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4 Tammuz 5764 - June 23, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family


Flowering Societies
by Gita Gordon

We have in Netanya a mass of yellow flowers that have been planted along the cliffs. They are there for two reasons. The first is to cling to the sandy soil and so, prevent erosion of the cliffs. The second is that they add beauty and color to the surroundings.

These flowers are familiar to me. When I went to school in a country village in South Africa, these selfsame flowers grew in profusion in untended fields. It was the custom in those days occasionally to take flowers from the garden to the teacher. In that hot dry climate, the growing of flowers was something that took time and money, so this didn't happen all that often. On most days, the classroom was bare and undecorated, but on some days, roses stood in a glass pot, or geraniums or marigolds. But never, ever, this beautiful bright yellow flower, growing in abundance and considered a weed.

I always thought of them as beautiful and delicate and could never understand why they weren't considered good enough to brighten our classroom. Here, in Netanya, I see that someone shares my feeling about their beauty.

Recently I visited Beit Shemesh. In a field, I saw a row of tall deep blue flowering thistles. A little further on, I saw white flower heads in the shape of upturned umbrellas and then, next to a wall, a low bush with delicate pink petals. Unlike a solitary tall red hollyhock that I had seen earlier, these flowers are considered weeds.

The thoughts that occur to me are these: what classifies a flower as an unwanted weed? What determines that a wildflower be a protected specie that must not be picked? What makes a plant desirable for a garden? What criteria do they use? Does this vary from country to country?

Then I thought some more. In our community, we consider a man who devotes himself to Torah study in a very favorable light. To us, these scholars are valuable, like garden flowers are considered worthy of cultivation. However, it is no secret that the secular society looks with disfavor upon this world of learning. I don't really understand the mindset that approves of someone devoting their life to one particular obscure plant or animal species, some distant period in history -- on government grants, but objects to another person studying the complex matters of Torah.

To these people, Torah study is something negative, a waste of time. Recently, I was involved in the following conversation:

"Doesn't it disturb you that you live in a community where so many people are parasites, living off the state?"

"Could you be more specific?"

"Well, the men don't work. They just study all day long."

"In my community, many of the women work to support the family. How many work in your neighborhood?"

"Oh, very few."

"So, I'll turn the question back to you. How do you feel to live in an area where so many people are parasites? Look at all those women sitting at home, doing nothing, living off their husbands."

After a long look and some silence, the response was, "I take your point."

 

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