Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 9 Shevat, 5785

Today we are going to diverge from the Torah portion a bit. There is a lot of shifting energy around us right now.  We are navigating the collective whirlwind of energy, and we have the opportunity to either get sucked into it, retreat out of it, or surf the wave.

You see, we live in a collective victim/villain mentality most of the time. This shows us in our personal lives.  We tend to see others as either victims or villains – to align with how we see ourselves – especially because we want to be the hero.  Victims and Villains need heroes, so we can serve that function.

And? We can see ourselves – deep within us – as victims and villains as well.

These archetypes play themselves out in our relationships and personal lives.

And? We are seeing these play out in front of us in the collective.

This energy is designed for revolution and rebirth. We can choose to stay “asleep” and just push through it for the next week (until the energy shifts again for Tu B-Shevat) or we can ride this wave – reflecting on where we need to make some changes within ourselves – and be reborn.

What in our lives is keeping us from this rebirth? What is keeping us stuck? This is the energy we are in right now.

Because as you can see below, there are some deeper truths we need to wrestle with.

This comes back to the question I’ve been asking. “Is the author of our reality trustworthy?”

The first question is – “who is the author of our reality?”

Is it us? Is it me? Is it source? Is it Hashem?

But here are some truths to consider.  I am rewriting what Shterna Ginsburg wrote about Hashem…

1. The author of our reality is the Exclusive Power. In fact, the author of our reality is the one and only true existence, for everything exists only through the author. The author of our reality creates and recreates the world every moment. The only reason that anything exists is because the author of our reality wants it to exist.  Nothing has value or power on its own; all of creation is entirely dependent on the author of our reality. Nothing exists outside of that author.
2. The author of our reality is present. Whoever the author of our reality is, they are fully present here and now, in every inch of our lives. There has never been and there will never be a corner of the world that is empty of the author of our reality. Believing is seeing. When we open up our minds and hearts to whoever the author of our reality is, and their presence, we can experience that presence in a tangible way.
3. The author of our reality loves each and every one of us. Each of us is the author’s dear, precious creation. The author of our reality loves us intensely and wants only the best for us. This is true no matter what we’ve done and no matter why we think it’s not true for us – there is nobody who is an exception to the author’s Love.
4. The author of our reality directs every detail of the world. Nothing can happen to us without the author of our reality wanting it to happen. We can’t get what we aren’t divinely intended to have. Nobody can take away from us that which we are intended to have. And every single detail of our lives is directed by the author of our reality for a purpose that is in our best interest.
5. The author of our reality created us for a purpose. The author of our reality wants to be known in every blade of grass in the earth, every dream soaring in the heavens and everything in between.The author wants to be depended upon in every room in our homes and in every corner of our hearts.
6. The author of our reality wants to have a relationship with each of us.  We aren’t characters on a stage. We are designed by the author of our reality to be interactive with the author. We are designed to be a part of co-creating this reality with the author of our reality.

The story being written is NOT a victim/villain/hero story. That is how we in our collective trauma have written the story in our own realities.

The story we are seeing is a collective love story.  We may find ourselves in THIS moment in the second book of a three book trilogy.  The author is still there weaving the tapestry of our collective experience – for the purpose of love.

If we learn to love the victim and villain within us? We can also learn to love to collective villain and victims around us.

We can rehumanize those around us – and that reminding of our own humanity? Is REVOLUTIONARY.

You see – with all of this talk to facism, nazis, etc? The tactic being used across the board? Dehumanization.

We can join the chorus of dehumanizing the other, or we can look to find the humanity within ourselves and within others – to see their guilt, their fears, and their shame – and trust the author of our reality – and learn to love ourselves by loving the humans in our lives.

This won’t be easy. And, we can react to this energy by becoming disassociated with our humanity or rejecting our humanity and the humanity of others – or we can do something revolutionary.

Love.

Love ourselves in each moment.

Love the humans around us in each moment.

Be compassionate and empathetic; kind and accountable.

We can have boundaries – actions we will take that require no action on the part of someone else – to protect our own humanity.

We can learn to be both lovers and fighters – because love is worth fighting for.

This is the energy of the moment.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from last year:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 16 Shevat 5784
Parsha Be-Shallah: (Exodus 13:17 – 17:16)
Sixth Portion: Exodus 16:11 – 15:36

This morning’s Torah Thoughts are going to be different. This portion has special significance to me. So much so, that I set it apart. I will write about it tomorrow with the seventh portion.

Today I want to focus on Hashem.

One of my favorite Jewish authors, Shterna Ginsburg (who wrote “Your Awesome Self” and started me on this journey of self love) says this:

“The word ‘Hashem’ means different things to different people. Many people have been hurt in the name of Hashem. Many people feel distant from Hashem, because their abusers were individuals who professed to believe in Hashem. Others see Hashem as a theory that is meaningful in discussions but irrelevant in practical life.”

But Hashem is different than that. Here are Six Truths that Shterna writes about Who Hashem really is;

1. Hashem is the Exclusive Power. In fact, Hashem is the one and only true existence, for everything exists only through Him. Hashem creates and recreates the world every moment. The only reason that anything exists is because Hashem wants it to exist.  Nothing has value or power on its own; all of creation is entirely dependent on Hashem. Nothing exists outside of Him.
2. Hashem is present. Hashem is fully present here and now, in every inch of our lives. There has never been and there will never be a corner of the world that is empty of Him. Believing is seeing. When we open up our minds and hearts to Hashem’s presence, we can experience His Presence in a tangible way.
3. Hashem loves each and every one of us. Each of us is Hashem’s dear, precious child. Hashem loves us intensely and wants only the best for us. This is true no matter what we’ve done and no matter why we think it’s not true for us – there is nobody who is an exception to His Love. The primary manifestation of Hashem’s presence is His kindness. Everything about our experience of Hashem – everything that happens in our lives – is an extension of that kindness.
4. Hashem directs every detail of the world. Nothing can happen to us without Hashem wanting it to happen. We can’t get what we aren’t divinely intended to have. Nobody can take away from us that which we are intended to have. And every single detail of our lives is directed by Hashem for a purpose that is in our best interest.
5. Hashem created us for a purpose. Hashem wants to be known in every blade of grass in the earth, every dream soaring in the heavens and everything in between. Hashem wants to be depended upon in every room in our homes and in every corner of our hearts. As carriers of His Light, we are entrusted with this mission to know Hashem and to let His Presence make a difference in every part of the world, within every dimension of life.
6. Hashem wants to have a relationship with each of us. It is commonly understood that believing in Hashem is about doing more Mitzvos and staying away from transgressing His will. That’s just one small corner of the scene. In the full picture, our relationship with Hashem is not meant to be transactional. It’s meant to be transformational. Hashem wants us to turn to Him with our joys and with our sorrows, on our good days and on our better days. Hashem wants us to trust Him and depend on Him. Hashem wants to take us out of our misery and self-pity; He wants us to hold onto Him, riding on His truth to overcome our limitations.

If you don’t like this word, Hashem? Substitute it – Call Hashem “Source” or “God” or “The Universe” or (as I have discovered) “Love.”  Because if the name is what is blocking us? Why allow that to?

And. In addition, I am learning balance.

We will dig more into this soon. Have an amazing day!