Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 25 Elul, 5783

This morning we are reading the second portion of Ha’Azinu.  We are called to listen.  Today’s portion focuses on Remembrance.  When we enter freedom, we must REMEMBER how we got here.  How we entered freedom and liberation.  We can’t ignore the slavery and imprisonment – we need to not forget it.

It’s a cycle for sure.

As we come to the new spiritual year, what do we need to remember this past year in terms of lessons?

We’ve been talking a lot about leaving behind and bringing with us into the new spiritual year.  It would seem to be instinctual to desire to “leave behind” the tough times of 5783.  But those may be EXACTLY what we need to bring with us as lessons to remember in 5784.

What do you we need to remember in this new year?

For me?

• Stop picking at emotional wounds that keep them open sores and just allow them to heal.  There is nothing more I need to do to heal them – just let them be.
• Be anchored when called to be by those who I love. Be free when I am not called to be anchored. Harmony. Balance.
• Allow things to unfold around me – don’t resist or try to control them.  I can’t dictate outcomes – I can only create and co-create moments as they arise.

Just to name a few.  What about you?

My commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Tishri, 5783

Good morning! It’s Monday and we are two days from Yom Kippur which starts Tuesday at sundown! Let’s see what the Torah and this song, Ha’Azinu has for us!

Todays portion is Deuteronomy 32:7-12.

32:7: Remember the days gone by (when God punished the wicked). Reflect upon the years of one generation and another. Ask your father, and he will tell you (about days gone by, ask) your elders, and they will inform you (what the early generations did).

32:8: When the Supernal One gave nations their lot (with the Flood), when He separated the sons of man (after the Tower of Babel), He (allowed them to exist by) establishing (seventy) distinct nations, (for the sake of) the children of Israel (who would later arise, and) number (seventy souls).

32:9: (He saved all the nations) because of God’s portion, His people, (hidden among them). Jacob (and his sons were) His inheritance, (for Jacob’s merit was threefold, like the strands of) a rope.

32:10: He found them (faithful to Him, accepting the Torah) in a desert land, ( following Moses) into a desolate, howling wasteland. He encompassed them (with clouds), and bestowed understanding upon them (through the Torah). He protected them (from snakes and scorpions) like the pupil of His eye.

32:11: (He guided them with compassion) like an eagle (that) wakens its nest (gently), hovering over its young (without touching them); it spreads its wings, taking them, carrying them (safely) on its upper side.

32:12: God alone guided them, and there was no strange god (able to attack) them.

So todays portion of the song of Ha’Azinu seems to be focused on remembering our past. Not forgetting what has happened. When we enter freedom and liberation, I would think the instinct is to just be free. But that can lead us back into slavery. We are compelled to remember how we got here. The Torah is a cycle of remembrance- the story of how we went from freedom to slavery and then from slavery back to liberation. I’m reflecting on how quick it was to go from freedom to slavery. That all happened in the first book of Moses; Genesis.

I’m also reflecting on how we see Genesis as the story of creation, and it is. but it’s also a story in how we found ourselves in slavery. It’s the genesis of slavery. This is an internal slavery. When Joseph is in prison, it’s the first light of slavery. He still had his spiritual and emotional liberation, so it was merely a physical prison. By the time we get to the Israelites being enslaved by Pharaoh, it’s a complete prison.

We are called to remember. Todays theme; as we enter Yom Kippur, as we do the repentance work, is to remember how we got here. And to remember Hashem’s faithfulness in that process!

What are your thoughts?