Virginia Raphaelson Felson (undated)
Who I’d like to have dinner with–An essay written for the Literary Club of Cincinnati
My assignment: invite a man of history to dinner, someone whom you would like to meet, and tell me why.
My dear guest-to-be, I must admit, I love to ask questions. So you can think about your answers, I am sending the Following questions to you in advance.
1) Years after your first left Egypt (after killing the Egyptian), what made you sacrifice your comforts as a shepherd (working for your Midian father-in-law) and return to Egypt to free your people?
2) What crafty and psychological mind games helped you to develop a strategy for convincing Pharoh to let your people go free? Were all those miracles (the 12 plagues) real?
3) What did you think was happening when you first heard to voice from the Burning Bush?
4) Was it a bush, a mirage, or a burning passion in your heart to help the enslaved Israelites?
5) When you made it to the top of Mt. Sinai, what did you expect to happen?
6) What were your feelings when God presented you with the Ten Commandments?
7) Were you surprised, Moses as well as infuriated, when you came down the Mountain the first time with the Commandments to see your people practicing idolatry as they worshipped the Golden Calf?
8) Did you ever feel despair about your people? (Exodus 22:12: Moses pleads for divine assistance to “bring up these people”) What gave you courage?
9) Had the Israelites before that been rebellious, moody? Did they kvetch, and if so how did you handle it (cf. Numbers 11.4-5: “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic.”)
10) Why did you give the Jews a second chance and return to the Mountain to procure a second Ten Commandments (after smashing the first one)?
11) How did you feel when you were excluded from the Promised Land? Was God just? For what exactly was God punishing you? Were you too old, at 80, to continue leading the Israelites?
12) What did you think about Joshua as your successor?
I thought I’d invite Rabbi Mark Goldman to dine with us and act as an interpreted, if we need one, of your answers, or at least as a translator. (Since the rabbi helped me write this.)
Sincerely,
Virginia Felson
The Felson Family 