No Kidding

Courtesy FreeFoto.com

Forty days.
Forty years.

Or, as in my case, forty verses.

I was given the amazing honour of leyning Torah at my best friend’s son’s Bar Mitzvah. And the cantor has given you the fourth aliyah. Forty verses.

Never for a moment did I think that I could not learn it.
Nor did it ever occur to me to ask if I might split the portion with someone.
[To be honest, I don’t recall ever learning that was an option…]

I had four copies of the portion floating around: an upstairs copy, a downstairs copy, a car copy, and as a PDF on my iPad. I studied it for weeks.

It was the longest portion I had ever mastered.

And when I had finished…about fifteen minutes after I had started…the cantor promised that he would give me a shorter portion next time.

Why didn’t you ask to split it?
I didn’t realize I had that option. Plonit-bat-Plonit said you gave me forty p’sukim and I said OK.
Wow. You are very obedient. I’ve never even chanted that many verses.

Well, how do you like that. I walked away from the conversation and couldn’t decide if I felt really stupid for not requesting a shorter portion or really awesome for learning the one I was assigned.

Incidentally, has anyone, in the history of the world, ever called Frume Sarah “obedient?”