Birds in a Trap
Introduction: Winks from Above As is customary, in the first 30 days after my mom passed away, my family, friends and I split the responsibility for saying the full Mishnayiot, for the purpose of my mom’s aliyat neshama (soul elevation). When I read mine, I noticed right away that my mom’s Hebrew first name was right on top of her Hebrew last name in Hebrew— פרידה צפור — right there in the Mishnah. It was a moment when I felt that she was winking at me, and Hashem was letting me know, It’s ok, your Ema is with you for the rest of your life, as light in infinite recursions. I was reminded of this as I sat down to dive into this week’s parashah, Metzora. It was a double parashah last year, so I am now writing its own …