7 Sivan, 5783 Shavuot Day 2

on May 27, 2023

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 7 Sivan, 5783

Chag Sameach! Today is Day 2 of Shavuot!

The Torah Reading for the Second day of Shavuot is from Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17. This is from Parsha Re’Eh which means “see.” I find it interested that Yesterday, the portion came from Parsha Yitro – whose name means “addition.” As we approach Shavuot, we are added gifts. May today be the day we see them come into our personal universe. May we see the Torah being lived out around us and in us!

If I give you the highlights of today’s portion, they read like this:

Give back. What Hashem has abudntantly provided? We need to return
Why? So we don’t forget what Hashem has done.
Forgive. Let go of what you have given to others that has not been returned to you. There is a limit to holding onto the anger and energy and “bound” contract we have with one another.
Be Generous. We are not to be destitute. We should not allow others to be destitute. If we have the financial means, we must help other live in abundance.
Sanctity – others are sacred. We should treat them as such.
Holy – Remember we are holy. We celebrate these holy days to remember. To learn.

This is what we are to receive. It’s interesting we are reminded at the end of this portion to remember the Omer, and the themes. We just went through the 49 day cycle, remembering the themes. All of this leads us to the gift of the Torah.

And this is how I closed my commentary:

The close of the Parsha is to remind us (in my Opinion) that this is all a journey. These holy days (Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot) we are told to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I believe this is because studying the Torah is the blueprint for this pilgrimage!

We are receiving today, the blueprint of love. The Torah. May you see it in your life. May we see it in our lives. And may we reflect this to one another! And may it be “sweet and delicious” as we enjoy ice cream and other dairy treats to remember!

Chag Sameach!

What are your Thoughts?

Starting tomorrow – we will get back into the weekly Parsha!

This is my commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 28 Av, 5782

Let’s dig in!

Moses is telling the people to make sure they give back some of their bounty that God has provided from the produce of the seeds.

The idea here is that Charity builds wealth. It’s difficult to wrap our heads around this; but the more we put out into the world, the more that gets returned.

And why should we tithe when we become liberated? Because Moses tells us – so that we will continue to be in awe of the amazing things Hashem has done for us; for all time. It’s so we don’t forget.

One of the themes I see in Torah come up a lot is the idea of freedom and liberation breeding forgetfulness of what led to that freedom and liberation. And. The redemption that comes from remembering and turning around and re-establishing the remembering.

In Meditation (always gotta give credit to both Melissa Fallon-Korb and Michael Takahara for getting me started in meditation over two years ago!) one of the things I’ve learned is the concept of “begin again.” Each moment we get off track, we can return to our anchor point (mostly the breath) and just “begin again.” This simple practice really builds mind muscle to allow ourselves to move beyond our thoughts.

So – we can always “begin again” with this idea of giving charity; especially when we enter freedom and liberation.

Before COVID hit; I had a side gig (hoping to be able to start it back up soon). Whenever I got a job and got paid, I made sure to take a portion out and pay those who helped me gain the knowledge it took to do the training. I’ve reached out to people from my past with a contribution as a way to thank them for teaching me; for free. I share this not to pay myself on the back; but to give a practical example of things we can do to remember how we got to where we are!

How often do we gain things for free, accept them, and then don’t return that kindness to others when we are liberated?

That is the message here. Give back. Give tzedaka. From the Chumash:

“If you consider the many benevolent acts that you have done in the past, and will continue to do in the days and years ahead, you will surely realize that there is a great deal of meaning to life.”

Do good. Be kind. Live well, friends!

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Av, 5782.

Todays passage is interesting as it kind of relates to something I’m seeing a lot of in my feed.

So for those of us who believe in God, but who are struggling with the forgiveness of student loans, I have some good or bad news for you depending on your perspective. I’m not TRYING to get political here. However, we can’t ignore the synchronicity of the Torah portions and life around us. So let’s dig in:

As part of Moses’ last lecture – he moves on to the topic of loans. I am going to quote the Torah literally here. From Deuteronomy 15:1:

At the end of (the) seven-year (cycle) you must annul (all loans). These are the terms of the annulment: Every creditor should release from his hand the debt which he can claim from his fellow. He may not demand payment from his friend or his brother, because the time of God’s annulment has arrived.

Now. If you want to get technically – there are some loans that don’t get annulled. From Deuteronomy 15:2-6:

You should demand payment from a gentile (who owes you money), but your hand should release whatever (claim) you have against your (Jewish) brother (So long as you perform the commandments), there will no longer be any destitute people among you, for God will bless you repeatedly in the land God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and a possession. “

However, (this is only) if you listen to the voice of God, your God, and are careful to observe every. commandment, which I am commanding you today. For God, your God, has blessed you, as He has told you: You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, and they will not rule over you.

So let’s talk. The goal here is that God does not want His people to be destitute. That’s the blessing. In the land of liberation everyone is provided for. The exception to this rule are the gentiles. Now, if we believe that today there isn’t a difference between Jew and Gentile, we should be good releasing loans and annul them to everyone. If you think to yourself “we should forgive believers but not non-believers” than you are basically playing God – because there is literally no way to do that without you judging someone’s heart and mind. And soul. So. I would say Moses is pretty clear here. The government didn’t go far enough in releasing student loans. But that’s my opinion- I’m open to hearing yours PROVIDED you are discussing it from a Torah perspective, since that is the purpose of my posts. This is about studying Torah.

Ok. Let’s keep going; here’s Deuteronomy 15: 7-10:

“If there will be a destitute person -(especially) from among one of your (own paternal) brothers, (or from) one (of the residents) in your (own) town–in the land that God, your God, is giving you, you must not harden your heart or shut your hand from your destitute brother. ” Rather, you must repeatedly open your hand to him, and give him (charity – and if he will not take a gift, then) give him a loan -sufficient to fulfil his requirements that he is lacking.

Be careful that a reckless thought should not enter your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of cancellation (of loans) is approaching” and you look begrudgingly upon your destitute brother and do not give him–then he might cry out against you to God, and it will be an (even more serious) sin for you. ‘ (Rather) you should give to him repeatedly, and your heart should not feel bad when you give to him. For God, your God, will bless all your work and everything you do, as a result of (the promises you made to the poor and the money you gave to them).

There will never cease to be destitute people within the land, and therefore I am commanding you, as follows: you should repeatedly open your hand to your poor brother and to your destitute (resident) in your land.

I think this is pretty clear.

Moses closes todays portion with discussing gifts to slaves when they are released. The goal is to send those who were slaves (remember they became slaves when they could not repay their loans) away with gifts so they could thrive in their freedom.

I reflect on this as we discuss our journey from slavery to freedom. When we reach liberation front a spiritual perspective, Hashem will bless us with gifts in our liberation. We do not enter freedom with empty hands. We enter with full hands. That is something to get excited about on this cycle of our journey. We only need focus and lean into our love for Hashem. Our love for ourselves as Hashem’s creation. Our love for others as co-creators of the experience we want on earth.

And that my friends; is truly liberating.

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts from 30 Av, 5782

Ok – let’s dig in!!!

Moses is continuing his last lecture. And he’s going to hit us with quite a bit of topics here. He’s going to also review the Holy Days; from start to finish. From slavery (Passover) to Liberation (Sukkot).

He starts with the sanctity of the first born animals. He reminds us the first born animal is sacred to Hashem. The first born belongs to the priest. It is holy.

I reflect on this – and think about the first ”born” of our spiritual awakenings. When we have a new “aha” moment and we see fruit borne of that; we need to remember just how holy that is!! We need to let it go; we don’t hold on to the first born animal; we give it away. I think this teaches us to not get too tied to material objects. They are important (we do get second, third, fourth born animals) – but giving away our first born animals (or fruit) is a way to remind our brains- we didn’t do anything here to cling to.

I’ve been learning about this concept of “clinging.” We cling on to results, we cling on to people. We seek reassurances- and cling to whether we get them or not. The reality is; if we are not self assured, the clinging can be draining to others and ourselves. We need to stand on our own two feet. Trust the universe to provide what we need. Do the work we are entrusted to do, and let the results be what they will be. This is true liberation!!!

Ok. Let’s keep going. Moses now starts talking about the Holy days.

And he (of course) starts with Passover.

The holiday we celebrate to remember – first how we ended up in Slavery (which we don’t often talk about) and then how we are FREED from Slavery! But again, as we’ve learned together this past year studying Torah, being freed from slavery is NOT the same thing as true liberation. There is an entire process we must go through – being freed is NOT liberation. That is what Passover is all about.

Moses then reminds us about counting the Omer.

You may remember the symbolism of the Omer:

Week 1 of the Omer represents Hesed (love/loving kindness)

Week 2 represents Gevurah (discipline/strength)

Week 3 represents Tiferet (compassion/harmony)

Week 4 represents Netzah (determination/victory)

Week 5 represents Hod (humility/surrender)

Week 6 represents Yesod (bonding/foundation)

Week 7 represents Malkhut (dignity/manifestation)

Once freed from slavery this is the journey/these are the lessons that leads us to Shavuot; the feast of Weeks. This is where we were given the Torah. It was the beginning of our journey to liberation in a lot of ways. We had lessons to learn after being freed from slavery; and THEN we were given the blueprint to liberation!

Moses then reminds us of Sukkot – the feast of Tabernacles. This represents the bounty of the journey. The liberation! We are free to live in transition. Sukkot is all about dwelling in temporary structures!

Those are my thoughts. What are yours??

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