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*In the 1940s "20 Questions" was a popular quiz series. F-a-s-t forward to 2008. One person (Eliot Spitzer) is chosen to be the answerer. All other players (the Spitzer daughters) are questioners. They each take turns asking a question which USUALLY can be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No." Lying is not allowed, as it would ruin the game.
The Yiddish word "shande" (shame) comes to mind when I read about Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as governor of New York. The "nayes" (news): he was a customer of a high-priced prostitution ring. My heart goes out to his wife, Silda, and especially to his three "yung" daughters, Elyssa, 17, Sarabeth, 15, and Jenna, 13.
Mr. Spitzer, "Shem zikh in dayn vaytn haldz." (You ought to be ashamed of yourself.)
Joanne Doades ("How to help your teens grow as they prepare to leave home," MyJewishLearning.com) wrote,
"For today's Jewish teens, the struggle for leave-taking begins long before the actual physical event. This is an emotional and often conflict-filled process of separation generally beginning around the time of bar/bat mitzvah, peaking between the ages of 15 to 19, and usually subsiding by the early mid-twenties.
How well Jewish parents handle this natural but challenging process can have a significant impact on 'shalom bayit,' peace in the home, and set the stage for relationships with the soon-to-be-adult children for many years to come.
Though it may not be apparent, teens are keen observers of their parents' behavior, and are quick to notice contradictions and inconsistencies, so sending clear messages-- in words and deeds--is essential.
In the Torah, when God calls out to individuals for whom God has a special job, the response that indicates commitment in every sense of the word, is "Hineini"--here I am!" Perhaps the job of parenting Jewish teens today is to say to our teens, "Hineini," and to live its message in our parenting each day."
What 20 Questions should Eliot Spitzer expect his three daughters to ask?
Answer: "Yes."
Rev. Charles Rush gave a sermon titled, "The Image of God" on 6/3/07. With his permission I have included the following true story:
There is a Baptist Mission in Thailand called "New Life." It was started by a woman, an American missionary, who was teaching in Bangkok. She was having a hard time focusing on her work because of the sex trade that was all around her. She found it particularly galling because the prostitutes were getting younger and younger, the thought being that young prostitutes were less likely to have AIDS.
Upon investigation, she found out that the pimps that ran these houses of prostitution would travel to remote villages throughout southeast Asia and buy these young girls, usually from impoverished peasants. Girls were particularly vulnerable because they were considered an economic liability to their families. (Their parents had to raise a dowry to get them married, whereas boys took care of their parents in their old age). Furthermore, girls were taught from the time that they were born that they were inferior, that they had to accommodate themselves to this patriarchal world, that their own needs were not nearly as important as fulfilling their duties, particularly their duties to men. This was their fate. It is their moira.
Many forces conspired against them. In a city, hundreds of miles from anyone they know, without any economic resources, watched very closely, children that wouldn't know how to run away even if the opportunity presented itself, what could they do? Nothing. They just had to accept their fate and do the best with it.
This missionary was talking to one of the pimps. She asked how much it would cost to buy one of these young prostitutes? $50 was the answer. The woman went home and prayed about it.
She came back to him the next day with $50. Missionaries don't have much money, of course. But this woman just couldn't handle the fact that one of these children, a sacred life with the divine spark, could sell for $50.
She wrote to other people and got some more money. She bought a dozen of these girls and brought them all to her home. She worked with them to begin to heal some horrific experiences that they had lived through.
Being a missionary, she shared the Bible with them, the story of Jesus, his teaching that God loves us, each and every one....
Each day they spent some time in regular education, in bible study, leaning how to sew and market their crafts. She also taught them to sing. Protestants love to sing. They formed a choir and in the evenings they would sing.
A few years ago, a group of them came to the U. S. I got to hear them sing. It was very beautiful. They were radiant. It is so spiritually uplifting to see faces full of self-esteem, self-respect, self-worth, all singing together.
The sex slave trade in Thailand has not come to an end. But for those girls, life has opened up in a whole new way of growth. You get the feeling, that maybe we can actually alter fate, maybe we can really redirect the river of destiny."
Rev. Rush ends his sermon by saying, "So tomorrow morning when you wake up and look into the mirror, I want you to remember that quite in spite of your weakness and your virtues, God lives in you. God loves you. You are going to make a difference. Amen.
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