siloam's teeming pool

Thursday, August 2, 2007

With what did God bless the seventh day? With light. When the sun set on the night of the Sabbath, that light continued to function... But when the sun sank at the termination of the Sabbath, darkness began to set in. Adam was terrified, thinking, Surely the darkness shall envelop me (Psalm 139:11)...What did God do for him? God made Adam find two flints that he struck against each other; light came forth and Adam uttered a blessing over it.
Genesis Rabbah 11:2

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not diving, so much as splashing --- in (or, "what is this site?")

This site is my attempt to gather together readings which are impacting me on my own spiritual path. Some are wise words from the periphery of my formal learning (the Eastern religions) but which have nonetheless settled in my bones. Some are at the center of my new world of study (the Judeo-Christian texts). Since I have been a student again, some of these thoughts are academic formation. Others are spiritual questing. And some are just gold dust that has collected on the shoes of my reading. It's my hope that the gold will rub off, and provide clues to meaning for others. Bite-sized bits and occasionally my own expressive thinking.

"Siloam's teeming pool" is the title of a series of chapters in a great book by Donald Harman Akenson called "Surpassing Wonder: The Invention of the Bible and the Talmuds". The phrase is used to describe the explosion of Judahist literature in the late Second Temple era. In a period of seismic upheaval in Judaic culture, the run-up is rich with literary life. Are we in such a time now? I don't know. But the pool as a place of 'fecundity' and cleansing, seems apt as metaphor. So. Wade into the pool. Splash. Swim. Or just put your toe in and test the water. There are no snapping turtles here.