According to the Torah, before the creation of the first mishkan (sanctuary), the Hebrews went to hilltops, beside streams, into nature to find places they felt moved to convene with the universe. It was only in a post-Sinai world that we took to building places, designated spots to get down to business and figure things out and think things over and philosophize the meaning of it all. But, the words used to describe this urgency to build went like this, v'asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'tocham. And let them make a sanctuary that I may dwell within them.
Within them.
I'm not getting "make a space where G-dliness will be". I'm getting something far greater. Something more like "we, the ethereal and the physical, dwell within each other" and "when effort is given to the spiritual, the spiritual manifests within us". Which, whoa, sounds a bit like the pagan/Wiccan/karmic notion of effort returning. Karma.
Maybe it isn't so much a "command" to build a building, but more of an alert to conscious living. To captain our own ships and to reap what we each sow...? Maybe the "building" is about community-building and introspection...? Maybe it's a metaphor for converting people from passive being, begging for favors from the universe, to active participants in their own lives...?
And, as a side note, I want to point out that the word used in the Torah for "them" is referring to both men and women. Everyone. And really, isn't the task of bringing goodness into the world, Tikkum Olam ("repair of the world") the utmost responsibility of every Jew, every where? I think so.
2.24.2007
2.17.2007
Mishpatim: 29 Sh'vat 5767
This is the parsha with so many of the big whopper mitzvot. So many of them, right here, laid out, referenced and detailed, right here in this parsha.
So, I want to talk about something that gets a little confusing to a lot of people. The word mitzvot.Yes, it does translate somewhere between "commandment" and "obligation" and that is a pretty loaded couple of words that turns most of us off pretty quickly. Command as in telling me what to do? Command as in obligation?!? Command as in spoken? Wait-- wouldn't that mean we've personified the G-dliness, the energy that makes the world go? Obligate as in do-it-whether-you-want-to-or-not? Huh?
I have this idea I want to kick around.
Okay, it does seem rather odd, especially perhaps to a non-Jew, that we, Jews, are so attached to our own group slave narrative. I mean, isn't the inclination to want to forget a horrible past? Is it? I don't think so. I think it's this very narrative that we hang onto to remember, to remind, that the first branches of the tree containing the Jewish story are really very, very humble beginnings.
Maybe, all boiled down, the text here is reminding us that we are part of the Jewish story, that we are always better off being humble, to strive to live a thoughtful, kind life and to ask ourselves probing questions about our own lives instead of being complacent in our heads with old beliefs and ideas that might not work for us anymore.
So, this is what I'm thinking: What if we asked ourselves about the events that have happened in our own lives and what our obligations are that have risen out of these experiences? Maybe being abused in the past makes you feel obligated to volunteer at a women's' shelter now? Maybe losing a loved one to illness made you feel obligated to enter the medical field as an adult? So, maybe the obligation word is linked closer to doing meaningful work or finding our life's passion and feeding our souls than we might have been thinking...?
Our story, our collective story as Jews, the story of the Jewish people, the story we all feel in our bones in tiny, private moments, perhaps makes us feel obligated to be certain things today, just as our personal stories shape and mold us and bring us to grand moments of self-discovery and fulfillment.
So, I want to talk about something that gets a little confusing to a lot of people. The word mitzvot.Yes, it does translate somewhere between "commandment" and "obligation" and that is a pretty loaded couple of words that turns most of us off pretty quickly. Command as in telling me what to do? Command as in obligation?!? Command as in spoken? Wait-- wouldn't that mean we've personified the G-dliness, the energy that makes the world go? Obligate as in do-it-whether-you-want-to-or-not? Huh?
I have this idea I want to kick around.
Okay, it does seem rather odd, especially perhaps to a non-Jew, that we, Jews, are so attached to our own group slave narrative. I mean, isn't the inclination to want to forget a horrible past? Is it? I don't think so. I think it's this very narrative that we hang onto to remember, to remind, that the first branches of the tree containing the Jewish story are really very, very humble beginnings.
Maybe, all boiled down, the text here is reminding us that we are part of the Jewish story, that we are always better off being humble, to strive to live a thoughtful, kind life and to ask ourselves probing questions about our own lives instead of being complacent in our heads with old beliefs and ideas that might not work for us anymore.
So, this is what I'm thinking: What if we asked ourselves about the events that have happened in our own lives and what our obligations are that have risen out of these experiences? Maybe being abused in the past makes you feel obligated to volunteer at a women's' shelter now? Maybe losing a loved one to illness made you feel obligated to enter the medical field as an adult? So, maybe the obligation word is linked closer to doing meaningful work or finding our life's passion and feeding our souls than we might have been thinking...?
Our story, our collective story as Jews, the story of the Jewish people, the story we all feel in our bones in tiny, private moments, perhaps makes us feel obligated to be certain things today, just as our personal stories shape and mold us and bring us to grand moments of self-discovery and fulfillment.
2.10.2007
Yitro: 22 Sh'vat 5767
So, let's chat about something that maybe people forget sometimes. The Torah isn't written in English, mmmkay? So, when we see something written in English from the Torah, we have to bear in mind that there is a good opportunity for more than one interpretation. And, this week's parsha is a great example of this, for this week covers the big whopping ten Moses got atop Sinai. "Aseret had'varim"—translated as the 10 words, statements or things.
So, let's take a look at a couple of them that I think get interpreted rigidly and too literally, too often.
Number three. The one about taking the divine name in vain. Well, see, it's already problematic for me. It isn't about saying G-ddamnit. I say that all the time. Really. You see, the thing that is commonly interpreted as "take in vain" is from the word meaning "to carry". By this train of thought, claiming to be acting with a good intention when you are, in fact, not is the core issue. Like, say, going on television and asking little old ladies for their social security check to pray for them. Selling, say, a pebble from the Kotel when it's actually gravel from your flowerbed. Sure, it does cover taking a false oath, and I think that's the bridge between the two schools of thought. That sort of thing.
The other that I think gets glossed over is the one about honoring your parents. There is a rarely heard interpretation that goes something like, "honor your ancestors", which changes it completely. Then it's about knowing who you are and where you came from. Because while I'm the first to tell you how much I adore my parents, not all parents should be honored. Like parents that don't honor their children. I mean, there are abusive parents out there that shouldn't be honored. But, how can the children of abusive parents claim a sense of where they come from in a proud way? Maybe it's then about acknowledging the past and working through it instead of hiding it away as a taboo secret.
I also once read this really amazing interpretation written by a transgendered woman. In her article, she explained that to her, it meant honoring the masculine and the feminine, in herself and on the earth in general. And you know, you really don't need to be transgendered to have the benefit of an understanding about yin and yang within ourselves and the world around us.
Just food for thought.
So, let's take a look at a couple of them that I think get interpreted rigidly and too literally, too often.
Number three. The one about taking the divine name in vain. Well, see, it's already problematic for me. It isn't about saying G-ddamnit. I say that all the time. Really. You see, the thing that is commonly interpreted as "take in vain" is from the word meaning "to carry". By this train of thought, claiming to be acting with a good intention when you are, in fact, not is the core issue. Like, say, going on television and asking little old ladies for their social security check to pray for them. Selling, say, a pebble from the Kotel when it's actually gravel from your flowerbed. Sure, it does cover taking a false oath, and I think that's the bridge between the two schools of thought. That sort of thing.
The other that I think gets glossed over is the one about honoring your parents. There is a rarely heard interpretation that goes something like, "honor your ancestors", which changes it completely. Then it's about knowing who you are and where you came from. Because while I'm the first to tell you how much I adore my parents, not all parents should be honored. Like parents that don't honor their children. I mean, there are abusive parents out there that shouldn't be honored. But, how can the children of abusive parents claim a sense of where they come from in a proud way? Maybe it's then about acknowledging the past and working through it instead of hiding it away as a taboo secret.
I also once read this really amazing interpretation written by a transgendered woman. In her article, she explained that to her, it meant honoring the masculine and the feminine, in herself and on the earth in general. And you know, you really don't need to be transgendered to have the benefit of an understanding about yin and yang within ourselves and the world around us.
Just food for thought.
2.03.2007
Beshalach: 15 Sh'vat 5767
In this week's parsha, the curtain rises as the Hebrew people are finally getting out of Egypt. We read a curious sentence that translates (and is usually translated as...) "and Moshe took the bones of Joseph along with him." You see, Joseph had requested that after his death, when the Hebrew slaves escaped and left Egypt for Eratz Yisrael, his bones would come along with.
His bones? Hmm. Well, as I always am quick to remind, no word is by accident in the Torah, as the expression goes. And this is another fine example.
In Hebrew, the word used for bones, atzamot, is related to the word, atzmiut, meaning essence. Sure, this likely means the physical remains, but perhaps there is a greater, more metaphysical meaning, too? Maybe just maybe, it means the spirit and heart and sweat and love he had for the land ahead, all it represented, and all the possibility it sparkled with.
His bones? Hmm. Well, as I always am quick to remind, no word is by accident in the Torah, as the expression goes. And this is another fine example.
In Hebrew, the word used for bones, atzamot, is related to the word, atzmiut, meaning essence. Sure, this likely means the physical remains, but perhaps there is a greater, more metaphysical meaning, too? Maybe just maybe, it means the spirit and heart and sweat and love he had for the land ahead, all it represented, and all the possibility it sparkled with.
