Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 22 Iyar, 5783. 37th Day of the Omer.

Shabbat Shalom! Today is a special day as we finish up the book of Leviticus.  Once again, I am reflecting on how often this book gets a bad rap as being a bunch of rules.  I feel like our study of it the past two years has drawn a lot of depth from it.  I am excited to bring it to a conclusion today.

In addition, today’s Omer theme is Gevurah of Yesod.  or “Discipline of Bonding.”

From Chabad:

Examine the discipline of your bonding. Bonding must be done with discretion and careful consideration with whom and with what you bond. Even the healthiest and closest bonding needs “time out”, a respect for each individual’s space.

Do I overbond? Am I too dependent on the one I bond with? Is he too dependent on me? Do I bond out of desperation? Do I bond with healthy, wholesome people?

Exercise for the day: Review the discipline in your bonding experiences to see if it needs adjustment.

So as I was reflecting this morning, before reading and studying the Omer, I was journaling about my morning routine and practices.  I was re-examining why I was doing them.  Why do I do the following:

• Say Modeh Ani when I wake up?
• Say the blessing of washing my hands?
• Drink a 32 oz cup of water?
• Do the morning prayers?
• Journal?
• Read a passage from “the Book of Awakening” by Mark Nepo?
• Meditate?
• Read and write about Torah?
• Daven the Shacharit and wrap tefillin?
• Eat the breakfast I do?

I realize these things have served me very well, but there is a part of me that now feels “obliged” to do them.  Because they have all helped me navigate a really difficult time.  I am bonded to them.  But are they still serving me?

I had to answer these questions for each of these practices:

• Besides an obligation, why am i doing this?
• Who am I doing this for? Me? Someone else?
• What am I getting from it?
• Is there anything I can tweak or change and still provide me what I want?
• What are the parts of these things that I am unwilling to sacrifice and give up because they are too important?
  • As an example – saying the Sh’ma and the Amidah each day, wrapping tefillin are all things I am unwilling to let go of.
  • And – why?  Why am I unwilling to let go?  How are they serving me?

It was an important exercise for me.  And. I realized it connects with the theme today. “Review the discipline in your bonding experiences to see if it needs adjustment.”  

Each of these practices (disciplines) I have bonded with over the past two/three years. Reviewing this was really helpful for me as I looked to move forward.

What about you?  Are there “routines” you are doing out of obligation because you are bonded to them? Is there anything you could change or tweak? Have you asked “why?” In a while?

Let’s dig into the end of the book of Leviticus!

One of the key factors I see in the portion (especially because it connects to this idea of reviewing our disciplines) is the idea of “sowing capacity.”  Do our practices help us increase our “sowing capacity” in our hearts?  Or do we seek to do them just to get them done?  Is it time for a rest so we can give the (internal) land (heart) a break?  Maybe we are pushing too hard, and the sowing capacity has slowed down?

How “moist” are these practices we have built to help us succeed?  Is my meditation deep? Or is it just surface? Is my praying wrote, or is it meaningful?  I think these things relate to moisture.

This jumps out at me from my commentary last year: “What are we doing to increase the sowing capacity of our hearts? Do we remain dry and dusty? Or do we allow the water to moisten us and make us more pliable?”

And.  As Leviticus comes to an end – we connect with this idea of “consecration.”  We’ve all likely heard this word, but have we dug into it’s meaning?

Here’s what you find for a definition: “The action of making or declaring something sacred.”

Well, curiosity has me thinking “well what does ‘sacred’ mean?”

Sacred means “connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.”

So far – consecrated means “the action of making something connected with God.”  We can use “the universe” or “spirit” or anything that has meaning to us.  We can refine consecrated to “an action connecting us to Hashem.”  So anything I do to connect with Hashem is consecrating me.  But now, there is a part of the definition to explore: “deserving veneration.”

Does connecting with Hashem automatically mean we deserve veneration?

Veneration means “great respect or reverence.”

That is an important question, don’t you think? And it connects with our thoughts from yesterday about “grace” – “courteous goodwill.”

What if we are ALREADY deserving of veneration before connecting to Hashem,  and we connect to Hashem BECAUSE we have courteous goodwill, and are deserving great respect and reverance.

And – what if we show that to others?

Once again, it seems like it comes down to – “Heal ourselves, heal the world.”

At the end of a book of the Torah, it is traditional to say the following:

`Hazak Haza, V’NitHazek” Which means “be strong! be strong! And may we be strengthened!”

May we be strengthened may be just another way to say “may we be healed.”  Because with healing, comes strength.

The Torah (in my opinion) is healing. The journey from slavery to freedom, and from freedom to direction and purpose? That’s healing. Liberation with direction is powerful. It’s love.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 25 Iyar, 5782

Today is the 40th day of the Omer.

As we focus this week on bonding with Hashem and with one another, todays portion focuses on the idea of “hereditary land.”

What is interesting to me as we jump into the passage is the idea of hereditary land is grounded in this concept of bonding. This is land we are (at least should be) connected to on an emotional level.

The Torah talks about when someone makes the decision to take this land and consecrate it to God’s temple.

I think in the past when I’ve read this, I don’t know that I connected this with any kind of heart. I figured this was land the owner no longer wanted and was giving it to God; almost like leftovers. “I’m done using this land, God; I don’t want it anymore. You can have it!”

But what if this is land that is highly desirable. It’s meant to be ours and in our generations to come? What if we are giving Hashem our best and not our leftovers? How does this passage read? Let’s approach it with this mindset!

First the Torah says the valuation of the land is not to be based on market value. Instead, the valuation is based on its “sowing capacity.”

I had to Google sowing capacity. The best I came up with was this:

“Field capacity is influenced by soil texture; for example, fine-textured soils, such as clay or loam soils, have larger moisture holding field capacity than coarse-textured soils such as sandy-textured soils. Dry conditions influence soil moisture availability differently depending on soil texture.” (From an Iowa state professor in the department of agronomy).

So it seems the sowing capacity has to do with the moisture.

The valuation according to the Torah is fifty silver sheckles per homer of barley seed that can be sowed.

So, if the land has no use to the owner, and the goal is to make a lot of money, that isn’t going to work with Hashem. He values the field in terms of capacity.

Let’s connect this to our relationship with Him. The idea of our capacity to love Him and how moist the soil is within our hearts to love Him is where our value is. That’s not to say if our soil is dry we have no value. We still do. But there is freedom and liberation knowing that the key to increase our own value is to allow the unlimited source of moisture (Hashem’s love) into our hearts to moisten them.

What are we doing to increase the sowing capacity of our hearts? Do we remain dry and dusty? Or do we allow the water to moisten us and make us more pliable?

Ok. Back to the passage. The Torah talks about the time of the field being sold in connection with the jubilee year. The value has the most right after the jubilee year. The further away from that, the less you will get for your field.

This means we are ripe after a jubilee year! Turning 50 and entering my first year post jubilee, this passage has significant meaning for me personally. I’m at a time in my life where I have incredible value – and moistness in my soul. I don’t say this to brag; I say this as a way to connect with the passage. If I reflect on where I was at when I turned 48 (the sabbath year prior to my jubilee year) I was a very different person than I am today. The sowing capacity of my heart has been transformed. And for that I’m grateful. It’s been a painful process getting here – but the field is ready to be planted with seeds.

Now. After consecrating the field to Hashem, the Torah talks about redeeming the field back. So in a sense, we can pay a price to give our hearts and fields to Hashem for a period of time, and then redeem them back. The cost is 20% (1/5th) the fixed value. That’s 10 sheckles per Omer of barley added.

Finally, if the owner does NOT redeem the field, and the treasurer of the temple sells the field to someone else, it will no longer be redeemed back to the original owner in the jubilee. Instead it will revert back to the temple and belong to the priests.

So even if our field (or our hearts) is never redeemed by us; it still has value as it belongs to Hashem and the priests!

Interesting take this morning! What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 26 Iyar, 5782

Today is the 41st day of the Omer

We are coming to the end of Leviticus in the next two days.

I’ve been reflecting on how Leviticus tends to get a really bad rap as one of the books of the Torah. I’m chewing on how there is a lot of depth beyond just the words on the page. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have!

Todays passage continues from yesterday – what happens to someone who purchased a field that was not theirs to begin with (it was not hereditary). If that person wants to consecrate it to God, they should bring it to the priest and they would calculate the price based on the jubilee year. Once the price was set; anyone could redeem the field by giving its valuation to the Temple to be holy to God.

In the jubilee year, the field would go back to the hereditary owner.

So I’m reflecting on the idea of “consecration.”

From the dictionary: the action of making or declaring something, typically a church, sacred.

“the consecration of this cathedral was a magical event”

Now – the idea of making a land “sacred” is interesting. What would inspire someone; anyone; to declare land “sacred.”

I think it’s a heart thing. If someone were drawing closer to God and wanted to create “sacred space” there was a process for that.

So I’m left with a question for all of us; what things in our lives are we inspired to make sacred? What things in our lives do we hold as sacred that maybe we shouldn’t?

Those are the questions I’m chewing on.

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 27 Iyar, 5782

Shabbat Shalom!

Today is the 42nd day of the Omer. Tomorrow starts the final week of the Omer leading to Shavuot!

Today we bring the book of Leviticus to conclusion. What a journey it’s been!

It is interesting that Leviticus closes with the idea of consecration- giving things to God as sacred. What is sacred? What is not sacred? Earlier in Leviticus we discussed ritual impurity and ritual purity. These too connect to the sacred. The book of Leviticus is all about the exploration of what is sacred. I think next year when I read this, I want to remind myself of this takeaway and re-read the book with this in mind.

Here are some thought questions for me and you;

1. What is it we hold sacred? Right now?
2. What is something We once held sacred but no longer do?
3. What is something we wish we held sacred but don’t?
4. What is something we hold sacred but really wish we didn’t?

I feel like these are the important questions of Leviticus because all of these Torah thoughts over the past weeks digging to Leviticus have brought me back to these questions.

This portion closes with the idea of trying to consecrate a person who is condemned by the court to be put to death. The idea of redeeming this person is meaningless (because they will be dying and their soul returning to Hashem) and should not be redeemed.

Upon first read, we met consider it meaningless because it has no value. But I think the opposite is true. It’s meaningless because the person is about to die, their soul will return to Hashem. There is no need to redeem it as it is already sacred. I might be wrong here; On the concept. And I’m open to correction – but it seems like this is the proper read; a soul about to die is sacred. Because it will no longer be clothed in the vessel of a body.

Next we learn that if you are going to tithe an animal, count them as they come out from an entrance; use the rod to count and pull every tenth animal. The tenth is holy and sacred to God.

This is different and the Torah addresses it – as normally we’d give the best unblemished animals. But in a tithe, it’s the tenth animal regardless. We are not to substitute.

Rabbi Schneerson brings us an amazing thought as we close out the book of Leviticus:

“Maimonides writes; “The Torah anticipated man’s thoughts and his evil impulse. By nature, a person seeks to increase his possessions and to be sparing with his money, if he were allowed to exchange a poor animal for a good one, he might exchange the good animal for a poor one and claim that it is good. The Torah therefore made an unequivocal prohibition against substitution.”

You might prefer an approach to worshiping God which feels superior to the one which has heen demanded of you. For example, you might feel that simple tasks can be entrusted to anyone whereas you should be involved in loftier matters, such as the study of mysticism. On the

other hand, you may feel that you are not sufficiently worthy to study mysticism, since your understanding is not so profound, and you should be involved with more simple tasks.

The response to such arguments: “He should not select a good or a bad one, nor should he offer a substitute for it” The desire to substitute your allotted task for another comes from the evil impulse. Initially it tells you to swap a more menial task for a loftier one, but it will eventually

tell you to swap a good task for a bad one.

Carry out your allotted task joyously, without looking for a substitute.”

Those are powerful thoughts as we close Leviticus!!!

As we do at the end of every book, we say together “Be Strong! Be Strong! And May we be strengthened!”

As happens every Shabbat, please see the comment below for my Haftorah thoughts!

Todays Haftorah is Jeremiah 16:19

The Haftorah opens up with an affirmation of Hashem by Jeremiah. The truth that God is his strength and stronghold. His refuge in times of trouble. It’s the foundation of what is about to come.

Because next Jeremiah describes the sin of Israel; the sun of idol worship. And the consequences of not observing the sabbatical year; when things were supposed to be given back. That made Hashem angry.

Jeremiah then calls out that God knows already that people are going to turn to other people for help instead of trusting Him. People will put their trust in Mortal man alone; and Hashem says they will be like a tree in the desert.

Jeremiah then reminds us; “blessed is the man who trusts in God. And to whom God will be his trust.” And “the person who trusts in God will be devoid of problems, and never lack anything.”

So my first takeaway here is that if I have problems and lack, I should be reflecting on where I am not trusting Hashem.

But Jeremiah warns us: “God knows our hearts.” And “human hearts are the most crooked of all his limbs, and it is warped. It says “Who will know if I really trust in God or not.”

God knows.

Jeremiah says we can’t trust outward signs either: “one who accumulates wealth unjustly is like a cuckoo bird that hatches eggs it did not lay, and it is only a matter of time before the chicks realize this is not their mother and run away.”

God heals us – he takes care of us. We can trust him or trust in people around us. That is our choice.