Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 18 Adar II, 5784
Parsha Tzav – “Command”: (Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36)
Fifth Portion: Leviticus 8:14 – 8:21

 Good morning! I hope we are all moving towards the peaceful warrior within us – navigating the war within.  This morning I read from the book of awakening the idea of “shedding.”  He writes this:

“The Dusuns of North Borneo have believed for centuries that when God finished creating the world, He announced that “Whoever is able to cast off his skin shall not die.”

He continues:

“Of course, for human beings, dead skin takes many forms, the most significant of which remain intangible but suffocating, such as a dead way of thinking, a dead way of seeing, a dead way of relating, a dead way of believing, or a dead way of experiencing.”

“In essence, shedding opens us to self-transformation. Paradoxically, those of us who refuse such renewal will, sooner or later, be forced to undergo transformation anyway as a result of being broken or eroded by the world. Very often both occur at the same time: that is, we shed from within while being eroded from within while being eroded from without.”

When the war is over; in order to live in peace? We must shed the dead way of thinking, the dead way of seeing, etc.

This is the energy we bring to today’s “anointing:”

14And he brought the sin offering bull close, and Aaron and his sons leaned their hands [forcefully] upon the head of the sin offering bull.

15And he slaughtered [it], and Moses took the blood, and placed it on the horns of the altar, around, with his finger, and he purified the altar. And he poured the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it [the altar], to effect atonement upon it.

16And he took all the fat which was on the innards, and the diaphragm with the liver, and the two kidneys together with their fat. And Moses caused [them] to [go up in] smoke on the altar.

17And the bull, its hide, its flesh, and its waste, he burned with fire outside the camp, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

So Aaron is being anointed as the first “High Priest.” This is the spiritual shedding of the old way of thinking for the children of Israel. Moses IS the leader, but he is instilling his SPIRITUAL authority onto Aaron. He is anointing the priests within the children of Israel to lead and guide spiritually.

This is the SAME AARON who was there when the Golden Calf unfolded. AARON was made High Priest. This is love. This is the shedding of an old way of thinking. AARON is the spiritual leader.

And it starts with Moses – who commanded troops (remember the story where Moses raised his hands and the fighters of Israel would start to win the battle, and when his hands lowered, the soldiers would start to lose?) – Moses saw this transition from being a leader who fights and frees and saves and survives – to a leader who passes the torch to Aaron who will guide, who will love, who will keep us on the path to spiritual enlightenment.

The message here? We do not need to be at war to gain spiritual enlightenment. Can we transition our hearts from Moses to Aaron? From skillful warrior to peaceful warrior?

Moses did as Hashem commanded. He sacrificed as a sin offering. This was the first thing. He released the sin from Aaron and his sons. The Golden Calf. Aaron was restored to his “right”ful place.

Let’s finish with the burnt offering (guilt offering):

18And he brought near the burnt offering ram, and Aaron and his sons leaned their hands [forcefully] upon the head of the ram.

19And he slaughtered [it], and Moses dashed the blood on the altar, around.

20And he cut up the ram into its pieces, and Moses made the head, the pieces and the fat [go up in] smoke.

21But the innards and the legs, he washed in water, and Moses made the entire ram [go up in] smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering [with] a pleasing fragrance, a fire offering to the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

This was the offering for Aaron and his sons to release the GUILT of the sins that had been forgiven.  Aaron and his sons put all of their guilt into the ram – and it went up in smoke. It was PLEASING to Hashem.

What is the takeaway for us?

Are we ready to shed Moses for Aaron? Are we ready to shift leadership within? To move? To release our sins/mistakes of the past? To not just release those, but to also release the residual GUILT that comes with it? It’s a two step process in transitioning within.

And. This is a perfect time to do this. We just entered the time between the Lunar Eclipse and the upcoming Solar Eclipse. This is the time of anointing within us. From skillful warrior to peaceful warrior. To anoint. To move from battle to construction. To clean up. To rebuilding. To restructuring. This is the time. Transformation is here.

These are my thoughts.  What are yours?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Nisan, 5783

Today is a short portion. As we prepare for the liberation of Passover, I’m reflecting today on the things that hold us back. Our prisons.

One thing I’m learning about myself is the internalized “safety” of feeling conflicting emotions. As I’ve been getting a handle on what I feel, and I’m learning to actually feel my feelings, there is something in me that wants me to feel “conflicted.” If I am feeling joy, there is something inside that tries to push me to find sadness. If I’m feeling angry, there is something inside pushing me to feel happy about something else.

The idea of remaining in a state of conflicted emotions seems to be something I need to be liberated from this Passover.

To just be in my feelings of joy. To allow myself to feel guilt. To feel sad; to feel empowered. And not try to quickly convince myself of something else.

In many ways there is an internal invalidation of my own emotions. Maybe that’s just me.

What are the things keep you from feeling truly free? What are we needing to sacrifice?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 14 Adar II

Chag Sameach Purim! It’s Purim! Time to celebrate our love for Hashem!

Todays portion continues from the inauguration of Aaron and his sons. Moses has just finished dressing them and getting them ready.

Today, we read that the next step was to bring the sin offering bull close. Aaron and his sons placed their hands on the bull. Moses slaughtered it. He did everything that was commanded of him by Hashem. And the portion end with “it was a burnt offering – a pleasant aroma, a fire offering to God – as God commanded Moses.”

It’s a short portion today. And I’m reflecting on why? What is it about this portion that we can learn from?

I think I dwell on that last line. It was pleasing to Hashem that we sacrifice to Him the way he instructs us to.

I go back to my thoughts when we started Leviticus. We focus a lot on the word “sacrifice” here. We think to ourselves “I just need to sacrifice.” But what if we are sacrificing things Hashem hasn’t asked us to sacrifice? What if there are things we’ve been holding onto and have been unwilling to sacrifice that have kept us from growth? Kept us from drawing close to our friends and Hashem? What if those are the sacrifices we need to make? Who gets to pick the sacrifice?

I think about my kids. When I ask them to give up a toy for their sister to play with; are they giving their sister their FAVORITE toy? Likely not. They choose the sacrifice, they are going to choose the thing they want to let go of and keep the things they are holding close.

As it is with Hashem. We want to bring a “sacrifice” we are comfortable with. He wants us to sacrifice for our benefit and those around us.

This is the story of Purim. Rabbi Meir Rubashkin gave a great message about Purim. The mistake the Jews made was NOT going to the King’s banquet at the beginning of the story. The mistake the Jews made was placing their trust and safety into the hands of the King instead of Hashem. They had gone so far down the road of worshiping the culture around them, that they found safety in the King as opposed to Hashem.

Esther’s sacrifice was different. She restored the faith in Hashem. She knew going to the king uninvited would possibly mean death. And instead of dolling herself up to make the king be attracted to her, she did the opposite. She told the people to fast for three days and three nights. Esther wasn’t going to the king looking her best. She was going to the king without food for three days. Because she trusted Hashem. She knew Hashem would protect her more than the King of Shushan would.

That’s the story of Purim. The right sacrifice (fasting for three days) at the right time.

Those are my thoughts; I’m curious as to yours!