Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 9 Cheshvan, 5785

Good morning! I took the day off yesterday for Shabbat. I needed some time for myself. this morning? We start a new Torah portion – Va-Yera – which means “and he appeared.”

The energy right now is all around “showing up.” Are we going to show up for ourselves first? Or are we going to become a martyr and show up for others?

That may “feel” like a false choice – and in some ways it is.  And? When we show up for OTHERS while sacrificing our selves, our values, our purpose? It creates an internal conflict.

The truth is? Showing up for ourselves FIRST allows us the opportunity to show up for others when they need us most.

There is pain on the healing journey. The context of today’s portion is three days after Abraham circumcized the camp. There was a lot of pain in this healing. Hashem appeared.

And what was Abraham called to? Entertain. In his healing.

And what happens next? A miracle child. Isaac. Because Sarah was old. 99.

She had no eggs left. And? She still produced. Hashem created within Sarah the egg for Abraham to fertilize. Abraham and Hashem co-created Isaac.

We will get to more on that this week.

What are you co-creating with the Universe – within yourself? What are you asking for?

This is the expansion lesson.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from last year:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 14 Cheshvan, 5784
Parsha Va-Yera’: (Genesis 18:1-22:24) 
First Portion: Genesis 18:1-18:15

We have a new Parsha today! Va-Yera’ – which means “and he appeared.”

So we have left Lekh Lekha – “go for yourself” by the circumcision of our physical bodies, our emotions, and our souls.  We have fully cut off the foreskin and accept the reality and exposed the vulnerability of who we are.

And then?

He appears. 

Hashem appears.

Let’s dig in.  The context here is (likely) 3 days after Abraham circumcised everyone. There is a lot of pain. There is healing. There is pain. More healing. It’s a process. And then (from Genesis 18:1-2)?

1Now the Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent when the day was hot.

2And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he prostrated himself to the ground.

Again.  Catch this. Hashem appeared to Abraham as he was healing. Sitting at the entrance on a hot day.  Then? Abraham sees “three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he prostrated himself to the ground.”

This is confusing, isn’t it? It does not make a lot of sense. 

The sequence of events seems to look as follows:

1. Hashem appears to Abraham
2. Abraham and Hashem were sitting by the entrance of the tent.
3. Three men stood beside Abraham
4. Abraham ran towards them and prostrated himself before them

Um. If the men were standing next to Abraham, how could he run towards him?

I have some thoughts.  If you read the commentary below I wrote two years ago, you can read more about what some Rabbis have said.

Here’s what might have happened.

1. Abraham circumcises himself and everyone and everyone with him
2. Three days later, Hashem appears WITHIN Abraham – almost like Abraham connected with his Neshama. After the circumcision, Abraham was able to connect with the Neshama – that Hashem put in him (remember he gave Abram a new name by putting a letter of Hashem into Abram’s name?)
3. By connecting with his Neshama, Abraham had a vision of the three men standing beside him. “He lifted his eyes” may refer to “seeing” within his head – Hashem appeared to Abraham in his heart, the three men appeared in his head.  He went from heart/soul, to body, to an external reality.
4. His mind then caused action – he ran to the men and fell at their feet.

It’s almost a beautiful cycle, isn’t it? Something happens to us externally – trauma.  We get stuck and cannot heal from the trauma until we circumcise our hearts. We let go of the foreskin. Hashem appears within. He heals us. We now see things in a much different way. We take action. Sometimes that action hurts; sometimes it heals more. And we repeat this cycle. Get in touch with the spirit within.

That makes sense – at least to me.  Let’s keep going. We see now – Abraham moves from focusing on his external pain to serving others. He becomes hospitable.  From Genesis 18:3-8:

3And he said, “My lords, if only I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass on from beside your servant.

4Please let a little water be taken, and bathe your feet, and recline under the tree.

5And I will take a morsel of bread, and sustain your hearts; after[wards] you shall pass on, because you have passed by your servant.” And they said, “So shall you do, as you have spoken.”

6And Abraham hastened to the tent to Sarah, and he said, “Hasten three seah of meal [and] fine flour; knead and make cakes.”

7And to the cattle did Abraham run, and he took a calf, tender and good, and he gave it to the youth, and he hastened to prepare it.

8And he took cream and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and he placed [them] before them, and he was standing over them under the tree, and they ate.

Abraham was entertaining angels. And – as I wrote before; how hospitable are we? Do we allow ourselves to entertain angels? Or do we worry about our mess? Read more below if you want to dig deeper into that.

Finally – the Angels turn from Abraham and focus on his wife, Sarah:

9And they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “Behold in the tent.”

10And he said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah heard from the entrance of the tent, and it was behind him.

11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, coming on in years; Sarah had ceased to have the way of the women.

12And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have become worn out, will I have smooth flesh? And also, my master is old.”

13And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Is it really true that I will give birth, although I am old?’

14Is anything hidden from the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you, at this time next year and Sarah will have a son.”

15And Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you laughed.”

And again, as I wrote in the past? A post-menopausal woman giving birth? You’d like laugh too.

And as I reflect on this; for my Christian friends; isn’t this almost the Yin to the story about Jesus being born’s Yang? Think about it. Isaac was basically born with no female egg. The egg was provided by Hashem Himself. Isaac is a miracle birth too -but in the masculine. Jesus was born without Joseph’s seed – the feminine.  Mary provided the egg, Hashem provided the seed.  Abraham provided the seed, Hashem provided the egg in Sarah.  There’s almost a poetry to it, isn’t there? 

And this leaves me with a question for my Christian friends – and I am curious to your thoughts; Why is so much focused on the miracle of the birth of Jesus, but Isaac’s is COMPLETELY ignored?   Isaac is as much a miracle birth as Jesus was, right? Or what am I missing?

But maybe that will be revealed as we discuss the miracle birth of Isaac? Maybe the Torah will make it clearer for us this week.  Because EVEN THE NAME OF THE PARSHA would indicate “And He Appeared” – my Christian friends talk about Jesus being Hashem “appearing on the earth” and yet here we see “and He Appeared” with Isaac being born just as Miraculously.

Something to reflect on.

But let’s close with this.  I feel like we can add another layer to our learning about Spiritual Freedom and Liberation.  Let’s review what we’ve learned up to now in the Torah:

• 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

To live free, we must circumcise the foreskin of past trauma and feel the pain of healing so that our higher selves can appear to us, and we can co-create miraculous NEW life for us and others.

 There is no shortcut to this. We must feel the pain of healing. Any shortcut just protects the foreskin of past trauma. We don’t have numbing agents to make it easier. We must feel the pain to heal it.

What are your thoughts?