Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 28 Av, 5784
Parsha Shofetim – “Judges”: (Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9)
First Portion: Deuteronomy 16:18 – 17:13

Good morning! It is a new week with a new parsha!  This week is a big shift energetically.

We have worked through all of the darkness in order to learn how to see in the dark. This week we shift “home” as we enter the final moon cycle before the Spiritual New Year (Which begins on the First of Tishri – this year at Sundown on October 2^nd). We are one month away from “starting over.”

This period of time is for reflection. Judgment. We often talk about “not judging others.” And this is true. Really? We get one month of the year where the Torah asks us to move AWAY from Curiosity, and to begin the process of judging.

What is the definition of judgement?

I love this definition:

“the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions.”

We started in Genesis – I wrote “The path to spiritual liberation is shifting from judgment to curiosity.”

We are now winding down and it would see the Torah is telling us –“there comes a point where we need to release curiosity and do the inner work of judgment.”

I am reflecting on that.

Moving between curiosity and making considered decisions/coming to sensible conclusions.

I am also reflecting on THIS definition of judgment:

a misfortune or calamity viewed as a divine punishment.

So maybe the Torah is better titled: “From judgment to curiosity and back again.”

We feel like we are being punished.

We get curious about that.

We are freed from that paradigm.

We live in our freedom in the wilderness.

We have an opportunity to go into the promised land.

We lack judgment because we are now enmeshed in our wilderness.

We are called to learn to let go of the wilderness to make sensible conclusions and considered decisions.

We are free back in the garden.

We eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Repeat.

In fact, this may be THE journey. We shall see.

And I am also reflecting? We get stuck in any one of these places, right?

Let’s dig in:

18You shall set up judges and law enforcement officials for yourself in all your cities that the Lord, your God, is giving you, for your tribes, and they shall judge the people [with] righteous judgment.

Why? My take? Internally, it is helpful for others to reflect back where we may be in this cycle. To assist us in holding ourselves accountable.

19You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts just words.

20Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving you.

And the Torah seems focused on justice here.

The word justice means: “just behavior or treatment.”

Let’s dig into that. What does the word “just” mean?

Just: “based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair.”

So now we have two more words: “right” and “fair.”

Right: “that which is morally correct, just, or honorable.”

I like that word honorable. That feels like a good landing point to me.

So maybe the theme of the Torah is “From feeling guilt and shame to honorable and just: The moral of the story.”

Let’s go back to what I wrote. Step by step:

1. We are free in the garden
2. We feel guilt and shame.
3. We get curious about our guilt and shame.
4. We are freed from guilt and shame and can share that with others – freedom.
5. We live in our freedom in the wilderness.
6. We have an opportunity to go into the promised land (and perfection).
7. We lack judgment because we are now enmeshed in our wilderness.
8. We are called to learn to let go of the wilderness to make sensible conclusions and considered decisions.
9. We see how those sensible conclusions and considered decisions play themselves out
   • We either feel MORE power and sensible. We feel MORE free and liberated?
   • Or we go back to feeling shame and guilt because we made what we believed were considered decisions, and they did not work the way we thought they would, and we believe we did something wrong. We judge ourselves
10. We repeat the cycle:
    • We are free back in the garden.
    • We are back in the garden having already eaten the fruit and feel shame and guilt

It almost reads like a choose your own adventure, right?

Let’s keep going:

21You shall not plant for yourself an asherah, [or] any tree, near the altar of the Lord, your God, which you shall make for yourself.

22And you shall not set up for yourself a monument, which the Lord, your God hates.

17:1You shall not sacrifice to the Lord, your God, an ox or a sheep that has in it a blemish or any bad thing, for that is an abomination to the Lord, your God.

2If there will be found among you, within one of your cities which the Lord, your God is giving you, a man or woman who does evil in the eyes of the Lord, your God, to transgress His covenant,

3and who will go and worship other gods and prostrate himself before them, or to the sun, the moon, or any of the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded;

4and it will be told to you, and you will hear it, and investigate thoroughly, and behold, the matter coincides; this abomination has been perpetrated in Israel.

Right away? The Torah gives us data on how to make sensible and considered decisions, right? Here’s some things “not” to do.  And? What if we do this?

5Then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has committed this evil thing, to your cities, the man or the woman, and you shall pelt them with stones, and they shall die.

“they shall die.”

I am reflecting back on Genesis. Eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. “IF you eat it, YOU WILL DIE.”

What if? Dying isn’t as literal as we take it to mean? What if dying in the physical is a release of the spiritual – back to the beginning of the cycle? We are back in our guilt and shame?

6By the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall the one liable to death be put to death; he shall not be put to death by the mouth of one witness.

7The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people, and you shall abolish evil from among you.

And – we cannot judge on our own. We must trust the witnesses. Who saw the behavior.

I am reflecting on this.

How often do we believe just ONE witness? About ourselves? When someone tells us something we don’t like about ourselves, and ten other people tell us the exact opposite? How much do we believe the one witness over the 10? This is our guilt and shame, isn’t it?

8If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, or between lesion and lesion, words of dispute in your cities, then you shall rise and go up to the place the Lord, your God, chooses.

And sometimes we get confused. The Torah acknowledges this.

9And you shall come to the Levitic kohanim and to the judge who will be in those days, and you shall inquire, and they will tell you the words of judgment.

10And you shall do according to the word they tell you, from the place the Lord will choose, and you shall observe to do according to all they instruct you.

11According to the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left.

And when we are confused? We seek out wisdom from people we trust. And with listen. And we do. We trust.

12And the man who acts intentionally, not obeying the kohen who stands there to serve the Lord, your God, or to the judge that man shall die, and you shall abolish evil from Israel.

13And all the people shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer act wantonly.

And if you intentionally disregard the wisdom from those you trust? Guess what? You start over.

What if? Death in the Torah = Guilt and Shame. Which is worse? Feeling guilty or ashamed? Or dying?

Which do we fear more? Our guilt and shame being EXPOSED? Or dying?

That is a hard question. One to reflect on moving into this next cycle.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

Here is my commentary from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 26 Av, 5783

We are in  a new Parsha!  After this week, we have 6 parshot to go before we return to the beginning!  These are exciting times.

As we transition out of the month of Av, and into the final month of Tishrei, we start the Parsha “judges.”  As we prepare for Rosh Hashanah, I am struck by how we may need to begin a process of reflection and judgment on how our 5783 has transpired.  How did it begin? What did we discover got us stuck and enslaved this past year? How were we freed from that? What direction did we go? How did we integrate this learning in our lives (remember the counting of the Omer process!).  What directions for our lives were we given? What matters and counted?

We don’t often judge.  But it is time to reflect and judge, for the sole purpose NOT to get stuck – but to set our intentions on 5784. And, being a math guy? I can’t help but notice that 5+7 = 12, and 8+4 = 12.  Double 12!

What do we want to work on for 5784?

What do we want to “put do death” next year within our lives? What have we witnessed about ourselves that we want to “die” next year?  These are all things to consider as we head towards Rosh Hashanah.

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 1 Elul, 5782

As we wind down the year of 5782 towards Rosh Hashanah in the month of Tishrei, this month is a month of Introspection. We can reflect on our journey this past spiritual year – and take stock of the liberation we have experienced! And at the same time reflect on more liberation to come!

Let’s dig into a new parsha, Shofetim; which means “judges.” This is the time we must reflect and judge ourselves. I love this quote from the chumash I’m reading:

“What power does a judge have without law enforcement? It is not enough to have won your inner battle, acknowledging what is truthful and just. You must be your own personal police; enforcing your ruling in practice.”

We must reflect inward to live out our values. When we veer from our values – we get off track. To live for our values we must be aware of them. How aware are we of our values?

This Parsha is going to focus us on Justice.

Again, the context continues to be Moses giving his last lecture before the Israelites go into the promised land. He starts this Parsha by setting up the judicial system.

He first sets up appointing judges and police officers. For each tribe.

Moses warns the people; “do not pervert Justice , do not show favoritism, do not take a bribe, even if the bribe is to ensure judging correctly. Pursue Justice.”

Moses then tells the people there are structures and offerings that are prohibited;

• don’t plant an idolatrous tree. Don’t plant trees near the altar of God.
• don’t set up monuments
• do not offer an ox or sheep that has a blemish

He then tells people the punishment for idol worship is death. But there is an interesting process:

• if they are found guilty of death they should ONLY be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Only one witness is not enough to put someone to death
• Those who witness it, should be the first to put him to death.

Think about this. To be put to death; there had to be multiple witnesses. The witnesses would be the ones to put the person to death. That’s a pretty solid system TBH. Because the crime would have needed to be such that a witness would be willing to do that. Otherwise, they would be guilty, but not be put to death.

Moses then says; if the local courts can’t figure something out; they should bring it to the high court. Those judges will rule once and everyone needs to trust it.

This is establishing an authority system in the promised land. So let’s chew on this. They were free. They were going to be liberated in the promised land. And they STILL needed a court system. This tells me that although we are liberated, our journey is not complete. We will still commit injustice. We will still do “wrong.”

This brings me some comfort TBH. When we make mistakes, God has already taken care of it.

What are your thoughts?