Back To Matan- Life's Getting "Normal"

Last week I was back at Matan for one of the pre-Rosh Hashana learning mornings Yom Iyun. I didn't do the entire program of a few days, but Wednesday worked out perfectly for me.

I have been studying Tanach/Bible in Matan for years. I love the approach of the teachers there.

Some students were home or wherever via Zoom, but there were plenty of us in the auditorium. It was so wonderful to return to my favorite studies and see teachers and friends in person.

There were three classes. One by Yael Ziegler, one by Shani Taragin and the last by Yael Leibowitz. They were all excellent. In order to attend in person, we had to show our "green passport," or whatever you want to call it. And we all had to wear masks. Only the teachers took theirs off to teach.

My friends and I are looking forward to the resumption of regular classes. There's a limit how long we can maintain isolation. Besides my formal Matan studies, I'm part of a study group, yes Bible, and we've covered a lot of material this past year and a half, since we meet on zoom more frequently than we used to meet in person.

I don't know if life will ever really go back to what it once was, at least for us senior citizens. We must consider this the "new normal."

Masks- A Linguistic Purim Spiel, Story, Dvar Torah

Bemasked and Bewigged Purim 5781

I was rather surprised and even flattered when a neighbor asked me to prepare something to say about "Masks" for the Old Fogeys' Purim Party. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure if I was supposed to be serious, theological or humorous, but I figured that if I asked too many questions, I'd lose the gig.

My mind began racing in all different directions in two languages. Actually, I was thinking in English and translating into Hebrew almost simultaneously. The talk was to be in Hebrew, even though my brain's wiring is primarily English. 

One shouldn't forget that according to some expert linguists, Hebrew is the root/source of all languages. If that's really true, then thinking in English is sort of like thinking in Hebrew. 

Every once in awhile the similarities between English and Hebrew words strike me like a bolt of lightening. When I'm on the Jerusalem Lightrail in Pisgat Zeev I hear:

"פסגת זאב מרכז"

"Pisgat Zeev Merkaz*"

"Pisgat Zeev Market"

Until the lightrail announcement, I had never noticed the similarity between merkaz and market. Remember that markets are in town centers...

Back to masks...

...The job of a mask is to mask is to hide...

OOPS! A mask is a מסכה masecha, but to mask or to hide is להסתיר lihas'tir which unrelated linguistically to מסכה masecha. which has the same root as סוכה succah, which gives us protection. 

By thinking/planning in English I was making no sense in Hebrew. And davka me, who gets all riled up at bad translations causing even theological mistakes. For example a Biblical Prophet, Navi נביא is not a fortune or future teller. He or she is a messenger, a tool Gd uses to pass important warnings to the Jewish People. Because it's always translated into "prophet" meaning teller of the future, now even Hebrew speakers think that the role of a Navi is tell the future.

Mask does sound very much like masecha. Maybe they are related...

Then it hit me! Such siyate d'Shmaya, such irony, too! During this past year masks have been a tool for protection against the COVID corona virus! No longer do we primarily think of a bank robber in a mask. Now we wear masks to stay healthy and keep others healthy. It's for protection, not hiding. 

Hebrew really is the root of all languages.

Stay safe, and wear your mask in public or when with other people.

*Center