Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 12 Nisan, 5785

Good morning! We are moving to the full moon and the beginning of Passover!  This is an anointing for us into a new reality!

Today’s portion was Aaron being installed as the spiritual leader of Israel. Moses was the one the people felt comfortable with. Moses “did battle” with Pharoah. Moses “did battle” with the hostile forces in the desert and wilderness.

Aaron? He was a part of the golden calf.

And here Aaron was. Being installed and anointed as the spiritual leader of Israel. The first high priest.

And? We need to come back within us.

Who are the versions of ourselves we see shame and guilt from? Was it our 12 year old self? Was it something we did in our 20s? 30s?

That version of us?  Like Aaron and the Golden Calf.

And? Like Aaron, there is restoration.  Because the version of us TODAY? We are free and liberated to be a high priest. To be set apart. To be sacred. To be WORTHY.

Because the incidents in our lives we feel guilt and shame with? Reminders of our worth.  Because if we did NOT feel guilt or shame? We would believe we truly were living according to our value. We’d be PROUD of those moments instead of guilt and shame.

Consider this.

Those times in our lives we reflect back on. Where we feel shame? What if, instead? We felt pride? What would that say about us?

Shame and guilt is there to remind us. We are worthy.

Aaron was worthy of more. Being installed as the high priest was his worth.  The Golden Calf? Just a reminder he (and the children of Israel) were worth so much more than a golden calf.

That’s what I am reflecting on today.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from last year:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 18 Adar II, 5784
Parsha Tzav – “Command”: (Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36)
Fifth Portion: Leviticus 8:14 – 8:21

Good morning! I hope we are all moving towards the peaceful warrior within us – navigating the war within.  This morning I read from the book of awakening the idea of “shedding.”  He writes this:

“The Dusuns of North Borneo have believed for centuries that when God finished creating the world, He announced that “Whoever is able to cast off his skin shall not die.”

He continues:

“Of course, for human beings, dead skin takes many forms, the most significant of which remain intangible but suffocating, such as a dead way of thinking, a dead way of seeing, a dead way of relating, a dead way of believing, or a dead way of experiencing.”

In essence, shedding opens us to self-transformation. Paradoxically, those of us who refuse such renewal will, sooner or later, be forced to undergo transformation anyway as a result of being broken or eroded by the world. Very often both occur at the same time: that is, we shed from within while being eroded from within while being eroded from without.”

When the war is over; to live in peace? We must shed the dead way of thinking, the dead way of seeing, etc.

This is the energy we bring to today’s “anointing:”

14And he brought the sin offering bull close, and Aaron and his sons leaned their hands [forcefully] upon the head of the sin offering bull.

15And he slaughtered [it], and Moses took the blood, and placed it on the horns of the altar, around, with his finger, and he purified the altar. And he poured the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it [the altar], to effect atonement upon it.

16And he took all the fat which was on the innards, and the diaphragm with the liver, and the two kidneys together with their fat. And Moses caused [them] to [go up in] smoke on the altar.

17And the bull, its hide, its flesh, and its waste, he burned with fire outside the camp, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

So Aaron is being anointed as the first “High Priest.” This is the spiritual shedding of the old way of thinking for the children of Israel. Moses IS the leader, but he is instilling his SPIRITUAL authority onto Aaron. He is anointing the priests within the children of Israel to lead and guide spiritually.

This is the SAME AARON who was there when the Golden Calf unfolded. AARON was made High Priest. This is love. This is the shedding of an old way of thinking. AARON is the spiritual leader. 

And it starts with Moses – who commanded troops (remember the story where Moses raised his hands and the fighters of Israel would start to win the battle, and when his hands lowered, the soldiers would start to lose?) – Moses saw this transition from being a leader who fights and frees and saves and survives – to a leader who passes the torch to Aaron who will guide, who will love, who will keep us on the path to spiritual enlightenment.

The message here? We do not need to be at war to gain spiritual enlightenment. Can we transition our hearts from Moses to Aaron? From skillful warrior to peaceful warrior?

Moses did as Hashem commanded. He sacrificed as a sin offering. This was the first thing. He released the sin from Aaron and his sons. The Golden Calf. Aaron was restored to his “right”ful place.

Let’s finish with the burnt offering (guilt offering):

18And he brought near the burnt offering ram, and Aaron and his sons leaned their hands [forcefully] upon the head of the ram.

19And he slaughtered [it], and Moses dashed the blood on the altar, around.

20And he cut up the ram into its pieces, and Moses made the head, the pieces and the fat [go up in] smoke.

21But the innards and the legs, he washed in water, and Moses made the entire ram [go up in] smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering [with] a pleasing fragrance, a fire offering to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

This was the offering for Aaron and his sons to release the GUILT of the sins that had been forgiven.  Aaron and his sons put all of their guilt into the ram – and it went up in smoke. It was PLEASING to Hashem.

What is the takeaway for us?

Are we ready to shed Moses for Aaron? Are we ready to shift leadership within? To move? To release our sins/mistakes of the past? To not just release those, but to also release the residual GUILT that comes with it? It’s a two step process in transitioning within.

And. This is a perfect time to do this. We just entered the time between the Lunar Eclipse and the upcoming Solar Eclipse. This is the time of anointing within us. From skillful warrior to peaceful warrior. To anoint. To move from battle to construction. To clean up. To rebuilding. To restructuring. This is the time. Transformation is here.

These are my thoughts.  What are yours?