Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Iyar, 5784 –Day 23 of Omer
Parsha ‘Emor – “Speak” (Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23)
Fifth Portion: Leviticus 23:23 – 23:32

Good morning!  Today is Day 23 of the Omer. Today’s theme is “Discipline of Endurance”

From Chabad:

Examine the discipline of your endurance. Endurance must be directed toward productive goals and expressed in a constructive manner. Is my endurance and determination focused to help cultivate good habits and break bad ones? Or is it the other way around? Does my endurance come from strength or weakness? Does it come out of deep conviction or out of defensiveness? Am I ever tenacious out of stubbornness and an unwillingness to acknowledge errors? Am I invested in certain decisions and not prepared to review them? Do I use my endurance against itself by being tenacious in my lack of determination?

Exercise for the day: Break one bad habit today.

I love the contemplation above.  What is the source of endurance? Are we trying to survive? Or is our endurance something more intentional? Is the source of endurance from strength – running towards something or running away from something? Strength or weakness? What is my heart and discipline here?

Switching to the Torah portion, we spent yesterday focusing on four Holy times, with the themes of:

• Rest (the Sabbath)
• Freedom (Passover)
• Mattering (Counting Omer)
• Direction (Shavuot)

Let’s dig in and see where we go next:

23And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

24Speak to the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first of the month, it shall be a Sabbath for you, a remembrance of [Israel through] the shofar blast a holy occasion.

25You shall not perform any work of labor, and you shall offer up a fire offering to the Lord.

This is the Holy Day of Rosh Hashanah. The Spiritual New Year. This is the beginning of the “Days of Awe” where we are called to attention to focus on our hearts. The theme here is change – it is sweet that we have an opportunity to look back on our year and approach Hashem (the Universe, etc) with where we are, and we can come and reclaim the Throne of our Hearts and make changes to move forward.

26And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

27But on the tenth of this seventh month, it is a day of atonement, it shall be a holy occasion for you; you shall afflict yourselves, and you shall offer up a fire offering to the Lord.

28You shall not perform any work on that very day, for it is a day of atonement, for you to gain atonement before the Lord, your God.

29For any person who will not be afflicted on that very day, shall be cut off from its people.

30And any person who performs any work on that very day I will destroy that person from amidst its people.

31You shall not perform any work. [This is] an eternal statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

32It is a complete day of rest for you, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth of the month in the evening, from evening to evening, you shall observe your rest day.

The other end of the “Days of Awe” is Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. It tends to be a solemn day, and – it’s exciting, because it is the coronation of a King – the King of our hearts!

So to recap, we are focused on:

• Rest (the Sabbath)
• Freedom (Passover)
• Mattering (Counting Omer)
• Direction (Shavuot)
• Sweetness and Change (Rosh Hashanah)
• Sovereignty and Royalty (Yom Kippur)

Where are you at today on this journey?

Here are my thoughts from two years ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 11 Iyar, 5782

Today is the 26th day of the Omer!

As we have passed through the midpoint of the Omer and turn our attention towards Shavuot – when the ”new crop” is brought before Hashem. This “new crop” hopefully is connected to our freedom and liberation journey from Passover. This new crop is planted in freedom and not out of obligation.

It is interesting because today’s passage is relatively short. But it’s dense.

The portion today talks about two holidays – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; the days of awe.

The theme of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are repentance and forgiveness – and atonement. It’s a good reminder; that even in freedom and liberation, we need to reflect and chew on areas we need forgiveness for – both behaviors that occurred while we were still in slavery – and those that occur while in liberation.

As we journey to bring our new crop to Hashem on Shavuot, it’s good to pause and reflect on those areas we need to deal with and navigate. What are we holding onto that we haven’t let go of? Now is the time to reflect and seek forgiveness; because by doing so, the “new crop” we bring to Hashem on Shavuot is going to be even more pleasing and sweet to Him!

All along the walk with Hashem, He provides us opportunities to turn inward and reflect.

So what thoughts, behaviors and/or beliefs have been dragging you back to slavery? What might we deal with today that will help us continue our journey in the wilderness towards liberation?

I know for me; it’s the trauma of neglect. How that yearning to be healed from a childhood of neglect has impacted how I navigate my relationships with others. How I internalize anxiety in a response to doing everything I can to not neglect others. To the point I don’t take care of myself and then shut down, which then causes neglect of others. Which then creates guilt and shame, and the spiral goes down and down and down.

I’ve learned the importance of self care. That I need to be grounded from within. And understand I am human just like the rest of you. My spending time taking care of me, I am LESS likely to neglect those in my life I care about. I always thought it was the other way around.

So those are my thoughts. What about you? What are yours?