Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 23 Tevet 5784
Parsha Shemot: (Exodus 1:1 – 6:1)
Fifth Portion: Exodus 3:16 – 4:17

 Good morning!  The context for us today as we dig into the Portion:

Yesterday’s message:

• It’s going to be ok.
• We are ready.
• It’s time.
• “I will be what I will be” is what we should be looking for

And today, as I look back on my thoughts from the past two years? This is what is sticking with me from the Dalai Lama:

• May you have strength in the face of any pain and suffering you are experiencing
• May you be free from anger, fear and sadness.
• May you be open to receive others’ love and care
• May you be filled with compassion for yourself and others

May WE have strength in the face of pain and suffering we are experiencing

May WE be free from anger, fear, and sadness

May WE be open to receive others’ love and care

May WE be filled with compassion for ourselves and others.

This is a great foundation for us today.  Let’s dig in.  Hashem and Moses are discussing the plan for the Israelites to be led from Israel. Moses is SUPER resistant to Hashem’s direction.

Just imagine this. We are experiencing the burning bush. We hear Hashem’s voice.  And we just. Resist.

Moses had an agitated heart, but it was active.  Hashem was working with Moses to provide peace. I almost hear the Mantra from the Dalai Lama as a way to help Moses.  But let’s see what happens.  Hashem lays out the plan:

16Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your forefathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, “I have surely remembered you and what is being done to you in Egypt.” ‘

17And I said, ‘I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivvites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’

18And they will hearken to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has happened upon us, and now, let us go for a three days’ journey in the desert and offer up sacrifices to the Lord, our God.’

19However, I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except through a mighty hand.

20And I will stretch forth My hand and smite the Egyptians with all My miracles that I will wreak in their midst, and afterwards he will send you out.

21And I will put this people’s favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it will come to pass that when you go, you will not go empty handed.

22Each woman shall borrow from her neighbor and from the dweller in her house silver and gold objects and garments, and you shall put [them] on your sons and on your daughters, and you shall empty out Egypt.”

Basically Hashem tells Moses:

• Go to Egypt.
• Gather the leaders of the Israelites and tell them you heard my voice!
  • Tell them I have heard them
  • Tell them I will save them – and bring them to a land with milk and honey
• Watch as they listen to you
• They will go WITH you to Pharaoh and you will ask to go on a three day journey to sacrifice to Me!
  • If Pharoah listens? Cool. But guess what?
• Pharoah isn’t going to let you go. He needs a mighty hand to convince him
• And I will do just that. I will smith the Egyptians with Miracles. And Pharoah will send you out.
  • And not only that? The Israelites will find favor with the Egyptians.
  • They will give you parting gifts
  • Egypt will empty out.

Keep in mind, the ORIGINAL plan was three days. But because Pharaoh wouldn’t listen, the Israelites would take EVERYTHING.

Now before we go further. I want to pause.  When we read Torah we don’t often put ourselves into the story as Pharoah.  But I am reflecting on where in my life am I being Pharoah?

• Where is Hashem asking me to do something small and temporary?
  • Like let something go for three days I have been holding onto?
• Where is Hashem using a mightier and mightier hand to convince me to let something go?
• Will I need to get to the point it will be a RELIEF to let those things go and lose EVERYTHING in the process?

May WE have strength in the face of pain and suffering we are experiencing

May WE be free from anger, fear, and sadness

May WE be open to receive others’ love and care

May WE be filled with compassion for ourselves and others.

What if. The answer to our pain and suffering; our anger, fear and sadness is to let something go we are holding onto? To be OPEN to receive others’ love and care? To show COMPASSION for ourselves and others?

What if THIS is another path to freedom?

I almost see Elsa from frozen taking out her bun and swinging her hair saying “Let it go!”

How can Moses go to Egypt if he is unwilling to let go of this stuff he is holding onto?  Because here is how Moses responds:

1Moses answered and said, “Behold they will not believe me, and they will not heed my voice, but they will say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ “

I almost chuckle here. Hashem lays out a plan. Moses IMMEDIATELY goes back to step one – “they aren’t going to believe me!”  It’s almost like he stopped listening after this verse:

16Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your forefathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, “I have surely remembered you and what is being done to you in Egypt.”

Hashem seems patient. He helps Moses out here:

2And the Lord said to him, “What is this in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.”

3And He said, “Cast it to the ground,” and he cast it to the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from before it.

4And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand and take hold of its tail.” So Moses stretched forth his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand.

5″In order that they believe that the Lord, the God of their forefathers, has appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

6And the Lord said further to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom,” and he put his hand into his bosom, and he took it out, and behold, his hand was leprous like snow.

7And He said, “Put your hand back into your bosom,” and he put his hand back into his bosom, and [when] he took it out of his bosom, it had become again like [the rest of] his flesh.

8″And it will come to pass, that if they do not believe you, and they do not heed the voice of the first sign, they will believe the voice of the last sign.

9And it will come to pass, if they do not believe either of these two signs, and they do not heed your voice, you shall take of the water of the Nile and spill it upon the dry land, and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry land.”

What is now interesting here?  It is almost as if Moses sowed doubt in Hashem.  Like – doesn’t Hashem know WHICH sign will convince them? He can see beyond time, can’t he?

I believe these verses (4:2-9) are Hashem playing out Moses’ doubts.  He doesn’t just say “trust me.” He tells Moses – look – here are three signs.  If they don’t believe the first two, they will heed the third sign.

Full stop.  I just remembered something. The first plague of the blood? It is written differently than the other plagues. When we get there, we need to remember this!  The plague of blood was NOT just for Pharaoh – it was for the leaders of Israel.

So – great. Hashem gives Moses signs. Moses is ready to go!  Nope:

10Moses said to the Lord, “I beseech You, O Lord. I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before yesterday, nor from the time You have spoken to Your servant, for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.”

Moses doubts his voice is powerful enough to have the leaders believe him.  Hashem tries to convince him:

11But the Lord said to him, “Who gave man a mouth, or who makes [one] dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

12So now, go! I will be with your mouth, and I will instruct you what you shall speak. “

Hashem SEES Moses’ power. More than Moses sees it.

How often do we doubt our own power? This is crucial!

Ok. How does Moses respond?

13But he said, “I beseech You, O Lord, send now [Your message] with whom You would send.”

Oh Moses. Your heart is STILL agitated. You are waiting for “I will be who you want me to be” instead of “I will be who I will be.” Hashem finally reacts in anger:

14And the Lord’s wrath was kindled against Moses, and He said, “Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know that he will surely speak, and behold, he is coming forth toward you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart.

15You shall speak to him, and you shall put the words into his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will instruct you [both] what you shall do.

16And he will speak for you to the people, and it will be that he will be your speaker, and you will be his leader.

17And you shall take this staff in your hand, with which you shall perform the signs.”

Having the Lord’s wrath kindled against us?  Seems like a REALLY scary thing doesn’t it? And? Hashem still loves Moses. He provides a way.

It seems as if Moses NEEDED Hashem to get angry with him in order to accept the peace in his heart.

And. Hashem gave Moses what he asked for – He gave Moses Aaron.

These are my thoughts today! I am curious to yours!

May WE have strength in the face of pain and suffering we are experiencing

May WE be free from anger, fear, and sadness

May WE be open to receive others’ love and care

May WE be filled with compassion for ourselves and others.

Here is my commentary from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 19 Tevet, 5783

Todays passage is really interesting in light of the work I’ve been doing and some of what I shared yesterday.

Hashem was telling Moses “you are ready.” And Moses said “nope. I’m not.” This seems to be the back and forth between Hashem and Moses.

This morning the messages I’ve been reflecting on (and I posted something yesterday to this effect) is the idea of hearing “you are on the right track.” We are often scared we aren’t ready for what is to come. We think maybe we aren’t on the right track.

Today’s passage really should give us confidence. There is no “wrong” track.

Even arguing with Hashem over his readiness, Hashem was patient. Until He wasn’t. Hashem got angry. Moses made decisions and argued to the point it stirred up feelings of anger in Hashem.

And I’m reflecting on that. Because what did Hashem do in His anger? He found a way. He found a way to accomplish His purposes; despite Moses’ resistance.

So even when we might consider we aren’t on the right track? We are on the “right” track. It may need to go in a different direction, but we are going to end up exactly where we are supposed to be. One step closer towards freedom and liberation. It’s a labyrinth. A path of twists and turns. But it’s all leading towards more and more freedom and liberation. All we need to do is walk.

We are ready.

We are on the right track.

It’s going to be ok.

That’s my mantra for 2023.

A year ago, I didn’t think I was ready for what was to come. Tomorrow is the one year mark of my world completely changing. I argued with Hashem that I wasn’t ready. He knew better.

It’s been a labyrinth this past year. Twists and turns. But each step brings me closer to freedom and liberation. Spiritually. Emotionally. Physically.

And through it all? The Torah has grounded me each and every day. That has been the foundation of my labyrinth. And it’s been a solid foundation on this journey.

Thank you all for sharing this journey with me!

What are YOUR thoughts? Where are you on the labyrinth?

Are you feeling ready? Or are you arguing with God?

Do you see yourself on the right track?

Do you trust it’s going to be ok?

Take stock.

I leave you with a gift. In my meditation app (10% happier) that has been another foundation over the past 2.5 years, we are doing a video class that features the Dalai Lama. Todays message was about compassion. We meditated on the following Mantras, and I share them with you:

May you have strength in the face of any pain and suffering you are experiencing

May you be free from anger, fear and sadness.

May you be open to receive others’ love and care

May you be filled with compassion for yourself and others

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Tevet 19, 5783

We left off yesterday with Hashem speaking to Moses from the burning bush; telling Moses His name is “I Will Be What I Will Be.”

He then tells Moses, “go and assemble the elders of Israel, tell them I have heard them and will deliver them.”

Hashem continues; “They will listen to your voice. You and the Elders shall come to the king of Egypt and say to him “God has come upon us, let us go for three days to offer up sacrifices to our God.”

Stop here. That’s the initial request. Hashem wasn’t asking at that moment for the king to let the Jews go for good; just for three days. But God knew what was going to happen; that the king of Egypt won’t let them go, unless God shows his strength. He will do that, and then the king will send them out.

God continues – He will make the Jews favorable in the eyes of the Egyptians and they will give gifts. The Jewish women will ask for silver and gold objects and clothing, and they will empty Egypt of their wealth.

Sounds like a great plan, right Moses?

No. Moses responds “they are not going to listen to me, they won’t believe me, they will say God didn’t appear to me.” Basically Moses tells God his plan was going to fail.

How often do we do this? How often do we assume plans fail from the start; especially Hashem’s?

How does God respond? He gave Moses power to prove it – the imbued the staff with power; Moses threw it down and it became a serpent – and Moses ran away from it; he was genuinely scared. God tells him to grab the serpent by the tail; and Moses does this. And it became a staff again.

There are some interesting things here; I think it’s interesting that Moses doesn’t trust God enough to believe His plan is going to work BUT trusts Him enough to pick up a snake. It’s like Hashem was showing Moses the faith he had.

Second. Rashi writes the staff turning into a snake hints to Moses that he had spoken disrespectfully about His people and was acting like a serpent.

Hashem tells Moses this would be a sign so they knew Moses represented Hashem. The signs were for the elders; not necessarily Pharaoh (in my opinion). That’s interesting to me as well.

God than gives Moses another sign; he gave Moses leprosy and then healed it. He tells Moses “if they do not believe you and they do not heed the voice of the first sign, they will believe the voice of the later sign.”

I know what you are thinking. And so does Hashem; “if they don’t believe either of these two signs, then you’ll turn water into blood.”

Ok; Moses. We good? You ready to go? I’ve told you what to do, I have given you power and signs. Let’s go!!!!!!

Moses responds “um. No.” In fact he BEGS God not to send him. He tells God he chose wrong. Moses is not a man of words, he argues. Not now, not yesterday or from the very first time Hashem spoke to Moses. He says “for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.”

God responds “who gave man a mouth. Or makes a person dumb or deaf, sighted or blind? Is it not I, God?” He tells Moses to go, and Hashem will be will him and teach him what to say.

Alright. Sounds good. Let’s gooooooo!

Um. No. Moses says ”send the one You usually send” some interpretations say “send the one You will eventually send” referring to the Messiah.

Rashi writes; “God spent seven days speaking to Moses from the burning bush trying to convince him to accept the mission to redeem the jewish people. Moses objected claiming that such an important job should be carried out by his older brother Aaron, especially as Aaron was already a prophet. Moses also complained that his verbal education was poor, unfit to present the case of the Jewish people before Pharaoh. Moses final argument was that, since he was not destined to enter the land of Israel; God should send the final redeemer of the Jewish people (the Messiah) instead.

God replied to Moses that Aaron would not be angry with him, as he had expected.

Eventually, God became angry with Moses, and he accepted the mission upon himself.”

God tells Moses Aaron will speak for Moses. Aaron will not be angry. Moses will speak to Aaron and put the words in his mouth. Hashem will speak to both, Moses the leader and Aaron the spokesman. Moses will take the staff and will use it to perform signs.

Whew. I think now we are ready to go! We will see in tomorrows portion.

So, one thing I’m chewing on is Hashem’s original plan to lead the Jews out for three days to sacrifice. Did the actions of Moses refusing to comply initially change the plan to free the Jews for good? Was this intentional on Moses part? Did Hashem know and change the plan because of this? God was angry at Moses for not listening and at the same time provided Aaron. That’s really interesting to me. Not sure I have answers; as usual the Torah inspires a lot of questions!

What are your thoughts?