Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 22 Sivan, 5784
Parsha Shelach-Lekha – “Send For Yourself”: (Numbers 13:1 – 15:41)
Sixth Portion: Numbers 15:17 – 15:26

Good morning! As we prepare for sabbath rest tonight, today’s portion digs into the tradition and command on making and eating challah!  Let’s dig in:

17The Lord spoke to Moses saying:

18Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them, When you arrive in the Land to which I am bringing you,

19and you eat from the bread of the Land, you shall set aside a gift for the Lord.

20The first portion of your dough, you shall separate a loaf for a gift; as in the case of the gift of the threshing floor, so shall you separate it.

21From the first portion of your dough you shall give a gift to the Lord in [all] your generations.

This is a future command. When you arrive into the Land I am bringing you – the promised land. Israel. A place flowing with milk and honey. Abundance. Prosperity. Wealth. We are to always remember Hashem is who brought us here. To give to Him the gifts we have received.

22And if you should err and not fulfill all these commandments, which the Lord spoke to Moses.

23All that the Lord commanded you through Moses, from the day on which the Lord commanded and from then on, for all generations.

24If because of the eyes of the congregation it was committed inadvertently, the entire congregation shall prepare a young bull as a burnt offering for a pleasing fragrance for the Lord, with its prescribed meal offering and libation, and one young he goat for a sin offering.

25The kohen shall atone on behalf of the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it was an error, and they have brought their offering as a fire offering to the Lord and their sin offering before the Lord because of their error.

26The entire congregation of the children of Israel and the proselyte who resides with them shall be forgiven, for all the people were in error.

Hashem also gives the children a way to navigate errors and mistakes. Collectively. As a congregation – meaning – the leaders have led the congregation down the “wrong path.” It was an “error.” It is not the same as a “sin” I notice.

Following the judges – the leaders – that isn’t a sin. It is an inadvertent error.  I am chewing and reflecting on this.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two  years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 27 Sivan, 5783

This morning I am reflecting on today’s portion and I am really concentrating on the idea of Hashem’s provision.  In each moment.

I consider in this moment – “Who I was. Who I am. Who I will be.”  And understand that in each moment, this changes. Who I am in THIS moment will be who I WAS in the next moment.  That is how fast things change.

There are things in the Torah that address who we were.  There are things in the Torah that address who we are.  But today’s portion? It addresses who we ARE and who we WILL be.

“Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: ‘Upon your coming to the land to which I am bringing you, when you eat from the bread of land, you should set aside a portion for God.'”

Moses is in a moment. And he is telling the Israelites about who they will become.  Definitively – they WILL enter the land. They WILL be provided for.  They will get to CHOOSE how they receive and respond to this.  Do they receive with greed?  Or do they receive with Generosity and Trust?  Do they hold tight to Hashem’s provision – or do they let it go?

For me? I can do things NOW with who I AM – to prepare for who I WILL BE.  This is my take away.

What are we doing today. In this moment. To prepare for our future moments?  Not from a place of strategy. Not from a place of stress.  Moses wasn’t telling the people anything strategic.  He was just saying – “Look, when Hashem provides for us in the future? Y’all need to be generous with that.  So – look at yourselves today?  Are you generous?  If not, maybe focus on something in this moment you can be generous with?”

At least that is my takeaway.

So what to do with this?  How do we apply it?

First.  We have to figure out who we are. Really.  

Second, we need to do this with a lens of CURIOSITY.  Often I think when we assess who we are, we do it with a lens of JUDGMENT.  We bring out our “inner critic.”  We look at who we are through the lens of judgment.  We need to STOP this.

Third, once we get a picture of who we are? We need to think about who we WANT to be.  Who we WILL be.  Knowing that tomorrow, we may live 24 hours in which all of that changes.  AND THAT IS OK.  But we can’t worry or concern ourselves with that possibility.  Because we could ALSO live the next 24 hours and discover who we will be is even more clear than we currently know.

Just some thoughts today.  Would love to know what you think!

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 25 Sivan, 5782

Todays portion is super interesting because we are going to explore Challah! Tonight is Shabbat so this is a perfect opportunity to discuss it!

The portion starts with God talking to Moses and this is what mitzvahs he gives us:

• when you enter the land God gives us, when you eat from the bread of the land, set aside a portion for God
• when you knead an Omer of dough, or more, before you eat it, you should set aside the first of your dough- a loaf size portion for God
• there is no fixed minimum you must separate
• but you should give to God enough to be considered a “gift”
• you don’t need to give the entire dough- just a portion from the first of the dough
• do this for all your generations

So – this is interesting. Why does God want dough? He doesn’t really require sustenance, does he?

Why is God asking us to do this?

Some interesting things written:

Rabbi Samuel Jaffe Ashkenazi writes:

“Why is the passage concerning challah (separating a portion from your dough) recorded next to a passage about idol-worship?” (This is coming next)

“To teach you that whoever fulfils the commandment of challah is considered to have done away with idol-worship; and whoever does away with the commandment of challah is considered to have perpetuated idol-worship (Leviticus Rabbah).

What is the connection between challah and idol-worship? When a person earns his daily bread, it is natural for him to think that market forces control his income, and not God. He may thus “worship” business acumen as a “foreign god,” which appears to reap bountiful rewards, the more it is worshiped.

The solution to this problem is, “You should set aside the first of your dough” (v. 20), for God. You should meditate on the fact that your income, your “dough” is given directly by God. Going to work merely makes a suitable ‘receptacle” into which God will pour His bountiful blessings. (End quote)

Rabbi Aaron ha-Levi writes:

“The commandment of challah brings blessing to your home, “You should give to the priest the first of your dough that He may cause a blessing to rest on your home” (Ezekiel 44:30).

Following the incident of the spies, the children of Israel were in need of additional blessing, which is why this commandment was instituted here (Rabbi Obadiah Sforno, 16″ century).

There are two reasons for taking challah. First, since man is dependent on bread for sustenance, God wanted to give him a commandment with bread, so that his daily life would be blessed with a constant holiness. In this way, his dough would provide physical as well as spiritual sustenance.

Second, in order that the priests-the ministers of God-would be supported without having to struggle: A grain offering that the priest receives must be ground into flour before it Can be prepared for baking; but the dough is ready to be baked and eaten.”

As we enter into Shabbat tonight, what part of your dough are you separating for Hashem?

Back to the Torah:

The Torah now talks about a community “inadvertently” committing the sin of idolatry. How could a community “inadvertently” commit the sin of idolatry? Because of judges’ mistakes.

Let’s stop for a moment. It’s fascinating the Torah would see judges as imperfect. That they could make mistakes. And the Torah has a way of addressing it.

The response is for the congregation to offer a young bull as a burnt offering and one young male goat. The priest will then atone on behalf of the entire congregation and they will be forgiven. Because it was an inadvertent sin.

And once again, God makes it clear; “The entire congregation of the children of Israel and the convert who lives with them will be forgiven.”

First. I’m chewing on how the idea of leaders making “mistakes” and individuals choosing to listen and follow or make their own decisions plays out here. From a community standpoint, even if someone said “the judges have made a mistake” the Torah seems (and I could be wrong) that following the directives of the leaders are paramount – and even if there is a ruling that is wrong, you’ll be forgiven because you chose to follow the leader instead of standing for what you personally believe is right or wrong.

Now, this line of thinking could be challenged in the Torah other places. And we will keep open ears about it; but in this section it would seem to indicate the people were to follow the rulings of the judges – even if it meant inadvertently sinning.

Something I’m chewing on this morning.

How about you? What thoughts do you have?