Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 23 Av, 5784
Parsha Re’eh – “See”: (Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17)
Third Portion: Deuteronomy 12:29 – 13:19

Good morning! As we continue our journey to the final new moon of 5784, we have one last opportunity to take all we have learned this year – the freedoms we’ve discovered and to set one last intent as we prepare for the new spiritual year of 5785.

I am still reflecting on yesterday’s portion-

“Do as you see fit vs Do as you want”

Sacrifice vs. Desire

Key concept: To discern when to sacrifice and when to allow ourselves our desires?

• • Be mindful of who, what, when, where and how we sacrifice for others.
  • Allow ourselves our desires
    • Respecting the boundaries of others
  • Remember our spiritual leaders
    • They can hold us accountable and challenge us. We should not be hiding who we are from them.
      • This includes therapists!

What are we sacrificing? What are we allowing? These are questions we don’t often think about.  Let’s dig in:

29When the Lord, your God cuts off the nations to which you will come to drive them out from before you, and when you drive them out and dwell in their land,

30Beware, lest you be attracted after them, after they are exterminated from before you; and lest you inquire about their gods, saying, “How did these nations serve their gods? And I will do likewise.”

31You shall not do so to the Lord, your God; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates, they did to their gods, for also their sons and their daughters they would burn in fire to their gods.

The Torah is telling us that when we go into the promised land, the nations who are driven out? We should not chase them.

Something I am reflecting on is the limitations of curiosity. I started out in Genesis talking about the path to liberation and freedom begins with shifting from judgment towards curiosity. It would seem, as we enter the promised land, we have reached the limits of curiosity.

This statement in the Torah seems crucial:

lest you inquire about their gods, saying, “How did these nations serve their gods? And I will do likewise.”

Inquiry is something I love. I treasure. Being curious and learning is significant. And. The Torah is saying there is a limitation – if it takes you away from the Torah? That is a problem.

13:1Everything I command you that you shall be careful to do it. You shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it.

The Torah is telling us – if we want to connect with Hashem? If we want a relationship with Him? The Torah gives us those connecting points. The Torah does not want us sacrificing our children to other gods. That may not be a literal sacrifice – it may be a sacrifice of curiosity.

And this is my question now. Where do I sacrifice curiosity?  Where do I say – “oh that’s interesting…” but not engage and ask more questions?

I don’t have great answers, but I am sitting with the question.

2If there will arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,

3and the sign or the wonder of which he spoke to you happens, [and he] says, “Let us go after other gods which you have not known, and let us worship them,”

4you shall not heed the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of a dream; for the Lord, your God, is testing you, to know whether you really love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul.

And here is another warning. Just because a prophet rises up and can predict what comes true? If that prophet chases and leads us to “other gods” away from the Torah? We are not to follow.

As someone who dabbles in prophecy from time to time, who interprets dreams, who receives visions – this is a stark warning for me. Where am I leading?

For me? My desire is to lead into love. And I don’t always get it right.

5You shall follow the Lord, your God, fear Him, keep His commandments, heed His voice, worship Him, and cleave to Him.

6And that prophet, or that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death; because he spoke falsehood about the Lord, your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and Who redeemed you from the house of bondage, to lead you astray from the way in which the Lord, your God, commanded you to go; so shall you clear away the evil from your midst.

There is tremendous responsibility in leadership.

7If your brother, the son of your mother, tempts you in secret or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your embrace, or your friend, who is as your own soul saying, “Let us go and worship other gods, which neither you, nor your forefathers have known.”

8Of the gods of the peoples around you, [whether] near to you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth;

9You shall not desire him, and you shall not hearken to him; neither shall you pity him, have mercy upon him, nor shield him.

10But you shall surely kill him, your hand shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

11And you shall stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

The key component and takeaway for me? The Torah is saying, these connecting points with Hashem? Are crucial. They are life giving. Other ways exist – but they lead to death. It could be a physical death – or a spiritual one. That is something to reflect on.

12And all Israel shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer do any evil such as this in your midst.

13If you hear in one of your cities which the Lord, your God, is giving you to dwell therein, saying,

14″Unfaithful men have gone forth from among you and have led the inhabitants of their city astray, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods, which you have not known.’ “

15Then you shall inquire, investigate, and ask thoroughly, and, behold, it is true, the matter is certain, that such abomination has been committed in your midst:

We are to take accusations of leading people astray seriously. We are called to not accept them at face value. And we are called to take action if it is certain. That is a key concept. If there is certainty.  Here is what we are to do:

16You shall surely strike down the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroy it with all that is in it and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.

17And you shall collect all its spoil into the midst of its open square, and burn with fire the city and all its spoil, completely, for the Lord, your God; and it shall be a heap of destruction forever, never to be rebuilt.

18And nothing that is doomed to destruction shall cling to your hand, so that the Lord may return from His fierce wrath, and grant you compassion, and be compassionate with you, and multiply you, as He swore to your forefathers.

Wow. Destruction. That is the way of compassion.

Here’s my takeaway. When we face destruction? We need to just allow it. We may not understand it. And? This is the time for Hashem to return. For us to finally RECEIVE compassion.  Because if I have gone astray and sought out compassion from “gods” that are not source – the Universe – Hashem? How can I truly receive compassion?

It is only when destruction comes that I can see myself receiving compassion from the universe. In the aftermath. That feels poetic in some sense and resonates.

It also SUCKS. Why does it take destruction for me to be in a place to receive compassion? That is something ELSE I am reflecting on.

19For you shall hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is proper in the eyes of the Lord, your God.

This is the Torah’s desire for us. To listen. To hear the voice of the universe and the “flow” of energy from Hashem. To receive compassion BEFORE destruction coming. And not wait until it does. To see compassion in the smaller things instead of betraying ourselves in a moment.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 21 Av, 5783

Today’s thoughts are super interesting for me.  I find it fascinating that on the 16th anniversary of the day I became a father (Happy 16th birthday to my oldest child) we are reading about how our children are an anchor on the journey to spiritual liberation and freedom.

Moses reminds us in today’s portion how children were sacrificed in the name of other gods.  If our spiritual liberation and freedom drives our children away from us – we are not doing as the Torah asks us to do.

This is not to say our children aren’t also free to seek their own way.  It’s just a reminder that as parents we have a purpose. We can’t forgo our role as parents.  Our freedom is not worth sacrificing our children over. They have to come first.

And I would argue? We can’t serve other gods JUST so that our children are drawn to us either.

Let’s be real for a moment.  We live in a world with access to EVERYTHING.  We hold, in the palms of our hands, the repository of knowledge of humanity. Our children access this.

I am not saying BLOCK ACCESS.  Because we really can’t do that, can we? We are meant to live in the world. We are here for a purpose. To CHOOSE Hashem.

But the Torah is clear – especially in Deuteronomy.  Teach these to our children.  Teach Torah to our children.  Give our children DIRECTION.  These are the reasons we are here.

I wrote this a year ago, and it feels important to remember:

Because although we are moving to freedom; our role as a parent anchors us. The choice to prioritize our kids is the ultimate in love. Which is the force that liberates us in the first place. To recognize the divinity within us; which is love. It is what creates. Love is what makes us not just a canvas – but artists as well. How we create our families – our relationships – it means everything.

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 26 Av, 5782

I was reflecting last night how interesting it was I got out in “Facebook” jail right as we are talking about entering into the promised land of freedom. Our story of enslavement began with Yosef (Joseph) being sold by his brothers and being put into Prison in Egypt because of a false accusation from Potiphar’s wife.

Although Yosef was imprisoned, he was also free. Emotionally. Spiritually. He knew his identity. And that could not be contained by a jail. And eventually he was freed from that prison and became rich and powerful in Egypt. And that was where the Genesis of the enslavement of Israel became foundational.

So let’s dig into today’s portion;

When entering the promised land of liberation, Moses continues to warn the people; be careful!

Be careful? Why should we be careful with our liberation? Let’s just do whatever we want because we are FREE!

Moses says (I’m paraphrasing) “look. Remember what got you here. Don’t change your practice and go after new things that the people who lived her before you did. Don’t try to figure out how those nations served their gods. focus on Hashem. He is who brought you here.

Moses tells them; the people driven out of the promised land worshiped their gods with all the methods Hashem hates. They burned their sons and daughters in fire to their gods.

Let’s stop here. In our journey to liberation. It seems clear that sacrificing our children to do so (for the purpose of freedom and liberation) is NOT what Hashem wants. There may be times we desire freedom from our kids. To “run away” to spirituality and freedom. But that is not what Hashem wants for us. The role of a parent is paramount in this journey of freedom. We cannot sacrifice our children for the sake of liberation. I think this is an important anchor for us as we journey to liberation.

Because although we are moving to freedom; our role as a parent anchors us. The choice to prioritize our kids is the ultimate in love. Which is the force that liberates us in the first place. To recognize the divinity within us; which is love. It is what creates. Love is what makes us not just a canvas – but artists as well. How we create our families – our relationships – it means everything.

Moses tells the people. Be careful.

And he says to be careful about the Torah.

He says 2 things about the Torah.

Do not add to it.

Do not detract from it.

The Torah is the anchor of our freedom and liberation. It is what has guided us on our journey.

Moses continues to warn us about false prophets – if a prophet rises and what they say comes true, and that prophet tells you to worship other gods with which you are unacquainted? You shouldn’t listen to them. Hashem Is testing you to see if you truly love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Hashem’s ways are kindness. Follow kindness. Follow love.

And if someone you care about tells you to worship other gods or idols? Don’t do it.

In fact the Torah says to put these people to death. Now I’m not sure we are talking a literal death. But certainly relational death. It may be what kills the relationship you have to them.

Finally, the portion ends with Moses warning us about entire cities falling into idol worship. That city must also be destroyed.

Interesting that in our journey towards liberation, we are called to keep doing what got us there. The practices that lead to liberation shouldn’t change when we experience liberation.

I’m reflecting now on the process of being freed from slavery, and the process of moving towards liberation. The Torah seems to indicate those are two distinct and separate processes. We don’t get to jump from exodus and leaving Egypt to getting to the promised land. There is an ENTIRE process we must go through to achieve true liberation.

AND. I’m reflecting on our country that seems to want to keep reminding people about freeing the slaves and that should have been enough. We don’t talk about true liberation for those who live today whose parents, grandparents, and maybe great grandparents suffered in their wilderness after being led out of their Egypt; which happened to be America.

Juneteenth is the Exodus story. What has happened in the wilderness since then that we believe has helped those who were enslaved and the generations that have come after? Where was/is their inheritance in this land? Where is their promise? That is something to REALLY reflect on as we think about and consider our own journeys from slavery to liberation. Freedom from slavery is NOT liberation. It is NOT freedom.

That’s something I’m reflecting on today with this Torah portion.

What are your thoughts?