Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
December 29-30, 2023 • 18 Teves 5784 • Vayechi (Gen 47-50).
The purpose of this blog is for healthy conversation at the Shabbat table ... please forward/print/share.
In memory of Pinchas ben Meir HaLevy z'l whose yahrzeit is tonight.
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In memory of Pinchas ben Meir HaLevy z'l whose yahrzeit is tonight.
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Even this weekly email costs money to produce. Suggestion - give according to perceived value: is it worth 10¢ a week? Your donation supports more than just this email - it puts you on the cutting edge of Jewish educational innovation.
There is every way to contribute: Check/ credit Card / Paypal ... Venmo, Zelle, stock transfer, etc.
Our work is made possible by partners like you - thank you!
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Here's an opening question for your table: Did you ever wonder why we bless someone who sneezes? What's up with that?
It appears to be a universal custom: see Gezundheit in 80 languages / Berlitz.com.
After everyone ponders that question, you might want to share this interesting midrash about the origin of gezundheit.
Once upon a time, sneezing was a bad, bad omen.
People didn't get sick before they died. They just sneezed and died.
So sneezing was burned into our collective psyche as a potential sign of imminent death.
Along comes Jacob (Yaakov), the ultimate Patriarch. He wants to buck the trend. He wants to end his life not with a blessing from others but with a blessing to others. He wants to give his children a final testament. He wants to be able to say goodbye with dignity.
Being that he's a prophet - he and God were, you know, "like this."
So he asks for a change in the natural order - that there should be the possibility of some warning - like sickness - prior to death, to give him the chance to say a proper goodbye.
And perhaps to prepare mentally for death?
Once he is granted that request, that new way of dying becomes part of the natural order.
Illness became a blessing and death became dignified.
One more question for your table: If you could choose the circumstances of your own death (hopefully not for a long, long time!), how would you want it to be?
It appears to be a universal custom: see Gezundheit in 80 languages / Berlitz.com.
After everyone ponders that question, you might want to share this interesting midrash about the origin of gezundheit.
Once upon a time, sneezing was a bad, bad omen.
People didn't get sick before they died. They just sneezed and died.
So sneezing was burned into our collective psyche as a potential sign of imminent death.
Along comes Jacob (Yaakov), the ultimate Patriarch. He wants to buck the trend. He wants to end his life not with a blessing from others but with a blessing to others. He wants to give his children a final testament. He wants to be able to say goodbye with dignity.
Being that he's a prophet - he and God were, you know, "like this."
So he asks for a change in the natural order - that there should be the possibility of some warning - like sickness - prior to death, to give him the chance to say a proper goodbye.
And perhaps to prepare mentally for death?
Once he is granted that request, that new way of dying becomes part of the natural order.
Illness became a blessing and death became dignified.
One more question for your table: If you could choose the circumstances of your own death (hopefully not for a long, long time!), how would you want it to be?
Shabbat Shalom,
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As always, this message can be read online at http://rabbiseinfeld.blogspot.com.
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