Although the actual parsha for this Shabbat is Parshat Berashit (Genesis), I wanted to write about Parshat V'zot HaBrachot (This is the blessing) in conjunction with Parshat Berashit. Mostly, this is because my congregation, here in Billings, MT, is doing things a little differently than the traditional service. We are doing Simchat Torah and Shabbat, all wrapped into one. They've found at least one way to get people there!
This parsha (V'zot HaBracha) gets the short end of the stick. It’s found at the very end of the Torah, so you would think it is the most read and discussed, that we get excited when it shows up around Simchat Torah. But in fact, this year, like many years (if not all years), we don’t read it except on Simchat Torah to bookend our yearly Torah reading. It is read as the conclusion of the Torah, with the beginning of the Torah being Genesis, the beginning. Moses has lead us through the desert and guided us as a people for almost ¾ of the Jewish year (cycle). The least we can do is acknowledge that guidance, no?
Even stranger, is the fact that this parsha is lumped in with Genesis. Or maybe, that is its beauty. It isn’t read on its own, as its own Parshat HaShavuah, weekly Torah portion, because we shouldn’t see Moses’ death as the end. Rather, we should recognize that Moses was the leader who enabled us, as the Jewish people, to begin seeing ourselves as a people. We are indeed starting over after Moses’ death; we are heading into the promised land with a new leader, not our old, beloved one. We must learn to trust ourselves. We must begin to set our own path and believe in the rightness of that path. We must start at the beginning.
Therefore, it does actually seem fitting, to go from the end and immediately back to the beginning. That’s what happened to our people. That is what happens to us: we get to experience the whole Torah again, from a new perspective, a new age, or a slightly different angle. We are given the opportunity to re-immerse ourselves in the text and learn. We are given the chance to start a new with a clean slate. How will you begin again? How will you commit to learning and growing anew? How will you commit to allowing you perspective to be changed?
Showing posts with label Deuteronomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deuteronomy. Show all posts
Friday, October 17, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Ha'azinu: Who Shall Listen?
This week’s parsha, parshat Ha’azinu, falls on Shabbat T’shuvah, the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Reading the parsha earlier in the week, I was so excited to think that I had finished the Torah, that everything had happened and I had completed a year of reading each parsha, and writing a drash on it. However, when I went to look at the Torah to look something up for Torah study, I was surprised! There is a whole extra parsha after this one. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed. But alas, in all the shuffle of the High Holidays, something had to get confused and forgotten. This is a small thing and I’ll take it.
In thinking that this is the last parsha of the Torah, I was intrigued to find that it ends with Moses going up on the mountain and dying. God tells him to do like Aaron, go up the mountain and be gathered to his kin. Moses knows, and is reminded, that Moses broke faith with God and is therefore able to see the land from a distance, but not from up close. In my world, that was how the Torah ended. A rather apex-like ending, but an incomplete one (stay tuned for next week, where the parsha is actually the last parsha in the Torah and I get to experience my excitement all over again!).
Instead, we have the continuation of an epic story. God told us last week to write down God’s words in a poem, as a reminder to the people. The words should serve as a witness to what will happen to the people if they go astray. In that song, we get four parts. The first past is God establishing God’s loving relationship with the people. The second sees the people rejecting God in favor of other deities, with other peoples. Next, God decides to decimate the people. Lastly, God relents, recognizing that if God did destroy the people Israel, other people’s might feel they were the cause of that destruction. God is humanized. In this poem, meant to guide us away from joining to the deities of other people, God in fact becomes more benevolent. Yes, God’s anger is apparent and fear is instilled in one’s heart from reading this epic poem. But God is showed as being caring, as considerate, as aware of the place of the people in the greater scheme of things. In short, God still cares about us, about the Jewish people.
As we find ourselves in the Days of Awe, the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are made aware of our place in history. We are made aware that God can choose to not care, to destroy us anyway (if God destroyed us, we wouldn’t be around to worry about who destroyed us!). We know that God’s hand is powerful and that God is our rock. Yet we see that God, like a benevolent parent, sees that we will slip up, that we will go astray, that we will miss the mark, whether in large or small ways. But God will not leave us completely. God will not abandon us to walk on our own, nor will God completely forget about us as God’s people.
A midrash on the parsha reflects God’s attitude.
The Holy Blessed One at times appears, and at times does not appear;
at times hears, and at times does not want to hear;
at times responds, and at times does not respond;
at times may be addressed, and at times may not be addressed;
at times may be found, and at times may not be found;
at times is near, and at times is not near.(Midrash Tanhuma, Ha’azinu 4)
I would like to argue that God is, at this time, at God’s most apparent, most able to listen and respond, most patient and ready to be addressed, most present and most near. At this time, may we discover a way to demonstrate to God that we appreciate God’s presence in our lives, and find ways to come closer to God, to not warrant the harsh punishment or decree that God does discuss in this parsha. “God avenges the blood of God’s servants,” our Torah writes in Deuteronomy 32:43. Let us warrant that God avenge us, let us warrant that God listens to us.
Shabbat shalom!
In thinking that this is the last parsha of the Torah, I was intrigued to find that it ends with Moses going up on the mountain and dying. God tells him to do like Aaron, go up the mountain and be gathered to his kin. Moses knows, and is reminded, that Moses broke faith with God and is therefore able to see the land from a distance, but not from up close. In my world, that was how the Torah ended. A rather apex-like ending, but an incomplete one (stay tuned for next week, where the parsha is actually the last parsha in the Torah and I get to experience my excitement all over again!).
Instead, we have the continuation of an epic story. God told us last week to write down God’s words in a poem, as a reminder to the people. The words should serve as a witness to what will happen to the people if they go astray. In that song, we get four parts. The first past is God establishing God’s loving relationship with the people. The second sees the people rejecting God in favor of other deities, with other peoples. Next, God decides to decimate the people. Lastly, God relents, recognizing that if God did destroy the people Israel, other people’s might feel they were the cause of that destruction. God is humanized. In this poem, meant to guide us away from joining to the deities of other people, God in fact becomes more benevolent. Yes, God’s anger is apparent and fear is instilled in one’s heart from reading this epic poem. But God is showed as being caring, as considerate, as aware of the place of the people in the greater scheme of things. In short, God still cares about us, about the Jewish people.
As we find ourselves in the Days of Awe, the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are made aware of our place in history. We are made aware that God can choose to not care, to destroy us anyway (if God destroyed us, we wouldn’t be around to worry about who destroyed us!). We know that God’s hand is powerful and that God is our rock. Yet we see that God, like a benevolent parent, sees that we will slip up, that we will go astray, that we will miss the mark, whether in large or small ways. But God will not leave us completely. God will not abandon us to walk on our own, nor will God completely forget about us as God’s people.
A midrash on the parsha reflects God’s attitude.
The Holy Blessed One at times appears, and at times does not appear;
at times hears, and at times does not want to hear;
at times responds, and at times does not respond;
at times may be addressed, and at times may not be addressed;
at times may be found, and at times may not be found;
at times is near, and at times is not near.(Midrash Tanhuma, Ha’azinu 4)
I would like to argue that God is, at this time, at God’s most apparent, most able to listen and respond, most patient and ready to be addressed, most present and most near. At this time, may we discover a way to demonstrate to God that we appreciate God’s presence in our lives, and find ways to come closer to God, to not warrant the harsh punishment or decree that God does discuss in this parsha. “God avenges the blood of God’s servants,” our Torah writes in Deuteronomy 32:43. Let us warrant that God avenge us, let us warrant that God listens to us.
Shabbat shalom!
Friday, September 19, 2014
Generations with God
אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה׳ אלוהיכם, “You stand here today, all of you, before God, your God.” So starts this week’s double portion, Nitzavim-Va’yeilech. God gathers all the people, in order to tell them that they will be entered into the covenant with God. This is yet another reminded that all of them, as the people Israel, even those with the littlest of tasks of abilities, have come before God to receive the covenantal agreement for the future generations. However, the rabbis ask why we have both the words אתם, plural, you all, and כלכם, all of you, in the same sentence. It seems redundant. Rashi posits that the redundancy is actually a very important aspect of this parsha. There are both the future generations and the past generations, converging in this one spot, hearing the covenant spoken one last time before Moses’ death and the people’s entrance to the land of Israel.
Interesting that this should come up right before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah, sometimes called Yom HaZikaron, the Day of Remembrance. On this, the week before Rosh Hashanah (almost), we are made aware of the strength of the covenant. We remember those who came before us and consider those who are our future; our children or those still yet to come. We are conscious more than ever of what it means to be a part of a living people, with generational ties backwards and forwards. We again stand before Moses right before his death, while simultaneously standing at Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments and standing firmly rooted in 5774.
We are that future people, the people who also stood and heard the words uttered by Moses to the people. We take heed of the call to remember God’s commandments and do good, to move forward with the intention to walk in the ways of the covenant, so that blessing may come upon us. We take heed of the fear of retribution, should we not recall God’s commands, knowing the harsh judgment and punishment that will come our way in its steed. We are aware of our place in history.
The timing is fitting it seems, to be reminded one last time of who we are and where we stand with God. In less than a week, we will come before God, ready to atone for the sins we have done against God, having already (hopefully) rectified the ills we have with those around us. Humbled before God, we pray for forgiveness and a clean slate, the opportunity to start the year anew. The Israelites also seemed to have that desire. They were fearful entering the land, wanting God to walk with them, holding their hand and guiding them on their journey. May we therefore be like the Israelites, learning to trust in God. Yet may we also maintain our partnership with God, creating healthy pathways to be the future while recalling the past.
Shabbat Shalom.
Interesting that this should come up right before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah, sometimes called Yom HaZikaron, the Day of Remembrance. On this, the week before Rosh Hashanah (almost), we are made aware of the strength of the covenant. We remember those who came before us and consider those who are our future; our children or those still yet to come. We are conscious more than ever of what it means to be a part of a living people, with generational ties backwards and forwards. We again stand before Moses right before his death, while simultaneously standing at Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments and standing firmly rooted in 5774.
We are that future people, the people who also stood and heard the words uttered by Moses to the people. We take heed of the call to remember God’s commandments and do good, to move forward with the intention to walk in the ways of the covenant, so that blessing may come upon us. We take heed of the fear of retribution, should we not recall God’s commands, knowing the harsh judgment and punishment that will come our way in its steed. We are aware of our place in history.
The timing is fitting it seems, to be reminded one last time of who we are and where we stand with God. In less than a week, we will come before God, ready to atone for the sins we have done against God, having already (hopefully) rectified the ills we have with those around us. Humbled before God, we pray for forgiveness and a clean slate, the opportunity to start the year anew. The Israelites also seemed to have that desire. They were fearful entering the land, wanting God to walk with them, holding their hand and guiding them on their journey. May we therefore be like the Israelites, learning to trust in God. Yet may we also maintain our partnership with God, creating healthy pathways to be the future while recalling the past.
Shabbat Shalom.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Blessings and Bounty
Last weekend, I participated at a spiritual retreat at Camp Alonim in the Simi Valley, about an hour from my apartment. Due to the fact that I was participating and therefore not on my laptop, I did not write a d'var Torah. Everything in its time. However, here are my thoughts on this week's parsa!
This past week marked another new occasion. I began teaching religious school. As I waited for my students to arrive at Congregation Or Ami, I looked around the bare walls of the classroom and tried to imagine what this room would look like by the end of the year. What projects would be up on the walls? Who would be that creative kid who writes an awesome poem about God, or who would describe a connection to God in such a profound way that it had to be displayed? (To explain, I am teaching an entire curriculum on God to 4th graders - a challenging, sometimes daunting task with any age, but especially with 4th graders. But hey, I always like a good challenge).
At the end of my first two classes (both Monday and Wednesday providea different group of kids), my madricha (high school age teaching aide) and I hung up 4 posters, two of each kind. On two of them it was written: What do you think of when you think of God? and on the other two was written the words Kehilah Kedosha, holy community. We discussed both concepts/themes and the kids wrote what they thought. They had so many incredible ideas for how to create that kehilah kedosha within our classroom and the greater Or Ami community that I was blown away. One boy wrote that the best way to create this community was by giving back and doing good things for others. I was floored! A 4th grader came up with that of his own accord! When I asked them about God, they surprised me again. Their images of God were the typical man with a beard in the cloud, but their ideas of what God does and God’s power were astounding. My students shared words like creator, imaginer, dreamer, clouds, judgment, prayer. It was incredible.
Consulting this week’s Torah portion, I wasn’t surprised that our conversation fit into the parsha. God, along with the priests, tells all the people, הסכת ושמע ישראל היום הזה נהיית לעם ה׳ אלוהיך, Keep quiet and listen, Israel; on this day you became a people before/to Adonai, your God (Deut. 27:9). This command, but also this blessing, is very much how I felt about my students this week. They heard the words of the Shema and latched onto them, wanting to learn more. They became a part of a people, our people, the Jewish people, but they also became a part of something else. Together, we became a part of a class, a group of people who will learn and grow together in the coming year, changing and exploring as we do so. I am grateful to be a part of that, to help support and create the community. And I cannot wait to see what will come of it.
Of course, the parsha continues to discuss blessings and curses; that if you follow God’s commandments you will be blessed and that if you don’t you will be cursed. Although unrelated to my classroom necessarily, I find that this parallels my life as a Rabbinical student. Do your reading, your assignments, and you will be blessed with bountiful learning and experiences. However, should you choose not to do as you’re told and read all the readings or do the assignments, your lot will not be as pleasant and you will not get as much out of it. Granted, this circumstance is not black and white, nor does it cast a horrible life outcome on those who choose it, but it is my own personal version of those blessings and curses for this week. My choice is the blessings, to the best of my ability. I only hope that my choices lead me well and help me find more meaning in the messiness of everyday life.
Shabbat Shalom.
This past week marked another new occasion. I began teaching religious school. As I waited for my students to arrive at Congregation Or Ami, I looked around the bare walls of the classroom and tried to imagine what this room would look like by the end of the year. What projects would be up on the walls? Who would be that creative kid who writes an awesome poem about God, or who would describe a connection to God in such a profound way that it had to be displayed? (To explain, I am teaching an entire curriculum on God to 4th graders - a challenging, sometimes daunting task with any age, but especially with 4th graders. But hey, I always like a good challenge).
At the end of my first two classes (both Monday and Wednesday providea different group of kids), my madricha (high school age teaching aide) and I hung up 4 posters, two of each kind. On two of them it was written: What do you think of when you think of God? and on the other two was written the words Kehilah Kedosha, holy community. We discussed both concepts/themes and the kids wrote what they thought. They had so many incredible ideas for how to create that kehilah kedosha within our classroom and the greater Or Ami community that I was blown away. One boy wrote that the best way to create this community was by giving back and doing good things for others. I was floored! A 4th grader came up with that of his own accord! When I asked them about God, they surprised me again. Their images of God were the typical man with a beard in the cloud, but their ideas of what God does and God’s power were astounding. My students shared words like creator, imaginer, dreamer, clouds, judgment, prayer. It was incredible.
Consulting this week’s Torah portion, I wasn’t surprised that our conversation fit into the parsha. God, along with the priests, tells all the people, הסכת ושמע ישראל היום הזה נהיית לעם ה׳ אלוהיך, Keep quiet and listen, Israel; on this day you became a people before/to Adonai, your God (Deut. 27:9). This command, but also this blessing, is very much how I felt about my students this week. They heard the words of the Shema and latched onto them, wanting to learn more. They became a part of a people, our people, the Jewish people, but they also became a part of something else. Together, we became a part of a class, a group of people who will learn and grow together in the coming year, changing and exploring as we do so. I am grateful to be a part of that, to help support and create the community. And I cannot wait to see what will come of it.
Of course, the parsha continues to discuss blessings and curses; that if you follow God’s commandments you will be blessed and that if you don’t you will be cursed. Although unrelated to my classroom necessarily, I find that this parallels my life as a Rabbinical student. Do your reading, your assignments, and you will be blessed with bountiful learning and experiences. However, should you choose not to do as you’re told and read all the readings or do the assignments, your lot will not be as pleasant and you will not get as much out of it. Granted, this circumstance is not black and white, nor does it cast a horrible life outcome on those who choose it, but it is my own personal version of those blessings and curses for this week. My choice is the blessings, to the best of my ability. I only hope that my choices lead me well and help me find more meaning in the messiness of everyday life.
Shabbat Shalom.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Judgement and learning in parallel
This week marked the first official week of classes. It entailed increased stress levels, meeting many new faces and personalities, and exploring neuronal connections that haven’t been active in a while. Also intrinsic to the first week of school is learning again how to sit in a class and actively listen and participate. Many of the people with which I interacted were fleeting; we met and then both moved on to wherever we were heading. However, some of them made an impact, and their spark has stayed with me as I continued through the week.
Two such people stand out. One approached me as I was working after class one afternoon, asking what I was doing. I shared and she immediately offered to serve as a sounding board, listening and offering advice to my swirling ideas which I couldn’t concretize. By the end of our 10 minute conversation, she had given me useful insight and I, hopefully, had in turn offered a respite from the intensity of her day.
The second interaction was out of necessity. While leaving HUC to go home, a friend and I found that his car had a flat tire. Knowing that the wait time would be longer than a few minutes, we decided to plant ourselves in the sun and wait. However, knowing I had a call in the not-so-distant future, he went inside to see what he could do. A few minutes later, one of his friends came out and offered me a ride home. I accepted, and we spent the next 25 minutes discussing life, HUC and ourselves, on the way to her house. Once my call finished, we continued to talk and discovered that we both enjoyed text, and were excited to learn in a different way.
Both interactions left me buoyed with the knowledge that not only do people take time to warm up, but that these people will be both classmates/colleagues, and friends. They will be my confidants, my sounding boards, and my sparing partners. This week’s parsha is again talking about the legal codes and how we must live as we go into the land and work to establish ourselves. Deuteronomy 17:8-13 reminds us that we have judges/legal guidance already set up for us, that we must simply utilize it. If something is too difficult for us to judge, we must take it before the Levites/Priests and let them judge, according to God’s will/passed on decree.
Although I am not comparing these new classmates to Levites/Priests, there is something about their greater levels of knowledge and simple experience that compels me to turn to them on questions of text, halacha (Jewish law), Jewish practice, or living. They have already lived through this year, with the wisdom to accompany it, so it seems logical to use their insight. Not necessarily judging legal doctrine, they are judging life doctrine instead. As the high holiday's approach, I am reminded of the importance of judgement, and recognize that these people will serve as one way I can look inward to myself.
The parsha also allows us to establish a king over ourselves, should we desire one, but to make sure that king is also desirable in God’s eyes. He should rule with a law book, but he should not become haughty and think of himself as any better than anyone else. People in power tend to develop a complex, in that they are better and more learned or simply greater than others. One thing that these new acquaintances reminded me, along with a few rabbis, was that I must remember that I am just like any other person. The title rabbi may one day be attached to my name, but I am still just Elana Nemitoff. I must not take the title, the mantle of the rabbinate, and allow it to change me so profoundly that I develop a sense of self-righteousness. Rather, I must use the mantle to help others, while simultaneously remembering who I am and how I want to be in this world.
May this Shabbat bring learning and understanding, of yourself and your position. May you find people who can serve as your judge and confidant, who make your life more complete and whole.
Shabbat shalom!
Two such people stand out. One approached me as I was working after class one afternoon, asking what I was doing. I shared and she immediately offered to serve as a sounding board, listening and offering advice to my swirling ideas which I couldn’t concretize. By the end of our 10 minute conversation, she had given me useful insight and I, hopefully, had in turn offered a respite from the intensity of her day.
The second interaction was out of necessity. While leaving HUC to go home, a friend and I found that his car had a flat tire. Knowing that the wait time would be longer than a few minutes, we decided to plant ourselves in the sun and wait. However, knowing I had a call in the not-so-distant future, he went inside to see what he could do. A few minutes later, one of his friends came out and offered me a ride home. I accepted, and we spent the next 25 minutes discussing life, HUC and ourselves, on the way to her house. Once my call finished, we continued to talk and discovered that we both enjoyed text, and were excited to learn in a different way.
Both interactions left me buoyed with the knowledge that not only do people take time to warm up, but that these people will be both classmates/colleagues, and friends. They will be my confidants, my sounding boards, and my sparing partners. This week’s parsha is again talking about the legal codes and how we must live as we go into the land and work to establish ourselves. Deuteronomy 17:8-13 reminds us that we have judges/legal guidance already set up for us, that we must simply utilize it. If something is too difficult for us to judge, we must take it before the Levites/Priests and let them judge, according to God’s will/passed on decree.
Although I am not comparing these new classmates to Levites/Priests, there is something about their greater levels of knowledge and simple experience that compels me to turn to them on questions of text, halacha (Jewish law), Jewish practice, or living. They have already lived through this year, with the wisdom to accompany it, so it seems logical to use their insight. Not necessarily judging legal doctrine, they are judging life doctrine instead. As the high holiday's approach, I am reminded of the importance of judgement, and recognize that these people will serve as one way I can look inward to myself.
The parsha also allows us to establish a king over ourselves, should we desire one, but to make sure that king is also desirable in God’s eyes. He should rule with a law book, but he should not become haughty and think of himself as any better than anyone else. People in power tend to develop a complex, in that they are better and more learned or simply greater than others. One thing that these new acquaintances reminded me, along with a few rabbis, was that I must remember that I am just like any other person. The title rabbi may one day be attached to my name, but I am still just Elana Nemitoff. I must not take the title, the mantle of the rabbinate, and allow it to change me so profoundly that I develop a sense of self-righteousness. Rather, I must use the mantle to help others, while simultaneously remembering who I am and how I want to be in this world.
May this Shabbat bring learning and understanding, of yourself and your position. May you find people who can serve as your judge and confidant, who make your life more complete and whole.
Shabbat shalom!
Friday, August 15, 2014
Challenging God
I’m exhausted. After spending the past week going through orientation at HUC, as well as taking in the anxiety and frustration of my fellow classmates, I am spent. About 20 minutes ago, when I went outside to shed the stress through a brief run, my whole body protested, too tired to exert that much energy in order to move. One block into the run, I turned around. Then, not wanting to return to my apartment and leave the sun, I turned the corner and started down a different street. Again, I stopped after a few blocks.
The combination of being in school again after taking time away for a year, of anxiety/stress at an incredibly high level, and not feeling settled, as well as finding my way around a new city, is a lot. It takes getting used to, and defenses that haven’t been accessed in a while were down and have quickly been re-instated. But more than anything, my body is taking a beating. Breaking in a new bed, driving and sitting a lot in class or traffic, different food or eating times. It’s ready for a break. My body is ready for Shabbat.
Shabbat is that time of the week when we can take a step back from the wear and tear we have put on our body for the past week and just breathe. It grants us the opportunity to set aside the high-stress of the highway and stand-still traffic and just be in our normal flow. As Abraham Isaac Kook wrote in his book, Orot Teshuvah (The Lights of Repentance), we all want to maintain the flow of who we are, and keep it running. But when we do wrong (or to paraphrase, when we don’t keep ourselves balanced), the flow gets interrupted and we feel pain. Shabbat, in a way, is an opportunity to re-establish that flow and reconnect with ourselves and with God.
This week’s parsha, Parshat Ekev, has many messages, but one in particular struck me. Chapter 8, Verse 16 says למען ענותך ולמען נסותך, להיטבך באחריתך, that God may oppress you and God may test you, but it will all be for good in your end. As I look back on this week, I find that God is attempting to test me, to challenge me. God is attempting to help me discover where my strength lies. Not in such a way that I cannot handle what happens, but as a way to explore my inner-strength.
For example, I feel on the sidewalk yesterday, walking down the street. I didn’t just stumble, I flat out slid on the pavement. The pad of my elbow has a scrape about 2 inches in diameter, to prove it! But again, God was testing me. I needed to know that I could take a decently painful spill and handle the consequences. Truthfully, it was the easiest of what I’ve dealt with in the past few days! But I recognized that this pain was a direct indication that God has many ways to test us, and we must be open to whatever those methods are, acknowledging God’s presence and accepting God’s love when it comes.
May this Shabbat bring us the ability to decompress from the past week and strength to face the week to come. May we take this Shabbat as an opportunity to reconnect with our inner-flow. May this Shabbat find our connection and understanding of God strengthened. Shabbat Shalom.
The combination of being in school again after taking time away for a year, of anxiety/stress at an incredibly high level, and not feeling settled, as well as finding my way around a new city, is a lot. It takes getting used to, and defenses that haven’t been accessed in a while were down and have quickly been re-instated. But more than anything, my body is taking a beating. Breaking in a new bed, driving and sitting a lot in class or traffic, different food or eating times. It’s ready for a break. My body is ready for Shabbat.
Shabbat is that time of the week when we can take a step back from the wear and tear we have put on our body for the past week and just breathe. It grants us the opportunity to set aside the high-stress of the highway and stand-still traffic and just be in our normal flow. As Abraham Isaac Kook wrote in his book, Orot Teshuvah (The Lights of Repentance), we all want to maintain the flow of who we are, and keep it running. But when we do wrong (or to paraphrase, when we don’t keep ourselves balanced), the flow gets interrupted and we feel pain. Shabbat, in a way, is an opportunity to re-establish that flow and reconnect with ourselves and with God.
This week’s parsha, Parshat Ekev, has many messages, but one in particular struck me. Chapter 8, Verse 16 says למען ענותך ולמען נסותך, להיטבך באחריתך, that God may oppress you and God may test you, but it will all be for good in your end. As I look back on this week, I find that God is attempting to test me, to challenge me. God is attempting to help me discover where my strength lies. Not in such a way that I cannot handle what happens, but as a way to explore my inner-strength.
For example, I feel on the sidewalk yesterday, walking down the street. I didn’t just stumble, I flat out slid on the pavement. The pad of my elbow has a scrape about 2 inches in diameter, to prove it! But again, God was testing me. I needed to know that I could take a decently painful spill and handle the consequences. Truthfully, it was the easiest of what I’ve dealt with in the past few days! But I recognized that this pain was a direct indication that God has many ways to test us, and we must be open to whatever those methods are, acknowledging God’s presence and accepting God’s love when it comes.
May this Shabbat bring us the ability to decompress from the past week and strength to face the week to come. May we take this Shabbat as an opportunity to reconnect with our inner-flow. May this Shabbat find our connection and understanding of God strengthened. Shabbat Shalom.
Friday, August 8, 2014
God's love
Now, sitting in my new apartment, smelling the challah baking in the oven, sweaty from unpacking all of my clothes into my closet, I feel a sense of accomplishment only matched by other move-in adventures. This shabbat, I recognize that God chose us, the Jewish people; gave us the Torah; the journey through the desert for a reason. Not being omniscient, the particular reason is beyond me. However, I have a few thoughts.
This week’s parsha, V’etchanan, ends with an explanation of why God chose the Jewish people. in D'varim (Deuteronomy 7:7-11), God tells Moses, to tell the people, that God didn’t chose them because they are large (we were the smallest at the time), but because God loved us and promised to continue to love us. The logic doesn’t exactly follow, but the conclusion is that God loved, and still loves us, despite all the hardships we had to overcome to get to the Acacia trees in Moab, right outside of the land of Israel. The journey is a necessity, in order to enjoy the fruits of the labor. God’s love is what will get us there.
Not only that, but God tells us what to do with God’s commands. This parsha includes the Ten Commandments, reiterated, so we know exactly how to follow God’s commands, to respect God’s love for us. Right before those Commandments, we get the Shema and V’ahavtah, the watchword of our faith that tells us what it means to be Jewish (have one God) and then how to remind yourself of that daily, how to love God.
In short, the parsha is about God’s love for us and how we should love God in return. The journey through the desert, and the initial reaction to the land of Israel demonstrate that the people didn’t always feel God’s love, nor did they appreciate God attempting to lead them. But eventually, eventually, they accepted and began to understand the benefits of God’s love.
So too, was my journey across the country trying at times. So too is Los Angeles not what I was expecting or am necessarily accustomed. I have much to learn. I have much to get used to. But, I will remind myself of God’s love and how I can maintain my covenant with God, and hopefully discover that the journey gets a little easier along the way.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Moses' Send-off Speech
This week, we begin reading the book of Deuteronomy, and I am rather overwhelmed by that fact. The rest of the books have all contained relatively new information, meaning excitement was the main emotion resonating within as I read each parsha. However, this week starts Deuteronomy. 36 chapters of Moses speaking, reminding the people off these last minute tid-bits, not wanting to see them in trouble because they forgot an important rule or law. Moses seems like an over-protective parent, sending his children off to summer camp to even college for the first time. “Don’t forget to write/email!” “Stay out of the woods, there might be raspberry plants and you’re allergic (or stay away from alcohol and parties).” “Change your underwear at least every other day.” “Make sure you send your clothes to the laundry.” And of course, “be nice to the other kids in your cabin/your roommates."
Essentially, Moses is about to give his big parting speech, to remind the people that he won’t be there to guide them anymore. Of course they will have Joshua to take over for Moses, but Moses doesn’t seem to trust the guy too much, especially if he needs to give the people so many reminders of how to act. Moses still needs to be in control for a little while longer, before he pulls out of the front-gate and can fall apart, cry with wonder at how his children have grown up, how they don’t need him anymore.
So, how does Moses start this parting speech? With a reminder of keeping law and order. in Deuteronomy 1:1-8, Moses recounts how he tried to rule for himself, but wasn’t able to. Therefore, God had him appoint judges to give out punishment and hear problems, taking only the really difficult ones to Moses himself. The importance of this for the people at the moment is that they will soon need to be their own deciders of right and wrong. Without Moses as the final verdict-decider, they will need to figure out their own problems and bring resolution when necessary. Moses will no longer be able to act as their highest court.
Another way Moses subtly reminds the people that they will be okay is through an indication that God was always there for the Jewish people. God reminds the people that God went ahead of the Israelites by day, to find a place to pitch a tent. At night, God was there, showing the way with fire. During the day, God remained with the people in the cloud above them to protect them. This is relayed in Chapter 1, Verse 33. God is reminding the people not to give up on God. Rather, they must continue to believe, even as times get hard and other people’s come in and try to destroy them. The people of Israel must recall that God is with them, helping them find strength and courage to continue on!
This Shabbat, may we also find the strength and courage to continue on. May we remember that God is always with us, guiding us and helping us guide ourselves. May we learn how to let go of those we love, as they journey on to new things. May we always remember to share advice.
Shabbat Shalom.
Essentially, Moses is about to give his big parting speech, to remind the people that he won’t be there to guide them anymore. Of course they will have Joshua to take over for Moses, but Moses doesn’t seem to trust the guy too much, especially if he needs to give the people so many reminders of how to act. Moses still needs to be in control for a little while longer, before he pulls out of the front-gate and can fall apart, cry with wonder at how his children have grown up, how they don’t need him anymore.
So, how does Moses start this parting speech? With a reminder of keeping law and order. in Deuteronomy 1:1-8, Moses recounts how he tried to rule for himself, but wasn’t able to. Therefore, God had him appoint judges to give out punishment and hear problems, taking only the really difficult ones to Moses himself. The importance of this for the people at the moment is that they will soon need to be their own deciders of right and wrong. Without Moses as the final verdict-decider, they will need to figure out their own problems and bring resolution when necessary. Moses will no longer be able to act as their highest court.
Another way Moses subtly reminds the people that they will be okay is through an indication that God was always there for the Jewish people. God reminds the people that God went ahead of the Israelites by day, to find a place to pitch a tent. At night, God was there, showing the way with fire. During the day, God remained with the people in the cloud above them to protect them. This is relayed in Chapter 1, Verse 33. God is reminding the people not to give up on God. Rather, they must continue to believe, even as times get hard and other people’s come in and try to destroy them. The people of Israel must recall that God is with them, helping them find strength and courage to continue on!
This Shabbat, may we also find the strength and courage to continue on. May we remember that God is always with us, guiding us and helping us guide ourselves. May we learn how to let go of those we love, as they journey on to new things. May we always remember to share advice.
Shabbat Shalom.
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