Of Papas and Mamas

“And Haran died during the lifetime of his father Terach…” (Bereishis 11:28)

The famous midrash describes Terach renouncing his two “blasphemous” children to King Nimrod, who gave them an ultimatum: Either worship idolatry or be burned alive in a fiery oven. Avraham adamantly refused to worship idols and was thrown into the furnace. Miraculously, he emerged unscathed.

Meanwhile, his brother Haran was weighing his options, as he knew he’d be next. Haran decided that if Avraham were saved, he would follow him, and if Avraham were burned, he would worship Nimrod’s idols. When Avraham emerged unscathed, Haran allowed himself to be thrown into the furnace — but he was burned. However, the Midrash explains, he wasn’t burned in a normal fashion. His innards were burned, but he came out of the oven alive, and then died.

How do we understand Haran’s behavior and punishment? Was he a rasha? A fool? A gambler? (Rabbi Yaakov Shlomo Weinberg, The Torah Connection)

They say opposites attract. My husband and I are a good example of that concept. He’s logical, grounded, a math and science person. I’m impulsive, creative, total literature brain. He’s a chess man; I’m a Scrabblephile. We complement each other perfectly, each stepping in to fit the slot that works best.

Until it came to PTA for my boys.

For decades, I’d show up to my girls’ PTA, with mental lists of issues and topics, wanting to get a comprehensive picture of how each daughter was doing academically, socially, emotionally.

Then those years phased out, and it was the boys’ turn. Where I live, it’s mostly the fathers who attend PTA, and I was more than happy to pass the torch.