Please welcome guest author Dev Bentham. Here she's talking about her new book Learning From Isaac, perfectly timed for the Passover season.
It's Passover, the time of year when Jews all over the world are reminded to welcome the stranger to our holiday table. What exactly that means in terms of social and family politics is grist for the Seder dinner discussion.
In my new novella, Learning from Isaac, Professor Nathan Kohn has a tradition of inviting Jewish students to his mother's house for Passover. It's a bit awkward when he invites Isaac Wolf, a student he with whom he has incredible chemistry. They have a lot in common, including a shared heritage and a passion for the environment, but there are troubling differences, like the almost 20-year age spread and the fact that Nathan's a staid professor, while Isaac's a student who's been raising his tuition in the back room of a downtown club; as he describes it, "sucking dick for dollars."
Their Seder dinner is made even more uncomfortable by the arrival of Tzvi, a visiting Israeli professor who seems to know Isaac from the club.
The central Passover story is the classic freedom-from-bondage tale of Moses and Pharaoh that we know from Sunday School or Charlton Heston or Dreamworks. At Nathan's Seder dinner the talk turns to money and freedom. One character asks if money frees or enslaves us. Here's an excerpt of the discussion that follows:
Isaac spoke softly into the silence that followed. “Maybe the answer to your question is that both are true. If we’re desperate for money, it’s enslaving because of what we become willing to do to get what we need. Having enough money makes us free to choose our way in the world.”
Tzvi shifted beside me. His grin as he faced Isaac was cruel. “True, but financial circumstances needn’t make us prostitute ourselves.”
Isaac held his gaze. “We’re all prostitutes in one way or another. Some are simply more straightforward than others.”
What do you think? Does money make us free? Or is it another way we're bound? Does the end justify the means? Given skyrocketing tuition costs, is Isaac smart or naïve to think that when he's through he'll still have a place at the table?
Leave a comment today for a chance to win a copy of Learning from Isaac.
Dev Bentham is the author of Moving in Rhythm and Learning from Isaac. You can find her at www.devbentham.com, follow her on Twitter or email her.
Hi JM, Thanks for having me.
ReplyDeleteIt's my pleasure - I'm very happy to have you here today. Enjoy!
DeleteHi guys.
DeleteWe're Never Free
Well let's see. No matter how much we have we'll always be a slave to money. If your poor there's not enough to go around to pay bills and keep a roof over your head and eat at the same time. You life paycheck to paycheck. That's if your lucky enough to have a job.
If you do have money then you think your all set and life should be fine. Oh but life doesn't work that way. Because there are just a new set of problems. Your kids get spoiled you think your better than others and the friends you have you don't know if their there because they like you or because it's possible you do something for them. Then again the fear of loosing that money. Also health and other bad things happen to the rich as well as the poor.
Issac is doing what he feels is his only option. When he's done with school and stops what he is doing it's going to follow along and be part of his life. But there should be no reason why he can't belong where ever he wishes.
Sorry I kinda of went of and ramble. I might not of even answered the question correctly. LOL
Chris
ceagles48218@yahoo.com
Hi Chris,
DeleteThanks for your thoughtful reply. I'm not sure there is a right answer. Money is problematic, isn't it? And I think the choices we make when we're young, like Isaac is, all too often follow us into adulthood in ways we didn't expect.
Seems like it's all about perspective, isn't it? Our choices always have consequences - some great and some not good. Life is a balancing act.
DeleteThat's so true, and I know I'm much better at seeing potential consequences now than I was as a young adult (although I still don't get it right all the time).
DeleteOne of the pleasures of being experienced at life.
DeleteMoney doesn't make you free necessarily. That said, lack of money can lead to foreclosure, and then you really would be free!
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I was a slave to my job for 18+ years, had depression, anxiety and high blood pressure. Actually I LOVED my job, just the last few years had the boss from h*ll. Once I was fired in 2009, I was still depressed, anxious and had high blood pressure, but I sleep at night, don't yell at the kids and have reconnected with my husband.
Having his income has allowed me to be free, and thankfully he likes his job.
Although I have a Masters Degree, sometimes I think society places too much emphasis on the piece of paper and doesn't look at the person and their skills. We need doctors and social workers, but we also need people who create - writers, woodworkers, musicians; people who fix our "stuff" when it gets broken.
There is always a place at the table for anyone and everyone.
It's awful when the job you love gets hijacked by a bad boss. I've had that happen, too. And I agree that we need everyone's skill sets - not all of which can be learned in school.
DeleteYes - and learning to value the contributions of others is a life lesson we all need to learn, right? I know I need reminding. 8-)
DeleteMe too.
DeleteAgain! I always forget to leave my email
ReplyDeleteloribooklover62@aol.com
Thanks! :)
DeleteLori - glad you're here!
Delete