G-d Does Many Cool Things with the Sun
This week's expanded #gutshabbosshorts, Shabbos reading, and a cooking plan
Friday, Erev Shabbos/Day 189
Good morning,
I took this photo on the road somewhere between New Jersey and Cleveland when Miro and I drove to watch the eclipse earlier this week. Totality was worth the schlepp. So was the time together in the car. We got to catch up. He sang the musical hits of his ex-Yugoslav youth. I finished seven squares of a large afghan I’m working on. Win-win.
Trip bonus: At a rest stop, I finally found a Pennsylvania-shaped magnet, one of the states missing from our collection.
From the car, the view was breathtaking. Dusk. Dawn. Sunsets. Sunrises. Their magic draws me in, reminding me to pay attention to the many cool things G-d does with the sun. All that moving from darkness to light and back again leaves no doubt about who runs the world, that G-d loves beauty and shares it with us, that He wants to connect with each of us day in and day out.
What better way to get our attention and keep our eyes facing Him?
Still, the eclipse was other level. You could tell just from the traffic on Route 80.
Then again, we have scientific understanding unavailable thousands of years ago. We know precisely when totality will occur and that it will not last long. Folks had souvenir t-shirts printed well in advance, kitsch running for $30 a pop at the Giant Eagle in Cleveland. They sold out fast. (We’re not t-shirt people, but we were curious so we looked.) Otherwise, we’d likely have been terrified.
To me, the really moving part of an eclipse is the way the moon overshadows the sun, then reveals it to us again just minutes later. It’s hard not to see hope in it. Entirely unlike makas choshech, the plague of darkness, which came on suddenly and lingered for weeks (and still did not convince Pharoah to let leave Mitzrayim).
So often in our lives, challenges come from out of the blue. We have no idea how long they will last either. We make plans and curveballs put the kabosh on them. For a spell, or far longer, our sky goes dark. How we manage as individuals or a community — or don’t — depends on the arc of the curveball, our sense of grit, and a million other factors. Or it’s entirely out of our hands. We can only try our best. And we can pray.
Now especially, this rings true. We’re living in fearful times. Our words and deeds, our history, our heritage are all being twisted and contorted into something unrecognizable, weaponized against us. There are days I’m afraid to look at the news or even to think, lest my imagination cook up a dystopian vision that feels more real than ever.
We are in desperate need of a modern-day redemption. I pray that light is coming down the pike.
In the meantime, we carry on, preparing for Shabbos, readying ourselves for Pesach. Praying, hoping we’ll be safe, that we’ll find joy when the darkness lifts.
My Shabbos Reads
For the past six months, I have been focused mostly on titles by Jewish and Israeli authors for whom it is a tough market to sell a book. I’ll be writing more about that in the next edition of Days of Rest. This Shabbos, however, I’m taking a detour to finish my book club’s selection — Alexandre Dumas’ classic, The Count of Monte Cristo. I’m sure I read it ages ago, but I can’t remember a thing. Thus far, I’m enjoying the revisit.
Last Shabbos, I read Meir Shalev’s My Wild Garden. This thoughtful collection, translated from the Hebrew by my generous-hearted friend Joanna Chen, is filled with plants and watered with humor.
If you’re looking for something shorter than Dumas’ nearly 1,200-page tome, read The Sea of Tears Is Never Full, a stunning essay by Ilana Kurshan. The piece originally appeared just weeks after October 7. Thanks to Erika Dreifus, who shared the essay in her Jewish Literary Links newsletter, for the reminder.
Our Shabbos Menu
We’re eating what I can throw together from the freezer, cooked in a sauce that blends whatever condiments remain in the refrigerator door. We call these “once in a lifetime meals” because they cannot be recreated. Thank G-d, no one will go hungry, but I do hope to share more recipes and menu plans in this space going forward.
For now, here’s a beautiful song by Shay Gabso to feed your soul.
Gut Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom!
Wishing you a beautiful, restful, peaceful Shabbos. May we be safe wherever we are.
Love,
Merri
#gutshabbosshorts #bringthemhome
Thank you 🙏 🙏🙏