Taste of vinegar


Jacob, a member of the kehillot, has written a reflection on last Sunday’s reading.

vinegar kettle

5:00 - I got up and went to the kitchen to make some coffee for myself. The day started early and was going to be long, full of plans and with a huge to-do list. The electric kettle turned out to be far from clean, both inside and out. Just like my life. I put on a fresh t-shirt. I was too busy to think about my "inside". I was even too busy to say a short prayer (something I realized only when I put down these words). Yes, there was no time to clean the outside of the kettle, but the thought of drinking coffee with white flakes of limescale scared me. So I poured half a bottle of vinegar into the kettle and boiled it. There is a simple act - boil some vinegar to clean the kettle from the inside, then rinse it well - zero effort to get a good result. I indulge my kettle in such simple treatment periodically.

5:30 - I woke up my wife and children. Breakfast passed off with a reasonable amount of early wake up irritation.

6:00 - We packed ourselves into the car and started the 2 hour ride.

8:00 - We arrived at the very important office for our very important event which had been planned 2 months ago and was priority number one on my to-do list for today.

9:00 - The very important issue was settled, no questions, no fuss, no problems - I could not believe it would go so smoothly.

10:00 - A snack in Aroma as a short break before the inevitable hours of Friday shopping hassles.

13:00 - I gave a call to an old friend to tell him that we were in Tel Aviv and to ask when we could see each other. He said, they had gone to Tiberias for a barbecue mini break with a short time of prayer, and invited us to join them. His invitations are always a pleasure, so we set off for Tiberias.

Do you really think I had been kept the cleaning of the kettle with vinegar in my memory since that morning? I had not. After another three hours in the car, we arrived in Tiberias, solving the problem of accommodation on the way - this trip had not been on our schedule.

18:30 - We finally met up and it turned out that "a small prayer" was actually a time of lectio divina. I will be frank now. I drove one hundred miles for the sake of seeing this guy, and I will drive one hundred more if needed. I was really grateful for his invitation as well as for the opportunity to join the prayerful reading with him and the others, all very dear to me, people from the Jaffa community. There was much fun for the kids too.

But what about vinegar? What does it have to do with a joyful meeting, a long trip and other adventures? Did anyone bring vinegar for the barbecue?

As it turned out, vinegar featured in the text we focused on in the reading: soldiers offered Jesus some vinegar (sour wine). It was that moment that brought what I had done in the morning to my mind and I started thinking about the vinegar and what it might mean in my case. In the morning, when I cleaned the kettle, I had not known about this reading nor about our unexpected trip to Tiberias. I realize that it might sound awkward because the people I was with reflected on fears of death, on how Jesus comforts the dying, how important it is to have someone dear and loving nearby in your last moments, how only Christ can take you to "the other side". They spoke about Christ's kingdom and how soldiers and others mocked Him. And I had a boiling kettle before my eyes.

I asked myself, why the soldiers gave that vinegar to Jesus. To humiliate him? Wine is given to the kings and the noble, the crucified get vinegar instead. It was too obvious however there must be something else here in this vinegar story for me personally.

I had seen my grandparents die. Their last days were full of suffering from physical pain, so their death actually relieved them from the pain. I think they were so exhausted that they already had no fear of death. The experience of being near them at that time was bitter yet at the same time it gave me a feeling of completion of something important, fulfillment of my duty and getting to the peak of our relationship, as if I had an opportunity to share all of my love with them and I did it. At least, I hope I did. If I had to translate it into the language of taste, I would definitely call it a sweet-and-sour taste. Like my grandmother's sweet-and-sour stew which I used to savor.

Vinegar removes limescale from the kettle and, probably in the same way, bitter moments of my life strip hardened bits off my mind, emotions and faith. Should the vinegar of sad events make me appreciate the sweet ones even more and remember to praise God for giving them to me?

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