Songwriter’s Havdalah
In this session, we entered the space to Simon & Garfunkel’s The Only Living Boy In New York, did a close reading of Genesis 6, 9-13, Charles Baudelaire’s Autumn, and read a bit of Rashi’s commentary on Noah.
Drash
One righteous man, the only of his generation, asked to bear the cost of destruction wrought by a generation of lawlessness, he acquiesces without question. We see a dissonance arise among the texts between willingness to be a faithful partner bound to a demanding relationship and the loneliness of obligation in the face of a society that mocks fidelity strikes as a fierce battle of internal and external pressure. Facing an impending winter, in the form of a flood or the departure of known quantities, we see a sense of resignation to an inevitable collapse. We are asked to see the blessings in being where we are; even when we don’t want to be there.
Thought Starters
What parallels can be drawn between Noah’s potential state of mind and the impending winter facing Baudelaire?
What role does resignation, rather than acceptance, play in our willingness to carry on in our commitments in the face of events
that we’d rather not occur?
Each piece offers an ending to a time, place, or condition of life and the attendant grief. how can we view grief and resignation as
entry points to peace?
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