Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Shevat 5784
Parsha Mishpatim: (Exodus 21:1 – 24:18)
Fifth Portion: Exodus 23:6 – 23:19

Good morning!  As our week is winding down, and we enter into the new moon of Adar I, we are entering a month of Mazal!

I have shared this before – but Chabad writes here:

“Adar is also the month of completion, rectifying the lunar year to the solar cycle and readying us for revelation. In leap years there are two Adars. In such a year, what was incomplete reaches its full potential. Just as the Jewish people are frequently compared to the moon, Adar is an auspicious time to reach one’s spiritual potential.

“What was incomplete reaches its full potential!”  This is a beautiful area of our lives to reflect on – and set the intent on for the next TWO months!  What are the things in our lives that we are waiting to complete?

I also want to go back to the lesson of yesterday’s portion: How do we handle conflict?

1. Grief
2. Anxiety
3. Dignity
4. Compassion

We must navigate our own grief. This conflict was likely cause by an expectation we are bringing to the table.  This expectation could be merely expecting to be treated with respect by another. It could be having expectations of how we would be treated by someone we love.

Once we go through the grief, then anxiety rears it’s head – what if I go back to that? What are some OTHER expectations I have that could fall by the wayside?  And – these don’t happen separately – they can overlap!

Then, how do we move to dignity? Having dignity for ourselves? Compassion for ourselves?

These are the reflections as we enter more laws in Exodus.

6You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor man in his lawsuit.

This reaffirms this idea of dignity. Just because someone is poor in a lawsuit, a poor person isn’t poor because of bad judgment – it would seem. Given our world around us, judging those who are in poverty as having poor judgment? Seems like the Torah is challenging us on this.

7Distance yourself from a false matter; and do not kill a truly innocent person or one who has been declared innocent, for I will not vindicate a guilty person.

This is interesting – what is a “false matter?” And why do we distance ourselves from it?

8You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe will blind the clear sighted and corrupt words that are right.

Exchanging money for judgment? It will really destroy you it would seem.

9And you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

This seems convicting. We, as children of Israel. As Jews. We understand the idea of being strangers in Egypt. And how that felt. We need to have COMPASSION for those who are strange.

These are ALL ways for us to connect with Hashem, aren’t they?

10Six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce.

11But in the seventh [year] you shall release it and abandon it; the poor of your people shall eat [it], and what they leave over, the beasts of the field shall eat. So shall you do to your vineyard [and] to your olive tree[s].

12Six days you may do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, in order that your ox and your donkey shall rest, and your maidservant’s son and the stranger shall be refreshed.

This is about rest. All of us are called to rest. Six years doing our work – but resting on the seventh year? Why?

To feed the poor. To feed animals.

Everyone rests. Imagine a life like this? I am thinking about this from a practical standpoint today, and don’t have great answers!

13Concerning all that I have said to you you shall beware, and the name of the gods of others you shall not mention; it shall not be heard through your mouth.

I am chewing on this. “the name of the gods of others” – in our current culture – what gods are these? So, if I am watching a Marvel movie – and I want to talk about Thor as a fictional character? Is that violating this commandment? Or that I know it is a fictional character, make it ok? I don’t know.

14Three times you shall slaughter sacrifices to Me during the year.

15You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I have commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of springtime, for then you left Egypt, and they shall not appear before Me empty handed.

16And the festival of the harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you will sow in the field, and the festival of the ingathering at the departure of the year, when you gather in [the products of] your labors from the field.

17Three times during the year, all your males shall appear before the Master, the Lord.

Ok. So this is talking about Passover (which is the beginning of the year cycle – that happens AFTER the next two moon cycles of Adar I and Adar II).  Shavuot (festival of the harvest) and Sukkot (festival of the ingathering at the departure of the year).

We are currently in the lull between Sukkot and Passover. Sukkot is when we finish the Torah cycle and start over. Passover is really the “final exam” for what we’ve learned in the Torah from Sukkot until that time (In our calendars it is generally September – April) It coves the Fall, Winter and then Spring. Spring has Passover, then summertime Sukkot (49 days after Passover) and then fall starts with Sukkot.

Passover is about Grief

Shavuot is about direction (this is the time period we were given the Torah)

Sukkot is about conclusions (where we “begin again.”)

And we close today’s portion with HOW we are called to sacrifice:

18You shall not sacrifice the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, and the fat of My festive sacrifice shall not stay overnight until morning.

19The choicest of the first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Lord, your God. You shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.

Now. I may get labeled a heretic. But I am curious about that last line there. The context of the Torah SEEMS to indicate these passages are about the sacrifice brought to the temple. Going back to verse 14:

14Three times you shall slaughter sacrifices to Me during the year.

We finish the portion on HOW to sacrifice during these three sacrifices.

“Do not cook a kid (goat) in it’s mother’s milk” means Hashem does not DESIRE A SACRFICE of a kid cooked in it’s mother’s milk.  This would seem (at least to me) that this isn’t a “law” for every moment of every day.  But I am not a rabbi, and I don’t speak halachically (what is acceptable to Judaism) with any authority.

Now – this being said? Living our lives FULLY sacrificed to Hashem? And translating this to mean NEVER mix meat and dairy? Not a bad idea.  If someone I loved was a vegetarian – and did not want me cooking meat for them (or eating meat around them) – would me deciding I will never eat meat honor them? Sure. And. If that turns into RESENTMENT? Because I enjoy meat? That defeats the purpose doesn’t it?

These mitzvahs; these laws (and here is where I may get into some trouble); they are opportunities for us to connect with Hashem. If they turn into resentments? That defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

I am curious to your thoughts.

May our new moon preparation be amazing! Have a great day!

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 25 Shevat, 5783

Good morning! As I dig into the portion today, reading my thoughts from a year ago is helpful. There is a lot of great stuff here. And I think with what I’m currently learning; we have to choose what attitude we bring to the text.

Mark Nepo writes “Misery is a moment of suffering allowed to become everything.” If we approach the Torah from a place of misery, we lose the bigger picture. We lose the wonder. We lose the peace of seeing the entire picture of the Torah. And that is the lens I approach the text today.

What are your thoughts? Are we choosing misery or wholeness. When we are suffering, are we allowing the suffering to become everything? Or are we allowing the suffering to be there AND at the same time, turn our consciousness to the whole, which can bring us peace.

Thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Shevat 25, 5782

We have a lot of mitzvahs and commands to work through today! Ways for us to connect with Hashem. Let’s jump right in;

1. Do not pervert the judgment of your poor man in his lawsuit.
2. Distance yourself from anything false.
3. Do not kill a (convicted person, if fresh evidence arises before his execution suggesting that he is innocent); or one who has been vindicated (by the court, even; fresh evidence arises suggesting that he is guilty), for I will not let a guilty person escape punishment.

This one is interesting to me. It basically says to me that we should do our best to avoid killing someone if we can. If evidence arises suggesting he is innocent, don’t kill. If someone has gone through court and is vindicated and new evidence arises that he is guilty, still don’t kill.

Hashem says “leave it to me- I will not let a guilty person escape punishment.” That is REALLY hard to swallow at times. Especially given a court system that may not be fair and equitable.

I was once asked to sit on a jury for a murder trial that could have ended in the death penalty. I was asked to fill out a long questionnaire. And nothing really got to the heart of my beliefs around the death penalty. I do believe the death penalty is allowed, however given the current court system in America, I do not believe the current system should put people to death. The reason I share this with you all, is I believe the concept is that we should be trusting in Hashem more Than the courts. That’s a great way to connect with Him. Let’s move forward:

4. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of those who can see (ie. Torah scholars,) and corrupts righteous words.
5. Do not oppress a foreigner (convert), for you know the feelings of the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Again, the Torah talks about oppression. We, as Jews, understand the feelings of a foreigner- one who is oppressed. Even if today we do not live under the same level of oppression, we must show empathy and compassion to those who are feeling and experiencing true oppression.

6. Six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce, ” but in the seventh year you shall cease to work in it and refrain from (eating its fruit). The poor among your people shall eat from it (without separating tithes), and what they leave over will be eaten by the beasts of the field. This also applies to your vineyard and to your olive grove.
7. Six days you may do your work, but on the seventh day you must rest (even in the seventh year), in order that your ox and your donkey shall rest (in the field), and your maidservant’s son and the resident alien shall be refreshed.

Rabbi Baruch Epstein wrote about the concept of the sabbath and the sabbath year:

You should not reason that since the entire year is a kind of “Sabbath” (v. 11), the weekly Sabbath need not be observed in it. The weekly Sabbath, which commemorates God’s act of Creation, is never uprooted (Rashi).

The Sabbatical year and the weekly Sabbath have the same purpose, to remind us of how God refrained from work on the seventh day when creating the world. Therefore, we might reason that since the very nature of a Sabbatical year is to remind us of the Divine act of creation, it follows that the further sign of the weekly Sabbath is unnecessary. This could be compared to the law that the tefillin (phylacteries), worn on the head and arm as a sign of the covenant between the Jewish people and God, are not worn on the Sabbath, since the day of Sabbath is, in any case, such a “sign.”

To counteract this notion, Rashi informs us that even during the Sabbatical year, the weekly Sabbath still applies.

8. You should be careful to keep everything that I have said to you!
9. Do not mention the name of the gods of others.
10. You should not cause (a non Jew) to make heard (the name of his idol) through your mouth.

I’m really chewing on this. How often do we speak of the idols of others? I know for me I do this often.

The next list of mitzvahs connect to this line in the Torah;

Three times you shall celebrate for Me during the year:

Before we jump in to the mitzvahs, I think it’s interesting the Hashem tells us that we are celebrating “for Him.” We aren’t celebrating “for us.” These are celebrations for His benefit. How often do we take the opposite approach?

1. Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Eat unleavened bread for seven days, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of springtime, since this is when you left Egypt.

This is the Passover. I have to ask this because it always comes up for me in discussing this with Christians. How do you wrestle with this mitzvah? What is the thinking behind taking this command and instead of following it, choosing to celebrate Easter instead? I haven’t really heard a good answer to this. I’d love to know more.

2. (When the Jewish people come to be seen before Me on the festivals,) they shall not

appear before Me empty-handed. (Rather, they must come with a burnt-ofering)

3. And the Festival of the Harvest (i.e. the Festival of Weeks, which is the time of bringing first) fruits of your crops which you will sow in the field.

This is Shavuot. Again, why don’t Christians celebrate this holiday?

4. And the Festival of the Ingathering (i.e. the Festival of Tabernacles), at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field (into the house before the rain starts).

Before we go further, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson writes this:

The Hebrew term for festivals, “regalim,” is a derivative of the word regel; meaning “foot.” This alludes to a level of profound commitment to God where you are not merely serving your Maker for rational reasons, or due to your spiritual sentiments, but out of simple obedience, like a “foot soldier.”

On the other hand, the festivals are also associated with joy, where your personal feelings towards God take outward expression.

What is the connection between obedience and joy?

The answer is hinted to by the fact that the Torah fixed the festivals according to the agricultural cycle. In order for a seed to grow, it must first shed its outer shell, and only through this shedding is the seed able to grow many hundreds of times in size. When you will put aside (‘shed’) your superficial preconceptions (‘shell’) about Judaism and observe all the commandments with absolute loyalty, you will experience an enormous spiritual growth.

And if you serve God with joy, which “breaks all boundaries” you will also experience unrestrained spiritual growth. (End quote)

I really like that analogy of the shell, being split and shed so that we can produce big things – like a tree. Where are we at in this cycle? Are we locked in our shell? Are we at a new stage and being broken open? Are we growing roots? Are we desiring to cover the shell back up and retreat back into our seed? That’s an important question for us to ask ourselves!

5. Three times during the year, all your males must appear before the Lord God
6. Do not slaughter the blood of My (Passover) sacrifice (until you destroy any) leavened bread (that is in your possession).
7. The fat of My festive sacrifice must not be left overnight until morning.
8. Bring to the House of God, your God, the choicest of the first fruits of your soil (even in the seventh year)

And then today’s portion closes with THIS:

9. Do not cook a tender young animal in its mother’s milk.

Now. As a fan of Sesame Street, “one of these things is not like the other.” What is up with #9? The other mitzvahs were all related to the festivals. And yet this one seems independent. Lots of questions arise for me;

1. Chickens don’t produce milk, so why can’t I have chicken fettuccini Alfredo?
2. Slapping a slice of cheese on an already cooked burger isn’t cooking a tender young animal in its mother’s milk; why can’t I do that?
3. Why can’t I eat goat curry in goat milk?

As you can imagine, a lot has been written about this!

Rashi writes; “The Hebrew term “gedi” is translated mostly as kid. However, gedi actually means a tender young animal. Therefore, not only kid goats, but also a calf and a lamb are included in this prohibition.

The prohibition is written in three places in the Torah, each repetition coming to teach another aspect of the law: once for the prohibition of eating meat with milk, once for the prohibition of deriving benefit from meat with milk, and once for the prohibition of cooking meat with milk.”

Nachmanides adds; “It is an act of moral insensitivity to eat a kid which was cooked in its own mother’s milk. Even though this prohibition applies even if an animal is cooked in milk that does not come from its mother, nevertheless, the concept of eating meat cooked in milk is considered insensitive, as it resembles the above act.”

Rabbi Bachya b. Asher adds;

“Both milk and meat represent certain spiritual entities. Just as both milk and meat when, kept separate are permitted substances but are prohibited when combined, likewise the spiritual entities which they represent ought to be kept distinct.

Our Sages taught that in the future God will reveal to the Jewish people the reason why milk with meat is prohibited. In the current era, people are plagued by the evil inclination and are unable to relate to the subtleties of the mystical secrets.

Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz writes; “Meat is red, alluding to the spiritual forces of Divine judgment and severity, and milk represents Divine kindness. Mixing milk and meat thus causes an inappropriate mixing of spiritual forces which can have negative consequences.”

Kabbalah has one last thing to teach us:

“The prohibition of eating meat cooked in milk is a hok, a command that partially transcends logic. Why was it included here amid a long list of mishpatim, laws which appeal to the rational mind?

Without some measure of sacrifice for the greater good “spiritual growth” can eventually become just another form of self-indulgence. Therefore, after a long list of rationally satisfying and morally invigorating laws we are given here something rather uncomfortable, in that it defies logic, to remind us of the dangers of spiritual narcissism.”

Those are some tough words to swallow (pun intended).

What are your thoughts?