26 Av, 5784 - Tikkun Olam 47

on August 30, 2024

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 26 Av, 5784
Parsha Re’eh – “See”: (Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17)
Sixth Portion: Deuteronomy 15:1 -15:18

Good morning! As we prepare for the sabbath today, we are close to the new moon. Our spiritual work for the past year is coming to an end, and we will begin a cycle of reflection and preparation for the year ahead. What is your intention for this reflection coming up?

Let’s dig in:

15:1At the end of seven years you will make a release.

Release. That’s interesting isn’t it? The idea we hold on to so much, but every seven years? We are called to release. To let go.

So maybe the reflecting on what we need to release over the next month going into the new year is crucial? What are we holding on to? What beliefs are we needing to shift?

2And this is the manner of the release; to release the hand of every creditor from what he lent his friend; he shall not exact from his friend or his brother, because time of the release for the Lord has arrived.

3From the foreigner you may exact; but what is yours with your brother, your hand shall release.

So this explains HOW the release happens – and it is centered (assumingly) around finances. Though – I don’t see language other than “creditor” and “lent.”

I have reflected in the past on destitution (see commentaries below). I am now reflecting on what “creditor” and “lent” looks like from an emotional, spiritual, and mental perspective.

I can see emotionally – when we hold space for another? We are lending our emotional energy to them. They may see that as transactional and feel like they “owe” us for being there.

I am reflecting on this. I think I need more time with it. If you have ideas, I’d love to hear it.

4However, there will be no needy among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land the Lord, your God, is giving you for an inheritance to possess.

We won’t be emotionally needy if we follow the Torah. That’s what I read here. And in a sense? The Jewish people? We navigate trauma pretty well. I’ve discussed the idea of Post Traumatic Growth (PTG). When you look at the Torah, and the history of the Jewish people? You see a lot of PTG – and not a lot of PTSD. It’s there – the Torah is FULL of it. Historically, though? We’ve rolled with the punches pretty well.

5However, if you hearken to the voice of the Lord, your God, to be careful to do all this commandment, which I am commanding you today.

6For the Lord, your God, has blessed you, as He spoke to you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

I see this from an emotional perspective. We will be emotional resources for many people. And – we won’t need their emotional support.

7If there will be among you a needy person, from one of your brothers in one of your cities, in your land the Lord, your God, is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not close your hand from your needy brother.

8Rather, you shall open your hand to him, and you shall lend him sufficient for his needs, which he is lacking.

And? We will. Because there is going to be emotionally needy among us. We shall give to them according to their emotional needs. That seems like an “aha” for me.

9Beware, lest there be in your heart an unfaithful thought, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release has approached,” and you will begrudge your needy brother and not give him, and he will cry out to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin to you.

10You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; for because of this thing the Lord, your God, will bless you in all your work and in all your endeavors.

And lest we believe we are “owed” anything for providing emotional support? And we decide it isn’t going to matter? We are called to be in the moment – and be there.

11For there will never cease to be needy within the land. Therefore, I command you, saying, you shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your poor one, and to your needy one in your land.

I can see where this brings us to a close on this idea of emotional support/needs. The torah is about to shift:

12If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you for six years, and in the seventh year you shall send him forth free from you.

13And when you send him forth free from you, you shall not send him forth empty-handed.

14You shall surely provide him from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your vat, you shall give him from what the Lord, your God, has blessed you

15And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord, your God, redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you this thing today.

Ok. I am reflecting on the idea of co-dependency and enmeshment as a concept here. But I feel like that needs to be fleshed out more.

16And it will be, if he says to you, “I will not leave you,” because he loves you and your household, for it is good for him with you,

17Then you shall take an awl and put it through his ear and into the door, and he shall be a servant to you forever; and also to your maidservant you shall do likewise.

18You shall not be troubled when you send him free from you, for twice as much as a hired servant, he has served you six years, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in all that you shall do.

And this seems to indicate – if we are holding onto something? If we release it? We will receive DOUBLE in the future. That feels aligned, to be honest.

So what are we holding onto that we need to let go of? Financially? Physically? Emotionally?

These are my thoughts. I’d love yours!

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 24 Av, 5783

Today’s portion focused on the concept of “destitution.” The definition I found that seems most salient is: “poverty so extreme that one lacks the means to provide for oneself.”

And today’s portion is a good barometer as to how we are doing with society. Hashem does judge the society/culture/government. It’s clear in today’s portion ONE of the metrics of success? People who are financially destitute among us.

It’s clear in this passage in Deuteronomy:

(So long as you perform the commandments), there will no longer be any destitute people among you, for God will bless you repeatedly in the land God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and a possession. “

That we are NOT following Hashem’s mitzvahs. We are not connecting with Hashem in the way we are designed to do. We are not as spiritually liberated and free as we might think we are. We are stuck. The “collective consciousness” isn’t working as designed.

And Hashem KNEW this was going to happen as well. Because we see this:

“If there will be a destitute person -(especially) from among one of your (own paternal) brothers, (or from) one (of the residents) in your (own) town–in the land that God, your God, is giving you, you must not harden your heart or shut your hand from your destitute brother. ” Rather, you must repeatedly open your hand to him, and give him (charity – and if he will not take a gift, then) give him a loan -sufficient to fulfill his requirements that he is lacking.

Be careful that a reckless thought should not enter your heart, saying, “the seventh year, the year of cancellation (of loans) is approaching” and you look begrudgingly upon your destitute brother and do not give him–then he might cry out against you to God, and it will be an (even more serious) sin for you. ‘ (Rather) you should give to him repeatedly, and your heart should not feel bad when you give to him. For God, your God, will bless all your work and everything you do, as a result of (the promises you made to the poor and the money you gave to them).

There will never cease to be destitute people within the land, and therefore I am commanding you, as follows: you should repeatedly open your hand to your poor brother and to your destitute (resident) in your land.

“There will never cease to be destitute people within the land.” So – there will ALWAYS be people among us who are destitute.

How do we know who among us is destitute? What is our attitude toward them? Do we open our hand repeatedly?

And yes, I know. How do we know who is truly destitute?

I think it’s in the definition.

“poverty so extreme that one lacks the means to provide for oneself.”

Because I also imagine beyond FINANCIAL (physical) destitution, there is a SPIRITUAL destitution, EMOTIONAL destitution, and MENTAL destitution.

This is not JUST a financial piece. If we give money only to someone who is not in a place to provide for themselves Spiritually, Emotionally, or Mentally? We aren’t helping.

And. I think I just realized. This communicates the idea of love.

Love means being able to provide for our SELVES first. And for those who cannot love themselves – who are destitute for love (the Torah talks a lot about the orphan, the widow, etc) we are called to LOVE others.

For someone who is destitute for love, as a society, we need to find a way to provide for their basic needs – food, clothing and shelter FIRST. Then we need to help them provide for themselves mental health, emotional health, physical health, spiritual health. Once they are in a better place to provide for their own selves – then, if they ask for financial support? We are called to provide.

I will disclose this has been a tough financial few years for me (and my family). And I have had people in my life help provide for my basic needs so I can focus on on my health. And those close to me have seen how much I have grown in my ability to provide for my emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health.

These same people also helped me raise money to provide for the mental and emotional health of my children. Because I did not have the means of providing it on my own.

And that has made a major impact on my family.

So where are we destitute? It may not be financial. It may be emotional. Mental. Physical. Spiritual. How can we support one another? How would someone know they could support us? Do we tried to HIDE our destitution? Are we ASHAMED of our destitution?

And as a final reflection:

As a society, where do we place VALUE on the ability to provide for ourselves? Who do we judge as “better” culturally:

Someone who can provide financially for themselves (and others), but not emotionally, spiritually, and mentally?
Or someone who can provide emotionally, spiritually and mentally for themselves (and others) but not financially?

Which dimensions of destitution do we judge more harshly than others?

The Torah addresses destitution HEAD ON. Why don’t we?

Thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Av, 5782.

As we approach the new moon on Saturday night and the new month of Elul, we are finishing out our journey of spiritual awakening. Not really finishing, but finishing this cycle. Because the journey from slavery to liberation isn’t linear. It’s cyclical. And that is important for us to remember.

Today’s passage is interesting as it kind of relates to something I’m seeing a lot of in my feed.

So, for those of us who believe in God, but who are struggling with the forgiveness of student loans, I have some good or bad news for you depending on your perspective. I’m not TRYING to get political here. However, we can’t ignore the synchronicity of the Torah portions and life around us. So let’s dig in:

As part of Moses’ last lecture – he moves on to the topic of loans. I am going to quote the Torah literally here. From Deuteronomy 15:1:

At the end of (the) seven-year (cycle) you must annul (all loans). These are the terms of the annulment: Every creditor should release from his hand the debt which he can claim from his fellow. He may not demand payment from his friend or his brother, because the time of God’s annulment has arrived.

Now. If you want to get technical – there are some loans that don’t get annulled. From Deuteronomy 15:2-6:

You should demand payment from a gentile (who owes you money), but your hand should release whatever (claim) you have against your (Jewish) brother

However, (this is only) if you listen to the voice of God, your God, and are careful to observe every commandment, which I am commanding you today. For God, your God, has blessed you, as He has told you: You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, and they will not rule over you.

So, let’s talk. The goal here is that God does not want His people to be destitute. That’s the blessing. In the land of liberation everyone is provided for. The exception to this rule are the gentiles. Now, if we believe that today there isn’t a difference between Jew and Gentile, we should be good releasing loans and annul them to everyone.

If you think to yourself “we should forgive believers but not non-believers” than you are basically playing God – because there is literally no way to do that without you judging someone’s heart and mind. And soul. So. I would say Moses is pretty clear here.

The United States’ government didn’t go far enough in releasing student loans. But that’s my opinion- I’m open to hearing yours PROVIDED you are discussing it from a Torah perspective, since that is the purpose of my posts. This is about studying Torah.

Ok. Let’s keep going; here’s Deuteronomy 15: 7-10:

I think this is pretty clear.

Moses closes today’s portion with discussing gifts to slaves when they are released. The goal is to send those who were slaves (remember they became slaves when they could not repay their loans) away with gifts so they could thrive in their freedom.

I reflect on this as we discuss our journey from slavery to freedom. When we reach liberation front a spiritual perspective, Hashem will bless us with gifts in our liberation. We do not enter freedom with empty hands. We enter with full hands. That is something to get excited about on this cycle of our journey. We only need focus and lean into our love for Hashem. Our love for ourselves as Hashem’s creation. Our love for others as co-creators of the experience we want on earth.

And that my friends; is truly liberating.

What are your thoughts?

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