update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/what-right-have-I/001.html

@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@
 <p>I work harder to keep the scowl off my face, all the more so for how much I have expounded on such, have said <em>mitzvot goreret mitzvot</em>, have written on the words of the fathers, &ldquo;You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it,&rdquo; and how they fit within sys-side life.</p>
 <p>And so I sigh. &ldquo;Very well, Rav. I&hellip; mm, well, I still do not understand why it should be <em>me</em> who does this, but&hellip; ah, but I will do my best.&rdquo;</p>
 <p>She smiles most kindly and bows. &ldquo;Thank you, my dear,&rdquo; she says, then gives a shooing motion with both of her paws. &ldquo;Now, go. Eat. Spend some time restoring yourself, too.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>I sigh, bow, and give my best thankful smile before padding in through the front door of the synagogue.</p>
+<p>From Whence is a past master at riding the line between condescending and genuinely kind, and even I know that the perceived condescension is a matter of tone, a matter of interpretation. It is easy for me to read in <em>&ldquo;Consider it part of your ongoing work with the committee,&rdquo;</em> a sense of placation, of <em>&ldquo;Come now, What Right Have I, you know you should be doing this too.&rdquo;</em> It is equally easy for me to see, however, that I am reaching a little for this, that I am finding ways to see how others are steering me as a parent steers a child.</p>
+<p>And yet she still is so often genuinely kind. She knew well that, when I stepped so calmly away from the gathering, it was to head to my hidey hole where I might seek rest in comfort and quiet, and so with that plate of food and that gentle nudge to send me on her way, she absolved me of any guilt for doing so. She knew. She knew, so she smiled and gave me that permission.</p>
+<p>Ah well.</p>
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                 <p>Page generated on 2024-12-26</p>