Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 3 Av, 5783

Good morning! Today’s portion concludes yesterday’s cliffhanger.  Moses is recounting the history – and reminding the people of what has transpired to bring them to this place.  And today’s focus? How Hashem supernaturally won these wars for the Israelites.

My takeaway from today’s portion.  We often struggle thinking we need to “work hard” and “effort” to get to our promised land.  There are just some battles that are not ours to fight.  We can only do what is put in front us.  I think we struggle.  We ALL struggle with trying to win wars and battles we can’t.  We want others to do the things we want them to do the way we want them to do them.  And we believe we somehow can come up with a strategy to get what it is we want.

Instead, we are reminded there are just some battles we are connected to that we cannot fight.  They are battles for Hashem to fight for us.  That requires a level of trust, I’ll be the first one to confess, which is really challenging and difficult.  And yet here we are.  Standing on the edge of the promised land; being reminded some of our battles are not ours to fight.

So I ask – what battles are we fighting that are not ours – despite our involvement in them?  Where I see this most for myself?  In my career and in my past relationships.  When my jobs and career unfold in a way I am not wanting or expecting? I fight. Or. I flee.  The same way with relationships.

And fighting or fleeing shouldn’t be labeled as “bad” or “good.”  They are human responses to fear. And what my personal fear comes down to? Trusting that there actually IS a God (or spirit or energy) and that God (or spirit or energy) wants the best for me.  If I can boil it all down – that is it.  Things beyond my control start unfolding around me in a way I do not want or believe is best for me. And I get scared.  I don’t lean into that discomfort and look with curiosity within myself.  I numb. I distract. I look for a hit of dopamine however I’m used to getting that.

But if I can slow down with curiosity – I can see my past and all the battles fought on my behalf I couldn’t see until I was further down the road.  Jobs I didn’t get that I REALLY wanted. Jobs I lost I really didn’t want to lose. People I wanted to be connected to who didn’t want to connect with me. All of that? I dodged bullets.  I gained insights. I grew and healed.

In Judaism there is this concept of needing to “go down to go up.”  It’s almost like a slingshot of growth.  As things go “down” it becomes a catapult to being launched into something new we could not have envisioned at the time.

This is the takeaway (in my opinion) from Today’s Torah portion.

What are your thoughts?

Here is my commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Av, 5782

Well here we are. The last day before Tisha B’Av. Tonight at sundown begins the solemn day. AND it also begins Shabbat. We get a slight reprieve before Saturday evening.

One of the things for Tisha B’Av is we don’t study the Torah. We focus on a few passages dealing with the destruction of the temple. My plan for Sunday is to post a Torah passage around this idea.

However, there is ALSO Jewish thought that messiah will be born on this day as well. So there is always light and hope even in the darkest spaces.

Let’s dig into today’s portion!

Moses has been walking us through the journey to get us to the promised land. We have explored places that were given to others as an inheritance that we did not touch or go through.

However, yesterday we left off with the first war. It was with the king of Heshbon because he did not let the Jews pass through in their journey previously.

Today’s portion starts with Moses telling the people “God has said to go because the ministering Angel has gone before us! Start driving him out so you can inherit the land.

Basically, God supernaturally won the war. There were no survivors.

The Israelites did what was expected of them. And they respected the boundary placed on them; they did not approach the ammonite lands.

After Heshbon had been defeated, they turned towards Bashan. They did the same to Bashan.

So; they took over the lands from the two Amorite kings on that side of the Jordan.

This was the land the Israelites were now going to divide up between Reuben and Gad, with a portion given to Half the tribe of Manasseh.

One thought is around Manasseh. Manasseh as a tribe was split between the promised land and the land outside the promised land. This is interesting to me – and the only tribe of Israel that is split between the two lands – promised land and right outside the promised land. You have Gad and Reuben who exist on one side of the Jordan, the other 9 tribes in the promised land. The Levites who spread out over all the lands, ministering to everyone. But then you have this 12th tribe – which is half of the tribe of Joseph (the Tribe of Joseph was split between Ephraim and Mensasseh).

I’m not sure what it fully means; but that there is this one group who has family in the promised land and outside is something for more reflection on.

Those are my thoughts – what are yours?

May you have a productive day in preparing for the sabbath tonight. It should be a good one as it is delaying the heartache of the darkness of Tisha B’Av. Blessings to you!