Wednesday, 7am-2pm (A Schedule’s Declaration of Joy)
FreiFem2011Let us, this early afternoon, on this 16th day of March, in this year of 2011, declare our joys:
(For freedom, with all of its burdens, is joyful too)
Let us celebrate the blissful joy of leggings, paired with any oversized shirt, that leave me (blindly) convinced that my swollen pregnant body is sleekly disguised
Let us relish the joy of justice, as we work on helping someone extricate themselves from the abuses of the religious community
Let us delight in the joy of the firm crunch of shrimp, in a fresh tossed salad of tomato, scallions and greens drenched in balsamic vinaigrette, as it breaks on the tongue
Let us express the joy of porn, and, even, will freedom’s blessings never end, feminist porn, available in quick, clickable, copious amounts
Let us savor the joys of freedom, that leave the rest of the day open to all of our sinful desires….
8 Responses
Judging from the start of your piece – I would have thought this was actually satire. But knowing you a bit better from your other posts – it would appear that you are serious.
Are these really the great benefits of freedom – as the famous Peggy Lee song goes – “is that all there is?”
Somehow it feels so terribly underwhelming and fatalistic – like the classic saying (based on Yishayah 22:13, yeah – like everything else, they got it from us…lol) “Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die”.
I have thought long and hard about the apparent truth – that the Torah as we know it is indeed humanly made up – good stuff much of it – but made up none-the-less. Do I now chuck it all and try to live with as much “good times” as I can without the cares? But then I see all the OTD lives which quickly turn into at least the same banality as the Frum ones (we all eat, we all excrete, we all have sex, we all worry about how best to raise our kids in a crazy world) but without the hope for achieving something greater.
On the odd chance that the Torah is true – is eating that juicy shrimp really worth the risk, is it really all that better than a good Cholent and some great Zemiros in the company of precious family and good friends?
Maybe it is…
As usual – all I have is questions without answers…
The BLASISE PASCAL test has long been proven false
Maybe shrimp is tastier than cholent. I mean really would anyone really eat Cholent if it they werent a frum jew on Shabbos?
Give me some real tasty food instead of that bland gassy stuff anyday.
Zemiros – Dull boring songs enough to put anyone to sleep. Give me some Dave Draiman and Disturbed anyway. He can show you what a Chazan SHOULD sound like
The joys of freedom are far more extensive and more meaningful than those I list here – this is just a light, silly, reflection on the joys I was appreciating in just one morning.
Amen. And let us relish every bite of the colorful salad of our many flavors experiences.
“It’s really yummy” -Deena Mann
I often hear people wonder about the significance of all these experiences. They ask if why we insist and fight to wear some shmata or eat a narishe fish thing. They don’t, and probably won’t, understand that it’s not these particular activities that are so glorious (sweatpants? not a prozac!) It’s freedom to exercise choices, to make your own decisions to do (or not to, whatever you want!) these things. Do the frum have this luxury? Do they know what this is to the sophisticated human? Many people who believe that it’s a pursuit of materialistic nonsense would be completely overwhelmed by freedom. So much for nonsense.
Amen, Amen, Amen – I wish I woke up sooner.
Chay, The answer is not Hedonism; but needless deprivation is just that, needless deprivation.
If you want to follow Torah, follow Koheles. No, not the rabbinical interpretation, but the literal pshat.
“needless deprivation is just that, needless deprivation.”
Well said.
Chazal say that koheleth made it into the canon because of its last verse which some modern scholars suggest is a footnote by a disturbed and frustrated reader.
I like to think that the verse is actually a clever gimmick by the original writer. He rants, raves and blasphemes and gets away with it. And all it took was a small footnote.
“The Purim story has no historical validity and is a poorly written romantic comedy” Just add the words “kofrim say” and you are home and dry.
PT, Nice Pshat (and just in time for Purim)! I’ve actually used that gimmick. I can say how say how great science and other things are and then I finish off with a “but anyway Hakol Hevel” and I’m home free.