This week a UAlbany student passed away. We offer our condolences to his father and family and especially to his close friends at UAlbany who greatly mourn this sudden and unexpected loss. May all those who knew him find solace in cherishing his memory and doing good deeds in his merit.
It is customary to study Mishna (the classic text of the Jewish Oral Law, the base text of the Talmud) that begin with the Hebrew letters that spell the name of the departed. Since Dan’s Hebrew name is Tzvi Yaakov, we chose 3 Mishnas that spell the Hebrew name Tzvi.
Click on this PDF file to see the 3 Mishnas and translation: MishnaDanSpellman
These Mishnas are legal texts that discuss technical aspects of the ritual purity of the water used in the preparation of the Red Heifer, what fuels can or can’t be used for Shabbat candlelighting and some basic parameters of the laws of carrying between indoors and outdoors on Shabbat.
But beyond the literal and legal meaning of these 3 Mishnas, there are these 3 life reflections:
The first Mishna is about OPEN/CLOSED. The Mishna is talking about a jug of water, but the same is true of life. Sometimes we’re too closed about things we ought to be more open about. Sometimes we bottle too much inside. And sometimes we’re too open about things that ought to be more private and personal.
The second Mishna is about FUEL FOR LIGHTING. The Mishna is about Shabbat candlelighting, but the truth is that we all have fuel within. We each have our own passions and desires, hopes and dreams. We all have energy and drive, the question is only how that’s expressed and how we utilize it. Discovering your fire within and finding ways to use it in productive and beneficial ways.
The third Mishna is about INSIDE/OUTSIDE. How much do we know about what’s going on inside the hearts of others? And how many of us struggle reconciling and syncronizing out inside and outside selves? Too many of us aren’t comfortable enough with expressing externally that which is most meaningful to us on the inside…
Much food for thought.
Incidentally, thinking of these 3 Mishnas in terms of OPEN/CLOSED, INSIDE/OUTSIDE etc reminded me somehow of “Inside, Outside, Upside Down” by Stan and Jan Berenstain, which I ran to pick up in a library, and thanks to that adult reread of an old children’s classic I stumbled upon a powerful life message.