Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 17 Adar, 5785

Good morning!  It is a day many of those around us are celebrating a holiday based on “luck.”  In Judaism, we have a similar concept – though different – and this month – the month of Adar, we’ve discussed how the idea of Mazel – the “drip from above” connects.

So the idea of Mazel – is thatthe Neshama in us – is the Godly soul. And it is connected to the Mazel above. This Mazel above is closest on the anniversary of our arrival on this earth.  In the month of Adar, we are getting closer to the first month – and it is the month we celebrate Moses’ birthday – so the “Mazel is strong.” This means, the connection to the one soul – to Hashem – is closest during this month. And will continue to get stronger as we head towards the new moon.

So we are coming to the end of a yearly cycle – and we see all of the spiritual work we have been engaged in coming as close to heaven as we can get. The energies right now are enhancing and strengthening the lessons we are meant to learn – and that is fortunate.

This is aligned with the Parsha this week – Va-Yakhel “and he assembled” – all of the mazel is being assembled for us.

However – the question isn’t just what are we receiving – whether it is an abundance of lessons we need to learn that we have refused to learn – or an abundance of fortune we are ready to receive.

The question is – what will we do with it? How will we handle the abundance? Because you see the journey of the Children of Israel? Includes the abundance of the Egyptians. And they had choices.

They made a mistake with the golden calf.  They abandoned their identity and did not trust. In the aftermath of this, Moses and Hashem have given us a better way.

Generosity

Wisdom

We have within us – the capacity for generosity and wisdom. What will we do with that?  Will be wise with the abundance we receive? And will we be generous with it?

As we approach the new moon – we are setting intents for the new lunar cycle.  And we know one possibility – ending up in Egypt – as that is what we will celebrate.  Passover is about a month away.  The story of the exodus from slavery to freedom.

What about us? What is the pattern that we are seeing? And where are we seeing opportunities to break that pattern and go in a new direction?

This is the lesson for us today.

And we are both lucky and fortunate to be here.

Mazel Tov! You’ve made it to the moment. Let’s go.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from last year:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 24 Adar 1, 5784
Parsha Va-Yakhel: (Exodus 35:1 – 38:20)
Second Portion: Exodus 35:21 – 35:29

Good morning! It is Monday the start of a new work week! We are working through this portion of Va-Yakhel, which means “and he assembled.” What are we gathering together this week as we enter the new moon of Adar II? A second month to celebrate the work we’ve been doing over the past year? What have we learned this month in our celebration that we need to focus on for the next month? Yesterday we focused on wisdom and generosity.  The people in our lives that Hashem (the universe, source, etc) has brought into our world?  Today, let’s see where we go…

21Every man whose heart uplifted him came, and everyone whose spirit inspired him to generosity brought the offering of the Lord for the work of the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.

22The men came with the women; every generous hearted person brought bracelets and earrings and rings and buckles, all kinds of golden objects, and every man who waved a waving of gold to the Lord.

23And every man with whom was found blue, purple, or crimson wool, linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red or tachash skins, brought them.

24Everyone who set aside an offering of silver or copper brought the offering for the Lord, and everyone with whom acacia wood was found for any work of the service, brought it.

So we see – the men were the leaders of generosity. They came with the generous women.  And? They had hearts UPLIFTED.

Let’s pause here. How often in today’s society do we connect MEN with “uplifted” hearts? How often do we connected MEN with INSPIRED spirits? Generous HEARTS?

This is counter intuitive for us, isn’t it? Let’s keep going:

25And every wise hearted woman spun with her hands, and they brought spun material: blue, purple, and crimson wool, and linen.

26And all the women whose hearts uplifted them with wisdom, spun the goat hair.

The women were the MAKERS. The women were WISE. Women had WISE hearts.  WHAT?

Let’s just sit there for a minute.

Men had uplifted and generous hearts. Women had wise hearts.  Sit there. Just sit in that.

I almost want to do a thought experiment:

• Close your eyes.
• I want you to imagine a group of people with uplifted and generous hearts. Picture them in your mind.
• Describe for me their gender?
• Close your eyes again.
• I want you to imagine a group of people with WISE hearts. Picture them in your mind.
• Describe for me their gender?

What do you think the answers would be?

Let’s keep going:

27And the princes brought the shoham stones and filling stones for the ephod and for the choshen;

28and the spice and the oil for lighting and for the anointing oil, and for the incense.

29Every man and woman whose heart inspired them to generosity to bring for all the work that the Lord had commanded to make, through Moses, the children of Israel brought a gift for the Lord

PRINCES brought stones. Royal princes were GENEROUS.

We’ve lost generosity and wisdom, haven’t we?

Where do WE fall? Are we wise? Are we generous?

Within me? I feel both masculine and feminine. The generous part of me comes from my masculine energy. The wise part of me comes from my feminine energy.

This is the takeaway today – in my opinion. What is yours?