After a long break I am joined again by my friend Michi for a rather whiney episode where I try to relate my own frustration about the role I get pushed into over and over again with no lesser leader than Moses. Special thanks go again to my friend Avery who edited this episode.

1:00 – 10:00 – topic intro – feeling like an ornamental hermit

10:00 – Moses readings: he can’t go with the people into the promised land; why not?

16:30 – “God is his closest kin now” – Moses is never fully of the people, distances himself from them; God breaks this to Moses: “You won’t find a resting place with them”

21:00 – Prophets are buzzkills, treated like liars even when they tell the truth; often not a choice, but a matter of survival

24:45 – struggle to unite other oppressed folks into the fight; may seem like you make their lives harder by reminding them of their own pain

27:00 – Rabbi Ruti Regan: Disabled people are either vilified or put on non-accessible pedestals, where they are non-threatening, lonely. Link to diversity training that doesn’t go farther than tokenism: platforms vs. pedestals

32:00 – Some people distance themselves from you not because they fear your differences, but because they fear to see what you actually have in common

36:00 – Queer parallels: fearing the flamboyance or femininity you might find mirrored in yourself; “I’m gay but not that stereotypical kind of gay”

40:00 – We must learn to face the prophets in our lives with love in order to reduce harm to self and others

44:00 – A prophet’s truth is good news that could liberate others for deeper community & self-knowledge, but it’s received as bad news because it disrupts; as in “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” many prefer a harmful delusion to a temporarily disruptive truth

57:30 - end – Inspiration porn & harmful autistic representation; Laura’s tired of being used for wisdom or inspiration without real connection

Website of Frank L. Ludwig who interprets fairytale characters as autistic:

http://franklludwig.com/

Essay about different important takes on Moses' "punishment":

https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/chukat/why-was-moses-not-destined-to-enter-the-land/