Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 22 Elul, 5784
Parsha Nitzavim/Va-Yelekh– “Standing Firmly/He Went”: (Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20/ Deuteronomy 31:1 – 31:30)
Fourth Portion: Deuteronomy 30:15 – 31:6

Good morning! As I review my thoughts from the past two years regarding this passage, there is a lot that stands out for me – intersecting my past with my present.

Two years ago (see my commentary below), I announced the launch of TikkunOlam47.com  – It has been an exciting journey.  Today, I am letting people know I am taking on a new job in 5875!  I will be the Director of Human Resources at a Nursing Care facility in Cooperstown! It is a Jewish run company, so there are a lot of aligned values for SURE!

Let’s dig into freedom and liberation:

15Behold, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil,

16inasmuch as I command you this day to love the Lord, your God, to walk in His ways, and to observe His commandments, His statutes, and His ordinances, so that you will live and increase, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land to which you are coming to take possession of it.

So we talk about good and evil, and I mostly eschew those terms. The Torah does mention what “good” is and what “evil” is – and it really is a matter of “good” being connected with the Universe around us and “evil” being disconnected.

What I am leaning into is the CULTURE we live in that adds “weight” to these words and concepts.  Because life and good? Is love. It’s expansive. It’s abundance. It’s blessing. It’s security.

17But if your heart deviates and you do not listen, and you will be drawn astray, and you will prostrate yourself to other deities and serve them,

18I declare to you this day, that you will surely perish, and that you will not live long days on the land, to which you are crossing the Jordan, to come and take possession thereof.

“Evil” on the other hand? Is choosing to not listen to the universe – the flow – being pulled away from love. And? Pulling away from love? Leads to death.

And? You STILL get to enter the promised land. You just aren’t going to live there long because you don’t WANT love.

That is freedom. That is choice. That is liberation.

Just sitting with that.

19This day, I call upon the heaven and the earth as witnesses [that I have warned] you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. You shall choose life, so that you and your offspring will live;

20To love the Lord your God, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him. For that is your life and the length of your days, to dwell on the land which the Lord swore to your forefathers to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give to them.

 Today? We have a choice. To connect with love or to turn away from love.

When I started my journaling journey on August 15, 2020 – the first words I wrote were this:

“When I am trying to survive – there is no time to care for things or others. It is hard to care for others when I am just trying to make it to the end of each day.”

This is what feels like slavery. I want to care for things and others. I just don’t have time for it. Because I am just trying to survive.

It is literally four years later (August 15, 2020 was 25 Av, 5780).  And I can honestly say, I have come a long way on my journey.

We have a choice. Always. And sometimes we make the choice to survive. I know over the past four years, I have made the choice in a moment to survive. And? I have learned; the next moment comes and I get to “begin again” and make a different choice. That’s all we can do. Make a choice in a moment – survive or thrive.

And today, I read this from Mark Nepo:

We spend so much of our time on Earth running after or running from. In our want of love, we chase after someone or set ourselves up as bait. In our dreams of success, we hunt after goals and hide from what we or others perceive as failure. And none of it—none of the strategizing to land a job or the hiding in order to prevent being hurt-can reward us with peace or protect us from life.

As Robert Mason so wisely infers, our recourse to complacency and unhappiness is not to hunt for bigger game or to hide our deepest hurts. Nor is it to move our inner furniture to another town or bedroom. Our greatest chance to change our life is to close our habits of mind and to open our ever-virgin hearts.

I can tell you – the way forward is to open our hearts. Not double down into our minds. Our minds protect us. That is their function. Our minds keep us alive. Our consciousness? Wants to live freely. This is life. This is love.

Let’s move forward.  Because right here? Is where we shift Parshas.  What a beautiful transition.

We were reading in “Standing Firmly.”  We now transition to “He went.”

The way forward – opening our hearts. And after all we have read in the Torah? All we have seen from Moses? He shows us the way:

31:1And Moses went, and he spoke the following words to all Israel.

2He said to them, “Today I am one hundred and twenty years old. I can no longer go or come, and the Lord said to me, “You shall not cross this Jordan.”

Moses is being vulnerable here. Unpacking his heart. It is beautiful. The move for us is to acknowledge our vulnerabilities. Not hide them.

3The Lord, your God He will cross before you; He will destroy these nations from before you so that you will possess them. Joshua he will cross before you, as the Lord has spoken.

4And the Lord will do to them, as He did to the Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, and to their land, [all of] which He destroyed.

5And [when] the Lord delivers them before you, you shall do to them according to all the commandment that I have commanded you.

6Be strong and courageous! Neither fear, nor be dismayed of them, for the Lord, your God He is the One Who goes with you. He will neither fail you, nor forsake you.”

Moses is speaking from his heart. “It’s going to be ok. The suffering you THINK is coming? Hashem is going to take care of it. The Universe has your back.”

Choose love. That is the way forward. Love ourselves enough to risk opening our hearts to one another.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 20 Elul, 5783

Today is an interesting day as we are in the middle of the week.  Today our triple portion straddles two Parsha.  We finish out “Nitzavim” (Standing Firmly) and we start Va-Yelekh (He Went).

My learning this morning has been around the idea of survival.

As the Jews living in Egypt. As the Jews living in the wilderness.  They had a survival mentality.  They just wanted to survive.

The promised land was NOT about survival.  It was love. It was thriving. And for people with a survival mentality, I think this was going to be a really tough transition.

We have a choice. Freedom. The freedom to believe Hashem merely wants us to survive this human experience. Or the freedom to believe Hashem wants to us be aware and conscious of the difficulties around us – and instead live in our element.

I asked a friend what love was.  This was their response:

“Love is fearless, boundless, limitless, like my slate has been wiped clean, renewed, immensely alive, free, untethered, just to name a few.”

It’s freedom. Liberation. It’s the opposite of survival.

I also read this morning in Mark Nepo’s Book of Awakening (Highly recommend!) And he wrote about being in our “element.”  The idea that Fish live in water and birds live in air.  If you take a fish out of it’s element, it will die.  It will struggle to survive – but eventually it will die.  If you take a bird and surround it with water, it will die. It will struggle to try to survive – but it is out of it’s element.

As Humans, what is OUR element? I talk with friends about earth, water, fire, air, space as elemental.  But what if that is NOT our true element?

Mark Nepo writes this: “If you feel energy and excitement and a sense that life is happening for the first time, you are probably near your God-given nature.”  This is our element.  Mark Nepo adds this: “Joy in what we do is not an added feature; it is a sign of deep health.”

Our natural element is love.  That is our nature. That is our purpose. Our element. Like water is to fish. Air is to birds. Love is our promised land.

When we are not living in love – we are surviving.  And I look within and around – and I see a lot of us surviving. Living each moment – just surviving. That is not living in our element.

Friends, the Torah is a book of love. Freedom. Liberation.  Choice.  We can CHOOSE to live in our element or not.  And we can choose to LOVE ourselves instead of making the choice NOT to live in our element. Because we ALWAYS have the choice to live in our element in any particular moment.

And want to know a secret?  We have the power to time travel.  If there are moments in our past we are afraid to engage; afraid to be in; because we feel guilt and shame? We can go back in time to those moments and CHOOSE to love ourselves. To see ourselves in our natural element back then.  Although at the moment we were in survival mode, we have the power to go back and just be there – and see ourselves in love.

So that is our message as we close 5783.  Can we choose love? A year ago I was mining diamonds as 5782 came to a close. Turning rocks to diamonds.  This year, I am mining my past for diamonds. Instead of writing my story as a survival story – my story is one of immense love uncovered. And all of us have this opportunity. The Torah is clear. It is love.

I am curious to your thoughts!

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 28 Elul 5782

Shabbat Shalom! Our last Shabbat of 5782! Such a wonderful day of rest. The reason these thoughts are late is a result of the rest and Learning this morning for my own self.

Before digging in, the learning this morning has been around the ideas of vulnerability, connection, power, and intimacy. It’s around the idea of adaptability and flexibility. The differences between anxiety and joy and how there are critical connections between the two. How all of these things play with one another within us. more to write in the future as these are not fully fleshed out; but it’s been a great end of the year for me on this final Shabbat. The image I have in my head is that 5782 has been all about pressure and compaction- and that what will be produced is going to be a diamond of 5783. A gem. Today has been full of diamonds. I hope your day is the same. That all of the pressure of 5782 produces within us rich diamonds in abundance!

Let’s dig in!

I want to turn the clock ahead to tomorrow first. On the last day of 5782 we start a new Parsha; “he went” (Va-Yelekh).

Putting this in context; todays portion is the final thing Moses is going to tell us before we move. Before we take action. It’s a fulcrum passage for us, and it’s rich.

It’s three paragraphs. And again, I want to share the entirety of it. Here’s the first paragraph:

Deuteronomy 30:15-16

“See! I have given you today (a choice of) life and good, or death and evil! For I am commanding you today to love God, your God, to walk in His ways, and to observe His commandments, His suprarational commands, and His rational commands, so that you will live and prosper. God, your God, will then bless you in the land to which you are coming to take possession.”

It’s interesting we start with “see” and not “hear” or “listen.”

Moses is telling us to look at what has been manifested; see it. Don’t just close our eyes, but open our eyes and see what is before us.

And he tells us; today. This moment. This is the moment. And the same will be true in the next moment. The next day. Today. See.

What are we called to see?

Choice. Freedom. Liberation. Those second two words are my additions. Choice means freedom and liberation. Today we have choice. The choice is clear: life and good or death and evil. Those are the choices. And if we are confused as to that choice, Moses clarifies it: love. Love is the benchmark of the choice.

We are called to choose between life and goodness. Love. Or rejection of love which brings death and evil. That’s the choice we have. Today. We can choose for yesterday. That choice was already made. We can’t change it. We can only begin again. In this moment. Choose.

Why are we called to choose? So that we will live and prosper. We aren’t stuck. We have choices to make in every moment. We may feel stuck by our circumstances- can you imagine the Israelites camping by the Jordan? “Enough already Moses! Let’s Goooooooooo.” But Moses is saying “we are already there.” The choice of freedom and liberation comes first. Because the last line says “God will THEN bless you in the land to which you are coming to take possession.”

Here’s the spoiler. The promised land wasn’t the end goal. It’s the result and consequence of the end goal. Freedom and liberation. Choice. Those things are what we need to enter the promised land. The choice happens BEFORE. If you are waiting for the promised land before making a choice, you are missing the message of the Torah. This isn’t a message to just listen to; we are called to see it.

Because let’s move to the next paragraph:

Deuteronomy 30:17-18

But if your heart strays and you do not listen, and you turn away and prostrate yourself to other gods and serve them, I am declaring to you today, that you will definitely perish! You will not live a long time on the land, which you are crossing via the Jordan, to come and take possession.

So, even those who CHOOSE death and evil on this day will still enter the promised land. We will enter the land but we won’t be long in the land. The land is the RESULT of our choices. The RESULT of our freedom and liberation. It is not the source. The source? It’s us. Our freedom and liberation.

Joseph was free while in prison in Egypt. He dreamed dreams. He made connections. He became free and then had abundance. That abundance lasted a while but then circumstances changed. There was a new Pharoah. Who enslaved the Israelites. The children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But Hashem freed them. External forces enslaved them. But they called out to Hashem and He freed them.

We must look inside ourselves for our freedom and liberation. Moses ends with this:

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

I am calling upon the heaven and the earth (which are eternal) as witnesses against you! I have set before you (a choice of) life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life! Then you and your children will live, to love God, your God, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him-for He is your life and the length of your days—to live on the land which God swore to your fathers to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them.

The Chumash I’m reading has this spiritual vitamin for us:

“The Torah that we have and cherish is God-given, and it contains not only our way of life, but also the key to our existence for all times, since it is eternal, as its Giver. It is not a book of theory, philosophy and speculation, but a practical guide for our daily life, valid in all places and at all times, including 21st century America.”

Friends; as we close out this spiritual year; let us remember we have freedom to choose. In the next 60 seconds will we do good? Or will we do evil? Do we know the difference? Do we stop to even consider it? Or do we just follow our impulses without ever considering whether they are good or evil?

Make this choice! And the choice today will determine how we will live the next year- 5783 stands in front of us; we are going to enter it. Will we live a prosperous year? or will we merely be there for a short period of time before returning to our prison. We can be free.

I’m curious to what you think?

As always, my thoughts on the last Haftorah of 5782 will be in the comments below!

Todays Haftorah is the final Haftorah of comfort before Rosh Hashanah. The Haftorah covers Isaiah 61:10-63:9

The Haftorah starts with the redemption of Zion. God has clothed us in “Garments of Salvation.” And “robes of righteousness.”

What are these garments and robes?

My theory/hypothesis? They are our bodies. Our souls are clothed in these bodies of salvation and righteousness. To connect with the Torah portion; our bodies have the choice to do good or evil.

Isaiah 61 ends with this line; “For just like the earth brings forth its growth, and a garden makes its seeds grow, so too will God Almighty cause the righteousness and praise of Israel to sprout before all the nations.”

This is all about a process. Growth. Development. This isn’t an exam. A judgment. The goal with each year, with each Torah cycle, is to grow like a garden. And we can choose the direction and momentum of our growth.

Isaiah 62 promises us that Hashem will it be quiet as long as we are in process; until our righteousness emergence’s like a shining light – and salvation like a burning torch.

As we achieve freedom and liberation. As we achieve healing and growth; we will light the way for others. In the words of the Mandalorian; “this is the way.”

And Hashem promised us we will be protected. We will change- here’s what it says:

You will be protected like a crown of beauty in God’s hand, a royal coronet in the palm of your God.

You will no longer be called “Abandoned by God” and your land will no longer be called “Desolation.” Rather, you will be called “I desire her” and your land “inhabited,” for God will desire you, and your land will be inhabited. “

How often do we abandoned and desolate? Freedom and liberation bring desire. That is crucial.

And it’s not because we did anything to warrant this. In fact, the Haftorah says God looked around and saw no one had merit – no one. Isaiah 63 includes this; “For I have been planning a day of vengeance against the nations for a long time, and the year of redemption for My people has now come.”

Was 5782 the year of redemption for us? Or will that be 5783? I think that has to do with our choice. Isaiah 63 continues;

“I looked around for a merit with which the Jewish people might be redeemed, but there was no merit to help. I was amazed that there was no merit to be of help in redeeming them. So My arm wrought their salvation for Me and not their own merit, and My anger against the nations supported Me in wreaking vengeance upon them. I trampled peoples in My wrath and made them drunk with the cup of My rage. I cast the blood of their strength down to the ground.”

Did that sound like your 5782? It does for me. If it doesn’t, then buckle up for 5783.

Because here is why. Here is why we go through this. We have no merit.

But we do;

The prophet says, “Israel will relate God’s kind deeds and His praise for everything He has done for us -all the good He has granted to the House of Israel in His mercy and great kindness” When God took them out of Egypt, He said, “Indeed, they alone are My people, children who were not unfaithful and did not forsake Me, and He became their Savior.”

Our sufferings happen because we cannot understand kindness without suffering. How would we know kindness if we never suffered? Sit with that. Like the yin/yang or light/dark. These aren’t bad combos. They have a purpose. Rabbi Meir tells me often “we go down in order to go up.” There’s a balance.

We close the Haftorah with this comfort:

“All their sufferings caused Him pain and the angel who stands before Him saved them, Likewise, out of His love and mercy He redeemed them. He will bear them and carry them forever.”

God does not hate us. He wants us to be free. How free are we? That’s the question to ask ourselves as we close 5782. We have one more day. What will we do with that day?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Elul, 5782

Our last day of 5782!!!! Tonight at sundown starts 5783. May our day today be filled with closure, transition, and abundance for a sweet new year!

Today I am taking a solo journey to Herkimer, NY to mine for Herkimer Diamonds. I’m excited to mine for gems; this process is mirroring the mining I’ve been doing internally through the past year. I have found an abundance of gems:

• I have an abundance of freedom and liberation
• I have an abundance of talents and giftings discovered.
• I have an abundance of harmony both internal for myself and ready to push out to the world
• I have an abundance of love for myself
• I have an abundance of energy and vigor being down 80 pounds this year
• I have an abundance of love for my children
• I have an abundance of love for life.
• I have experienced an abundance of healing- working on my 17 year old self, my 14 year old self, my 8 year old self, and my 5 year old self.
• I have an abundance of friends and support; So many friends. Friends who have returned to my life after 32 years, and new friends I didn’t know in 5781. I have an abundance of support for my mind, body and soul.

This is the true diamond of 5782.

Diamonds are made by pressure. If we have been under pressure this year, hopefully we can mine the year for diamonds! Excited to go on an adventure today (I have never mined diamonds before) to close out this year!

Let’s dig into this week’s Parsha;

This week we are studying Va-Yelekh; but we will have some special readings for Rosh Hashanah as well!

Va-Yelekh means “he went” and it recounts Moses’ last day. We just finished Moses’ last lecture, his final commandments, and his encouragement. Before we enter freedom and liberation, we get one last day with Moses. It is interesting that we start this on the one last day of 5782!

The Chumash has this inspiration for us as we navigate this Parsha:

“Va-Yelekh means “he went,” indicating movement, the hallmark of vitality and life. Be firm in your principles, but always seek to grow. Hold to truth without compromise, but always seek to expand.”

Flexibility and adaptability are going to be key on our journey over 5783. We need to stand firm on our values and principles – but growth is going to come. We just need to avoid resistance.

Let’s dig in!

We have another short passage today;

Deuteronomy 31:1-3:

“Moses went and he spoke the following words to all Israel. He said to them, “Today I am one hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer (permitted by God) to lead (you) out (to war) and bring (you) back (safely again, even though I am physically capable of doing so, because) God said to me, “You may not cross this (river) Jordan.”

It is God, your God, who will take you across the Jordan. He will destroy these nations before you so that you will take possession of their (lands. And) it is Joshua who will lead you across, as God has said.”

I think this passage is so important. Had Moses led the Jews into the promised land; there would be temptation to see Moses being responsible for their true liberation. He had to pass the mantle on to Joshua. It isn’t a person external to us that leads us to freedom and liberation. There isn’t a guru, a coach, a mentor, or therapist, a significant other that will lead us to freedom and liberation. These relationships all exist because Hashem knows we have within us the capacity for freedom and liberation. We have our Neshama. We have our higher selves. These relationships point us inward. That was Moses’ role all along. We cannot look externally for answers and directions; we need to look within. That seems to be (in my opinion) the message of the Torah. Freedom and liberation is all within us. We have what we need for the journey. Hashem provides inspiration through others to help us fall in love with ourselves; not to a point of conceit; but to a point of source energy. Like batteries of love that can light and energize those around us, our true liberation is about lighting the world. That is Tikkun Olam.

Tikkun Olam means “repair (or heal) the world.”

As a preview of what’s to come for me in 5783, I am going to be launching a second website called TikkunOlam47.com. I’m hoping to launch this second website by Simchat Torah; and will be using my daily Torah thoughts from this past year as content foundation for this endeavor.

I am not leaving my job at The Arc Otsego (for those of you concerned) but will just be ramping up some of the side sources of income I had prior to COVID and expanding them.

This isn’t an infomercial. I’ll share more marketing as it manifests. But I felt compelled given the thoughts above to share with you my goal for 5783.

And why tikkunolam 47? Honestly, all I can share is that the number 47 has been coming up a lot for me this year. Not sure what it’s about, but put that in there because I have been sensing it. I think some of it may have to do with my 47th year of life being the foundation for my current healing process. But I’m still exploring that!

Anyway. Enjoy this last day of 5782; May all of us mine diamonds today and have gems in our pockets going into 5783!