Penultimate Shabbat/WEDDDDDDING

This week's ritually restful ending packed quite a punch--much was learned and experienced, and I'm beginning to feel the countdown to America...

First off, the rabbi's sermons creaked open a little wider the window into the Rabbi's interesting and complex theology.  At services he discussed oaths--which are the subject of this past week's Torah portion.  He used examples from other places in the Torah to explain that, though the portion describes how many can disqualify a woman's oath if they hear it but this is not so for a man, that really, anyone can disqualify anyone's oath.  He used an example of God, in Exodus, proclaiming that he will destroy the people of Israel and give Moses a new nation, and Moses fighting back (and winning) to prove his point.  Another muzungu guest asked simply: but with all this, it is still written that for women it's one way, and men another!  Rabbi Gershom's ballsy but honest answer (somewhat, but accurately, paraphrased) : "Well, halacha doesn't say this but I do--anyone can nullify anyone else's vow.  That is what Rabbi Gershom says." The main lesson I gleaned from here--though I am curious to hear other views--is how truly dedicated he is to his egalitarian view of Judaism (which is consistent with his views on the prayer of aleinu--see earlier post), whether or not it jives with even biblical halacha.

The next interesting moment came when discussing God's ordering the Israelites to kill the Midianites as retribution--the Rabbi explained this, as well as the destruction of the 7 nations of Canaan, as being more of "metaphorical" destruction--a view he got from his rabbinical school teacher--perhaps akin to teaching them the values of Judaism, even proselytizing, which he explained was only discouraged at times when it would be dangerous to do so (not sure about this one...)  He said that just like "a land flowing with milk and honey" is merely a metaphor--so too, would this be.  An equally ballsy move, I thought--does this mean everything in the Bible is a metaphor? What about those things we keep literally? (And is this a standard explanation for Conservative Judaism--maybe it's just my ignorance that's brining the questions...?) Many things I'm itching to know--I'm hoping to set up a meeting with the rabbi for later this week to get them out!  Overall, I continue to find him and his intellectual honestly and curiosity pretty amazing!

In addition to the rabbi's revelations, I talked to Jacobo, one of the Yeshiva students who is from the village of Apace, in the north.  Judaism came very recently to his community, in a very similar manner to the way it sprouted in the Mbale area.  They began examining the bible, in 1983, and in stages, took on Jewish customs and finally beliefs--first with a move of the Sabbath from Sunday to Saturday, then a decision that Jesus was not the savior, and finally a decision to be circumcised, which was only fulfilled in 2008--when community members came to Nabugoye to be circumcised and converted.  They had been well on their way toward adopting Judaism when they heard of the Abayudaya--they tried Kenya Jews first--but it was they who finally gave them the opportunity to become Jews and send their kids to Jewish schools, participate in communal Jewish holidays, etc.  There are about 60 of them now in Jacobo's village, and he is training to be their spiritual leader.

Topping off the day was a very different sort of experience--a Muslim wedding occurring a few minutes walk from Nabugoye!  It began around 12PM and lasted until who-knows-when--we were there from about 8-10:30.  In that time, there was much waiting and music playing (when the generator was working) as we waited for the bride and groom to arrive, which they finally did.  The muezzin sang for much of the time and the imam as well as various family members spoke to the throngs, who were gathered in a couple of adjacent tents (shoutout to all my Arabic-loving friends--there were many "hamdud allah"s and "insha allah"s).  We even got a shoutout thanks to our foreign-ness (though we were deemed European, not American).  It was quite a wild time, and makes me 2 for 2 on trips to Uganda which include wedding ceremonies!

That's all for now--as school's off for the next few days I'll be way from the blog for a little while doing some (very safe and organized, don't fear worriers) exploring in Uganda with another volunteer.  But I'm hoping to pack my last few days here, when I get back, with as much learning and experiencing as I can, so look back Wednesday/Thursday!