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Torah Reflections: February 5 – 11, 2012

February 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) Yitro – One With The One  
Exodus 18:1 – 20:23

Now Moses went up to God. The Eternal One called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. Now then, if you hear, deeply hear My voice, and keep My covenant, you will be to Me a special treasure among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine. You shall be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation’. These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.” [Exod. 19:3-6]

Thus begins chapter 19 in the book of Exodus, the chapter leading up to the Ten Commandments and Revelation at Sinai. Moving beyond the literal level, I read this chapter as a transmission of a spiritual encounter couched in the literary form of myth. Though the words of Revelation meet us in the next chapter, chapter 19 describes the moment of awakening.

These early verses might, therefore, detail the initial meditation from which the unfolding chaotic, awesome and terrifying vision unfolds. “Moses,” the “house of Jacob,” as well as “the children of Israel,” represent different layers of consciousness being addressed here. Our inner Moses, the always already enlightened part of self, is the one to ascend and channel this transmission. The “house of Jacob” represents the level of ego consciousness, while the “children of Israel” the more spiritually inclined aspects of consciousness.[1]
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Torah Reflections: January 29 – February 4, 2012

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) B’shalach – At The Edge of The Wilderness 
Exodus 13:17 – 19:16

Our Torah portion opens with liberation: “Now when Pharaoh let the people go…” [Exod. 13:17] As we approach biblical stories as myth, we no longer read the text literally; but see it, instead, as the expression of a universal spiritual unfolding. To us, therefore, our text speaks here of our inner Pharaoh-the voice of fear and exclusion within. This inner Pharaoh is finally releasing the grip that perpetuated the illusion of our separate sense of identity. In this first step on the spiritual journey, a spark of light enters into our consciousness that illuminates for us the darkness in which we had forgotten we live, having become numbingly habituated to it. Once the spark is perceived, once the tiniest flash of light has come through, there is no turning back, try as we may.

In the biblical myth, we learn, two paths are laid in front of us; a direct path to the Promised Land of enlightenment and a more circuitous path: “God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, ‘The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people round about, by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds.” [Exod. 13:17-18] Our mystics teach, arguably, that in the early stages of one’s spiritual journey, the direct path might not be the preferred one for it is fraught with inner “battles” that could overwhelm one who is unprepared, causing him/her to abandon the journey altogether. Alternatively, this have been a warning directed at those who, even in biblical days, might have been tempted to shortcut the journey by using mind-altering substances, and ran the risk of not only hurting themselves physically, but also psychologically ill-equipped as one might be to face the inner demons one might awaken in the process.
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Torah Reflections: January 22 – 28, 2012

January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) Bo – God Acts in Wondrous Ways 
Exodus 10:1 – 13:16

Our Torah portion opens, this week, with the last four plagues to befall Egypt. “Then the Eternal One said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart… so that I may display My signs among them, and that you may recount… how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them–in order that you may know that I am the Eternal’.” [Exod. 10:1-2] The Hebrew doesn’t actually speak of plagues but of signs, wonders, miracles or signals. These signs are out-of-the-ordinary events in nature that are meant to trigger a reaction of awe in the hearts of the Israelites. Awe was what God intended for us to feel in the great display of God’s might; for us to know the Divine Presence in our world in unmistakable ways.

Last week–at least for those of us living in Western Washington–we, too, were faced with an “out-of-the-ordinary” event in nature: snow. Though some experienced this record-setting snowfall as a plague, many saw it as a wondrous occasion. Because it is so rare, snow has a great power in our region: it quiets things down. Snow slows everything down to a quasi standstill. Snow does on the outside what meditation does on the inside. When it snows in Seattle, there is nowhere to go and nothing to do. We retreat inward, we Shabbat. We cozy up on the couch with a hot beverage, we grab a good book, dust off a few board games. Suddenly we have time for a few minutes of meditation. We hit the reset button. We reflect on what is most meaningful in our lives. We look out the window in awe of the beauty of our natural world; we look at the people in our lives in awe of the love we share. Snow does for us what Moses was trying to do with Pharaoh: open his heart.

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Torah Reflections: January 15 – 21, 2012

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) VaEira – Know Thyself To Be Enslaved 
Exodus 6:2 – 9:35

Every year, as I meet the text narrating the plagues of Egypt, I am confronted with the same paradox. God commends Moses to ask Pharaoh to free the Hebrews. Pharaoh refuses. God brings down a plague. Pharaoh yields to Moses’ demands. Then, inexplicably, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and the latter, consequently, reverses his edict and keeps the Israelites enslaved. Why is God playing both sides? And why does God need to replay this scene ten times? One can take this questioning further and ask why God sets up the whole thing in the first place? Why, already in the time of Abraham, had God determined that the Hebrews would descend into Egypt, be enslaved there for four hundred years, only to then be liberated and brought to the Promised Land? Why did we have to get there via Egypt?
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Torah Reflections: January 8 – 14, 2012

January 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) Shemot – You Can Take Moses Out of Egypt, But…      
Exodus 1:1 – 6:1

This week marks the beginning of the Exodus story with Moses as its central character. At its core, this story is one of liberation. And beneath its literal level, it is about the inner spiritual journey of liberation told through a character named Moses; a stand-in for all our spiritual journeys.

Moses is raised as an Egyptian in Pharaoh’s court. His privileged elitist upbringing reflects an egocentric narrow level of consciousness — the Hebrew word for Egypt being understood here to mean “narrow” or “constricted”. Many midrashic stories paint Moses as a deeply spiritual and exceedingly bright youth, growing up in a place that was too constricting for his soaring spirit. As he matures, he begins to wrestle with his inner egotistic Egyptian taskmaster that keeps his spiritual being in shackles, brutalizing it and beating it into submission. But as Torah relates, one day, “Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen,” [Exod. 2:11] and killed him. The rabbis of the Midrash tell us that Moses kills the Egyptian by pronouncing God’s Name. In a first brief flash of awakening, and through Divine Grace, Moses temporarily transcends his ego (though the biblical image is that of killing). But the inner voices of fear soon take over again, and though Moses is now aware that–after such an experience–he will never be able to go back to Pharaoh’s court, he is also afraid of facing the consequences of his awakening; so he flees in an attempt to hide away from his uncovered higher Self.
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Torah Reflections: January 1 – 7, 2012

January 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) Vayechi – Conditioned Happiness        
Genesis 47:28 – 50:26  

Last week as I studied the Torah portion, after reading numerous rabbinic commentaries, an image emerged of Jacob’s soul-to soul connection to his son, Benjamin. Upon reading this week’s portion and many more commentaries later, another, less complimentary side of Jacob’s personality was brought forth. I love that our tradition allows this–models human complexity, imperfection and contradiction.

This week’s Torah portion opens: “Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years. Jacob’s days–the years of his life–were seven years and forty years and one hundred years.” [Gen: 47:28]

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Torah Reflections: December 25 – December 31, 2011

December 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) Vayigash – Soul To Soul
Genesis 44:18 – 47:27

This week’s Torah portion opens in Pharaoh’s quarters where Joseph, who has yet to reveal himself to his brothers, is receiving them after a “stolen” goblet (planted by Joseph) was discovered in Benjamin’s sack. Judah steps up, understanding that Benjamin (Jacob and Rachel’s only other son and Joseph’s brother) was sure to become a slave to Pharaoh, and begs Joseph to spare his step brother. He pleads:

… we said to my lord, “We have an old father and a young child of [his] old age; his [full] brother is dead. He alone is left from his mother, and his father loves him”… We said to my lord, “The youth cannot leave his father, for should he leave his father, he will die… And now, if I come to your servant my father and the youth is not with us–since his soul is bound up with his soul–it will happen that when he sees the youth is missing he will die… [Gen. 44:20-31]

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Torah Reflections: December 18 – December 24, 2011

December 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

On the Holiday of Chanukkah – The Next Messiah

The holiday of Chanukkah is a celebration of light, the commemoration of an ancient miracle. It is a time for us to reflect on the light in our life, and be reminded of the miracle that is life. Chanukkah means “dedication.” It marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem to Jewish worship by the victorious Maccabee rebels, after its desecration following the Greek pagan invasion and takeover. The rebellion came at the end of 150 years of the Jews living under Greek dominion. The Greek leaders cared mostly about keeping themselves in power, concentrating wealth in as few hands as possible, and imposing their culture, their values, upon everyone else. Chanukkah is a story of the uprising of people living under a rule that didn’t resemble them, that didn’t reflect their values as a nation. The revolt broke out because Jews felt disenfranchised, alienated, disrespected and spiritually crushed. Theirs was a struggle to maintain a way of life that they saw being systematically eradicated. There are times when history seems to be repeating itself. I believe ours is such a time.
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Torah Reflections: December 11 – December 17, 2011

December 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) Vayeishev – The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Joseph
Genesis 37:1 – 40:23

Meet Joseph. Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son, to whom he gave the famous coat of many colors. Though we meet him at seventeen as our Torah portion opens, Joseph is described as a lad, a youth. Why? Rashi (11th century French Rabbi) tells us: “He would do things associated with youth; he would fix his hair, he would groom his eyes, so that he should look attractive.” In other words Joseph was an extremely self-centered teenager who had yet to grow beyond the narcissistic stage of his evolution. Joseph sought to outshine his eleven siblings not only by creating this peacockish self-image, but also by putting them down in front of his father every opportunity he had. Early in the portion we read that “Joseph would bring malicious reports about them to his father.” (Gen. 37:2) Even the way he shares his prophetic dreams–seeing his brothers, father and mother bowing down to him–betrays his desire to feel superior, his need to humiliate others in order to elevate himself. Perhaps the best thing that ever happened to Joseph was that his brothers sold him into slavery.
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Torah Reflections: December 4 – December 10, 2011

December 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Parashah (portion) Vayishlach – Being Present to Our Fear
Genesis 32:4 – 36:43

In the previous Torah portion we read about Jacob’s vision of the ladder that came to him in a dream. At the end of that vision God appears to him to say: “And here I am, with you. I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this soil.” (Gen 28:15) Toward the end of that portion spanning over 20 years of Jacob’s life, God appears to him again and orders him back home, saying: “Return to the land of your ancestors, to your birthplace, and I will be with you.” (Gen 31:2) In both cases one can’t help but notice that God insists on telling Jacob that He will stand as his protector; that He will be with him, on his side. Why is God so insistent on this point? This week’s Torah portion might shed some light:

Jacob now sent angels ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, in the country-side of Edom… When the angels came back to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and he, too-accompanied by four hundred men-is marching to meet you.” Jacob was terrified. [Gen. 32:4-8]

God insisted on this point because He knew that Jacob needed to be reassured, to know that He would stand as his shield when the time came to meet his brother Esau. But even with both Divine affirmations, Jacob is still terrified. Wouldn’t a person of faith be able to face the upcoming confrontation with equanimity and composure? Wouldn’t an enlightened person have transcended his/her fear? Isn’t Jacob displaying a lack of faith, denying God’s power, disregarding God’s promise through his irrational behavior?
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