Maimonides

at the Coffee Shop

Maimonides at the Coffee Shop

I was talking with Maimonides out in front of the coffee shop it had recently re-opened and we were out front with a cup of Joe.

I need some advice, I said to M.

Ask your teacher.

She’s gone.

Never gone, said M. Make the ask.

Who do you ask when you need advice? I asked M a little too familiar to be comfortable.

I ask you.

Me?!

Sure. My students. I’ve learned a heck of a lot from my teachers, some from my pals, the most from my students. So said Chanina.

So maybe I should ask my students.

Make the ask. First listen to your students. Not enough? Then ask your teacher. She’s waiting for you. It’s like a revolving conventicle of Sources. Re-sources.

What do mean waiting for me.

That’s what they do. The great ones -- they wait for you. While they’re waiting they weave ropes together or attach crowns to the letters or fix fountain pens. That’s what they do they like detail work. They’re waiting. Everybody’s waiting. All the time.

Off he went, Maimonides and his dog Tiresias* down the boulevard. Tiresias had a really nice woven leash that they carried in their teeth. I heard Maimonides hollering and laughing, “waiting -- it’s an active waiting! Listen to me. And stay away from exclamation points...”

j/sg

Ta’anit 7a

*Tiresias: blind prophet of Apollo at Thebes, appears in the Odyssey, sometimes appears as a woman. Tiresias was a they.