Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 23 Iyar, 5784 –Day 38 of Omer
Parsha Be-Hukkotai – “My Laws” (Leviticus 26:3 – 27:34)
Sixth Portion: Leviticus 27:22 – 27:28

Good morning! As we get ready to prepare for our Shabbat rest tonight, we are drawing to a close the book of Leviticus. We have two more portions to cover. It has been an amazing journey – because these “laws” have turned out to be connecting points for us – ways to connect within ourselves – and ways to connect with others around us.

Today is the 38^th Day of the Omer. Our theme is: the Compassion of Bonding.

From Chabad:

Bonding needs to be not only loving but also compassionate, feeling your friend’s pain and empathizing with him. Is my bonding conditional? Do I withdraw when I am uncomfortable with my friend’s troubles?

Exercise for the day: Offer help and support in dealing with an ordeal of someone you have bonded with.

It is easy to connect and bond with someone where they are in a good space – emotionally, physically, spiritually.  To deeply understand love? We must be connected even when someone is going through pain – through anger – through suffering. This often triggers feelings of helplessness, powerlessness, discomfort within us, and we tend to pull away.  True love and connection requires us to feel these feelings, own these feelings, and then navigate them skillfully so that we can show up and be present for our friends – to connect with them when they are struggling most. This is the true nature of connection AND attachment.

And? Within us? When WE are feeling powerless, helpless, uncomfortable in our OWN pain, suffering, sadness and anger?  We must allow ourselves to feel these feelings and push through our discomfort to allow others in. To be compassionate to ourselves to receive kindness and compassion from others.

This is the compassion of bonding.

Let’s take this energy and dig into Torah:

22And if he consecrates to the Lord a field that he had acquired, that is not part of his inherited property,

23the kohen shall calculate for him the amount of the valuation until the Jubilee year, and he shall give the valuation on that day, holy to the Lord.

24In the Jubilee year, the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it namely, the one whose inherited land it was.

If someone purchases a field, and the owner wants to dedicate it to Hashem – to make it “fertile ground” for the sacred? That part of the land is not part of his inherited property – meaning he doesn’t get to keep it.  So we can dedicate things that don’t belong to us – but they are limited.

We learned earlier, dedicating things that our ours? They belong to the priests forever.

25Every valuation shall be made according to the holy shekel, whereby one shekel is the equivalent of twenty gerahs.

26However, a firstborn animal that must be [sacrificed as] a firstborn to the Lord no man may consecrate it; whether it be an ox or sheep, it belongs to the Lord.

So the firstborn animal ALREADY belongs to Hashem – so it cannot be consecrated.

27Now, if [someone consecrates] an unclean animal, he may redeem [it] by [paying] the valuation, and he shall add its fifth to it, and if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold for the valuation [price].

We can even take unclean animals – and consecrate them. And we can try to get them back – but we need to add 20%

28However, anything that a man devotes to the Lord from any of his property whether a person, an animal, or part of his inherited field shall not be sold, nor shall it be redeemed, [for] all devoted things are holy of holies to the Lord.

Again – if these are things from our native lands? They are ALREADY holy.  This was for land purchased and acquired from OTHERS.

It is interesting – we are holy. And. If we acquire other things – we get to decide whether they are holy or not.

We determine the bonding and connection with our wealth. With our hearts.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

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?