Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 10 Adar 1, 5784
Parsha Teztzavveh: (Exodus 27:20 – 30:10)
First and Second Portion: Exodus 27:20 – 28:12, 28:13-28:30

So- looking back to yesterday, I made a mistake. I recopied Exodus 27:1-12 instead of moving to 28:1-12.  It is easy when making mistakes to beat ourselves up – to wonder why we made a mistake. However, we have a choice in any given moment in how to navigate the mistake made. See? I can’t go back and undo the mistake. I can be curious about it. And to be curious from the perspective of – “what am I supposed to get out of this? Why did I make the mistake not from the perspective of being blamed – but from the perspective of THIS moment?”

The idea here being – maybe the passage 28:1-12 was meant for me to be read NOW and comment on NOW because of the experiences I had from yesterday when I did my Torah Thoughts until now. I will be curious digging into this.  Let’s Go!

Final part of yesterday’s portion:

1And you bring near to yourself your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel to serve Me [as kohanim]: Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

2You shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for honor and glory.

Hashem is talking to Moses here. He is telling Moses to bring near Aaron and his sons to be priests. To serve the community by serving Hashem.

The word here is “kohanim” – and it is fascinating to consider this as a Jew. Priests are always something I grew up with thinking were a Christian thing. But in reality, the idea of priests stems from the Torah. Here is some interesting information on the Priests from Chabad

What I gather about the priests is they are honored with certain services – they are, in a sense, translators between the people and Hashem.  They were hand selected.

And they were given special honor – the Torah literally tells Moses to make holy garments for this purpose.

Today, are we called to be priests? Do you feel compelled to translate between the people and Hashem? If so, there is special honor and glory – and restrictions.  But let’s dig into the priesthood;

3And you shall speak to all the wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, and they shall make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, [so] that he serve Me [as a kohen].

Interesting. The “wise hearted” were selected to make the holy garments. Something I have been reflecting on. Wisdom in Kabbalah is a feminine trait; understanding is masculine, and knowledge is the unity of the two.

It is interesting here that the male priests were clothed in feminine wisdom.  This created a coming together of Cochma, Bina, and Dat – Understanding (Masculine), Wisdom (Feminine), and Knowledge (Unity).

Today, we tend to see Priests as Christian, Wisdom as masculine, and Knowledge “less than.” We’ve become disoriented and dislocated from the spiritual reality.

The Kohanim were leaders. We see leadership in our fractured society as being more masculine than feminine.

We’ve discussed the idea of being a soul “clothed” in an earthly body. When we look at women – can we see a soul wrapped in a body that was “knit together” in a way like clothing – and understand the women among us have wisdom surrounded in understanding? Can we see this (as men and women) as leadership?

What is this wisdom? In Kabbalah – Wisdom is the Sefirot (energy center) right above Loving Kindness. How much do we “clothe ourselves” in loving kindness? Understanding is the Sefirot right above strength. How much do we see wisdom as Strength wrapped in loving-kindness? Or do we look for leaders who cover up their loving-kindness with strength. And? How much do we do this within ourselves and from a place of judgment?

Ok – let’s keep going:

4And these are the garments that they shall make: a choshen, an ephod, a robe, a tunic of checker work, a cap, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron and for his sons to serve Me [as kohanim].

A choshen is a breastplate.  I wrote two years ago more on this.  Jump down below to see more on these different priestly garments.

5They shall take the gold, the blue, purple, and crimson wool, and the linen,

6and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and crimson wool, and twisted fine linen, the work of a master weaver.

7It shall have two connected shoulder straps at both its ends, and it shall be entirely connected.

8And its decorative band, which is above it, shall be of the same work, [emanating] from it: gold, blue, purple, and crimson wool, and twisted fine linen.

9And you shall take two shoham stones and engrave upon them the names of the sons of Israel.

10Six of their names on one stone and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their births.

11[Similar to] the work of an engraver of gems, [similar to] the engravings of a seal, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel; you shall make them enclosed in gold settings.

12And you shall put the two stones upon the shoulder straps of the ephod as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall carry their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders as a remembrance.

This is where yesterday’s portion leaves off. The Torah has us looking at the Ephod.  Which was an apron worn under the choshen – the breastplate.  Let’s keep going:

13You shall make settings of gold,

14and two chains of pure gold you will make them attached to the edges, after the manner of cables, and you will place the cable chains upon the settings.

The overlap between yesterday and today is in the middle of the apron.  I am reflecting on how aprons are worn for protection.  To protect us from impurities we did not want to get on our clothing.  And. I wonder if this was made to protect the priests from the powerful energy emanating from Hashem as they performed their service?  We now turn to the Choshen – the breastplate;

15You shall make a choshen of judgment, the work of a master weaver. You shall make it like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, purple, and crimson wool, and twisted fine linen shall you make it.

16It shall be square [and] doubled; its length one span and its width one span.

17And you shall fill into it stone fillings, four rows of stones. One row: odem, pitdah, and bareketh; thus shall the one row be.

18The second row: nofech, sappir, and yahalom.

19The third row: leshem, shevo, and achlamah.

20And the fourth row: tarshish, shoham, and yashpheh; they shall be set in gold in their fillings.

21And the stones shall be for the names of the sons of Israel twelve, corresponding to their names; [similar to] the engravings of a seal, every one according to his name shall they be, for the twelve tribes.

22You shall make for the choshen chains at the edges, of cable work, of pure gold.

23You shall make for the choshen two golden rings, and you shall place the two rings on the two ends of the choshen,

24and you shall place the two golden cables on the two rings, at the ends of the choshen.

So we see the breastplate – 4 rows of three gems. 3,3,3,3.  3 columns of 4 gems – 4,4,4.  Each gem corresponding to the twelve tribes. Now how does this connect with the Ephod?

25And the two ends of the two cables you shall place upon the two settings, and [these] you shall place upon the shoulder straps of the ephod, on its front part.

26You shall make two golden rings, and you shall place them on the two ends of the choshen, on its edge that is toward the inner side of the ephod.

27And you shall make two golden rings and place them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod, from below, toward its front, adjacent to its seam, above the band of the ephod.

28And they shall fasten the choshen by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it may be upon the band of the ephod, and the choshen will not move off the ephod.

29Thus shall Aaron carry the names of the sons of Israel in the choshen of judgment over his heart when he enters the Holy, as a remembrance before the Lord at all times.

One of the things that jumps out at me here is the blue cord. In Kabbalah the blue color is connected to Wisdom, Loving-Kindness, and Victory. Very feminine traits.  Our feminine energies within is what keep us connected.

And finally we close with something really fascinating:

30You shall place the Urim and the Tummim into the choshen of judgment so that they will be over Aaron’s heart when he comes before the Lord, and Aaron will carry the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord at all times

The breastplate was about judgment. Another term for this may be discernment. But what are the Urim and Tummim?

Um. They were basically like Oracle cards. Or runes. Or dice.

The priests judged sometimes based on “chance” because chance didn’t exist. For a deeper dive on this? Check this article out.

But this is from the website:

According to most traditions, the Urim and Thummim were a piece of parchment with G‑d’s four-letter name written on it. Its function was to serve as an oracle, divining whether or not the Jewish people should take a certain course of action, and was to be used only by the king, the Jewish high court, or a person needed by the whole community such as a general.

When its services were needed, the Kohen Gadol would stand facing the Holy Ark with the questioner behind him. The individual desiring an answer would ask a simple yes-or-no question such as, “Shall we go to war?” The Kohen Gadol would meditate until he reached Divine inspiration. Then, certain letters on the breastplate (upon which the names of the twelve tribes were written) would appear to protrude or light up, producing an answer.

The Urim and Thummim were lost after the destruction of the First Temple. According to another tradition, it was extant but ceased to work.

So it is fascinating.  In our society, if certain sects of religion knew this was something that was going on in a church or synagogue? It would be considered heretical. And yet, here we are.

How do we feel about oracle cards? Tarot? Runes? They are in the Torah. And my question – how is this DIFFERENT than divination?

My first response was power. The only one who would be the oracle was the high priest. With the high priest in existence – it would have been heretical for a layperson to consult the Thummim and Urim. And today, there is no high priest because there is no temple.

Something to think about.  What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 6 Adar I, 5782:

This weeks Parsha so far has covered the garments for the priest. Todays portion focuses on the breastplate and the settings.

The portion starts out with Hashem telling us to make settings of gold for the breast plate.

A professional weaver is making this “breastplate of judgment.” The priest would wear this, and it seems almost like a protection .

Rabbi Isaac b Moses Arama writes this; “Rashi writes that the breastplate served as atonement for the incorrect rulings of the Jewish courts. Of the stones in the breastplate, some were rare, and others were more common. This combination is intended as a lesson to judges: each individual case, small or large, must be treated equally”

I think that’s a really interesting take – and something we can use in our own lives. How often do we see decisions as “big” or “little” and maybe Hashem wants to treat all of those decisions the same? Just something I’m reflecting on.

The breast plate was to have four rows of stones;

One row: red quartz, emerald, and yellow quartz

Second row: ruby, sapphire, and beryl (a blue-green gem)

Third row: red zirconium, striped quartz, and violet amethyst

Fourth row: yellow-green olivine, onyx, and jasper

The names of the children of Israel shall be upon the stones. Engraved in the order of their birth.

The we learn about the gold fasteners to attach the breastplate to itself so it can be worn by the priests (Aaron mainly).

Hashem tells us; “Aaron should carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he enters the Holy Place, as a remembrance before God at all times.”

Next is a little something that seems odd, to be honest. Hashem tells us that we should place the Urim and Thummim (a parchment containing God’s name) into the fold of the breastplate of judgment so that it will be over Aaron’s heart when he comes before God.

What is the Urim and Thummin? Here is a good resource: https://www.chabad.org/…/What-Were-the-Urim-and-Thummim…

Todays portion closes with a direction from Hashem that Aaron will carry the tool of judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before God at all times.

I reflect on myself; what do I carry over my heart at all times? Is there anything? Or do I leave it exposed for all to see? Is that what Hashem wants? My judgment requires something covering my heart (I think).

What about you? What do you think?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 6 Adar, 5783

Good morning! Today’s thoughts center around what is over our hearts, and the breastplate of judgment.

I have been reflecting on judgment. How often I judge others. And. How often I judge myself.

I find that I much more often judge myself harshly than I do others. I tend to look at myself, my flaws, my faults and forget I’m human. I have these unbelievable standards for myself that I would never in a million years expect anyone else to live by.

And I’m learning, this self-judgment? Needs some protection. I need a breastplate. Over my heart. To protect me. From my own judgment.

Because when I feel judged by someone else? Even if they aren’t intending it? I feel it even deeper. It isn’t a simple criticism or judgment; it’s the twisting of the knife I’ve already stuck in that part of me. Because it’s rare when someone points something out that I haven’t already judged me on.

So how can we put on a breastplate of judgment? By embracing the inner voice judging us.

Wait. What?

Yea. I’ve learned to embrace the inner critic who stands in judgement of me.

Just sit with that idea. Just for a minute.

For a long time I tried to eliminate that inner critic. And couldn’t do it.

This past year, reading the Torah? I’ve discovered that inner critic has motives. And instead of listening to the criticism, I started being curious.

Because the opposite of judgment? Curiosity.

And when I got curious of my inner critic? I discovered their motive.

They want me to be the best person I can be. That’s their motive.

Just sit with that. What is the motive of your inner critic?

But there’s a problem. Their intent may be good. They may want the best for us. But. They communicate like crap. They never learned to effectively communicate.

Where did they learn to communicate with us?

It started with our parents most likely. Media. Friends. Teachers. Our inner critic watched what was going on around us, and took what they observed and tried to use it to help us be the best person we can be. Never once realizing how problematic it is.

Like a five year old – or an eight year old they just “call it like they see it.”

And instead of listening with empathy and compassion(for ourselves) we get hurt, defensive, and angry.

It’s time for us to put on the breastplate of judgment. And see all the various gems that can come from listening to that inner critical voice with empathy and compassion for ourselves. And this. This is the work the Torah is talking about in bringing us to freedom and liberation spiritually.

What are your thoughts?