Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 24 Adar II, 5784
Parsha Shemini – “Eighth”: (Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47)
Fourth Portion: Leviticus 10:12 – 10:15

Good morning!

There is a beautiful song a friend sent me a few months ago that has been living in my heart.  It is called “Beacon” by Ayla Nereo.  Here are the lyrics:

Say what you will
The great turning has come
We the shining forest
To the darkness belong
To the darkness bring beacons
Rooted deep, standing strong
We the shining forest
To the darkness bring song

We are shifting. Most of us feel it, especially those of us drawn to the light.  If you are reading this, you are likely being drawn to this song. It is the song of light. It is the song of love. It is the song of clarity. Of purpose.

When our eyes, ears, hearts, souls become attuned to the song, we raise our voices to bring harmony and peace – not war and debate.

Let us all be beacons in the darkness – ESPECIALLY when the Eclipse hits on Monday.

Let’s dig in:

12And Moses spoke to Aaron and his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the meal offering that is left over from the Lord’s fire offerings, and eat it as unleavened loaves beside the altar, for it is a holy of holies;

13You shall eat it in a holy place because it is your portion and your sons’ portion from the Lord’s fire offerings, for so I have been commanded.

14The breast of the waving and the thigh of the raising up you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for [as] your portion and your sons’ portion they have been given, from the peace offerings of the children of Israel.

15They shall bring the thigh of the raising up and the breast of the waving upon the fats for fire offerings, to wave as a waving before the Lord. And it shall belong to you and to your sons with you as an eternal due, as the Lord has commanded

We have a short passage today. Four verses. And these are powerful and healing verses. They are a beacon.

Rolling back a minute, the context here is the death of Aaron’s two sons – who likely were so free and liberated, they drank wine and entered into the holy of holies. They looked externally to be holy. Aaron was in shock. And. Moses brought restoration.

Moses turned to Aaron and his surviving sons, and encouraged them to take the meal offering, and EAT IT. It was a way for the priests to take the holy of holies WITIHIN.

Now let’s pause. Because we are coming into a time when (in my opinion) those who identify as Christians SHOULD be celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus. At the last supper – a Passover seder – Jesus said to his disciples – something to the effect of – take this as my body broken for you – as often as you do it, remember me.

Now – this is where modern communion comes from. The CONTEXT is exactly this passage. Moses RESTORED the sons of Aaron by having them take the bread of the sacrifice of Aaron’s first two sons. And Moses told them to EAT IT.

It was symbolic. And – was spiritual. Jesus was bringing this to light and connected the Passover seder and exodus from Egypt to the idea of the Exodus is REALLY something within us. It isn’t an external search.  Most are looking for something externally to save us; most are asking Hashem (the universe, etc) for something we already have within us. THIS IS the message of Torah.

And, as our portion today points out? This is the path to peace.

I am curious to your thoughts!

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 14 Nisan, 5783

Our last moments before Passover begins at sundown tonight! We are truly on the cusp of a major shift; especially with the full moon also working!

Today will be the last day of studying the parsha until Passover is over. We will pick it back up then. There will be special Torah studies during Passover. But let’s dig In:

What jump out at me is the mourning of a loss of family. Aaron was struggling because his sons were gone. Moses commanded him to care of himself. To let go of what happened.

This is incredibly difficult to do. Especially as parents. Aaron would have likely felt responsible for what happened to his kids. But Hashem (through Moses) was reminding him that he was safe. He needed to nourish his body. His soul.

This is a critical message as we begin to remember about our bitter journey from slavery to freedom.

The miracle is upon us; what miracles are we seeing in our daily lives?

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 20 Adar II, 5782

We have a very short passage today. Yesterday we learned about sacrifice- and making sure our sacrifice is going to land with the person you are sacrificing for. Just because you want to give some meat to your friend for their birthday because you feel like it; if they are vegan, your sacrifice/gift is going to have the opposite impact of what you are going for!

Todays portion has Moses speaking to Aaron and his surviving sons; Eleazar and Ithamar.

Moses acknowledges they are in mourning for the loss of their family; he encourages them to take the meal offering and eat it. He tells them it is holy – and they should eat it in a holy place.

He tells them that even though mourners are usually forbidden to eat offerings, Moses is commanding to do so.

Let’s stop for a minute here. “Moses commanding them” seems a little harsh; but let’s put ourselves in the situation where we are grieving. Someone commanding us to eat would be an act of compassion. And that is important to recognize. Aaron lost two sons. Eleazar and Ithamar lost two brothers. Moses tells them not only to eat, but he tells them to eat in a holy place. That would be hard for Aaron to do on his own: Moses command would give him the push to do so.

Hashem is compassionate. Think about it; fire (from God) just killed Two of Aaron’s sons because they brought a sacrifice he didn’t ask for. And now he is saying “you are still holy and need to eat holy things in a holy place. Be nourished. Don’t feel responsible for what happened.”

That is amazing (in my opinion).

Then, Moses tells Aaron to eat the meat in a “pure place” – which meant the Jewish camp.

And – Moses tells Aaron to eat it with his sons AND HIS DAUGHTERS. Because they have been given from the peace offerings of Israel.

Another lesson/takeaway here is about the importance of taking care of “the little things” vs the global problems of the world. The Chumash I am reading has this spiritual vitamin for us:

“People get involved with trying to solve problems of a global nature, considering it beneath them to deal with the so-called trivialities associated with day-to-day living. Yet, as far as global problems are concerned, you usually cannot accomplish anything, and merely waste time and energy in futility and frustration, leaving no time or attention for what are immediate personal matters, such as the way you should conduct yourself.”

That is a great thought as we look around at the global problems we are facing. Taking care of immediate personal matters (we are talking SELF CARE people!) is crucial. Self care will help Us conduct ourselves in a manner consistent with our values and goals.

How much has been written about being tired, hungry, bored, etc and how that negatively impacts our choices and actions! That is right from the Torah people!

What are your thoughts?