Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 2 Elul, 5784
Parsha Shofetim – “Judges”: (Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9)
Fifth Portion: Deuteronomy 18:14 – 19:13

Good morning! Today (for us) is the first day back at school. This process is always an interesting time for the kids. The “advance” on their learning journey – and? Are still where they were last year at the end of the year.

So as we shift – Elul is almost like a “summer” between the last year and the next.  We can choose to reflect – what did we learn? What do we want to learn? Or we can distract. Or both?

This is a time to both enjoy and reflect. To look in the mirror. It’s a time to reflect on questions we have. Direction for our lives.

We can have fun AND be in our hearts.  That’s what this cycle is about (in my opinion).

Let’s dig in:

14For these nations, which you are to possess, hearken to diviners of [auspicious] times and soothsayers, but as for you, the Lord, your God, has not given you [things] like these.

15A prophet from among you, from your brothers, like me, the Lord, your God will set up for you; you shall hearken to him.

16According to all that you asked of the Lord, your God, in Horeb, on the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not continue to hear the voice of the Lord, my God, and let me no longer see this great fire, so that I will not die.”

17And the Lord said to me, “They have done well in what they have spoken.

So The Torah distinguishes between a diviner, soothsayer and a prophet.

Why? Because Hashem has given us prophets – people connected to the universe; to Hashem. They are not “predicting” as much as asking the questions Hashem would ask. The answers are always ours. Or? The new questions that are created.

I wrote this last year, and it feels appropriate to bring back up:

Something I am reflecting on.  Divination.  The idea we can “know” the future is a problem in the Torah.  But asking Hashem for answers to big questions and asking Him for signs? That is kosher.  Chabad calls this a “decision of national significance.”  These are decisions that have to be made in a moment.  We can consult Hashem.  But what we WON’T know?  The outcome.

And? We can know the future to a degree.

18I will set up a prophet for them from among their brothers like you, and I will put My words into his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I command him.

19And it will be, that whoever does not hearken to My words that he speaks in My name, I will exact [it] of him.

We are called to listen to these prophets among us. This creates questions, doesn’t it? How do we know someone is a prophet. Maybe the Torah will answer it?

20But the prophet who intentionally speaks a word in My name, which I did not command him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.

Well. That is easy. If someone is speaking for Hashem words that aren’t from Him? That Prophet will die.

21Now if you say to yourself, “How will we know the word that the Lord did not speak?”

22If the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, and the thing does not occur and does not come about, that is the thing the Lord did not speak. The prophet has spoken it wantonly; you shall not be afraid of him.

So when someone speaks in the name of Hashem and it does not occur?

• They are STILL a prophet. Notice the Torah doesn’t say that person isn’t a prophet.
• Prophets can speak “wantonly” meaning they bring their own desires to the message.
• We don’t need to be afraid of that Prophet.
• They are still a prophet.
• We should be afraid of Prophets who speak for Hashem when things DO occur that they say will occur.

We now shift gears. But before we do, we really need to dwell on truth.  What is truth? Truth is reality. And it is different for all of us. And? Where our truths intersect? That is where community is built.

We now look at murder and death.

19:1When the Lord, your God, cuts off the nations, whose land the Lord, your God, is giving you, and you inherit them, and dwell in their cities and in their houses,

2you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the Lord, your God, is giving you to possess.

3Prepare the road for yourself and divide into three parts the boundary of your land, which the Lord, your God, is giving you as an inheritance, and it will be for every killer to flee there.

These are setting up the “cities of refuge.” Three cities for safety. For killers to flee.

Why would the Torah set this up? Why protect the killer?

4And this is the case of the killer who will flee there, so that he may live: Whoever strikes his fellow [to death] unintentionally, whom he did not hate in times past.

Because sometimes accidents happen. That’s why.

5As when a man goes with his fellow into the forest to chop wood, and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the iron flies off the handle, and it reaches his fellow, and he dies he shall flee to one of these cities, and live.

Accidents happen.

And? I don’t believe there are accidents.

Let’s talk for a minute about us. About humanity. If we are truly souls with a body wrapped around us? Death isn’t an ending. It’s a returning. And if we take matters into our own hands (like intentionally killing someone we hate) we are going beyond our authority.

And? If an accident should happen, and someone dies? That person who died? Lived out their soul’s purpose on this earth. Because (I believe) all of us are here for a reason. We spent our entire time in these bodies unpacking this purpose. Learning about our soul. So death? Is just the release of our soul into the next iteration.

And? We have justice. Killing another is not ok.

6Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the killer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and he strikes him to death, whereas he was not deserving of death, for he had not hated him in times past.

So the Torah understands the impact here. There are times accidents will happen because a person’s purpose on this earth is over for now. And there needed to be placed of refuge so that those who accidentally killed someone didn’t ALSO die.

7Therefore, I command you, saying, “You shall separate for yourself three cities.”

So the Torah explains EXACTLY why these cities of refuge are being set up.

8And when the Lord, your God, expands your boundary, as He swore to your forefathers, and He gives you all the land of which He spoke to give to your forefathers;

9if you will keep all this commandment to perform it, which I command you this day, to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in His ways all the days, you shall add three more cities for yourself, in addition to these three,

10so that innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord, your God, gives you for an inheritance which would deem you guilty of [having shed this] blood.

And? As we grow and expand? We are to add more cities.

And? I am reflecting on within us. Do we have places within we can go for refuge?

Because if the Torah has grace for someone who unintentionally kills another human? Can we have grace for ourselves when we betray, murder, and abandon our own hearts? Can we go to a place to find refuge instead of living in fear, guilt, and shame?

11But if a man hates his fellow, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, and strikes him mortally, and he flees to one of these cities,

12the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of the blood, that he may die.

13And you shall not pity him, but you shall abolish [the shedding of] the blood of the innocent from Israel, and it will be good for you.

And? If we do this INTENTIONALLY? That is a major problem. There is no refuge.

The message?  Intent matters.

This is a little tough to hear. Because in the tension between intent and impact? I tend to look at the impact more than the intent. And? It’s likely both/and – not either/or.

That is what I am reflecting on this morning.  How about you?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 30 Av, 5783

Good morning! Today is the last day of this moon cycle.  We are now finishing out the month of Av.  At sundown tonight, we start the last moon cycle of the spiritual year.  This is a major time of introspection.

Today’s portion really has two pieces – discussing the Umim and Thumim – which seem to contradict the idea of divination – but don’t.  And the idea of murder and “cities of refuge.”

Something I am reflecting on.  Divination.  The idea we can “know” the future is a problem in the Torah.  But asking Hashem for answers to big questions and asking Him for signs? That is kosher.  Chabad calls this a “decision of national significance.”  These are decisions that have to be made in a moment.  We can consult Hashem.  But what we WON’T know?  The outcome.

A friend and I were talking about the difference between the Optimist and the Pessimist.  The issue with both is they are grounded in a future.  Both sides of the coin look at the future and judge whether it will be positive or negative.  We often associate the idea of Optimism as seeing the “glass half full” and the Pessimist seeing the “glass half empty.”  But I am not sure that accurately reflects this idea.

If you search the definitions – both are connected to the future and outcomes.

In a moment – any given moment – we can choose hope. Hope is different (in my opinion) – we can HOPE for a future and recognize we may be disappointed.  But hope creates space for a different outcome than one we desired.  Hope is a moment by moment process.  We talk about “losing hope” or “having hope.”

If we are struggling with hope – we can consult Hashem.  If we become too cynical (and those of you who know me know I can be QUITE cynical) we can consult Hashem and find Hope.

I’d argue the space between cynicism and hope is the space created with spiritual liberation.  As we become more spiritually free, we are less tied to outcomes. We all know. The Torah is going to start over.  We are going to go back to Genesis.  And we are going to end up in Egypt again. And we will be freed from Egypt after our suffering. And we will have an opportunity.  And that opportunity will be dashed because we listened to the 10 cynical spies, and not the 2 spies who trusted Hashem.  And we will wander in the desert for 40 years. And we will see parts of us die out. And the few parts that have hope? They get to go into the promised land. And then we start over. Again. And Again.

The real journey is to accept this reality.  The ride of our lifetime. And continue to choose hope in every moment.  To let go of the guilt and shame. The feelings of inadequacy. And. STOP MURDERING OURSELVES.

Because that is how I think these concepts are connected.  We have opportunity to find hope. We have opportunity to be cynical. We have agency. And we can choose to TREAT OURSELVES with disdain – and we are offered an opportunity.

The opportunity is embedded in this:

Moses finishes up the passage today with discussing the “cities of refuge.” These cities are established to protect murderers. But there are conditions to be able to seek refuge:

1. Unintentional blows where it was an immediate response and reaction. There was no hate towards the person the day or two prior
2. Accidental death because of a foreign object (like an axe handle flying off and hitting someone)

#1?  Our opportunity is to focus on the day or two prior.  Are we choosing hatred of ourselves? Because in this moment we don’t have to choose that.  But if we continue to?  If we do something unintentional as a reaction that really kills us? We aren’t protected.  So we must. In each moment. Choose Love.  Because that is the ONLY choice we have.

#2? We literally have no control over that happening.  If we are going about our life, and an accident happens – a TRUE accident – something we can’t really explain?  And that accident causes pain or harm?  We are free and protected in those moments.

So where are we today?  Are we grounded in this love? Do we look in the mirror and think to ourselves -“I love you?” Or do we instead look ourselves in the mirror and say “I am inadequate and unworthy of love?”  Or do we AVOID looking in the mirror all together because we ALREADY KNOW the answer to this question.  Because (in my opinion) Hashem wants us to look in the mirror and just be honest. If what is real for you is “I am inadequate and unworthy of love” then you at least understand your need.  The healing in front of you. Because “I am inadequate and unworthy of love” is a VALID feeling.  Feeling inadequate and unworthy is NOT something to be ashamed about (spoiler alert – most of us feel this with you).  But DISTRACTING OURSELVES? We cannot heal these wounds and feelings if we avoid looking.

Those are my thoughts today.  I’d love yours!

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 5 Elul, 5782

Another day of introspection- I hope you are able to go within to find our true liberation from slavery!

Yesterday we spoke against fortune telling. And we juxtaposed that with the idea of prophecy.

Today Moses continues with this:

“While these nations listen to diviners of fortuitous tunes and stick diviners, God has not given you things like these – but rather genuine prophets and the Urim and Thummim.

What is the Urim and Thummin? I’m attaching an article for us – https://www.chabad.org/…/What-Were-the-Urim-and-Thummim…

So it was basically a reading oracle. They would see answers to big questions in it. So – we need to be careful- there is obviously a place and a continuum here. And I’d argue; unless we’ve been introspective, we should always err on the side of caution.

Moses does tell us that Hashem has given us prophets: they will be from among our brothers. God will put words into their mouths, and will tell people what God commands them to.

So here’s the interesting piece. If a prophet speaks and people do not listen to Hashem’s voice? There will be consequences – and the Torah seems to indicate the consequence being “death from heaven.” So. What is this death from heaven?

I’m going to speculate here. Purely speculation. I wonder if “death from heaven” is the natural consequence of not listening to a prophet. In order to “die from heaven” you must be “living from heaven.” And if you are living connected to heaven, and someone speaks words from Hashem, and you choose not to listen? Then it would be natural for us to be cut off from that flow of energy from heaven, would it not? So this tells me; we need to keep our ears open.

Now. This can get confusing. Because Moses anticipates what we are all wondering – how will we know if someone is truly a prophet and speaking Hashem’s words?? Moses answers us:

If the prophet (claims to) speak in the name of God, and the thing does not occur and (you see that it will) never come about, then it is a declaration which God did not say. The prophet has spoken it (to deceive you) intentionally. Do not be afraid of him.

So it’s interesting here. Two things will tell us someone isn’t a prophet.

1. The thing they spoke never occurs
2. We see that it will never come about

That’s how we know.

Moses finishes up the passage today with discussing the “cities of refuge.” These cities are established to protect murderers. But there are conditions:

1. Unintentional blows where it was an immediate response and reaction. There was no hate towards the person the day or two prior.
2. Accidental death because of a foreign object (like an axe handle flying off and hitting someone)

God makes it clear the signage to these three cities should be made clear.

And if someone is trying to flee to a city of refuge, and the avenger of blood pursues the killer and catches up with him and kills him, he can flee. However, this is why God said to separate three cities; so it would be close for people to flee to.

Moses also tells the people; as you expand your cities keep adding three more cities of refuge.

And what about someone who murders intentionally and flees to the cities? Moses makes it clear:

1. Elders should send representatives to the cities and take him from there. And allow him to die by the “avenger of blood.”
2. Do not have pity on him

Now what is my takeaway here? For me, it’s the reason we should not hate others. Stewing hate in our hearts opens us up to being guilty of intentional murder, even if an ”accident” happens. I think this is an indication that our hearts and souls are powerful – and what we think and feel has a real impact on the world around us. If we choose hate and anger, we will attract hate and anger. If we choose love, kindness, and patience, that is what we will attract.

Thoughts?