Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 15 Tamuz, 5783.

In America, we are celebrating “Independence Day” because it is July 4th.  This is the anniversary of when we gained our independence from England.

Last night was also the full moon – when in the darkness, the moon reflects brightly the sun’s light to the earth.

It was also a Supermoon last night – the moon is 14,000 miles closer to the earth than a typical full moon.

What I “feel” is that all of this is connected.  I believe we are called to look closely with light on the idea of “Independence Day” here in America.  And it WILL connect to the Torah portion.

Because today’s portion is all about dividing up the land and portioning it out to the tribes.  And guess what? The land wasn’t conquered.  It was decided “by lottery.”

The size of the land was proportional to the size of the tribe.  But the largest or smallest tribe didn’t get to pick first.  It was left up to “divine providence.”

In my opinion, this is because land has a soul. And the soul of a land is connected to the soul of us as entities who are more a soul than a body.

As we “celebrate” our independence – maybe we should examine the soul of the land of America?  Maybe? Anyone?

No?

What I am reminded of is one of my favorite quotes from the book “Rainbow of Liberated Energy: Working with Emotions through the Colour and Element Symbolism of Tibetan Tantra” by Ngakpa Chogyam.

This is the quote: “We seek assurances from life that confirm the unconfirmable: that we are solid, separate, permanent and continuous.”

In America, our “independence” has come at great cost to our souls.  We go about seeing ourselves as solid, separate, permanent and continuous.

However, I think we are beginning to see how this isn’t true.  The state of our country today is trying to reconcile how we are NOT solid. We are NOT separate.  We are NOT permanent. And we are NOT continuous.  No matter how hard we try to be.

The truth is – we are all interconnected.  Not just with each other – but with the land we find ourselves on.  The land may have a soul – and how we navigate this – declaring the land “mine” and “yours” may take away the sovereignty that the land itself may have.

This is why the Torah divided up the land by lottery – in my opinion.

Imagine doing this in America today?  Those of you who want to live a biblical life – how would you feel if the larger families were given land that was larger than individuals who may have material wealth?

Does our land proportion match the various “tribes” living in America?  I don’t think they do.

So as we have fun today – and I truly do hope we have fun today (and every day) – we should remember about the soul of the land. And the idea of “independence” because as amazing as it sounds to us growing up with the idea of independence? It fails in comparison to the idea of the collective consciousness that could be rooted in love, compassion, and empathy for one another.

And that is a battle within our souls worth fighting for and reflecting on this independence day!

Those are my thoughts – what are yours?

My commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 20 Tamuz, 5782

Good morning! Yesterday we finished the census of the Israelites. But did we? There was one tribe that was left out. The priestly tribe of Levi!

Today’s portion begins with God talking to Moses about separating out land as an inheritance with those whose names were included in the census from yesterday. To larger tribes, they get more land, to smaller sized tribes, they get smaller portions of land.

What’s interesting is God tells Moses the size of the land is connected to the size of the tribe; however regardless of size, the land was inherited by lottery. The idea that the lottery is miraculous was inherent in the Torah. Does this mean we should play the lottery? Likely not.

Something I’m reflecting on as well. The idea of land having a soul. And the soul of a land being connected to the souls of us as humans.

This is something we don’t often (in America at least) think about. We see land more with a lens of occupation. We look at who “occupies” a land vs the land’s soul. The idea of a lottery reinforced (I think) that there is something bigger than occupation when it comes to land.

That has consequences, right? If we each have an inheritance to a certain land, and instead we focus on the land we occupy, things might get jammed up.

It is likely in our brains’ cognitive benefit to believe land is inherently inanimate without a soul. To see it just as something without consequence makes it easier for us to “occupy” a space instead of considering the soul of that space.

It would seem that God wanted the Israelites to understand that occupying land wasn’t as critical as the spiritual connection to a land. The lottery was a way to ensure that.

I’m curious to what others think!

Rabbi Schneerson’s thoughts about the lottery are particularly interesting here:

While Jewish law obligates you to observe all the commandments, there is always at least one particular command to which your soul is drawn more strongly (cf. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 118b). This is a kind of spiritual “lottery” – your primary mission in life has been pre-allotted on high, and you have no choice in the matter! (Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady)

Your soul has a particular “special commandment” because each soul is a “spark of the “general soul” which Adam possessed. Your soul’s specific path corresponds to its original “location” within Adam’s soul. Only when you observe your “special commandment” will you become spiritually fulfilled (Rabbi Hayyim b. Joseph Vital)

How can you discover what your “special commandment” is?

There is no simple solution. But since your mission in life revolves around your special commandment, your “evil impulse” will definitely oppose this commandment strong, which may give you a clue what it is.

Also, Divine Providence will inevitably lead you to circumstances which are conducive to the observance of your special commandment. So if you are wealthy, for example, your special commandment is quite possibly to give charity.

In addition to all the above, we all have another special commandment of our generation by virtue of the times in which We live. This is the need to awaken to the global flowering of Devine consciousness towards which the world is currently shifting.” (End quote)

Ok. Let’s keep going. It’s time to consider the Levites. You see they weren’t connected to land. They weren’t grounded; because their role was spiritual. They were free to move because they weren’t tied to the land the way their brothers were.

We see that Kohath’s family DID survive. There were 23,000 Levites aged one month and up. They did not receive the same inheritance as the other families.

The chapter (not the portion) ends with the statement that not one person was alive from the leaving of Egypt except Caleb and Joshua.

So. Great, right? Time to go into the promised land!!!

Waaaaaait just a minute! In the sausage fest (excuse my language) it’s time for the women to step up.

The daughters of Zelophehad step up. They descended from Manasseh – Joseph’s son. Five daughters; and they are all named;

• Mahlah
• Noah
• Hoglah
• Milchah
• Tirzah

They came before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the tribal leaders and the entire congregation of Israel.

They make a case to Moses; “Our father died in the desert. He was not part of the group that rebelled against God nor was he in Korah’s assembly. He died due to his own sin and he had no sons. Why should our father’s name be missed out from his family because he had no son? Give us a portion along with our father’s brothers!”

This was a big deal. Five women challenging the entire patriarchy at the time. Of course, Male Fragility won out and they all scoffed at these women, right?

Wrong.

Moses didn’t know what to do, so he brought their case to God.

And that’s where the portion ends.

Iiiiinteresting. I like how we are left with a cliffhanger. What will happen? How will God respond?

Stay tuned until tomorrow! Until then; what are

Your thoughts?