Maureena’s Torah Reflections
Parashat Toledot. Genesis 25:19-28:9
This Torah reading is about crossing thresholds, leaving the known for the unknown. Jacob stepped out of his mother’s tent and walked into the presence of his father, not knowing if he would be cured or blessed. He got what he wanted but he also got his hands dirty through deceit, which forced him to cross another threshold and flee from his country.
Some people refuse to cross thresholds. They fear the unknown. They fear the future. They fear to get their hands soiled. Hence, they remain where they are.
Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot, ends with these words: “Well, shall we go? Yes, let’s go. They do not move.”
The longest journey begins with a single step. When Jacob stepped from his mother’s tent to that of his father it was the first step of the longest journey of his life.
Reflection:
Do you remember a time when you, or a friend of yours, made a fateful step that led to an unexpected good place?
Prepared by Prof. Sr Maureena Fritz
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“Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies.”
Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions: Nostra Aetate, No. 4