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Torah Reflections – May 12 – 18, 2013

May 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Naso

Numbers 4:21 – 7:89

In The Shadow of Jealousy
 

One of the most disturbingly misogynistic stories in Torah–and, admittedly, there are many–confronts us in this week’s portion. It describes a humiliating ritual a woman is forced to endure if suspected of adultery by her jealous husband:

“…if a fit of jealousy overcomes one and he is wrought up about his wife although she has not defiled herself, the husband shall bring her to the priest. And he shall bring an offering on account of her [i.e. on account of his jealousy of her]… a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.” [Num. 5:14-15]

His wife is then subjected to a degrading public ordeal where her hair is exposed–a sign of disgrace–and she is forced to drink sacral water that has been cursed by the priest and mixed with dirt and ink. [Read more...]

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Torah Reflections – April 28 – May 4, 2013

May 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment

B’har – B’chukotai

Leviticus 25:1 – 27:34

The Evolving God of Our Understanding 
              

The last Torah portion in the Book of Leviticus, B’chukotai, begins with:

“If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments…” [Lev. 26:3] and continues with defining for us all the rewards God will bestow upon us for doing so. It then goes on to say: “But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments, if you reject My laws and spurn My rules… and you break My covenant, I in turn will do this to you…” [Lev. 26:14-16]

and proceeds to graphically detail all the punishments that would result from such behavior. [Read more...]

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Torah Reflections April 21 – 27, 2013

April 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Emor

Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23

We Are What we Celebrate

In our weekly Torah reading we find the list of holidays to be celebrated by the Israelites on a yearly basis. This annual cycle of celebrations sets a beautiful frame for a life punctuated by spiritual encounters. Torah calls them “Moadei YHVH — appointed-times of the Eternal.” [Lev. 23:2] Throughout the year we have appointments with God, meetings with Spirit. And each appointment is set with a different spiritual theme; a theme that is meant to support the deepening of the varying facets of our inner personal work. In the spring, Passover calls us to free ourselves from our habituated life. Then, for seven weeks, the Counting of the Omer invites us to purify ourselves and subdue our egos. On the fiftieth day we re-enact the moment of Revelation, place ourselves back at Sinai and receive the Torah all over again. We seek, that day, to drop beyond the self and know the still small voice of the One that is our voice. The summer months are spent in preparation for the High Holy Days; a time to forgive and a time to make amends, a time to clean house and heal both within and without. Yom Kippur itself is a death rehearsal where we let go of our physical self. Sukkot, which immediately follows in the fall, is a time to harvest the energies of the High Holy Days and place ourselves again in the cycle of life, immersed in nature, and celebrating the Divine in the abundance of all Its earthly manifestations. Then winter comes, and all goes dormant until next Passover. [Read more...]

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Torah Reflections – April 7 – 13, 2013

April 12, 2013 By 2 Comments

Tazria – Metzora

Leviticus 12:1- 15:33

The Energy Body We Are
              
This week’s Torah portion is, admittedly, a challenge to our modern sensibilities. This portion talks about tzara’at, a skin affliction most translators define as leprosy; although no one knows what it was exactly. Given that skin disease is generally not a favorite topic of conversation, one way to bypass it is to extract from the text the more mystical teachings, and avoid dealing with scaly skin afflictions, and other colorful details. This time, for a change, we find at the literal level of the narrative, a fascinating passage that brings to light a broader understanding of the context and the aim of the biblical text.

[Read more...]

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Passover Reflections – March 17 – 24, 2013

March 22, 2013 By 1 Comment

A Connection Through Time                                    

The week is coming to a close, and Monday night will be the first night of Passover. For me, this weekend will be about cleaning our house until there is no more chametz left anywhere. Chametz is the Hebrew word that stands for all leavened foods forbidden during Passover (wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt and their derivatives). The outer act of cleaning our homes — of emptying our homes from chametz -- is there to trigger the beginning of an inner process of emptying ourselves from our leavened ego, our puffed-up-ness, which will continue to unfold over the eight days of Passover.

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Passover Reflections – March 10 – 16, 2013

March 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Mah Nish’tanah? What Has Changed?

Although we closed the Book of Exodus last week, with Passover around the corner, its stories linger still in our consciousness. This is the time of the year, personally, when I delight in re-opening the Passover Haggadah and in looking inside for more treasures to be revealed. Three years ago I compiled a new version of the Bet Alef Haggadah, drawing from many sources and teachers that have inspired me along the years. I thought, this year, that I would invite you into my own process of preparing myself to meet the holiday, by sharing excerpts from the Bet Alef Haggadah that call to me:

Egypt in Hebrew is Mitzrayim. Mitzrayim means “narrow places.” Our Egypts are those places in our lives that have become lifeless — aspects of ourselves that feel constricted, bound up, unable to be expressed. Our Egypts [also] represent our falling into the dullness of everyday life, the deadening routine of an existence where we have lost consciousness. The Haggadah tells the story not only of our Exodus from a physical Egypt, but perhaps most importantly, our exodus from an Egypt of a deadening mindless rut, where things lose their taste and meaning as a consequence of repetitiveness. Delving into the Hebrew for the word “Haggadah” suggests a way out of our enslavement. The word comes from the root “nagod” which means “to oppose”– to go against that which exists within the repetitive banality of our day-to-day existence.

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Torah Reflections – March 3 – 9, 2013

March 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Vayak’heil-P’kudey

Exodus 35:1 – 40:38

Our Spiritual Attitude Toward Work             

This week’s double portion in our Torah reading marks the conclusion of the Book of Exodus. The construction of the Tabernacle begins in earnest, only preceded by Moses gathering the entire community of Israel to tell them that even during the construction of this Mishkan (Hebrew for Tabernacle),

“for six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Eternal.” [Exod.35:2]

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Torah Reflections – February 10 – 16, 2013

February 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

T’rumah

Exodus 25:1 – 27:19

Creating an Inner Sanctuary

This week’s Torah portion opens with the famous verse:

“V’asu Li mik’dash, v’Shachan’ti b’tocham,” usually translated: “And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” [Exod. 25:8]

Though from this verse forward the entire portion enunciates God’s directions to building a Tabernacle in the wilderness in tedious detail, we read the text not as an Ikea book of instructions for assembling an actual structure in the Sinai desert, but as a blueprint to create a mishkan, a sanctuary within. Our translation of this verse in Exodus varies, therefore, from the common understanding. We take it to mean: “Let them create an inner sacred space that I might dwell within them.” But how are we to create this inner sacred space? 

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Torah Reflections – February 3 – 9, 2013

February 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Mishpatim

Exodus 21:1 – 24:18

You Shall Be Holy         

Both this past week and this week’s Torah portions speak of God’s desire for us to be holy. Last week, just before the Decalogue, God said:

“... all the earth is Mine, and you shall be to Me… a holy nation.” (Exod. 19:5-6) This week again God reiterates: “Be a Holy people to Me.” (Exod. 22:30)

This Divine injunction seems to be of overriding importance in our entering into this Covenant with God. Yet why is this so critical and, most significantly, is this a fair demand to place on inherently flawed human beings? [Read more...]

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Torah Reflections – January 27 – February 2, 2013

February 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Yitro

Exodus 18:1 – 20:23

The End of Belief        

We finally reached Mount Sinai, ten weeks after escaping Egypt. There, Moses told us we had three days to purify ourselves and wash our clothing in preparation for our meeting with God. And as morning dawned on the third day: 

There were was thunder and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn… and [we] took [our] place at the foot of the mountain… Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the Eternal had come down to it in fire… and all the mountain trembled exceedingly. [Exod. 19:16-18] 

[Read more...]

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