His mother's name was Shelomith...

This week's Torah portion centers on integrity.

The integrity of our leaders. The integrity of our gifts and devotions.

And in the end of this week's Parsha we see a woman memorialized, and I wonder why?

Yes, the next week begins with Mother's Day. Is there a more devoted example of integrity and devotion than one's Mother?

This week I counseled a woman who was devoted to her drug habit to the extent that her own child kicked her out of her home. She has been wandering around the country ever since. She prefers it that way.
The integrity of a child.

Shelomith means "peceableness". Rashi, the Jewish sage says that her name means "constant talker" based on her lineage which is Dibri, which means "many words."

Her wordiness gets her in trouble so that she marries outside her faith. An Egyptian! It's not as if Israelites were not familiar with their ways.

The result? A wayward son. Not just any son, a violent son. He blasphemes - a capital offense. To blaspheme means literally to stab violently full of holes. This was the common act of an idol worshipper on a statue which failed to answer prayer appropriately.

In the Law we learn that a child was not protected by righteous parents. He answered for his own crimes. "The soul that sins, IT shall die." Thus, the son of Shelomith was stoned to death - the punishment for blasphemy.

Happy Mother's Day?

Yes, Happy Mother's Day. Shelomith is honored in perpetuity in Torah. Whatever bondage* she placed herself in, she still honored her role as mother. *See Lesson 32.

The ultimate curse of womanhood in Isra'el was bareness. So she was blessed to have borne this child.

Mary, the mother of Yeshua (Gk. Jesus) is conjured up. She also bore the pain of seeing her son die as a criminal. But in Mary's case, her son was innocent yet bearing the death of the ultimate sin. Not his own sin, but your sin and mine. The sin of "unbelief." The unbeliever can blaspheme G-d without thinking, and often does.

No comfort to Mary who saw her son humiliated before all of Kingdom Come. Yet she is blessed above all women.

Bless you today, Mothers. You are held above all others as a source of hope, strength, integrity, and love.

R.I.P. Stephania Rogers, Beloved Mother. My first year without you.

Your Beloved Son,
Danny

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Glorify your Father Who is in Heaven (Matthew 5:16)
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