Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Sivan, 5784
Parsha Korach: (Numbers 16:1 – 18:32)
Sixth Portion: Numbers 17:25 – 18:20

Good morning! What an amazing day yesterday at the Fourth of July Festival. I had the amazing opportunity to meet so many people. And the theme from yesterday’s Torah portion was front and center:

“We chase what we think we lack, only to find, humbly, it was within us all along.”

What are we chasing? How can we look within to see we already have it? Let’s dig in!  The context for today’s portion is the staffs. Only Aaron’s staff came to life. Let’s go!

25The Lord said to Moses: Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony as a keepsake [and] a sign for rebellious ones. Then their complaints against Me will end and they will not die.

Hashem has Moses put the staff as a sign for those who rebel. Hashem tells Moses their complaints will end. Let’s see what happens:

26Moses did so. He did just as the Lord had commanded him.

27The children of Israel spoke to Moses saying, “Behold, we are dying, we will perish, we are all lost!

28Whoever comes the closest to the Mishkan of the Lord dies! Have we been consigned to die?

 They were afraid of Hashem’s power. They were still afraid. So Hashem steps in:

18:1The Lord said to Aaron: You, your sons and your father’s house shall bear the iniquity associated with the Sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your kehunah.

2Also your brethren, the tribe of Levi, your father’s tribe, draw close to you, and they shall join you and minister to you, and you and your sons with you, before the Tent of Testimony.

3They shall keep your charge and the charge of the Tent, and they shall not approach the holy vessels or the altar, so that neither they nor you will die.

4They shall join you, and they shall keep the charge of the Tent of Meeting for all the service of the Tent, and no outsider shall come near you.

5They shall keep the charge of the Sanctuary and the charge of the altar, so that there be no more wrath against the children of Israel.

This is interesting isn’t it? Hashem tells Aaron – the plan is – you and the tribe of Levi are responsible for the tent – no one else needs to come near it. This way, we separate out the children from the mishkan.

That my friends? Is not the design. It’s a lesson.

The Mishkan represents our feelings. Our heart. And we have, like the children of Israel been super scared to come near our own hearts for fear we will die.

So we have life from death – Aaron’s rod – the sign. Hashem wanted the children to come close to the heart. And the people rejected it. More alienation. Hashem made an allowance.

Let’s go within ourselves.

Who ministers within you? Who connects to your heart? Aren’t you the least bit curious? Who is your own Aaron? The one who keeps things running in your body and soul? While your consciousness goes about life ignoring the mishkan?

You don’t HAVE to stay away, you realize? Hashem WANTS us to connect with our own hearts.  We won’t die – even though it feels like we will.  Who is the priest within?  Because Hashem has given that priest as a gift:

6I have therefore taken your brethren, the Levites, from among the children of Israel; they are given to you as a gift, and given over to the Lord to perform the service in the Tent of Meeting.

7And you and your sons shall keep your kehunah in all matters concerning the altar, and concerning what is within the dividing screen, and you shall serve; the service as a gift I have given your kehunah, and any outsider [non-kohen] who approaches shall die.

Now- we need to tap into the priest within us – because they are the messenger of the heart. That priest? Our body (in my opinion).  Our body tells us how we are feeling. Our body is connected to the soul. Our mind? Cannot approach the heart.  The body is the go between. Just my thoughts reading this passage.

I am open to questions or thoughts on this. Too many people I know – work with in my coaching – are disconnected from their bodies. They are fully in their mind. They are looking for peace externally without listening to their body for the peace within.  So much pressure and stress and chaos. This is the time to be mindful of our hearts. Feel into the body – trust the feelings – don’t fight them. Be curious about the feelings.

8The Lord told Aaron: Behold I have given you the charge of My gift [offerings]. I have thus given you all the holy things of the children of Israel for distinction, and as an eternal portion for your sons.

9These shall be yours from the holiest of holies, from the fire: all their offerings, their meal-offerings, their sin-offerings, their guilt-offerings, [and] what they return to Me; they shall be holy of holies to you and to your sons.

10You shall eat it in the holiest of places. Any male may eat of it; it shall be holy to you.

11This shall be yours what is set aside for their gifts from all the wavings of the children of Israel; I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as an eternal portion. Any [ritually] clean member of your household may eat it.

12The choice of the oil and the choice of the wine and grain, the first of which they give to the Lord, to you I have given them.

13The first fruit of all that grows in their land, which they shall bring to the Lord shall be yours; any [ritually] clean member of your household may eat of it.

14Any devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.

Everything devoted to the heart can be ours!

15Every first issue of the womb of any creature, which they present to the Lord, whether of man or beast, shall be yours. However, you shall redeem the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

16Its redemption [shall be performed] from the age of a month, according to the valuation, five shekels of silver, according to the holy shekel, which is twenty gerahs.

17However, a firstborn ox or a firstborn sheep or a firstborn goat shall not be redeemed, for they are holy; their blood shall be sprinkled on the altar, and their fats shall be burned as a fire-offering, as a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.

18Their flesh shall be yours; like the breast of the waving and the right thigh, it shall be yours.

19All the gifts of the holy [offerings] which are set aside by the children of Israel for the Lord I have given to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as an eternal portion; it is like an eternal covenant of salt before the Lord, for you and your descendants with you.

This is a description of being provided for spiritually.  By focusing on the feelings within – the heart – the holy of holies – the soul – we will have everything we need. However:

20The Lord said to Aaron, You shall not inherit in their land, and you shall have no portion among them. I am your inheritance and portion among the children of Israel.

 The priests do not inherit land. Their inheritance? Peace with Hashem.

We have a choice.  It’s not either/or. It’s both/and.  The nice thing about our bodies – we can experience peace within our hearts by tapping into the priests within. And. We also have within us the other children of Israel who inherit land. We can truly have both.

Because remember – all of this? Was Hashem’s response to the fear of the people.  He provided this as a way for us to connect with Him. This is what he wants. Connection. To belong. To be a part of it. Remember why this is happening.

 14:34According to the number of days which you toured the Land forty days, a day for each year, you will [thus] bear your iniquities for forty years; thus you will come to know My alienation.

 He doesn’t want us to BE alienated. He doesn’t want us to alienate HIM. He wants us to UNDERSTAND His alienation. And realize. He understands us. Because we understand Him. That is connection.

“I see you Hashem. I see how we have alienated YOU. I see how I have alienated YOU.”

And that? Is the key to our heart. In my opinion.  What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

 Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 4 Tamuz, 5783

Rebellion.

Fear.

Protection.

Responsibility.

Intimacy.

Service.

Safety.

Gifts.

Holiness.

Inheritance.

These are the themes I pull from today’s portion.  In order.

Where are we? If this were a cycle, spiraling upwards or downwards, where are we?

This is not a rhetorical question.

For me? I am moving from safety into gifts.  This morning, as I read in “The Book of Awakening” by Mark Nepo, he writes;

“Much of our anxiety and inner turmoil comes from living in a global culture whose values drive us from the essence of what matters. At the heart of this is the conflict between the outer definition of success and the inner value of peace.”

“Unfortunately, we are encouraged, even trained, to get attention when the renewing SECRET OF LIFE is to give attention.”  (Emphasis mine).

The SECRET of LIFE is to GIVE attention.  All of us.  ALL OF US.  No matter how rich financially. How poor we are.  ALL OF US have attention to give.

I often get focused on what attention I am getting.  Who is reaching out to me? Who is NOT? It has been x days since this person responded to me. I spend less time thinking about “How many days has it been since I gave that person any attention?”

We become a sponge for attention – but we don’t give it.  For me? A lot of it has to do with feelings of safety. If I don’t feel safe, I tend to want to draw attention into me in order to feel safe.

But when I feel safe? I can turn around and give attention to others.

There are wonderful people in my life who give me attention.  They reach out to me to check in on me. Ask how I am doing.  I need to better do this for others.

So that is where I am.  Who do I need to give attention to? And NOT just because they are giving me attention BACK.

Safety.

Gifts.

Those are my thoughts.  What are yours?

 Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 2 Tamuz, 5782

Good morning! Let’s dig into today’s passage!

Yesterday we left off with Aaron’s staff blooming with almonds. The other leaders took their staffs back to their camps.

Today we start with God speaking to Moses:

“Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Ark of Testimony, guarding it as a sign for rebellious people. Then their complaints against Me will end and they will not die.”

It’s interesting to me. This would seem to be an effective way to deal with rebellion. I’m not sure it will be. And maybe that’s the point. We have within each of us this innate voice pushing us to rebel. Part of our life is navigating that. What do we use as an anchor to remind us we can trust God?

I know that’s my current struggle. I don’t know the outcome of the future. Where will certain processes land? Will they be in my favor? Will they work against me? And it’s kind of scary. My heart wants to rebel and not trust the process – to take matters into my own hands; but I have to see the fruit produced from Aaron’s staff to trust God is in charge here. I can trust him; lean into the mitzvahs and leaders He has appointed, or I can try to take matters into my own hands. That’s a tough choice. It shouldn’t be. But it is.

And getting back to the Torah? Despite the circumstances – the people FREAKED out. They spoke to Moses – they were scared because they were worried about the tent of meeting and being destroyed. They were worried about getting too close to God.

God hears these concerns. And he does NOT want the people to be distant. So He has a solution:

1. Moses, Aaron, their sons, and the rest of the paternal house of Kohath will protect the Jewish people by taking responsibility for sins concerning touching unauthorized parts of the Sanctuary
2. Moses, Aaron and their sons will take responsibility for the sins of the Levites concerning participation in the priesthood duties by those not authorized.

Let’s stop again and remember – in Gershon, Kohath and Merari, Kohath had duties that were more spiritual in nature. It is no WONDER he rebelled and though he should be high priest. And yet those duties still needed to be performed. God addresses the spiritual needs here right away.

It is interesting that we could envision spirituality being rebellious. Today, I think we associate spirituality with peace. But there IS A rebellious nature to it as well.

Ok. Let’s get back to the Torah. God then addresses Gershon and Merari:

God tells Aaron and Moses to draw them close and join their sons and the remaining descendant of Kohath in their work.

They (Gershon and Merari) should serve as ministers to Aaron and Moses and the descendants of Kohath.

Full stop. What an interesting picture! Our bodies and emotions could minister to our souls and spirit? Yes!

God shares more responsibility the priests have, and it kind of feels very burdensome. The idea of being a priest seems kind of daunting.

And then God brings gifts!!!!!

God says to Aaron; ”I have given you My gift offerings, I have given you all the children of Israel’s holy things as a sign of greatness and to your sons as an eternal portion. Here is what you get after the fire offerings are on the alter in the holy of Holies:

1. A portion of the offerings – meal, sin, guilt offerings and what they return to Hashem. The property of a deceased convert.
2. The parts set aside from all the children of Israel’s wave offerings
3. Terumah – which is the first portion of the best oil and the best wine which the Jewish people give to God
4. The first fruit of everything that grows in the land.
5. Any segregated field in Israel
6. Every firstborn of the womb of any creature which is presented to God. Except, humans need to be redeemed to their father, and any ritually impure animal. Redeeming happens at one month, for five shackles.
7. An exception to #6: ox, sheep, goats should not be redeemed. They get to eat the meal from those animals being holy offerings.

So, God acknowledged their life and responsibility is going to be tough, but he also said they would reap gifts and rewards from it.

As we consider our spiritual work, we have to understand the challenge with it. And. Recognize the gifts. The question is where is our focus?

What are your thoughts?