Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 15 Tevet, 5785
Good morning! As we turn away from the fullness of the moon of Tevet, we begin making our way to Shevat. When the new moon hits, we will enter a time of order.
However, the order? It’s all about navigating the shadows. You see Tevet is more balanced – 2 weeks to learn to see in the dark. Two weeks of blessing.
We’ve discussed this portion in the past – Moses meets Hashem for the first time. And the message has been clear:
- It’s going to be ok.
- You are ready.
- It’s time.
- I will be what I will be.
Each of these messages (if you’ve been following) have unfolded each year we’ve read them. See below for more on this.
5785? This is the year – “I will be what I will be.”
It’s time to release and stop efforting – and just be. We can trust it will be ok. We are ready. The time has come. To just be. To receive. To welcome.
Can we allow ourselves this space? Or receiving?
These are my thoughts. What are yours?
Here are my thoughts from last year:
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 22 Tevet 5784
Parsha Shemot: (Exodus 1:1 – 6:1)
Fourth Portion: Exodus 3:1 – 3:15
Good morning. Wow.
I want to start with how we ended yesterday:
- Acknowledge we may not know ourselves as much as we think we do.
- Acknowledge Hashem knows us better than we know ourselves. There is NOTHING undiscovered about Hashem.
- Acknowledge our past exists – and it is NOT OUR FAULT this trauma occurred.
- Acknowledge the present ALSO exists – and some of our present reality may not be grounded in “facts” about our past -but stories we’ve written about in our heads to help us survive.
- Acknowledge as adults, we are RESPONSIBLE for our present moment. We have a responsibility to heal ourselves.
- Be curious about what “Pharaoh” is keeping us enslaved that we need removed so that we can grieve our past and our current stuckness.
- Either “let that Pharoah go” (ironic, huh?) or ask Hashem to remove the Pharoah in a way for everyone’s good.
As I reflect on the past two years with today’s portion? There are two messages I’ve written about – one each year:
- 5782: It’s going to be ok.
- 5783: You are ready.
Today? The message I am getting? It’s time.
It’s time to move. To change. To grow. To receive.
It’s time – and it’s not time because time is a human construct.
Change is coming. You see – we are leaving the chaos and repair of Tevet. The light is dwindling on this month as we approach the darkness of Shevat. Shevat has order. And that MIGHT feel comforting. But the order? Is harshness for the first two weeks, the Holy Day of Tu B’Shevat (15th of Shevat) and then blessing the last two weeks. To give you a sense of the timeline:
- New moon of Shevat is the night of January 10th. Things may get dicey and harsh.
- Full moon of Shevat, and Tu B’Shevat is the night of January 24th.
- Kindness comes as the moon of Shevat fades into Adar 1 (we have a leap month this year!) on the new moon on the evening of February 9th.
Keep this in mind as we move forward this year. It’s going to get tough. But it’s going to be ok. We are ready. It’s time.
If we are working to let our Pharoah’s go, this time frame is PERFECT for this process.
It starts with acknowledging we may not know ourselves as much as we think we do.
Be curious about what is keeping us stuck, and asking Hashem to remove it from us.
Receive the darkness as the process to bring us to full light and blessing.
Let’s dig into today’s portion:
1Moses was pasturing the flocks of Jethro, his father in law, the chief of Midian, and he led the flocks after the free pastureland, and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.
2An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within the thorn bush, and behold, the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the thorn bush was not being consumed.
3So Moses said, “Let me turn now and see this great spectacle why does the thorn bush not burn up?”
4The Lord saw that he had turned to see, and God called to him from within the thorn bush, and He said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am!”
Moses was at Horeb – which is Sinai. It is interesting that our journey begins here on a mountain. The same mountain that later on we will receive this very Torah from.
It is ALSO interesting – the flocks were being led after the “free pastureland” so this (in my opinion) alludes to this is post freedom – when we are in our prisons – our Egypts.
And Hashem appears in a fire. Fire is painful. Fire consumes. But not this one.
The takeaway? This is going to get painful. And. We will not be consumed. We are like the thornbush. Because Hashem is in us. We have the Neshama.
Verse 3? Basically the first lesson we learned in Genesis. Moses was CURIOUS. He didn’t judge what was happening. He wanted to know MORE!
Verse 4 – Hashem saw Moses was curious and THAT IS WHEN HASHEM called!!! Moses took the first step. This leads me to ask:
What would have happened if Moses never got curious? If Moses got scared and ran away? Or judged the fire as dangerous and tried to snuff it out?
How often to we REACT and get into fight or flight mode, instead of just being curious? This feels like a reassurance of the lessons in Genesis. Be curious. Don’t judge. This is the path to freedom. Let’s keep going:
5And He said, “Do not draw near here. Take your shoes off your feet, because the place upon which you stand is holy soil.”
6And He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look toward God.
7And the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their slave drivers, for I know their pains.
8I have descended to rescue them from the hand[s] of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land, to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivvites, and the Jebusites.
9And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression that the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10So now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and take My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Hashem places boundaries for Moses, doesn’t he? The FIRST thing Hashem does. Boundaries. And. Moses doesn’t say “I can do what I want! I am going to approach with shoes on!”
Our takeaway? Seems like AGAIN Exodus is reinforcing the lessons we learned in Genesis. Moses is making choices here. He is respecting Hashem’s boundaries. And. Maybe he is? Because the Torah does not mention Moses taking off his shoes. We can INFER Moses did – but it’s not explicit.
I think there is an additional message here for US. The Torah seems to provide us opportunity. Respect boundaries, receive messages. If we don’t take off our shoes, we won’t hear.
And – as we are navigating this fire we are in? Do we wear shoes because they keep our feet safe? What if we need to remove those pieces of who we are that we wear to keep us safe SO THAT we can hear the Universe provide direction. SO THAT we can hear – it’s going to be ok. You are ready.
We see in verse 6, Moses was afraid and hid his face. But Hashem kept going. And Hashem gave Moses a purpose – he was sending Moses to free His people – the children of Israel – from Egypt.
So now I am reflecting on realities – including my own.
- Am I a “child of Israel” who needs a Moses to come and free me from Pharoah and Egypt?
- Am I a Moses who is being called to go to someone ELSE’S Pharoah and take our people out of slavery?
- Am I an Egyptian who has enslaved my own heart because I just craved safety – and that safety has now become a prison?
It’s going to be ok.
We are ready.
It’s time.
And how does Moses respond?
11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Lol. We relate to Moses, don’t we? Because Moses reacts the way ALL OF US likely would.
“I am NOT ready. I am NOT going to be OK. I don’t WANT it to be time.”
Hashem responds with compassion
12And He said, “For I will be with you, and this is the sign for you that it was I Who sent you. When you take the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
This is all going to unfold – Moses will know it is Hashem. Because the journey will begin at Sinai – and it will come full circle. That is how Moses will know.
13And Moses said to God, “Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14God said to Moses, “Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be what I will be),” and He said, “So shall you say to the children of Israel, ‘Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.'”
15And God said further to Moses, “So shall you say to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I should be mentioned in every generation.
Moses then has a dialogue with Hashem about the particulars.
I will be what I will be.
I will be – has sent me. Ehyeh
What a powerful message.:
- It’s going to be ok.
- You are ready.
- It’s time.
- I will be what I will be.
Are we ready to RECEIVE Moses? In our Egypt? In our Prison? With our Pharaoh?
It’s going to be ok. We are ready. It is time. The Moses in our life will be what He will be. Not who WE want him to be.
Stop resisting Moses in our life. If we want freedom and spiritual liberation, how have we blocked Moses? Instead of receiving Moses from Hashem as “I will be what I will be?” We are waiting for “I will be who you want me to be.”
Who is sovereign? Hashem? Or us.
Are we waiting for “I will be what I will be?” Or are we waiting for “I will be what you want me to be?”
It’s going to be ok.
We are ready.
It’s time.
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