A Satchel Like No Other

So, I love hand-me-downs.  As the youngest of four, I not only received many of my brother's clothing (and hoping upon hoping that I didn't get too many of my sister's) but also had many of their teachers.  As an adult, I am still very hesitant to throw things away, and love garage sales.  So, I had this pair of jeans that about four years ago became too used to wear but couln't bear to throw them away.  I had originally thought that I might break them down and make paper out of them.  I just never acquired the screen mesh that would have made that happen.  Recently, I was given an ipad as a hand-me-down and didn't like the idea of taking it from place to place without having something to carry it in.  Of course, I could have bought something but I had a very clear idea of what I wanted and was pretty sure there wasn't anything out there that would meet those requirements.   So I went to work, cut some styrofoam to the right size, then cut the jeans, trimmed and sewed.  Bought a zipper and attached it.   I so wanted to use the jean zipper as the main zipper for the bag, but it just wasn't long enough.  Decided that it would definitely need some type of strap and thought about buying one but realized I could make that too.  All I would need would be the clips to attach it to the bag.  The belt loops would work perfectly as the attachment point to the bag.  For the straps, I cut the jeans into four long straps and weaved them together sewing the clips on both ends.
I've since used more scraps from the jeans for bracelets and to make a handle for a walking staff. 
Every time I talk about it, the only way to describe it is as purse.  Though, since I carry it, I like to call it a satchel.  Yeah, it's a man purse and I think I take a little too much pride in it. 

#BlogExodus

So I was headed to the gym to work out right before Shabbat HaGadol, that last Sabbath before Passover, and was thinking how my workout regimen was designed to reduce that extra puff in my middle region.  Or in other words, remove the chametz from me; the rise in my doughy middle, the stretch in my belt. The Rabbinic mindset has often compared yeast, the essential ingredient in chametz, to our all too human arrogance.  It makes me think that the two are not unrelated.  All too often, we use food as less a means of sustenance and more a means of fulfillment and indeed we get filled, overfilled, stretching out over our waistlines.  Using food in this way is arrogant.  We are so consumed by our own neuroses that we think, even if unconsciously, that food can actually solve a physical, emotional or spiritual problem.  Arrogance, because it is the most available, accessible, transportable and transfigurable property.  Arrogance, because when the evidence is staring us in the face, or blocking our toes from view, we still ignore it.  Passover affords us the opportunity to reevaluate this chametz in our life, in the form of food, body, mind and spirit and to begin to deflate the arrogance that hinders us.

Jewish Earth Day

              Tomorrow is Tu B’shvat, once known as a Jewish tax day, has become the Jewish Earth Day.  We celebrate our connection to the land, the earth and all living things.  In psalm 24 we read that, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”  The Rabbis of the Talmud, written over fifteen hundred years ago, felt that this psalm should be recited on the first day of the week (Sunday), since God created and took possession of the Earth on this first day.  Even today, we still recite this psalm on the first day of the week.  How then might this verse be understood?  If indeed God is the owner of the world, then we are but squatters in God’s glorious abode.  We have taken possession of a world that was neither sold nor gifted to us.  Dominion, as some might argue is our title certificate, is not a carte blanch designation to use the world without restriction or without consequence.  Indeed, we must use the resources of the world to live, thrive and survive, but at the same time, unrestricted use of those self-same resources is the key to our destruction.  We take delight in the wonders of the world, we stand in awe over the power of nature, and yet, in our want for comfort and our desire for money, power and prestige we willingly destroy habitats, reserves, forests, mountains and seas in the name of progress, autonomy, and proprietary rights.  The argument for animal rights, land rights, watershed rights, etc. gets lost amidst the din of personal or corporate rights.  It might seem that the idea that the earth must be protected is a relatively new idea, except that it isn’t.  In Deuteronomy, the text argues, sarcastically, “When you are attacking a city don’t destroy the trees … are they human, able to flee into the besieged city (for protection)?”  The Bible teaches that even when at war, we have to guard our actions to ensure the sustainability of the area we are attacking.  If this is one of the rules when one is the aggressor in war, then how much the more so is it important to care for the trees when one is at peace!  In America, we are taught from an early age that we have a freedom in this country like no other and, therefore, have a right to do as we wish, especially when it comes to our own property and our own business.  Yet, even here, we have laws that limit what one can do, especially when one’s personal quest impinges upon another's rights.  Laws that protect the earth are necessary, because, left to our own devices, people would do whatever they wanted without worrying a tittle about the consequences of their actions or the effects it would have on future generations.  Though we may not be able to change the way everyone understands their relationship with the earth, we can set up safeguards that protect it from those who would abuse and destroy it for personal gain.  Personally, if the many who purported to believe in God would change their status from “squatters” to “caretakers,” then, maybe, these laws would become superfluous.