A Jewish Mother in Shangri-la by Rosie Rosenzweig

Author:Rosie Rosenzweig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala

10

Jewish Karma

I AROSE TO RELAX INTO MY SABBATH MORNING PRAYERS and weekly Torah portion reading, which was Exodus 30:11 to 34:35. This vividly describes the punishment for building the golden calf, a mistaken god-image to worship in the desert while Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. The Sabbath Torah portion pointed to one of the unresolved issues of the day. Today as I was struggling with the Jewish antipathy to idols in a Hindu country with icons everwhere, Ben told me that we were to meet a real idol-maker. Later that morning I entered the hotel dining room and saw Ben with a muscular, tall Tibetan. I was introduced to Lama Norlha’s cousin, an idol-builder, who was to use the lama’s gift of gold to create a small golden replica of the Buddha. Sometimes I feel that there are no accidents, only reminders of recurrent past individual or ancestral actions. Since the translation of karma is “intentional action,” I was intrigued with this seemingly random juxtaposition of the day’s Torah portion and the breakfast conversation.

I was also reminded of Shakespeare’s oft-quoted Shylock speech, so appropriate when Jews are treated like “the other.” Shylock says, “I am a Jew . . . hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?” Perhaps, I thought, I should apply it to this situation, where I was thinking about Ben’s friend as an “other.” (Later that week, we were invited to the lama’s cousin’s house and met his family. I saw how he honored his mother by having her live with them, and he seemed like a nice, hospitable man. Upon leaving his house I thought to myself: Hath not an idol-maker, senses, affections, passions?)

That Shabbat’s Torah portion had inspired numerous rabbinical commentaries relating how the women had refused to contribute their gold earrings and rings to build the idol. Women were described as having special insight. I recalled hearing the late Lubavitcher Rebbe’s talk in the mid-eighties explaining that, as a reward, the Torah was really given to women first before the men, and how, fittingly, they should be given the task of being teachers to their children. In addition, the monthly observance of Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the lunar month) was made a special holiday for women.

Another part of the day’s agenda was a walk to meet Promila and her sister delegates at the women’s conference at the Marco Polo Hotel. What special insight might Asian women have, and how would I learn about it?

When I told Ben that I wouldn’t travel by car on the Sabbath and wanted to walk to the women’s seminar, he was glad to have a respite from his responsibilities as tour guide to his unschooled Jewish mother. After scheduling a future visit to Lama Norlha’s cousin’s family, he led me to the Marco Polo Business Hotel and the waiting arms of my Indian hostess.

Promila introduced us to the conference delegates from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. The organizer,

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