Day Three of His Great Adventure

At 5:30 this morning Bradford and his friend Mike arrived at Mike's home in Kentucky.  They spent the day napping and, in Bradford's case, taking first steps in snow.  Mike says Bradford kept trying to bite the snow.  Luckily for Bradford, his 3 1/2 inch paws can function as snow shoes.  Bradford has also spent a good part of the day supervising Mrs. Mike.  Tomorrow the two buddies will presumably hit the road again and head for New Jersey.
Wednesday afternoon to Friday morning California to Kentucky.  That is traveling.  I can only assume that Bradford did his share of the driving.

THE MENTOR

I think we all have 1 or 2, heck maybe more during our lifetime. I first met her at a previous place of employment. She was a social work intern, but light years ahead of her peers, she was different, she stood her ground, spoke her opinion and never backed down. I didn't understand it at the time, however was quite fascinated by the phenomenon of it. I never able to 'read' her and thought to myself well, I can't read her but can I be more like her? I mean she had a presence. During our time working together, my wife became pregnant with our first child. I remember struggling with the administrative types to get time off. I had a nuclear meltdown one day because of this. I remember my mentor being present, perhaps I knew that it was "safe"to have said meltdown in front of her. Instead of consoling me, she spoke to me, like an adult, she validated me but didn't baby me. I was able to put my big boy pants back on that day and I carried on. She departed shortly thereafter and moved on to other things in her career as did I. Strange as it may seem, I thought about her at times and often told the aforementioned story to people and how much it meant to me. A little over 7 years ago, I needed a job, I emailed my mentor ( she still had no clue at that point) an inquired about a job. I recalled the story, I'm not sure if she remembered, but she gave me an opportunity and hired me!. I told her early on, "I'm not the same Shawn." Not sure she was sold on this. Through the years, we found that we had some things in common, Baseball, family, our macabre sense of humor amongst many other things. Although I was initially kept at a distance, she gradually took me under her wing and let me in. She taught me things not just about work but about life, I mean, are bosses supposed to do this? I asked myself this regularly. I watched her and how she handled extremely difficult situations with ease. I don't mean these were easy situations, I mean she was unflinching. I tried to emulate her, knowing I could never be as good, but I didn't care, I was working with my mentor. We got to the point where we sat and spoke frequently, I got to learn things about her that nobody else knew, in a lot of ways, I felt like I was thumbing my nose at others who would never have this same opportunity. I finally confided to her one day that I had always wanted to be her friend, it took nerve. We reached a point in our time working together where we were inseparable. "Shawn, you two handle things exactly alike." A co-worker said that to me one day, I was floored, me?..really? I thought about quitting that day, because in the hierarchy of praise, it gets no better. Despite being one of my dearest friends, she remained my mentor, the cat was clearly out of the bag by that time she knew. Time obviously goes by and people move on. As of 5PM today, my mentor has moved on to greener pastures and while I am very happy for her, I will miss her, miss our talks, miss her insight, miss her confidence, I could go on and on. Perhaps one day we will work to ether again, maybe soon. Until then, I will put on those same big boy pants from some 15 years ago and honor her teachings and her mentoring but doing everything I can to pay it forward. At a minimum, I owe that to her.

Bradford's Great Adventure Day Two

Astonishingly, Bradford and his new best friend Mike Avery are making such remarkable time they are going to chill at Mike's home in Kentucky -- shower, eat food not served in a Honda Civic, meet Mrs. Mike -- that sort of thing.  They last checked in from St. Louis.
Did they only leave yesterday afternoon?
Bradford's Great Adventure is going by very quickly.
But, of course, that's the case with all adventures great and small and especially this adventure called life.
Cherish every moment of the journey.
We know that's what Bradford is doing.

Bradford's Great Adventure Begins

The man's name is Mike Avery and he owns a unique business -- Pet Transport Express Service.  http://www.petexpresstransportservice.com/Home.html 
He drives dogs.  And so it was that Mike and Bradford the Basset Hound left between the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl headed for New Jersey.  Bradford fell in love with Mike immediately.  They called from the I15 just before the I40.  Apparently Bradford was insisting they take a quick side trip to Las Vegas but Mike stuck to the plan and off the went east on the 40 with the blizzard in front and to the north.  They called again a little while ago to report that all was well -- they both ate dinner, took a walk, and hit the road.  We'll keep you posted.

Bradford and His New Best Buddy

A New Pharaoh

This week’s parashah, Shemot (Ex. 1:1 – 6:1) begins the story of the oppression of the Israelite people in Egypt and how God redeemed them from Egyptian slavery to become a covenant people to God.  By chapter 2 we will learn of the birth of Moses and how God chose him to free the people from Pharaoh’s tyranny and lead them to the wilderness.  But first, in chapter 1, the story picks up where it left off, with the death of Joseph.  Joseph died, as did his brothers and all that generation, but their offspring multiplied greatly, filling the land.  Then a new Pharaoh ruled Egypt, one who did not know Joseph and what he had done for Egypt, and, frightened by the Israelite population explosion, pressed them into forced labor. 

These few verses come to teach us two things: First, the majority population of a place can be easily coerced to feel threatened by an increase in the numbers of a minority.  Although the Israelites were still a tiny percentage of the Egyptian people, Pharaoh reasoned that Israel might pose a military threat to Egypt by siding with Egypt’s enemies, and the Egyptian people readily agreed.  Second, political situations change quickly, and memories are short.  Jacob and his sons were heartily welcomed to Egypt as honored guests, but all it took was a new ruler to turn the Egyptians from hosts to oppressors. 

Being Someone's Angel

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayeishev (Gen. 37:1 – 40:23) Jacob’s older sons are pasturing their father’s flocks at Shechem, and Jacob sends Joseph, his favored son, out to join them.  He can’t find them, and is wandering in the fields when he sees a man who asks him what he is looking for.  He says he is looking for his brothers and the man says, “I heard them say they were going to Dothan”.  Joseph went to Dothan, and we know the rest of the story.  His brothers take his coat of many colors from him, throw him in a pit to die, and he is picked up by a traveling band of traders who bring him to Egypt.  So begins the history of the Israelite people in Egypt, which will end with exodus, redemption and revelation, and the eternal covenant between God and the people of Israel.  

Without the unnamed man who Joseph met in the fields of Shechem these crucial events may never have come about.  Maimonides comments that he was no ordinary man, but an angel sent to make sure that Joseph completes his task.  Like Joseph, we don’t know where our journey will lead.  We may not recognize the angels along our path who guide our destiny. We are even less likely to recognize when we act as an angel for another person.

Jacob's Wives

Torah Thoughts on Parashat Vayishlach

Last week we read of Jacob’s love for Rachel, and how he worked for her father Laban for seven years to win her hand in marriage, and that it seemed to him  as if those years were only days because of his love for her. Because of Laban’s trickery in giving him the older sister Leah instead, Jacob was then forced to work another seven years for Rachel, although he did get to marry her a week after he married Leah.   Leah turns out to be built for childbirth, and she bears Jacob son after son, and one daughter.  Her handmaid, too, bears sons for Jacob, as does Rachel’s handmaid.  But Rachel herself bears Jacob one son, Joseph, and in this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach (Gen. 32:4-36:43) she dies in childbirth with her second, who she calls Ben-Oni, and Jacob re-names Benjamin.  “Ben-Oni” can mean two things in Hebrew; either, “son of my suffering” or “son of my strength”.  “Benjamin” is “son of my right hand”.  Jacob seems to want to choose the latter meaning, giving his newly motherless son the best possible interpretation of his name.  Of all the matriarchs and patriarchs, Rachel is the only one who is not buried in the Cave of Machpelach in Hebron, but rather “on the road to Ephrat, that is, Bethlehem” (Gen. 35:20).   Rachel’s grave is still visited today, especially by women who are having trouble getting pregnant or who have difficult pregnancies.  The two sister-wives of Jacob have different destinies.  Rachel is the beloved but Leah provides most of the sons who will become the progenitors of the tribes of Israel.