Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 18 Tammuz, 5784
Parsha Pinchas: (Numbers 25:10 – 30:1)
Fourth Portion: Numbers 27:6  – 27:23

Good morning!  We have no entered the solemn period of mourning.  I felt the shift yesterday – did you? There is a grounding, a flow to the energy we are in right now. The key for us is tenderness and kindness. There are things being washed away so that light and love can enter in.  And expansion of space within us to carry more love.  Keep this in mind as we navigate this!

Yesterday we ended our portion with the power of women. They stood up to Moses. They came to him with a concern. He wasn’t sure what to do – so he went to Hashem.  Let’s dig in:

6The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

7Zelophehad’s daughters speak justly. You shall certainly give them a portion of inheritance along with their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer their father’s inheritance to them.

I’ll confess. This was a surprise the first time I read it.  It’s a bit confusing. Miriam confronted Moses – and she got leprosy.  These women heard the law, and applied it – they spoke justly.

Women have value. Period. The Torah is pretty clear in my opinion.

Hashem, makes it clear the expansion of the Torah because of the question of the daughters:

8Speak to the children of Israel saying: If a man dies and has no son, you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.

9If he has no daughter, you shall give over his inheritance to his brothers.

10If he has no brothers, you shall give over his inheritance to his father’s brothers.

11If his father has no brothers, you shall give over his inheritance to the kinsman closest to him in his family, who shall inherit it. This shall remain a decreed statute, as the Lord commanded Moses.

So what I love about this? The Torah connects asking questions with expansion.  Miriam asked a question that was couched in judgment. She was accusatory. Zelophehad’s daughters sound a bit judgmental as well, but they were questioning the IMPACT of the law given by Hashem. They were questioning JUSTICE.

To see in the darkness, be courageous in asking curious questions. Fight to understand justice. That is key here.

Questions bring expansion.

We have reached the pinnacle of Moses’ journey. He turned to Hashem when being questioned. And then? It was time to go…

12The Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this mount Abarim and look at the land that I have given to the children of Israel.

13And when you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother was gathered.

14Because you disobeyed My command in the desert of Zin when the congregation quarreled, [when you were] to sanctify Me through the water before their eyes; these were the waters of dispute at Kadesh, in the desert of Zin.

So – it is clear, Moses was on this earth, and his journey was finished as soon as he judged wisely when the women came to him. He turned to Hashem for an answer. He’s taught us all he needed to teach us.

15Moses spoke to the Lord, saying:

16″Let the Lord, the God of spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,

17who will go forth before them and come before them, who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

18The Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself Joshua the son of Nun, a man of spirit, and you shall lay your hand upon him.

19And you shall present him before Eleazar the kohen and before the entire congregation, and you shall command him in their presence.

Moses recognizes the need to transfer power to someone else. Joshua is chosen to lead the people by Hashem. Joshua was one of two who made it to the promised land from Egypt. He completed his journey. Think about this. Out of the original 603,000 children who left Egypt? Only two made it. Only two. That was special indeed.

20You shall bestow some of your majesty upon him so that all the congregation of the children of Israel will take heed.

“Bestow some of your majesty.” That is a line. How many of us want majesty bestowed upon us?

21He shall stand before Eleazar the kohen and seek [counsel from] him through the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. By his word they shall go, and by his word they shall come; he and all Israel with him, and the entire congregation.”

22Moses did as the Lord had commanded him, and he took Joshua and presented him before Eleazar the kohen and before the entire congregation.

23He laid his hands upon him and commanded him, in accordance with what the Lord had spoken to Moses.

This is a beautiful transfer of power. Moses bestows majesty on Joshua – he is the next leader. It’s time for Moses to go off into the mountain of night and allow others to continue the journey.

I am reflecting on the leaders in the Torah from Genesis, to Exodus, to Leviticus, to Numbers.

• We went from Adam and Chava. And we got the fall from the Garden
• Then Noah and his wife. We got the survival of the destruction of the earth.
• Then Abraham and Sarah. Where we were renamed and rebirthed into a new identity.
  • And where Hashem provided a supernatural egg inside Sarah to bring us to:
• Isaac and Rebekkah. Isaac was a miracle child. Sarah was a divine mother. She was a true surrogate for Hashem. And that brought us to:
• Jacob and Esau – the brothers. And the biggest ghosting ever – because Jacob told Esau he’d meet with Esau and never showed. Esau gave away his birthright – and likely gave him a lot more stability and peace.
• Jacob had four wives, and 12 sons. One Isaac, Two Jacob and Esau. 12 sons. 1 to 2 to 12. That’s a pretty big expansion.
• This brings us to Joseph. The dreamer who ended up a slave but became a king.
• Then? We got a leadership vacuum – and we ended up in slavery. We don’t see someone appointed after Joseph died.
• Then Moses. Who lead the people from slavery to freedom into the wilderness.

That’s a pretty interesting leadership journey right? Adam. Noah. Abraham. Isaac. Jacob. Joseph. No one. Moses.

We got six leaders. Then no one. Then Moses. Now Joshua.

Just something I am contemplating this morning!

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 16 Tamuz, 5783

Today’s portion is really intriguing to me.  We have two concepts within it that “seem” to run counter to what I grew up learning about in Judaism.

First, we learn about the power and humanity of women within Judaism.

The process of Zelophehad’s daughters challenging Moses is significant.  We really don’t see many female leaders after the Jews left Egypt, and (mistakenly, I believe) the one incident we see of Miriam standing up to Moses? That did not go well for Miriam.  And we are called to remember this – even until today!

But Zelphehad’s daughters, according to Hashem, “spoke well.”  They stood up to Moses and the Patriarchy. They stood up to the system that had been given that centered around men and the masculine.  And their courage was rewarded.

Next, we see the Torah talk about energy transfer from Moses to Joshua.  I’ll confess. Growing up, I never really learned about the concept of spiritual energy, and yet here we see it first hand in the Torah.

What I love about the passage of energy is that the idea of sovereignty still seems paramount. Moses didn’t “just give” energy to Joshua.  He had to convince Joshua to receive it.

Looking around us today? I see a lot of energy being given and taken without much discussion.

As a recovering empath – I would take people’s energy without their consent.  If they were feeling sad, I would take that sadness (or even anger) on for myself – thinking it was compassion.  I never asked these people to take their energy on for myself – I sucked it off them, thinking it would help “lighten their load.”

A spiritual coach taught me how to “observe” others’ energy but not “absorb” it.  Compassion is allowing someone to go through what they are going through and at the same time owning our own feelings about it and responding in kindness.

Mark Nepo wrote about the difference between “holding someone’s feelings for them” and “holding someone in their feelings.”  This is a significant difference and retains the sovereignty where it belongs.

And when it comes to “giving” energy, we do this without communicating or determining whether there is a receptive vessel for that energy.  We get frustrated because we try to give to someone who is unwilling or unable to receive.  Then we get upset at them because of this.

I keep coming back to “we can only love others to the capacity at which they love themselves.”  And “we can only allow others to love US at the capacity to which we love ourselves.”

This (in my opinion) is the message of the transfer of energy from Moses to Joshua. And. If you think about it? It is connected to sovereignty.   This was about who was going to lead Israel. Who would be sovereign over the people.

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 21 Tamuz, 5782

Yesterday – we left off on a cliff hanger. The census was finished, we were about to move on, when women stepped forward to make an inheritance claim. Moses did not know what to do, so he went to God. What is Hashem’s response going to be?

The first words out of God’s mouth were “Zelophehad’s daughters speak well.”

Think about that. The culture at the time was extremely patriarchal. And these women spoke up. And God affirmed them. It’s interesting to note, that it seems like God didn’t tell Moses and the Israelites what their culture should look like. He gave them good deeds to do; and then let the process play out.

Moses had no clue what to do here; the women were pushing against the culture at the time. And God said “they speak well.” This means God agreed with their assertion. So what does God do?

He immediately tells Moses – “give them a double portion of inheritance with their father’s brothers. Transfer their father’s inheritance to them.”

That was a bold move at the time.

God goes one step further to make sure Moses isn’t put in this position again:

1. If a man dies and has no son, the inheritance goes to his daughters.
2. If he has no daughter, his brothers get the inheritance
3. If he has no brothers, the relative next closest to him in his father’s family shall get it.

This was made clear!

Next in today’s portion, we are getting ready for Moses to leave us in the story. God tells Moses it’s time. He was directing Moses to go to the mountain so he could see the promised land. But Moses would not enter it.

Moses is concerned for the people; and he asks God to appoint someone to lead.

God tells Moses to persuade Joshua to do it. To lay hands on Joshua and appoint him as leader. Here is where it gets interesting, and we learn some of the mysticism of the Torah:

God tells Moses to lay his hands on Joshua and to “give him some of your glow.”

Here we have our first “glow up” I think.

What I have been learning lately is about energy transfer. Those who give energy (glow) and those who receive (or worse case “suck”) energy. Moses had a lot of spiritual energy (glow) and was transferring that to Joshua. But Joshua needed to be convinced first.

Moses did all of this and the transfer for energy and power was given to Joshua in front of the priests.

What do you think?