Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 23 Kislev, 5785
Good morning! As we align our energy to the new moon in front of us, isn’t it interesting that we have just come through (in our Hemisphere) the Winter solstice – the darkest day of the year, where we have the least amount of light – and we are now moving towards the light of summer. I am also struck that if we center ourselves, there is a contingent of us – our humanity – our consciousness – that is experiencing the summer. We often become self obsessed and absorbed, we forget about the collective.
Our light is just beginning to grow again – we are beginning our expansion. And others are beginning to contract. There is a beautiful harmony on our planet if you really contemplate it.
If we can just be with it.
How can we connect with our humanity that exists in a different reality?
By asking the question.
Is it winter?
Because it is winter.
And it isn’t.
Are we so obsessed with our self, we lose sight of the bigger picture of who we are?
We are.
We are experiencing winter. We are experiencing summer.
We are.
Just sit in that. And? Reflect on this quote I shared last year.
“Forgiveness is not about excusing someone’s behavior. It is about letting go of resentment.”
If someone is experiencing summer while we are experiencing winter – can we let go of the resentment we may feel that it is winter here? Because if someone is living in the southern hemisphere – they cannot control the weather or seasons.
If someone is in their emotional winter, and they react and impact our emotional summer? Can we resent that? Sure. Or can we let go of the resentment we feel so that we are free to experience the moment we find ourselves in?
Or? If we are experiencing an emotional winter, and lash out in resentment over someone’s emotional summer? Can we let go of the resentment we feel about their experiences, AND OUR OWN?
Today’s portion sees Pharaoh integrate the summer and winter into one cohesive entity. He takes the winter of Joseph’s imprisonment and integrates it with the summer of Pharaoh’s kingdom. He makes Joseph head of the storehouses to survive the famine that is coming. Pharaoh was willing to see beyond his summer and allow winter and summer to coexist.
And if this isn’t a beautiful picture, the Torah takes it one step further.
The situation that got Joseph put in prison? Potiphar’s wife? Pharaoh GIVES JOSEPH Potiphar’s daughter in MARRIAGE.
Now. Pause. Yes, this feels incredibly patriarchal. Let’s own that.
AND? Let’s recognize, the story here is not about an external condition – it is within us.
Because not only are we both winter and summer?
We are both male and female. We are both masculine and feminine energies.
And we are at war within us.
Peace comes from letting go of resentment. By being both/and.
The summer of Pharaoh integrates with the winter of Joseph.
The masculine of Joseph integrates with the feminine creation of Potiphar.
We are.
Both winter and summer.
Masculine and feminine.
And this is how we get through a famine.
A moment.
Because we have moments of plenty.
And we have moments of famine.
Will we store up energy in the moments we experience that bring plenty of energy, and release that energy in moments we experience famine?
These are the moments we are given. Moments of abundance. Moments of famine.
Are we holding on to resentment from the past when we arrive to this moment? Or are we in our fullness of integration?
What is resentment?
“Bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly.”
This bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly clouds our moments that arrive. Because like a computer program running in the background tabs of our mind? There is a lot of bitter indignation within each of us.
And it is time to start seeing that within ourselves, and finding compassion for it in others.
Because summer is coming for those of us living in the northern hemisphere. And winter is coming for those of us in the southern.
It is both/and.
Your thoughts?
Here are my thoughts from last year:
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Kislev, 5784
Parsha Mikketz (Genesis 41:1 -44:17)
Third Portion: Genesis 41:39 – 41:52
Good morning! On this fifth day of Hanukkah we are shifting from one moon cycle to another. This is a major energetic shift as we leave Kislev and move to Tevet. Today is December 12th on our calendars here in America. 12/12. Tonight is the new moon. Thursday night is the last night of Hanukkah. Friday night is the first Shabbat of Tevet. That is a lot of energy shifting at the same time. We are in for an exciting week, I’d think!
Through it all – what grounds us, is the idea that the work we are doing since the new year – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – that we began to see fruit in Sukkot for – all of this work is being put into practice during Hanukkah to reveal to us both reward for the work we are doing AND lighting up the work we still need to do.
And. I use the word “work” here very loosely. Because there is no work. We are called to just be. Be in a moment. But Hashem is revealing to us the letting go of our past in order to be in a moment. He is revealing the letting go of a future to be in a moment.
I read a quote this morning in my meditation app, 10% Happier that has been sitting with me all morning. It was this:
“Forgiveness is not about excusing someone’s behavior. It is about letting go of resentment.”
This is the “work” – releasing. Our body will respond. Because it holds this energy within. Resentment is significant – and the body retains it like a cancer.
Ok. With this, let’s dig in. The context here is Joseph has interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams. He has given Pharaoh direction. Let’s see how Pharaoh responds:
39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has let you know all this, there is no one as understanding and wise as you.
40You shall be [appointed] over my household, and through your command all my people shall be nourished; only [with] the throne will I be greater than you.”
41So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Look, I have appointed you over the entire land of Egypt.”
42And Pharaoh removed his ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s hand, and he attired him [with] raiment of fine linen, and he placed the golden chain around his neck.
43And he had him ride in his chariot of second rank, and they called out before him, “[This is] the king’s patron,” appointing him over the entire land of Egypt.
44And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and besides you, no one may lift his hand or his foot in the entire land of Egypt.”
45And Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath Pa’neach, and he gave him Asenath the daughter of Poti phera, the governor of On, for a wife, and Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.
46And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and Joseph went out from before Pharaoh and passed through the entire land of Egypt.
Pharoah takes this prisoner and IMMEDIATELY makes him leader over Egypt. Consider this. How quickly things shifted for Joseph. He interpreted Pharoah’s dream and was given EVERYTHING.
I wrote this two years ago, and I felt it was important to highlight:
Pharaoh named Joseph “Zaphenath-paneah.” Which means “Explainer of Hidden things.”
Then. In what seems like a bit of Irony; Pharoah gives Joseph Potiphar’s daughter Asenath for a wife. Take THAT Potiphar’s wife!
I reflect on people in my life who “explain hidden things” to me. Early on, I resisted this idea. I would sometimes get angry when someone shared with me something they saw within me, that I didn’t see within myself.
How do we respond today when someone shares feedback with us that we don’t see?
Those of you who know me – know I love the Johari window. It basically looks at the “self” in two dimensions – our knowledge of ourselves and others’ knowledge of us. You can dig more here. But the short version is this:
There are four quadrants:
- Things we know about ourselves that others know about us – our Open areas
- Things we know about ourselves that others DON’T know about us – our Hidden areas
- Things we DON’T know about ourselves that others know about us – The Johari window calls these “blind spots” but I prefer to not use the ableist language of that and like to use the term “Obstructed areas”
- Things we DON’T know about ourselves that others DON’T know about us – our unexplored areas
Pharoah recognized the value of Joseph. Joseph revealed hidden things – not just in dreams – but within Pharoah.
In leadership – great leaders know the value of this third area. People in our lives who are willing to share feedback with us we may not realize about ourselves. AND. If we are not ready to hear it? They can be SCARY. We may not be ready to receive the feedback.
But this is where the rubber meets the road. How we handle feedback.
So – how do we navigate feedback we receive that seems to not align with what we believe about ourselves? Here are some reflective questions:
- How much time I have spent within myself to know whether this feedback is correct or not?
- How is my body physically reacting to the feedback? Am I going into fight/flight responses? Why? If it is just feedback, and it’s isn’t accurate, why am I having a physical reaction to it?
- I will often share this; “If someone criticized you for being a head of lettuce, would you react? Of course not. You’d think they were joking. Because you absolutely know you are not a head of lettuce because you’ve lived the human experience. However, if someone pointed out you seem to be feeling inadequate and you hadn’t considered that before? You’d be more afraid they were right so you’d get defensive and have to prove you weren’t feeling that way.”
The bottom line is to remain curious. Pharaoh was curious. Joseph shared. Pharoah could see Joseph was right. He revealed hidden things. That’s my takeaway.
And Joseph went and explored the places he was given to lead. Let’s keep going:
47And in the seven years of plenty, [the inhabitants of] the land gathered [food] by handfuls.
48And he collected all the food of the seven years that was in the land of Egypt, and he placed food in the cities, the food of the field surrounding the city, he put within it.
49And Joseph gathered grain like the sand of the sea, in great abundance, until [one] stopped counting, because there was no number.
I am guessing Joseph went through out Egypt to explain to the people the mission and purpose of what they were about to embark on. He had to listen and get buy in. And the people followed.
We close today’s portion focusing on Joseph’s children:
50And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of the famine set in, whom Asenath the daughter of Potipher, the governor of On, bore to him.
51And Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, for “God has caused me to forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”
52And the second one he named Ephraim, for “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
What is FASCINATING to me about this? Joseph’s name is not listed as a “tribe of Israel.” His two sons are – they are the “half-tribes.” And – enshrined in our lineage is toil and affliction.
My takeaway? We are sometimes called to reveal hidden things. And. This will bring toil and affliction. And. We will be given gifts (like children) who will cause us to forget the toil and provide fruit in the affliction.
Those are my thoughts. What are yours?
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