Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 13 Av, 5784
Parsha Va-‘Ethannan – “I requested”: (Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11)
Seventh Portion: Deuteronomy 7:1 – 7:11

Good morning! Shabbat Shalom! We have reached the “Sabbath of Comfort” the sabbath after Tisha B’Av.  We are moving towards the full moon tomorrow night when  we step into the light of joy and love. Let’s dig into the last portion:

7:1When the Lord, your God, brings you into the land to which you are coming to possess it, He will cast away many nations from before you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivvites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you.

The victory is won. 7 nations will be dealt with. Powerful nations.

2And the Lord, your God, will deliver them to you, and you shall smite them. You shall utterly destroy them; neither shall you make a covenant with them, nor be gracious to them.

3You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to his son, and you shall not take his daughter for your son.

4For he will turn away your son from following Me, and they will worship the gods of others, and the wrath of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you.

5But so shall you do to them: You shall demolish their altars and smash their monuments, and cut down their asherim trees, and burn their graven images with fire.

So the idea here is the physical driving the spiritual. And, Hashem knows how the external world can impact the inner spiritual one.

And – we were children at this point – we just left slavery. We were one generation away from a slavery mentality.

Today? I believe this is happening within us. As we escape our own personal slavery? Seven areas will be destroyed. As an example – if we have been stuck in addiction – like alcohol addiction? That will be destroyed in our freedom. And? We need to not engage with it all anymore.

Why?

6For you are a holy people to the Lord, your God: the Lord your God has chosen you to be His treasured people, out of all the peoples upon the face of the earth.

7Not because you are more numerous than any people did the Lord delight in you and choose you, for you are the least of all the peoples.

Because Hashem has chosen us. Not because we were significantly large as a people. Hashem delights in us because we are the “least” of the peoples.

I would argue? It’s because of all the people on the earth? We understand Hashem’s alienation. We have been alienated – and we understand how Hashem has also been alienated.

If you have experienced being alienated? You are Hashem’s treasure.  We can be comforted by that.

8But because of the Lord’s love for you, and because He keeps the oath He swore to your forefathers, the Lord took you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

9Know, therefore, that the Lord, your God He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps the covenant and loving kindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.

10And He repays those who hate Him, to their face, to cause them to perish; He will not delay the one who hates Him, but he will repay him to his face.

11You shall therefore, observe the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day to do.

Hashem loves us. Not because of what we did – and how great we were. It’s because we understand HIM. How the world alienates Hashem. We can take comfort in that significantly.

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 11 Av, 5783

Shabbat Shalom!

Today marks the “sabbath of comfort” for us.  The goal today is to sit in comfort because of the harshness we’ve experienced the past three weeks.

Something I’m reflecting on – how much time we spend comforting others. Being considerate of making sure they are comfortable.  How often do we focus on our own in healthy ways?

For me, comfort looks like a nap, getting out into nature, build a comforting environment – candles, etc.  When my body is asking for comfort – I try to respond.  How about you?  I encourage us all to choose one thing to bring us comfort today!

Let’s dig in to the portion and close out this amazing parsha!

Yesterday we were told to listen.  Today is the message we are called to listen TO.

Here is what spiritual freedom and liberation look like:

If we love ourselves, love Hashem, our reward is kindness

If we hate ourselves, hate Hashem, or reward is that the good we get will be received in this world, not in the world to come.

BTW – this isn’t hell, folx.

And, I am starting to wonder.  If our souls have been here before; the choices we made previously are brought into this iteration of our soul’s journey on this earth in this moment.

Re-read that.  It is a controversial statement.

As Jews – if our soul was on this earth previously, in a different body? And the choices we made allowed us to have all the blessings in THAT experience, this journey does not have the same level of kindness as it would have if our souls made choices to be kind and generous and love Hashem in our previous life.

Is that something to consider?  I don’t know.

And. In THIS moment? We still get a choice.  If our souls chose to receive their rewards previously – we can meet that possibility with two choices:

1. I am screwed, better get what’s mine now.
2. I am in this moment afforded the same opportunity as I was before. Choose to love. Choose to be kind. Choose to be compassionate. In this moment. First to myself, and then fill my cup to then choose these for others. Because the truth? Hashem is in all of us. All are worthy of kindness. Even those who made the first choice to just live selfish lives.

Some interesting and powerful thoughts.

what do you think?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 16 Av, 5782

Shabbat Shalom!

We are coming to the end of Moses time talking to the Children of Israel. He has reflected back and now starts to get us thinking about the future. Yesterday was the gift of the Shema. To listen.

Today, Moses tells us about what entering the land will be like:

He is going to drive away many nations from before us. Seven nations more numerous and powerful than us.

This gets me thinking. What are the seven nations in our lives that need to be dealt with before we enter true liberation? What is holding us back, that Hashem will drive away before we can enter true liberation and freedom?

Moses tells us; God will deliver them to us. We will defeat them. We need to destroy them completely. We need to not make a treaty with them. We shouldn’t admire them in any way.

We also should not “intermarry” with them. Because they will turn us away from our liberation and drive us back into slavery.

But why? Why is God doing all of this for us? Do we even deserve it after all we’ve done? After all we’ve been through? Why is he bringing us to liberation?

Two reasons. Because he loves us and he promised to.

The Torah portion closes with this:

“God did not desire you and choose you because you are more numerous than all the other nations, for you are (in fact) the smallest of all the nations. Rather, God took you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, because of God’s love for you, and because He is keeping the oath that He swore to your forefathers.

You should know that God, your God, is the Almighty-God, the faithful God, who upholds the covenant and (rewards acts of) kindness to those who (observe) His (commands out of) love and (those who) keep His commandments (out of fear) for a thousand generations. He causes (each of) those who hate Him to perish (in the world to come) by paying (him fully in this world) to his face (for any good that he has done). He will not delay (payment to) the one who hates Him. He will repay him to his face.

So let’s break that down.

• If we love God and keep his mitzvahs, our reward is kindness.
• If we hate God we also get a reward. The good we do is paid to us in this world; and not in the world to come.

So really this comes back to the fundamental question of our identity.

Are we a soul with a body enclosed around us? Or are we a body with a soul inside?

Or are we just a body?

Regardless of our belief it would seem the reward is appropriate.

If we see ourselves as just a body, we will get a reward for any good we do on this earth. That is it. We will become worm food in the grave. Afterwards, there won’t be a reward.

To someone who sees themselves as a soul, that would be the worst case scenario.

But if you saw yourself as a body; that’s really it.

Now. If we believe we are a body with a soul inside? That would be full of conflict, I would think. We are stuck between two worlds.

For those of us who see ourselves as a soul with a body wrapped around us? There is freedom and liberation to know that what happens on this earth is merely temporary. It’s not part of the bigger scheme. Good does happen on this earth, and our souls can be grateful when that comes.

But pain and suffering also come on this earth. And our souls can experience that and grow from it; so that we reach our highest self. That is true liberation- I think. I’m still chewing on it.

What about you? What do you think?

As always on Shabbat, my Haftorah thoughts will be posted below

So. Todays Haftorah comes from Isaiah 40:1-26

It is the first of the “seven haftorot of comfort” which we read from the ninth of Av until Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish new year. The next seven weeks should be weeks of comfort as we move away from the darkness of the past month.

This Haftorah is read on this day called the “Sabbath of comfort.” My hope is you all find comfort today.

Isaiah opens with the words “comfort, oh comfort, my people!”

The period of exile has been fulfilled and that her sins have been forgiven – for she has already been punished for all her sins twice by God with two exiles.

This Haftorah is full of comfort:

It is as if a voice is calling out: “Clear a path in the desert for God to return the exiles! Make a straight road in the wilderness for our God to go ahead of them! Every valley will be raised. Every mountain and hill will be lowered. The crooked paths will be made straight, and the high places will become a plain.

Then God’s glory will be revealed and together all flesh will see that God has spoken words of comfort.

It’s been a tough month for many of us. It’s been dark. But we are coming to a place of comfort!

The passage continues talking about redemption. And to he loud and bold as the redemption comes!

What is the message?

Let’s look at the passage:

Declare to the cities of Judah, “God is coming to redeem you! Look! God Almighty is coming with power, and His arm will rule for Him without any help. His reward for every person is ready with Him! His payment for good deeds is ready before Him! God will lead you out of exile like a shepherd pasturing his flock, who gathers the lambs with his arm and not his stick and carries them in his bosom, leading the nursings carefully.

Who is like God, who knows the depth of the waters as if He measured them with His fist, and He knows the length of the skies as if He measured them with a ruler? He knows the amount of earth on the ground as if He measured it. He knows the weight of the mountains and the hills as if He had used a scale and a balance. Who could influence God’s will to accord with his own will? What man is His advisor that informs Him? ” Whom did He consult and who taught Him? Who instructed Him in the way of justice, taught Him knowledge, or guided Him in the path of wisdom?

And we get this message at the close of the Haftorah:

“So to whom can you liken Me? To whom can you compare Me?” asks the Holy One. Lift up your eyes to the heavens and see who created these stars! He brings out their hosts by number, calling each star by name. Because of His great might and tremendous strength, not one star is lost because He made them exist permanently.”

What are your thoughts? Does this bring you comfort?