Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 12 Shevat 5784
Parsha Be-Shallah: (Exodus 13:17 – 17:16)
Second Portion: Exodus 14:9 – 14:14

Good morning! As we start this week leading us to the Full Moon of Shevat, and the Holy day of Tu B’Shevat -the new year for trees – the final parts of the old tree are being removed from our life to clear space out for the next year and a new tree being planted.  This is a hard time. It’s new. It’s disorienting. And. We have the tools we need to navigate it!

I wrote this last year, and it seems super salient:

For the Jews; they cried out to Hashem. They confronted Moses. But Moses trusted Hashem. He (likely) pulled the memory of his engagement at the burning bush, the plagues, the power Hashem gave him. That made the difference.

We have power we don’t realize we have. The current moment. Any current moment. You have the ability to pull energy from the past and bring it to the present.

Start thinking about ways to pull energy from your past into the current moment to create a DIFFERENT reality.

And. If you are daring? Send past energy into the FUTURE moments you are concerned about. Or send the energy of the moment into the future. And then be there to receive it.

Play around with this energy. It’s incredible.

Moses’ reaction in today’s passage is very different than the children of Israel. Their past was couched in slavery. Moses’ past had been transformed by Hashem.  Let’s dig in!

The context for today’s passage is Hashem leading the children of Israel backed into a corner. Hashem put them on the edge of a sea, and Pharaoh was about to box them in:

9The Egyptians chased after them and overtook them encamped by the sea every horse of Pharaoh’s chariots, his horsemen, and his force beside Pi hahiroth, in front of Ba’al Zephon.

10Pharaoh drew near, and the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold! the Egyptians were advancing after them. They were very frightened, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

11They said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this that you have done to us to take us out of Egypt?

12Isn’t this the thing [about] which we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, Leave us alone, and we will serve the Egyptians, because we would rather serve the Egyptians than die in the desert?

Can we relate?

• We have $250 in our bank account, and $1000 rent is due Friday.
• Our fridge has no food in it, and our children are struggling with hunger.
• We are out of a job, and are unsure where provision will come.
• We are diagnosed with a medical issue and we are unsure of the future.

It is THESE moments we are real. Our fear response. We have a few options:

• Feel safe in the fear. Trust in things working out. Take action in RESPONSE to the situation and not REACT out of our fear.
• Run away in the fear. Avoid the situation in our emotional energy.
• Fight the fear. Be angry at the situation and try to resist the reality.
• Be unable to make decisions or move.

What did the children of Israel do (in verse 10)? They asked for help. They cried out to Hashem.

Full stop.

Asked.

For.

Help.

How much within us HATES asking for help? We are supposed to be GROWN ADULTS who need no help.  Asking for help is WEAK! These are all thoughts that consume us.

And? After they asked Hashem for help? They felt weak. And they IMMEDIATELY went into fight mode, didn’t they? They told Moses they would rather live in slavery than free to be backed into a corner to trust.

And yet? When someone asks US for help? How do we respond?

I am not sure about you, I feel joy when someone comes to me for help, and I have the resources to provide it.

If I knew someone cared about me was suffering and wasn’t asking for help, my heart would break.

I imagine MOST OF US feel this way.

How did Moses respond to their desperation and anger?

13Moses said to the people, Don’t be afraid! Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that He will wreak for you today, for the way you have seen the Egyptians is [only] today, [but] you shall no longer continue to see them for eternity.

14The Lord will fight for you, but you shall remain silent.

Just sit with this.

The Lord will fight for us. We just need to be quiet and watch Hashem work. To receive.

As we are in the final three days of the harshness of Shevat leading us to Tu B’Shevat. As we are feeling backed into a corner. Hear this.

Fear. Is. Safe.

Because it puts us in touch that we don’t have to do this on our own.

13Moses said to the people, Don’t be afraid! Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that He will wreak for you today, for the way you have seen the Egyptians is [only] today, [but] you shall no longer continue to see them for eternity.

14The Lord will fight for you, but you shall remain silent.

Receive this.

Just receive.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Shevat, 5783

This morning I’m reflecting on emotional triggers. Within us, when we engage with people and we don’t feel safe with them, we feel backed into an emotional corner and come out swinging.

The feelings of a lack of safety creates within us energy that wants to fight, run away, or causes us to freeze. That activated energy has to go somewhere.

But I’ve been learning to be aware of it. I’ve been logging in my journal when I’m emotionally activated and the triggers that cause me to feel “unsafe.” I’ve begun noticing patterns.

It’s been helpful to keep a running list in my journal; especially with those people in our lives (bosses, co-workers, exes, etc) where we know we get disregulated.

Putting them down reminds my brain that the feelings of being unsafe are connected to some other trauma most times that aren’t in the current moment. Energy I’m bringing back from the past and creating that energy in a particular moment.

But if I have the power to reach into the past to pull energy into the present moment that creates this fearful energy (the fight, flight, flee response) why wouldn’t I ALSO possess the power to reach into the past to pull healing energy?

For the Jews; they cried out to Hashem. They confronted Moses. But Moses trusted Hashem. He (likely) pulled the memory of his engagement at the burning bush, the plagues, the power Hashem gave him. That made the difference.

We have power we don’t realize we have. The current moment. Any current moment. You have the ability to pull energy from the past and bring it to the present.

Start thinking about ways to pull energy from your past into the current moment to create a DIFFERENT reality.

And. If you are daring? Send past energy into the FUTURE moments you are concerned about. Or send the energy of the moment into the future. And then be there to receive it.

Play around with this energy. It’s incredible.

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Shevat 8, 5782

Todays portion has the Jews leaving Egypt, seemingly backed into a corner by Hashem. There is no doubt, God told Moses to take them this way. He brought them to this place where they were going to be trapped.

Pharaoh takes off with chariots and officers to pursue the Israelites.

They overtook the Jews when they were encamped by the sea. Every horse, chariot, and army were there. By the mouth of the rocks. Opposite Baal-Zephon.

Pharaoh strolls out in front of his troops. The Jews were obviously frightened.

What did they do? They cried out to God.

They literally challenged Moses with “was there a shortage of graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the desert? We TOLD you Moses we’d rather serve Pharaoh as slaves than die in the desert!”

I feel the Jews here. So often it seems like Hashem has me on a journey and then backs me into a corner. Why would Hashem lead me to this place? Why would he cause me to fail?

But Moses steps up to the plate here, and tells the people “Do not be afraid! Stand firm and see God’s salvation that He will perform for you today! You may be seeing the Egyptians today, but you will never see them again! God will fight for you, but you must remain silent!”

When we are on a journey and dealing with our “Egypt” we often come to these spaces when we are desperate. We decide we will go back to our Egypt; and live there as slaves instead of trusting Hashem and the freedom he can bring us. Moses gives us something to chew on; God will fight for us, but we must remain silent.

How hard is it to remain silent in those moments we feel desperate? When confronted with our “Egypt.” We want to talk about it. We want to fix it. But we can’t. We need to remain silent and trust.

Are you by the sea right now? Are you feeling backed into a corner? I am not an expert; but we have a fight, freeze, or flee response when we get to these moments. But there is a fourth option; trust in silence.

Rabbi Meir Simchah of Dvinsk writes; “even when you have no significant claim to God’s help, He will nevertheless defend you against those who attack you.” He will do this even when “you (we) must remain silent.” We can’t fix it. All we can do is trust.

Where are you (we) needing to trust today?