Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 22 Elul, 5783

Good morning!  Today’s portion is about the transition of power. As we enter into 5784, what power will drive and guide us?  Moses served the Israelites, but now it’s Joshua’s turn.

When we look at names, Moses means “to pull out/draw out.”  All year long, we have been working through the Torah and pulling out of us the things that aren’t us.  Leaving behind MORE of who we are than we were a year ago.  We didn’t “add” to our lives this year – we let go, we were freed.

It is time to let the pulling and drawing out die.  As we transition and let go of this survival – which (according to my amazing therapist) is the ultimate form of loving our selves (because if we didn’t love ourselves, we wouldn’t fight for our survival) – and move TOWARDS a new purpose and leadership.  Joshua.

What does Joshua’s name mean?  “God is deliverance.”  Yeho – shua. God – to deliver or save.

What dies? Our effort to survive.  Spiritual liberation means allowing the universe to unfold. To just accept.

I was watching a tik tok (that’s what the kids are watching these days) from Sadhguru – who is a Hindu priest.  He said

“You don’t need to DO anything.  Within yourself, you must come to a total sense of ACCEPTANCE of everything.”

“So, somebody said something, somebody did something, somebody stepped on your foot, somebody stepped on your head. 24 hours. A small prescription.  Only for 24 hours. Come to an absolute acceptance of everything.  Your mental things, your emotional things, your bodily things, every damn thing.  And the social things – just simply accepting it as it is. You don’t have to do anything with anybody, just within yourself.”

“If you just do this, life will happen on a larger scale.”

This is the transition. This is Joshua. Moving from the work of pulling out – drawing out.  And into just total acceptance.  This is the new leadership within as we enter 5784.

Don’t worry.  We will be back here again.  And once again, we will need to ask ourselves – can we totally accept what is happening for us, around us? Or will we resist and fight it?

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 4 Tishri, 5783

Good morning! Today we continue our journey with the portion where God tells Moses “it’s time.”

Imagine hearing God tell us (as the Torah says); “The time is now approaching for you to die. Call Joshua and stand in the Tent of Meeting, and I will encourage him.”

How would we feel about this news? Would we be satisfied with knowing our days were up? Would we feel liberated? Burdened? Satisfied? Happy?

Moses probably was a mix of emotions I’d imagine.

Hashem joins Moses and Joshua. And the news isn’t pretty. Imagine Moses and Joshua’s reaction to what Hashem tells them;

“You are soon to lie with your fathers. This nation will rise up and desire to follow the gods of the people of the land into which they are coming. They will forsake Me and violate My covenant which I made with them. On that day, I will become very angry with them. I will forsake them and hide My face from them, (appearing as if do not see their distress). They will be consumed and many misfortunes and traumas will happen to them. On that day, they will say, ‘It is surely because our God is no longer among us, that these evils have befallen us!’ I will surely hide My face on that day, because of all the evil they have committed, when they turned to other gods.”

Ugh. Not very encouraging, Hashem.

Now. Remember; these are free and liberated people. Hashem has freed them. He has given them the Torah to guide them in their freedom. And they will still choose to enslave themselves.

As a fan of battlestar galactica, the quote “all this has happened before, all this will happen again” comes to mind.

Hashem tells Moses and Joshua; it’s going to cycle. We will be back in Egypt.

A few things to consider from some rabbis;

Rabbi Simcha Bunem writes –

“By admitting that these misfortunes have come upon them because “God is no longer among us” the people expressed remorse for their wrongdoing. Why, then, are they still deserving of punishment, “I will surely hide My face” (v. 18)?

Although the recognition that misfortune befalls man as a result of sin is well founded, nevertheless, the sentiment that “God is no longer among us” is itself sinful. God is always among us, even at a time of terrible misfortune. It is just that His face, His loving countenance, is hidden.

In a sense God gave the people the reality they believed. They believed God wasn’t with them; so God wasn’t “with” them. Obviously He was still there. But He gave the people what they “wanted.” They manifested the reality of God disappearing from their view.

Rabbi Meir b Jacob Schiff adds to this:

Scripture uses a double expression for “hide” (haster ‘astir) alluding to an extremely pitiful state of the children of Israel. Not only will Godliness be concealed, but the fact that it is hidden also will elude them. They will say. “God is no longer among us” (v. 17). When a young child knows that his parents are present. even if he cannot see them he is comforted. If he believes that they are gone, it is devastating.

So great. God says to Moses; it’s time for you to die. Go get Joshua; let’s have a chat. Hashem tells them; it doesn’t look good here. I Exist outside of time; I know what’s going to happen. Basically, they end up back in their own Egypt.

But Hashem doesn’t leave them here. He’s got a plan. He gives them a command.

“Now, write for yourselves this song (we are going to read about the song next week) and teach it to the Children of Israel.”

“Place it into their mouths, so that this song will be for Me as a witness to the children of Israel.”

And that’s how we close today’s portion.

What is this song? Why is it important? We will need to wait and see next week. If we want to avoid ending up back in Egypt, and want to remain liberated and free, we will need to focus on this song!

Many believe the “song” commandment is a commandment for each of us to write our own Torah scroll. And in a sense, I think this past year, I’ve been fulfilling that mitzvah in my own way. I’ve studied and written about the Torah. It’s an interesting take.

In closing, I want to share the words of Rabbi Schneerson about this:

This Torah portion contains two commandments:

• • Hakhel-Gathering the entire people in Jerusalem after the Sabbatical year to hear the king read from the Torah (verses 10-13); and,
  • the commandment of writing a Torah scroll (v. 19).

What is the significance of the fact that these last two commandments in the Torah were both transmitted by Moses on the day of his passing?

As long as the Jewish people were in the desert, memories of the experience at Sinai remained fresh. Even those members of the next generation who had not seen the giving of the Torah with their eyes, had nevertheless grown up in a spiritual oasis where the effects of Sinai were still palpable. But at this junction in time, the Jewish people were leaving that oasis and embarking on the formidable challenge of living a life dominated by earning physical needs-and this was to be without the leadership of Moses. To help overcome these hurdles, the Jewish people were given two commandments whose purpose was to enable them to recreate the experience of Sinai in their new setting.

At a Hakhel gathering: “They must prepare their hearts and alert their ears to listen with dread and awe and with trembling joy, like the day it was given on Sinai… as though the Torah was being commanded to him now and he was hearing it from the mouth of the Almighty, for the king is an agent to make the words of God heard” (Maimonides).

However, this only recreates the national experience of being commanded by God to observe the commandments. In order to reenact the personal experience of being given the Torah by God to study, a further commandment was given- to write a Torah scroll. For when a person writes one with his own hand, it is as if he received it from Mount Sinai”

Interesting. What are your thoughts?