Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 10 Av, 5783

Good morning! Wow. I hope you had a Tisha B’Av full of light in the darkness!  My day was incredible – so many opportunities to choose darkness over light – light over darkness.  And light won each and every time.

Today we catch back up with a double portion.  Put simply, the theme is “listen.”  A year ago, we were reading this around the 15 of Av – which is the Jewish valentine’s day.  A day of love. It is interesting, this year we read it coming out of Tisha B’Av – a day of darkness.

I believe the message is – whether it is dark, or full of love; we need to listen.  As we begin our ascension away from the 9th of Av – we need to listen as we rise.  To slow ourselves down enough to hear what Hashem (the Universe, the one soul) is communicating.  To do this, as a good friend has pointed out recently, we need to get out of our heads. Into our bodies. To receive. To just “be.”  In order to listen, there is nothing to “do.” Just let go. Hear. The oneness.

Instead of “efforting” to be – what can we let go of to just “be” in the moment?

One of the parts of my reflections this morning was around the “skill” of enjoyment.  So much feels like work to enjoy life.  But the skill of enjoyment is fairly simple – but may not be easy.  The idea is to be grateful in each moment for the things that put a smile on your face.  To just enjoy the moment – regardless of what is happening around us – including big storms and a lack of stability.

How can we better listen to the moment and find enjoyment?  Last night I went for a walk and found enjoyment in discovering a snail crawling on the ground.  I spent time just being in the moment with the snail. And for some reason I couldn’t explain, it brought a smile to my face.

This morning, upon reflection, it was the snail’s shell that brought me joy.  We often see life (and time) very linearly.  But the snail shell teaches us how life is more a spiral. We come back around again and again to learning lessons deeper than we did the first time.

And, in studying Torah? This connects.  We read the Torah and each time gain a better and deeper understanding

And, in life? This connects.  We will come back to experiences time and time again to learn lessons that need to be learned – until we have let go and learned them completely.  And that may never happen.  And that’s ok.

This is the lesson (in my opinion) we are learning during the month of Av. The full moon is approaching – and the energies will shift in a new direction.  And we enter a time of joy and peace as we approach the new year – Rosh Hashanah – where we will dip apples in honey and begin a new spiritual cycle – just another go around on the shell of the snail.

Which, by the way? Is reflective of the special Challah we eat on Rosh Hashanah.

Shema, Yisrael.

Here is my commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 14 Av, 5782

Remember, tonight at sundown starts Tu B’Av (15 of Av) and it is a joyous day. The moon is full. It hits your eye, like a big pizza pie….

And tomorrow at 10am eastern, the entire globe is going to be in prayer for love. May you join the global chorus of prayer!

Let’s dig into the Torah!

We ended yesterday with a review of the Ten Commandments. And what we are finding is that Deuteronomy as a book is mostly a review. It is interesting; here we are. On the cusp of entering the promised land. We have come out of Egypt. We wandered in the desert. And we stand on the Jordan ready to go in.

But instead of going in, we are going back. We are remembering. And I believe a lot of our purpose on this earth is to remember.

Moses tells us, after we heard the voice from the mountain, the leaders of the tribes went back to their families and testified at what God had done. “We saw today that God speaks with man, and yet he can still live.”

But they wanted an intermediary. They were concerned that if they continued to hear the voice of God they would die. They appointed Moses to listen to God and then they would listen to Moses.

And Moses told the people God agreed it was good that they said this. And here’s what God added;

“If only their hearts would remain like this, fearing Me and keeping all My commandments eternally, so that things would be good for them and their children forever!”

God told Moses; He would teach him everything!

The main message was this; “You should listen Israel, and be careful to do what is good for you, so that you will increase greatly.”

We are called to listen. Do we listen? Or do we instead speak? We aren’t called to speak per se. We are called to listen. We need to be better listeners! And that is the message today!

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 15 Av, 5782

Good morning! For those on the west coast, I’m sending you positive energy as you enjoy the last supermoon of the year!

Today is the “Jewish Valentine’s day” so sending positive thoughts your way if you are looking for your life partner. At 10am east coast there is a global time of prayer for people to find their partners. If you feel called to join, then join!

Let’s dig into the portion:

Todays portion is special. It begins with a famous Jewish prayer. The Sh’ma (pronounced “Shema” – but one syllable).

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is God. The Lord is one!”

When I say this prayer daily – I will sometimes substitute my name for Israel.

I believe Hashem LITERALLY wants us to be quiet and listen.

Almost like this;

“Listen Benjamin (my Hebrew name), I am God. I am one. I am connected to everything. People have me inside of them. Objects are a part of me. I am connected to EVERYTHING. So listen. PAY ATTENTION!”

It’s a call for us to really open our eyes and ears.

And what is the next line? In many synagogues, it’s spoken softly in an undertone to emphasize that we need to listen!

“Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom for ever and ever”

What is “Hashem’s Kingdom?”  It’s us. Israel.

Here is the next line:

“Love God, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be upon your heart.”

So what is it we need to pay attention to? Love God. With everything. Our heart is the center.

When thinking about the question; “are we bodies with a soul inside or are we souls with a body clothed around it?” The shema seems to answer it. Our identity is our heart and soul. That’s it. It starts inside and works it’s way out. But that’s my opinion.

The next part of the Shema is – ok, once you are listening to the message of LOVE; teach these things to your children! (Paraphrasing a bit).

Talk about them ALL THE TIME. When you are laying down, when you wake up. When you are sitting in your house, while you are walking on the road.

ALL THE TIME.

And what are we called to talk about?

“Love God, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be upon your heart.”

That’s it. That’s where it all begins. This is the HEART of the Torah. And we are saying this and learning this on JEWISH VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!

That’s not a coincidence. That’s the Torah cycle (for THIS YEAR).

The last two parts are to bind them as a sign on our hands and between our eyes. This is why I wrap tefillin each day.

Finally, we are to write them on the door posts of our house and on our gates.

And as we focus on Jewish Valentine’s day, and the idea of “coupling.” Kabbalah has something to say;

Before observing a commandment, Kabbalists always say: “This is for the sake of coupling the Holy One, blessed be He, with His Shekhinah.”

What, exactly, does it mean to “couple” different elements of God? And how does this square with the basic monotheistic idea that God is One?

We are speaking here, not about God Himself, but about His emanations and expressions which are known by different names.

These expressions could broadly be divided into two groups: those which are compatible with the world; and those which are incompatible. The former we refer to as Shekhinah, which means “dwelling” below and taking expression through the world. The incompatible emanations are “Holy,” aloof and beyond reach, even if they are actually right under your nose.

By observing a holy precept in this world we help to heal the rift between these emanations, and “couple” them together.  This is not a mere ritual. You are rendering the infinite finite! (end quote)

Wow. By observing these precepts we are “coupling” the finite and the infinite together!!!!

The next part of todays portion continues the plea of Moses for us to remember.

We are to remember God and what He has done. When we enter the promise land, when we achieve our freedom, there will be a temptation to forget Hashem. Things will be so good we will lose sight. The Torah says:

“But beware not to forget God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

We need to remember where we came from. We were in bondage. We are on the cusp today of true freedom and liberation. These messages. The Shema, the warning to remember. These are tools for us – for when we achieve liberation, the story isn’t over! We have more work to do. And as we will discover – the cycle will end up beginning again. We will achieve true freedom, and then go right back to the garden. And journey to slavery again. This is the Torah cycle we learn every year, yet we do not pay attention.

The mitzvahs- the good things Hashem calls us to do seem burdensome. But they serve a function. They remind us of where we came from. They remind us we were once slaves. We are now free.

The portion ends with Moses imploring us to remember the exodus. When our children ask “why do we have all these rules our friends don’t have to do?” The Torah tells us the answer; because we were slaves. We are now free. We do this to honor the one who saved us and brought us out of slavery.

And that is a powerful message indeed.

For those of you who are “coupled” and together with the love of your life, and you are living in the promised land of relational bliss; you are called to remember the slavery of your exodus into the liberation.

For those of us not coupled; as we enter this period where the potential exists for us to meet someone and become coupled; we must remember to LISTEN. And to LOVE GOD. And to not forget this once we step into the liberation space. If that is what we seek.

We could spend so much time on the juxtaposition of independence and liberation – and whether we are created to be isolated and alone, or whether there is freedom in “coupling.” It’s an interesting thought and maybe next year we will dig deeper into that!

One final thought. If you THOUGHT your current relationship was going to be liberating; but instead it has enslaved you, I would encourage you to ask Hashem to lead you out of it and liberate you from the slavery you feel. Whether that is opening your soul to see your current relationship as liberating, or whether it is opening your soul to have courage to leave. I will send positive energy your way to help guide you on your path.

May your day be filled with love, hope, peace, clarity and serenity!