and how trauma can travel down through generations.   Here is another reason that long term planning and access to basic survival and equal health care resources for everyone is essential to all of us, unconditionally.

   Last year we looked at this portion from a nation-building point of view Parashat Shemot, and Naming a Nation, while this year, we take a more family oriented approach.   Unlike slavery practiced in the United States, slaves in the ancient world were not entirely deprived of their identity and origins, as we see by the statements in the text of Moses going to Hebrew elders in the land of Goshen where their families lived together.  Nevertheless, the trauma of forced labor and harsh punishments was one that all age groups suffered, and became embedded in the generational mentalities, as with slaves here in the USA.  The requirement to at least appear to obey and to submit leaves scars.  These scars even affect generations who do not live through the direct trauma, as we will see later in the upcoming parshiot.

    The fact that trauma can be passed down through generations makes it all the more crucial for every person, from the earliest age, to have access to competent (for the specific type of trauma) and complete long term access to mental and physical health care.  This necessarily implies a need for a comprehensive set of public health care mental health systems that interface with social welfare and safety net systems.   In other words, universal health care, eventually. 

     Last week was the end of the book of beginnings: Parashat VaYechi 5783, Favoritism vs. Family Mental Health, and The Common Good .

     While there are many ways to help increasing empathy,  Language Learning as a Fourth Tool for Empathy Building is both fascinating and practical.

     Empathy building is a crucial task, particularly in our contentious society today.  The task is tiring, and cannot be done all at once, but with careful planning, education, and greater cooperation between the generations, it can be done.

     We can really Do Better, and Project Do Better proposes a long term plan.

–

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.