Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 20 Elul, 5784
Parsha Nitzavim/Va-Yelekh– “Standing Firmly/He Went”: (Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20/ Deuteronomy 31:1 – 31:30)
Second Portion: Deuteronomy 30:1 – 30:6

Good morning! As the week begins leading up to our final Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah, we are called to spend this time in further reflection. What do we value? Where are we needing to release so we can slingshot forward?

Let’s dig in:

30:1And it will be, when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse which I have set before you that you will consider in your heart, among all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you,

2and you will return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you this day you and your children,

3then, the Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you.

4Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there, and He will take you from there.

5And the Lord, your God, will bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed, and you [too] will take possession of it, and He will do good to you, and He will make you more numerous than your forefathers.

6And the Lord, your God, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, [so that you may] love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, for the sake of your life.

This passage is a fulcrum.

I’ve written about this previously. Our work and time is not linear. It’s cyclical.

• We are going to end up banished from the promised land.
• We will take the blessings and curses Hashem gave us into our hearts and souls. We will move within.
• Hashem with listen to us. And our children.
• We will return from our captivity. We will be free. We will be gathered.
• We will come home.

Because in 5785? The process starts over. We return to the garden. After Yom Kippur, we enter Sukkot. We get our bonus day with Hashem on Shmeni Atzeret. Then we celebrate Simcha Torah – and we return to Genesis. Creation. The Garden.

And? We will end up getting banished. We will become enslaved. We will beg for freedom. We will be granted freedom. We will wander in the wilderness. And we will return to the bank of the Jordan.

And we will come home.

It’s a beautiful growth process for the purpose of healing. Because (I believe) this is why we are here. Our souls are all experiencing the limitations of these bodies FOR THE PURPOSE of healing. Because – our souls without these bodies? There is no need for healing. And there is no need for the feeling of being Triumphant.

Triumphant is a new feeling I’ve been learning about within me.  The healing process connects us to this idea.

We have overcome the limitations of our bodies. We have triumphed.

And then we return home.

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 18 Elul, 5783:

So this week we are reading a double portion, so things tend to be longer in what we read.  But not today!  Yesterday, we read three portions from Nitzavim (Standing Firmly).  But today? We read just one.  This portion “stands firm” whether the portion is a single or a double. I am reflecting on why that might be…

Maybe because of the message.  It predicts the future.  Moses basically tells us:

• We are going to end up banished from the promised land.
• We will take the blessings and curses Hashem gave us into our hearts and souls. We will move within.
• Hashem with listen to us. And our children.
• We will return from our captivity. We will be free.  We will be gathered.
• We will come home.

Repeat.

As we come to the end of 5783, and turn the page into 5784, all of this has happened before – all of this will happen again.  It’s a cycle for a reason.  Seasons. Growth. Pruning. Harvest. Dormancy.

I think the message is to just “be.” To just trust.  Be in a moment.  Trust the process.

And what is the process?  What is the purpose? Where is the labyrinth taking us?

Love.  And the secret? We are already there.  Our hearts will be cut and be opened – so we can love Hashem (remember our Neshama – Hashem in us) and love others.  That’s it.  Love.  I wrote this a year ago, and it feels salient for today:

This is the liberation and freedom we are talking about. Love is liberation. And that liberation starts within. Are we resisting the circumcision of our hearts to occur? And – are we trying to do it ourselves? Or are we letting Hashem circumcise it? Because we can’t. We can’t do it on our own. Hashem is the one to circumcise our hearts. Are we resisting or accepting that? The things in our lives; are we resisting the circumstance? Could it be the design is for our hearts to be circumcised? Because that is our purpose? To love?

What is happening around us? What we believe is happening TO us? It isn’t happening TO us.

It’s happening FOR us.

Receiving the universe as it is happening around us….

or

Resisting the universe as it is happening around us.

Receive or resist. That is the moment. That is love.

Are we receiving? Are we resisting?

Thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 25 Elul, 5782

Four more days left in 5782. As this year draws to a close, are we doing the work to finish strong? Let’s do this!

Moses gets a little “predicty” here in todays portion.

He tells us “what will happen.” Here’s the deal:

• We are going to be among the nations where God has banished us. (That sounds like where we are at today)
• This is what will happen:
  • The blessing and curses Hashem has put in front of us? We will take it into our hearts.
  • We will return to Hashem. With all of our heart and all of our soul.
  • We will listen to His voice. We will begin to do the things the Torah commands us to do.
  • Not only us. Our children as well.
  • In exchange. Hashem will return our captives from exile. He will have mercy on us. He will gather us from all the nations where He has dispersed us.
  • No matter where we are. The highest mountains- He will take us from there and bring us home.

Let’s stop for a minute. This should all feel familiar. Moses is basically creating a  ”liberation loop” for us.

Moses is setting the stage for the Torah cycle.

We are about to be truly liberated and free in the promised land. But before we go, Moses tells us, we are going to end up prisoners again.

And God will gather us again.

Expect it.

It’s almost like we will keep repeating this pattern in front of us. Because Moses closes today’s portion with the following message for us:

After re-gathering everyone, He will bring us BACK into the land which our forefathers possessed. We will take possession of it. Hashem will be good to us. He will make us more numerous than our forefathers.

Hashem will “circumcise” our hearts and the hearts of our children- and this will enable us to love Hashem with all our hearts and with all our souls. For the purpose of our lives.

This is our purpose. Our only purpose. To love Hashem with our hearts and souls. This was why we were created. Love.

Does our heart and soul love? Or do we close ourselves from love?

This is the liberation and freedom we are talking about. Love is liberation. And that liberation starts within. Are we resisting the circumcision of our hearts to occur? And – are we trying to do it ourselves? Or are we letting Hashem circumcise it? Because we can’t. We can’t do it on our own. Hashem is the one to circumcise our hearts. Are we resisting or accepting that? The things in our lives; are we resisting the circumstance? Could it be the design is for our hearts to be circumcised? Because that is our purpose? To love?

This is the journey and cycle of liberation. And I think it’s super important to remember these cycles. And who is directing. We do not control this. We only have a choice; resist it, or accept it.

Where are we living today?

Thoughts?