Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 4 Av, 5784
Parsha Devarim – “Words”: (Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22)
Fifth Portion: Deuteronomy 2:2 – 2:30
Good morning! It is the fourth of Av. If we are looking at this from a fetal development standpoint, the fourth month of the process involves building muscle strength and storing up fat. The sense of hearing begins to develop within the womb. The central nervous system begins to function. Blood cells begin to flow.
I think about this in terms of our journey over the next few days towards Tisha B’Av. The 9th of Av is a day of mourning – the temples were destroyed. And. It is a day of birth. Rebirth. We exit the womb and discover a new world. We don’t need to be afraid.
It is a painful process to develop our muscles. They cannot grow stronger by sitting around. We cannot develop our discernment by just always saying “yes” or always saying “no.” We need to be in each moment and feel into our intuition and where we feel is best for us to go at that time, without making future commitments.
We are all on this beautiful journey together! Let’s dig in!
2And the Lord spoke to me, saying,
3You have circled this mountain long enough; turn northward.
Hashem has called Moses. It’s time. Let’s go north.
4And command the people saying, You are about to pass through the boundary of your kinsmen, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. Be very careful.
5You shall not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land not so much as a foot step, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for an inheritance.
6You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat, and also water you shall buy from them with money, that you may drink.
7For the Lord, your God, has blessed you in all the work of your hand; He knows of your walking through this great desert; these forty years that the Lord your God has been with you, you have lacked nothing.
8And we departed from our kinsmen, the children of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, by way of the plain from Elath and from Etzion Geber, and we turned and passed through the way of the desert of Moab.
9And the Lord said to me, Do not distress the Moabites, and do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land [as] an inheritance, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot [as] an inheritance.
10The Emim dwelt there formerly, a great and numerous people, and tall [in stature], as the Anakim;
11They also are considered Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.
12And the Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, and the children of Esau were driving them out, and they exterminated them from before them and dwelt in their stead, just as the Israelites did to the land of their inheritance, which the Lord gave them.
This is a beautiful closure of the story of Jacob and Esau. Remember when Jacob ghosted Esau? Told Esau he’d meet him in Seir? Jacob never showed. We now see, Hashem has honored Esau and his descendants. Esau didn’t need to go through the process Jacob did. Jacob and his descendants needed to go through a much more difficult process. Jacob was afraid back then. Which is why he didn’t go to Seir. His fear made his journey more difficult.
Hashem, in this portion is protecting the peace of Esau’s descendants.
13Now get up and cross the brook of Zered. So we crossed the brook of Zered.
14And the days when we went from Kadesh barnea, until we crossed the brook of Zered, numbered thirty eight years, until all the generation of the men of war expired from the midst of the camp, just as the Lord swore to them.
15Also the hand of the Lord was upon them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.
16So it was, when all the men of war finished dying from among the people,
17that the Lord spoke to me saying,
18Today you are crossing the boundary of Moab at Ar.
19And when you approach opposite the children of Ammon, neither distress them, nor provoke them, for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon as an inheritance, because I have given it to the children of Lot as an inheritance.
So Moses is reminding us of how we got here. The children who refused to go into the land had died out. It was time to go into Moab. And – they were to keep the peace of the children of Lot as an inheritance.
So let’s pause. Why does the Torah go back to Esau and Lot? Because I think – they were (are?) figures who struggled when we read about them in Genesis. Lot lost his wife. Lot navigated Sodom and Gomorrah. They faced a lot of turbulence. Hashem was keeping his peace as well. Esau sold his birthright. And STILL received his inheritance.
This is not what we learn about Lot and Esau in Shabbat school (or Sunday school) is it? They are not seen or painted as heroes. And yet? At the end here? Their children live at peace.
20It too is considered a land of Rephaim; Rephaim dwelt therein formerly, and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim.
21A great, numerous and tall people as the Anakim, but the Lord exterminated them before them, and they drove them out and dwelt in their stead.
22As He did to the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when He exterminated the Horites from before them; and they drove them out and dwelt in their stead even to this day.
23But the Avim, who dwell in open cities, up till Gaza — the Caphtorites, who came forth of Caphtor, exterminated them, and dwelt in their stead.
And Hashem reminds us – he can take care of giants for us. He can remove all obstacles in our way. He did this for Lot and Esau. Of course He is going to do this for Jacob!
24Get up, journey, and cross the river Arnon. Behold, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: Begin to possess it, and provoke him to war.
25Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you upon the nations that are under the entire heaven, who will hear reports of you and shake and be in trepidation because of you.
26So I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,
27″Allow me to pass through your land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither to the right nor to the left.”
28You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give to me water for money, that I may drink; I will only pass through by my feet.
29Just as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did for me; until I cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord our God is giving us.”
30But Sihon, king of Heshbon, did not wish to let us pass by him, for the Lord your God caused his spirit to be hardened and his heart to be obstinate, in order that He would give him into your hand, as this day.
And – the Children of Jacob? Have more conflict ahead of them.
The takeaway for me? The people in our lives we “believe” are villains? May not be the villains we THINK they are. They most certainly could be. And? They may be granted a peace different than ours because of their past battles and struggles. We are not to judge their journey – we mainly need to see their journey and trust our own.
This is the takeaway. Someone else’s peace does not add energy to our conflict. Our conflict is ours and will be handled. Focus on that!
What are your thoughts?
Here are my thoughts from the past two years:
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 2 Av, 5783
We are now one week away from Tisha B’Av – the 9th of Av. A dark day on the Jewish calendar – they day on the calendar that both temples were destroyed.
Today’s portion is really interesting. There is a lot in regards to sovereignty. Hashem tells Moses, the people whose land He will NOT be giving the Israelites – and why. They had sovereignty. Their own inheritance. It’s a good reminder not to claim too much power for ourselves. Others have rights of inheritances as well. Those do not belong to us – just because we are “God’s chosen people.”
I was talking with a friend last night about this concept of sovereignty. It’s hard to wrap our heads around. Emotionally, it is the difference between holding someone in their sadness, and working to take their sadness from them – without their permission. Trying to feel their sadness for them – without them asking us to. As empaths, this is a difficult task because we often take on the emotions of others. “Allowing” others (and let’s be real – it’s not allowing – its respecting) to be in their own feelings and emotions, and trusting them to do the emotional work of feeling their emotions is a difficult thing in our society today.
However, today’s portion ALSO shows us when it is time to fight for our inheritance – and to go to war over sovereignty. There are times where I have to fight FOR my sadness – hey – I know you want me to feel happy – but right now, I need to experience my sadness. I just need you to hold space for me to be sad. I have had good friends communicate this to me – and it makes a world of difference.
The key from today’s portion? Peace and Harmony. This was worth going to war for. First within ourselves. Then with someone else. If someone is trying to pull my peace and harmony away from me? I have sovereignty to go in a different direction – to move beyond a friendship – or to communicate that and allow them the opportunity to respect my boundaries or not. The friends who have respected my boundaries to allow myself peace and harmony? They become better friends. Those who are willing to communicate their boundaries? We become BEST friends. We are sovereign over our lives.
Anyway – these are my thoughts with today’s portion! I am curious as to yours!
Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 7 Av, 5782
Only a few more days until Tisha B’Av (9th of Av). We are both moving closer to the dark time of the remembrance of the destruction of the second temple – AND the light that comes with the full moon a week later. What a time it’s been.
Hopefully we’ve been able to “see in the dark” and “let our Neshama shine light in the dark” and “allow others lights to guide our way in the dark.” That has been my journey this past week; as reflecting back, a year ago had I experienced this past week, I would not likely be in the place I am today. So many “random” (spoiler alert: not random) people reached out to me this week to check in and make sure I was doing ok. New friends were made to help me live in my light, old friends
You all know who you are. The universe (Hashem) connected all of us for a time such as this. Thank you.
Let’s dig into todays portion!
Today Moses tells the people of the journey passing the Land of Edom. Remember, Edom was the land of Jacob’s brother Esau.
Moses tells the people that God spoke to him to tell the people not to provoke Edom. God has told them He isn’t going to give Edom’s land to them. Because that land was Esau’s as an inheritance.
My takeaway here is that as much as we are God’s chosen people, it doesn’t mean we have a right to the inheritances of others. We must honor and respect others and recognize God has a relationship with them as well. God gave Esau land. The mountain of Seir. We can’t just assume we are all God cares about. This is an important lesson as we are about to enter the promised land.
Getting back to the portion. God does allow the Israelites to trade with Edom. They can purchase items from them. They shouldn’t be afraid to show the Edomites how God has blessed them in the desert for 40 years.
Another takeaway. As we are wandering in our wilderness, being prepared to enter the promised land, God does bless us with wealth. It can be financial wealth, but it can also be relationships and wisdom and knowledge. We should not be afraid to show others how Hashem has blessed us in our wildernesses.
Next we come to the land of Moab. Once again we are told not to besiege the land because it was an inheritance for Lot.
We then get to a “dream sequence” (for lack of a better word) where we travel back in time to remind us that before we go to Moab, all the previous generation died out.
Before we go to cross the Zered Brook. The Torah is clear and reminds us; the time between leaving Kadesh Barnea (where our journey began) and crossing the Zered Brook was 38 years. That was “sufficient time” for the generation to die out. However, there were some who remained – to speed up the process of entering the promised land, Hashem’s hand came to eliminate those in the camp who didn’t die naturally. Until finally the generation died out (with the exceptions of Caleb and Joshua).
Then when all the men eligible for war passed, God had them cross the Moab and engage the Ammonites. But that meant not going to war with them because they were Lot’s descendants.
Now we got across the Arnon Brook; and we are called to fight. God tells the people (through Moses) that He has delivered Shihon the Amorite, King of Heshbon. And Moses encourages them even more. “Today I begin to make all the nations under the skies fear and dread you. When they hear of your reputation they will tremble and shudder because of you.”
We are reminded; the Jews ASKED to cross the land peacefully- and would pay for provisions. They wanted peace with Heshbon. Heshbon said “nope.” This is why the land was being delivered into Israel.
The portion today ends with;
“But Sihon, king of Heshbon, did not wish to let us pass through his (land), for God, your God, hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, so that He could give (his land) into our hand, as it is today.”
So much to take out of todays portion. This entire week as been a reflective week on our journey as we are about to enter the promised land. We are on the cusp of true freedom and liberation. We just need to take stock. Remember our journey so far. The times we were given things, and the times we were told no. We are not the only people God cares about. He has made promises to other peoples – the descendants of Lot. The descendants of Esau. We need to remember this. And to listen. God speaks to us and tells us when to go, when to stop. He gives us things and denies us others. This is a part of our spiritual journey to be free.
What are your thoughts?
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