Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 12 Elul, 5784
Parsha Ki Tavo’– “When you enter”: (Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8)
First Portion: Deuteronomy 26:1 – 26:11

Greetings! We are in a new week, and this week we will reach the pinnacle of the full moon – the last one of 5784. This week we are learning about “when you enter.” So – last week we looked at “when you go out.”

The message (in my opinion) is that in order to enter? We need to leave. They go together. This is growth. This is change.

I remember our discussions around grief and the grief process. Remembering the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

The themes I have written about the past two years would seem to be a healing balm for our grief: remembrance, acknowledgement, gratitude, generosity.

When we are in denial? The only way to go through grief? To remember. And? Acknowledge.

When we are in anger over our grief? The way through? To remember why we are angry, acknowledge the anger and be grateful for the clarity.

When we are bargaining? The way through is to remember why we are struggling and needing to bargain, acknowledge we are bargaining, be grateful we are in a position to bargain, and then? Be generous.

When we are depressed? Remembering why we are depressed, acknowledge the sadness, be grateful for the sadness, and be generous with ourselves.

Grief is the expansion, the antidote? Contraction into ourselves. Love within. This feels poetic, no?

Let’s dig in:

26:1And it will be, when you come into the land which the Lord, your God, gives you for an inheritance, and you possess it and settle in it,

2that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you will bring from your land, which the Lord, your God, is giving you. And you shall put [them] into a basket and go to the place which the Lord, your God, will choose to have His Name dwell there.

3And you shall come to the kohen who will be [serving] in those days, and say to him, “I declare this day to the Lord, your God, that I have come to the land which the Lord swore to our forefathers to give us.”

4And the kohen will take the basket from your hand, laying it before the altar of the Lord, your God.

When we enter? We are called to bring our first fruits to Hashem. Be generous.

5And you shall call out and say before the Lord, your God, “An Aramean [sought to] destroy my forefather, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there with a small number of people, and there, he became a great, mighty, and numerous nation.

6And the Egyptians treated us cruelly and afflicted us, and they imposed hard labor upon us.

7So we cried out to the Lord, God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

We remember our suffering. We don’t avoid it.

8And the Lord brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, with great awe, and with signs and wonders.

9And He brought us to this place, and He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And we remember Hashem’s faithfulness.

10And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground which you, O Lord, have given to me.” Then, you shall lay it before the Lord, your God, and prostrate yourself before the Lord, your God.

11Then, you shall rejoice with all the good that the Lord, your God, has granted you and your household you, the Levite, and the stranger who is among you.

We rejoice over the process.

This is the healing.

Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance.

Remembrance. Acknowledgement. Gratitude. Generosity.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 10 Elul, 5783

Good morning! We have a new Parsha for the week!  It’s called “Ki-Tavo” which means “when you enter.”  It is interesting that last week we looked at “as you go out” and this week is “as you enter.”  Its a process it would seem.

Literally we are reflecting on the Israelites going out from the wilderness and entering the promised land.  But for us – on our journey of freedom and liberation I think there is so much more.

When we are stuck on our journey towards growth and liberation – we are called to “go out” we cannot enter the next chapter of our lives – the next segment – if we remain.  If we remain safe and comfortable.  We must go out. And when we go out – if our first instinct is to “return” and go back to where we were safe? We are going to miss freedom and liberation.  We must go out.  And – we must enter a new segment – a new place – a new relationship – with ourselves – and those around us.

And as this week we study what it means to “enter” into the next phase, may the learning project us towards Rosh Hashanah and unfold us towards more freedom and liberation!

This week’s portion seems to indicate that one of the ways we enter our next segment is by really considering the past:

I wrote last year that the words the priests offered for their wave offering were words of remembrance, of acknowledgement, or gratitude. And of generosity.

Remembrance 

We are called to remember where we came from.  In the Torah – so much is about remembering our past.  As Humans,  I feel often we try to forget the past. Forget the trauma. Forget the pain.  Why does the Torah focus us so much on remembering the pain? Of being slaves in Egypt? Of the Golden Calf? Of the Moses breaking the Tablets? Of death?

If we enter into a new segment, but fail to remember? I am wondering if we are open to our past impacting us in ways we may not be aware of.

Acknowledgement

When we remember our past? We need to acknowledge our role in how the past played out.  Other people may perceive that past very differently. And we want to “correct” the reality in order to feel like our understand of the past is “correct.”  It is important to understand everyone takes in a moment differently.  And processes each moment in the context of their past painful learning and experiences.  We cannot know the input mechanisms of someone else.  All we can do is focus on our own role in past moments for US.

Gratitude

Once we are able to remember and acknowledge the past? It’s time to appreciate it.  Those moments that led us to this one.  Letting go of guilt and shame – and trusting that EVERYTHING that happened was to prepare us – emotionally, spiritually, and physically to live in this one.  And we must show gratitude – ESPECIALLY for our past self.  They did not “mess things up” for us.  They made the best decisions they could in the moment.  Trusting our past selves is critical.

Generosity

Lastly – we need to be generous.  First for ourselves. To be generous with ourself in this moment.  Self-kindness. Self-compassion. Just allowing ourselves to be.  Then – as we enter – a new land, a new relationship, a new job, a new situation – to be generous with the moments being co-created.  I think this means the following:

Assume positive intent – now before I move forward – this is only when we are in a place of trust. If we enter a situation, a job, a place, and we don’t feel safe? We need to trust our instincts FIRST.  But assuming a sense of safety is where we are? We need to assume positive intent.  There are many ways to read a situation.  Choosing the one that is most generous is a good move.

Assume we know what is best for us – be generous with ourselves – if we aren’t feeling safe? We need to trust that.

Be in a state of allowing – resistance is a move that does not allow us to enter.  Receiving and observing is.

So as we enter – these are some key thoughts to consider!  I am curious to your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Elul 15, 5782

Sorry for the late post. I’m traveling home from West Chester, PA where I had an amazing and healing time (see my post from yesterday).

Today we start a new Parsha! Parsha Ki-Tavo which means “when you enter.” The Chumash has this to inspire us; “when we enter a duty, an opportunity, or a relationship, enter it in the same way your soul enters our body: fill it with vibrancy and life!”

We are entering our freedom and liberation. We should be entering with vibrancy!

Moses continues his last lecture; he tells us when we enter the land of liberation, we should take possession and settle in it. In a sense; when we achieve liberation, we need to settle and accept our arrival.

Moses once again tells us to take our first fruits in this new land and give them back to Hashem.

There was a process that included the priests waving the offering before God. And we should say out loud the following:

“(Laban the) Aramean (wanted to) destroy my father (Jacob. And his sorrows did not stop there, because) he went down to Egypt and lived there in a small (family) group (of seventy souls). But he became a great, powerful, and populous nation there. The Egyptians treated us cruelly and afilicted us, arid they imposed hard labor on us.

“We cried out to God, God of our fathers, and Cod heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. God brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, with great awe, and with signs and wonders.

“He brought us to this site (of the Holy Temple), and He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Look! I have now brought here the first fruit of the ground which you, God, have given to me.”

I’m reflecting on these words. They are words of remembrance, of acknowledgement, or gratitude. And of generosity.

How often do we want to run away from our past? To run away from the trauma and the sadness. But here we are given a vision of healing that we are called to remember our collective trauma. Lean into it, and then remember where we are. We are free. The truth is we are already free. We only need to recognize this. That’s the beauty. This Torah journey we have been on is one that is all within us as much as it is external. What are we doing to heal our past trauma?

How much are we wanting to remember and be grateful for our deliverance from?

These are concepts that may seem difficult to understand and recognize for us. The pain of the trauma is real. And it takes a while for us recognize the impact of that has on our current moment – and our need for healing.

May we all be comforted by healing as we approach the spiritual new year in a few weeks. There is still time for introspection as we soak in the light of the new moon!

What are your thoughts?