Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Shevat, 5875

Good morning! We are in the thick of harshness in the month of Shevat. One more week until we hit the full moon and Tu B’Shevat – the new year for trees.  This last week is designed to uproot the old trees with dead roots that are keeping us stuck and infertile.

We are abundance. We are full. If we don’t see it, it is because these old “trees” get in the way.

This is a new work being done for us.

Can we plant ourselves in trust?

Hashem “tested” the children of Israel in today’s portion. He gave them just enough each day to get them through. He wanted to see their level of trust after being enslaved for 400 years.

Would that be enough for them?  Would they trust they were safe?

This is the fundamental question for us.

Can we trust the slow provision? Or are we disappointed we don’t have more?

Thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from last year:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 15 Shevat 5784
Parsha Be-Shallah: (Exodus 13:17 – 17:16)
Fifth Portion: Exodus 15:27 – 16:10

Good morning! Happy Tu B’Shevat! Today is the new year for trees! Today is a fulcrum point for this moon cycle. The first half of the cycle was about harshness. Old, rotted, dead trees in our lives that are keeping us stuck in the past have been pulled up and uprooted, to create space for new trees to be planted. Today we plant these NEW trees and move forward for the year in a way that creates positive change for us!

As we turn from Egypt in the Torah – and we enter the wilderness – a new journey has begun. We are NOT YET in the promised land.  We are in our awe. We are feeling afraid because we don’t know what is ahead. We feel safe because we have seen what Hashem has done for us to bring us here. We can breathe in fear, and breathe out safety. OR we can breathe in safety and breath out fear.  Just reflect on that.

Let’s dig into the portion today:

15:27They came to Elim, and there were twelve water fountains and seventy palms, and they encamped there by the water.

I am struck by the numbers.  We know, 70 of Jacob’s family entered Egypt (we read this in Genesis). We know there were 12 tribes.  What a perfect sign from Hashem, right? Reminding the children of Israel that EVERYTHING works out.

Let’s keep going:

16:1They journeyed from Elim, and the entire community of the children of Israel came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.

So Hashem took them to a desert. It took 45 days to get there (give or take – probably more like 43).

Remember, that was the plan all along. The original choice was – stay enslaved in Egypt or go to the desert with pain and dryness.

They arrived. And, their response?

2The entire community of the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron in the desert.

3The children of Israel said to them, If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat, when we ate bread to our fill! For you have brought us out into this desert, to starve this entire congregation to death.

There was still more to grieve here. They had a slave mentality that was on full display. Better to live as slaves than die free. They had forgotten in 45 days how life was in Egypt.

What does Hashem do in response here? Does he get angry? Does he receive their fear and return anger?

No.

4So the Lord said to Moses, Behold! I am going to rain down for you bread from heaven, and the people shall go out and gather what is needed for the day, so that I can test them, whether or not they will follow My teaching.

5And it shall be on the sixth day that when they prepare what they will bring, it will be double of what they gather every day.

Verse 4 says “test them” but I think what is happening here is an opportunity. Hashem doesn’t need to test them. He knows. Who needs the test? We do.

Hashem provided “bread from heaven.” (many call this mana) So we can see our hearts.

Some of us are looking for abundance. Most of us? And we get FRUSTRATED because we are only being given mana. Just enough to live. And we complain. We are afraid. What if the mana doesn’t come tomorrow? Where’s my abundance so I don’t have to RELY on Hashem???  Why would Hashem not just give us ABUNDANCE right away?

6[Thereupon,] Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, [In the] evening, you shall know that the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt.

7And [in the] morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord when He hears your complaints against the Lord but [of] what [significance] are we, that you make [the people] complain against us?

8And Moses said, When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and bread in the morning [with which] to become sated, when the Lord hears your complaints, which you are making [the people] complain against Him, but [of] what [significance] are we? Not against us are your complaints, but against the Lord.

9And Moses said to Aaron, Say to the entire community of the children of Israel, Draw near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.

Moses and Aaron tell the people: Tonight you will know who brought you out of Egypt, when you wake up in the morning, you will know he hears your complaints. We are not insignificant to Hashem.

Full stop.

How would we know whether we are significant to Hashem? Which of these scenarios would communicate the depths of our significance to Him. Assume Hashem is limited in funding. He has a million dollars to give us:

1. Scenario 1: Hashem dumps a million dollars in our pocket right now. We breathe. We blow it out and five months later we get nothing.
2. Scenario 2: Hashem gives you $100 a day for the next 10,000 days (27 years). We may not be able to fully breathe, but we know this is what we are getting for 27 years. Stability.

Which scenario do you take? Yes. Hashem could give us a million dollars today and we could say we’d invest it and come out on top over the long run. AND. Hashem knows our future. If he really wants what is best for us – maybe he sees that and knows how that turns out for us. And. If we keep pushing, maybe he gives it to us. Maybe he doesn’t.

The point being. When we are trying to survive as the children of Israel were? It can get kind of scary. Leaving slavery isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. We don’t do a lot of deep diving into the aftermath of slavery. ESPECIALLY in America where our collective guilt and shame hasn’t reconciled with our troubled past. We want to just pretend “that was a different time” and not acknowledge the wilderness humans in our country are having to navigate because they have not returned to their promised land of milk and honey.  Just something to reflect on.

The portion today closes out with not only these words were being spoken to the children of Israel, this happens:

10And it came to pass when Aaron spoke to the entire community of the children of Israel, that they turned toward the desert, and behold! the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

Hashem showed up. The people complained. Hashem showed up.

What is it we are complaining about today? Where do we need Hashem to show up?

These are my thoughts. What are yours?