Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 7 Cheshvan, 5785

Safety. This is the theme this week. This week’s Parsha “Lekh Lekha” which means “go for yourself” (in my opinion) is all about feeling safe. And again, we are reminded by the Torah WHY we are safe (From Genesis 15:7):

And He said to him, “I am the Lord, Who brought you forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

We are safe because Hashem is.

That may not be enough for us. And that’s ok.

And? It is likely all we get.

It really comes down to our BELIEFS. And whether we BELIEVE these are so solid they are unchanging, or whether our beliefs are what DRIVES our reality.

Do we believe we are here randomly and random things happen? Where does safety come from?

Do we believe we are here for a purpose, and we have an inheritance we are working towards? And that is “good.”

Do we believe we are here for a purpose, and we have an inheritance we are working towards? And that is “pain” or “bad.”

Our fundamental belief about these questions? That is where safety can come.

Why? Because these questions are within us – and are not directed by circumstance.

Safety.

Where do you feel safe? With who do you feel safe with?

These are the crucial questions.

And? Abram doubted. Because straight out of Whitney Houston (Gen X Reference), Abram asks “How will I know?”

15:8: And he said, “O Lord God, how will I know that I will inherit it?”

Hashem takes Abram into a dream, and shows Abram is gonna get bad. REALLY bad. Slavery. And then? They will be rescued. Hashem will deal with those who enslave the people. And Israel will inherit the land.

And? Here’s the goal:

15:15: But you will come to your forefathers in peace; you will be buried in a good old age.

We will have peace. Peace is the goal.

Our lives are about maintaining equanimity. Peace under tough circumstances.

If you were to explain to a child what equanimity is, how would you do it? How would you teach a child to develop equanimity?

Here’s the definition:

The portion ends with Hashem making a covenant with Abram, making a promise to Hagar, the woman Sarai gave to Abram to produce children (since she couldn’t have any) – and his name would be Ishmael – the father of Islam.

He then changes Abram’s name to Abraham.

And this is the path to Equanimity. Letting go of our past. Abram could have argued with Hashem – “that’s not my name” (Cue the Ting Tings song) – but instead, he let go of his past. Accepted the moment.

The journey of equanimity is letting go of what has come before. To transition from Abram to Abraham.

How are you developing Equanimity?

Let me close with this.

As we develop equanimity? This will be our legacy? Our inheritance. The healing of the collective trauma.

And? The collective trauma rejects equanimity.

It’s seen as “heartless.”

And it’s not. It’s the opposite.

But those who are suffering feel safer when those around them are suffering too.

When those around them are NOT suffering? It’s seen as a rejection.

It’s not rejection. It’s modeling equanimity.

And, there is a balance and harmony here we need to recognize. And maintain. Within.

Emotional regulation? All about equanimity.

How are we learning and teaching about equanimity?

Here are my thoughts from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 12 Cheshvan, 5784
Parsha Lekh Lekha: (Genesis 12:1 -17:27) 
Sixth Portion: Genesis 15:7 -17:6

Today’s portion is significantly long and covers a LOT of ground.  Let’s go!

Yesterday, we left off focused on safety.  Remember, verse 7 seems to be a fulcrum for us.  I had originally read verse 7 as a part of yesterday’s portion, but it is ACTUALLY the beginning of today’s.

15:7And He said to him, “I am the Lord, Who brought you forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

We start today’s portion with Hashem establishing safety for us.  Our safety comes from being reminded that Hashem is the Lord. He is the one who journeys with us every step of the way.

Today’s portion will ALSO focus on time and timing (see commentary from previous years below). 

Every moment that has brought us to THIS moment? Hashem has been with us.  He has “brought us forth” from our past to THIS moment. This moment of safety.  And what did Abram do with this moment of safety? Let’s read:

8And he said, “O Lord God, how will I know that I will inherit it?”

I love Abram; don’t you? Hashem has established he is safe. Trustworthy.  And Hashem tells him – “I am going to give this to you.”  And Abram’s response?

            How will I know?

And does Hashem respond in anger? No. He immediately says –

9And He said to him, “Take for Me three heifers and three goats and three rams, and a turtle dove and a young bird.”

10And he took for Him all these, and he divided them in the middle, and he placed each part opposite its mate, but he did not divide the birds.

11And the birds of prey descended upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12Now the sun was ready to set, and a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, a fright, a great darkness was falling upon him.

13And He said to Abram, “You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years.

14And also the nation that they will serve will I judge, and afterwards they will go forth with great possessions.

15But you will come to your forefathers in peace; you will be buried in a good old age.

What I absolutely LOVE about this?  Is Hashem basically says “you know, because you follow my directions.”  And Abram following Hashem’s direction led Abram to a dream. It was a tough dream to fathom – it was going to be ROUGH waters ahead – but Abram will die in peace and in good age. 

Isn’t that the goal? To come to death in peace? To be buried in a good old age?  This is the love of Hashem.  It’s not that our lives will be easy or stable.  There will be rough waters. There will be wars won (don’t forget the context here is a great war Hashem helped 318 men win over a powerful army that just beat 5 kings).  But that we can have peace in each moment until our death.

After this, Hashem makes a covenant with Abram.  A binding contract. Abram did NOT have kids at this point, and Hashem tells Abram that he will have seeds to inherit the land in the future.

And what happens next? We meet Sarai’s handmaiden, Hagar. I wrote extensively about this two years ago, and it is worth an additional read.  ESPECIALLY what is going on in our world right now. Because the seed of Hagar (Arabs) and the seed of Sarai (Jews) have major conflicts that date back GENERATIONS. 

What I think I keep coming back to is the hubris we feel today that somehow we can “fix” the conflict that has been ongoing for generations.  We can’t “fix” the conflict.  All we can do is heal.  The Torah has been prescriptive so far on this:

• The Path of Ascension begins with curiosity and not judgement
• If someone’s curiosity causes doubt and defensiveness, be curious about our own doubt and defensiveness and NOT their motives for curiosity.
• The tree of life is within us. Choose life within with curiosity and not judgment
• Learn to balance the comfort of stumbling, with the challenge of pushing ourselves towards spiritual growth.
• Let go of a stable life. Freedom is accepting “what is” as a blessing. We can’t control what happens. We can only navigate it with bitterness or flow.
• Freedom requires balance – emotions vs intellect, humility vs confidence, thinking as an individual while staying meaningfully connected to others.
• Freedom comes from expansion and not contraction – but contraction is important to the process of expansion

If we each followed these prescriptions, we might draw closer to peace.

The chapter ends with Hashem telling Abram what his covenant is, but before we get there, I want to focus on Hashem making his FIRST promise to Hagar before she gave birth (Genesis 16:10-13):

10And the angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your seed, and it will not be counted for abundance.”

11And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your affliction.

12And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone’s hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell.”

13And she called the name of the Lord, Who had spoken to her, “You are the God of seeing,” because she said, “Have I seen [him] here also after I have seen?”

Again.  The theme of time.  Hashem sees. He is the “God of seeing” because He exists OUTSIDE of time.  Outside of our timeline.  He knows the future because He sees it already.  He knows the free choices we will make.  And He still helps and unfolds things for us in a way that is for our best.

Today’s portion closes with this (Genesis 17:1-6)

1And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and God appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before Me and be perfect.

2And I will place My covenant between Me and between you, and I will multiply you very greatly.”

3And Abram fell upon his face, and God spoke with him, saying,

4″As for Me, behold My covenant is with you, and you shall become the father of a multitude of nations.

5And your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

6And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings will emerge from you.

The key here (in my opinion) is this: 

Hashem walks with us through great wars. Great turmoil. Rough waters. He brings us to THIS moment.  And THIS moment. And THIS moment. And He knows the next moment before WE do. 

And; despite our doubts and struggles (Abram asks Hashem for a sign – “How will I know?”) Hashem continues to remind us – He is with us. Within us. And. Each moment that arrives? We can begin again. Start over.  Be given a NEW name.  A NEW identity.  And HOW he does this is amazing.

To change Abram’s name, Hashem inserts the Hebrew letter Hei from His divine name into the middle of Abram’s name.  Abram goes from “Father of Aram” to “Father of ALL nations” by the insertion of one letter from Hashem’s name.  In a sense, Abram ascends because Hashem is literally in him. Abram only need to look within his NEW name to see Hashem.  He is NOW Abraham.  This is a significant transition.  For more on names, look here:

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3700215/jewish/Name-Changes-in-the-Bible-Torah.htm

What do our lives look like when Hashem changes our name? Our essence? The truth is (in my opinion) Hashem doesn’t.  The truth is (in my opinion) that Abram was ALWAYS Abraham – he just wasn’t ready to see it. Until he was. 

The better question for us is – what do our lives look like when we SEE and ACKNOWLEDGE Hashem within us -in our Neshama? To discover what has ALWAYS been true of us – but we did not have the eyes to see or ears to hear? 

This is the promise. This is the change.  This is the awakening.

This is ALSO the prescription from ending up in slavery.  Let’s see where this goes, because so far, Hashem has been giving us a lot of tools to avoid being imprisoned. 

What are YOUR thoughts?