Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 13 Elul, 5784
Parsha Ki Tavo’– “When you enter”: (Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8)
Second Portion: Deuteronomy 26:12 – 26:15

Today’s portion is short. Just four lines. And? They are powerful. I am going to pull the themes from my thoughts from 5782 (which was the last sabbath year by the way) and weave those thoughts into the portion.

Let’s dig in:

12When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give [them] to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that they can eat to satiety in your cities.

Verse 12 talks about a shift. A shift from the third yearly cycle to the fourth. However? This could be after three months into the fourth. Almost like seasons shifting, right?

So. For us? This will happen a year from now. 5785 is the third year. We have one more year until this shift.

And here is the shift:

There was a shift from material to spiritual.

This can happen at any time. And? The flow of energy has this happening from the third year into the fourth year.

The Torah breaks the yearly cycles into seven. Three years of material. Three years of spiritual. Rest. Repeat.

The other thing I reflect on is for the priests. The priests? The three year to four year shift would be the opposite, wouldn’t it?  The priests would give those first three years without receiving tithes. Then, year four, the tithes would come. Something I am reflecting on new this year.  So for the priests, it starts spiritual and shifts into the material while the people shifted the other direction. It is a beautiful harmony and symmetry, no?

We need to focus on material items first. Then once those needs are cared for, we shift to the spiritual. And when we do, we are called to say this:

13Then you shall say before the Lord, your God, “I have removed the holy [portion] from the house, and I have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, according to all Your commandment that You commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten [them].

14I did not eat any of it [second tithe] while in my mourning, nor did I consume any of it while unclean; neither did I use any of it for the dead. I obeyed the Lord, my God; I did according to all that You commanded me.

We are to acknowledge what we did as individuals. The language of the two lines above? Me. Me. Me. I.

I did what was asked of me.

15Look down from Your holy dwelling, from the heavens, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given to us, as You swore to our forefathers a land flowing with milk and honey.

This last line? Your people Israel. Us. Our forefathers.

We move from I to we. This is the spiritual shift we need to be looking towards. We need to focus on the “I” the self. Clearing out our ego and our self. And when we discover our “self?” Then we can see our self in others. And begin the journey of “us.”

And I think this is a beautiful journey. There is no “us’ without “I.”

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 11 Elul, 5783

So as I reflect on today’s passage and my commentary from a year ago, I feel compelled to let my commentary from a year ago stand on it’s own.  It is really an amazing insight into today’s portion (I think).  It’s this idea of “shifting.”  And really it’s this idea from shifting from our ego to our spirit.  I bolded some key things I think that are really resonating with me in this moment.

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 16 Elul, 5782

So there is a theme happening from yesterday to today with the Torah. Yesterday Moses gave us language to speak when bringing our first fruits to him.

In todays portion, Moses is telling us how to do a very specific thing at a specific time. This is a really rare mitzvah.

On the day before Passover, of the fourth year of a tithing cycle, which is the end of the period when you may separate all the tithes of the produce for the third year, the year when only the first tithe is separated to give to the Levite; so a VERY specific moment every seven years, there is a declaration that needs to be made when giving the tithe in that particular year.

Before we get to the declaration- let’s remember the context. Passover is the beginning of the journey from slavery to liberation, and as we have been learning – there is a spiritual dimension here. So this declaration is connected to the fourth time we embark on this journey in a particular cycle. It’s the midway point if you think about it. The cycle was 6 years and then the seventh year was a rest year.

There was a shift from year three to year four that reinforces this idea of spiritual liberation. In the first three years, the tithe went to the convert, the orphan, and the widow. Now we are shifting the tithe to the priestly family. There was a shift from material to spiritual.

And here is what we are to declare as we shift our journey:

“I have removed the holy (second tithe and fourth-year fruits) from the house

I have also (separated terumah and first fruits)

(I have) given (the first tithe) to the Levite

(I have given the tithe for the poor to) the convert, the orphan, and the widow

(I did all this) in accordance with Your command which You have commanded me (about the precise order of separation)

I have not transgressed Your commands (about cross-separation)

I have not forgotten (to bless You).

I did not eat any (second tithe) while I was in a state of mourning

I did not consume any of it while in a state of ritual impurity.

I did not give any of it (for making a coffin or shrouds) for the dead.

I listened to the voice of God, my God, (and brought these offerings to the Temple).

I did everything that You commanded me. (I rejoiced and brought joy to others.)

(We have done what is incumbent upon us. Now do what You promised and) look down from Your holy abode in heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given to us -as (You fulfilled the oath that) You swore to our fathers (and gave us) a land flowing with milk and honey.

What an interesting shift. We went from “I” (I did this, I did this, I did this…) to “we” in that last line.

This is the spiritual liberation and transition. We move from “I” to “we.”

And that makes sense, doesn’t it? There needs to be physical liberation (“I”) that focuses on each individual – but at some point we leave the “I” and journey to “We.” If the Neshama is in each of us. And I see the Neshama in me, and I see the Neshama in you, AND I see the Neshama as Hashem in me, and I see the Neshama as Hashem in you, then there is no longer an “I” and a “you.” There is only “we.”

If we are souls with a body wrapped around us, this must be true. I am you. You are me. We are us in a spiritual, soul sense.

Now. Your brain may react to this. The dissonance here is what about someone who doesn’t see their own divinity? What about someone who doesn’t believe they are divine? Well, that wouldn’t change anything on a spiritual level, would it? Only on a physical one. When I talk to that person (who doesn’t believe they are divine) I am still talking to myself; but it’s a version of me that doesn’t believe in the divine. That’s not such a hard concept to wrap my head around, because I can reflect on my life and remember when I may not have accepted my own divinity. So I can love that person (who doesn’t accept their divinity) the way I loved myself in those previous moments (where I didn’t see my own divinity).

Wait. What if I look back within me and I only feel guilt or shame about those moments where I did not accept my own divinity? What if I don’t love those parts of who I am? Then we will have difficulty in loving others who don’t accept their divinity, won’t we?

So the key for us is ALWAYS internal. Learning to love myself in those moments where I did not accept my own divinity will make it easier to love the other version of myself (reflecting in another human being) who doesn’t accept their own divinity and the idea of “we.”

This morning I read a quote that I think makes this much more succinct. It was from “The Book of Awakening” by Mark Nepo:

“As the moon brings sun to those who have turned from the light, and opened heart brings love to those struggling through darkness.”

The work, my friends, is purely within us. We must open our hearts to our past woundedness, guilt, and shame. That is the ONLY way we can accept the “we” around us. That when we see people driving, walking, or serving us at restaurants – they are us. You are seeing versions of yourself; of your soul within someone else. Because our souls are all part of the same divinity.

These are the lessons I believe Moses wanted the Israelites to get before they entered the promised land. Because forgiving ourselves and loving our divinity is the true path to liberation. This has been the Torah story from when we started almost a year ago.

We are divine. All of us. The clothing wrapped around our divinity sometimes blocks that. Protects it out of fear. Out of hurt. Out of woundedness. And when our blocked divinity meets someone else’s blocked divinity? That’s when conflict and toxicity are bound to flourish.

But when my open divinity meets someone else’s open divinity? That’s where the magic happens.

We cannot make another open their hearts to their own divinity. All we can do is reflect that divinity like the moon reflects the sun.

And. Just like the moon. We can love ourselves through the cycles of light – resting on the new moon, shining brightest on the full moon. We aren’t expected to always be “on.” So love yourself. Give yourself compassion. Your cycles may not be monthly. You may be going through a yearly cycle, and going through a two-three month (year?) phase of darkness and rest. That’s ok. But hopefully your reflecting of the sun with shine once again soon.

And with Rosh Hashanah approaching, what a great time to consider letting go of the darkness and fully loving the divinity within us.

What do you think?