Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 6 Shevat, 5785

Good morning! We are still in this harshness – a lot of things around us driving us to have discernment towards empathy for others.

And today’s Torah portion connects with this – arrogance.

Arrogance and Empathy seem really disconnected.

And? They are connected. You see, Arrogance can create conflict.  If we are dealing with the arrogance of others? We can reflect on the conflict it creates within us.

The question becomes – how can we have empathy for arrogance?

Why is it so difficult to have this empathy?

Because we desire peace.

Stability.

And arrogance seems to fly in the face of this.

However, the conflict teaches us about our humanity. It can create empathy down the road as we navigate the conflict.

And the arrogance can teach us about humility.   Humility and empathy are indeed connected.

When we encounter arrogance, do we mirror that arrogance, or do we choose humility?

Moses and Hashem worked through this. Pharaoh was arrogant. Moses was working with humility. The children of Israel took risks and trusted Hashem.

Pharaoh reacted and dove head first.

And? Hashem calls us to have empathy for the Egyptians. When we remember the passover, it is our tradition to pour out wine from our cup in remembrance of the suffering.

This is humility. This is empathy.

This is what were are called to dig into as we navigate this energy around us.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 13 Shevat 5784
Parsha Be-Shallah: (Exodus 13:17 – 17:16)
Third Portion: Exodus 14:15 – 14:25

Good morning! We are so close to the fullness of the light of this moon – where new trees are going to be planted. Let’s dig in!

We ended yesterday with

14The Lord will fight for you, but you shall remain silent.

And that is the context for today’s passage.

What do we do with this? Let’s dig in:

15The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them travel.

Moses just got finished telling the people – “The Lord will fight for you, but you shall remain silent.”

And here he was crying out to Hashem.

One of the things I am reflecting on is the dichotomy of leadership between Pharoah and Moses. Pharaoh was arrogant. Moses was not. Hashem could work with Moses. Because the shadow of arrogance? Is leadership. The prize? Humility. Moses was arrogant – when he was in Egypt. But Hashem supported Moses to lead leadership – so that Moses was leading from a place of Humility and not arrogance. Here, Hashem was reminding Moses of this gift.

Hashem said to Moses literally “let them travel.”  I find that so interesting compared to Moses telling Pharoah “Let them go.”

Hashem continues to give Moses instructions:

16And you raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, and the children of Israel shall come in the midst of the sea on dry land.

17And I, behold! I shall harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will come after you, and I will be glorified through Pharaoh, and through all his force, through his chariots, and through his horsemen.

18And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I will be glorified through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and through his horsemen

Hashem is telling Moses, I am going to expose the arrogance of the Egyptians.

Why?

Because (in my opinion) – arrogance is what keeps us from our grief. Pharaoh could not/would not grieve. He was too arrogant.

Are we willing to grieve beyond our arrogance?  This is the message. Once we grieve, we will be better leaders, from a place of humility. I see this with my own kids, I see this with people I work with.

And. I still struggle with arrogance.

Let’s see what happens next:

19Then the angel of God, who had been going in front of the Israelite camp, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved away from in front of them and stood behind them.

20And he came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, and there were the cloud and the darkness, and it illuminated the night, and one did not draw near the other all night long.

21And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord led the sea with the strong east wind all night, and He made the sea into dry land and the waters split.

22Then the children of Israel came into the midst of the sea on dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall from their right and from their left.

Even here. Hashem is giving the Egyptians a gift. He is demonstrating His power. And Hashem knows – the Egyptians will remain arrogant. Because this is what happens next:

23The Egyptians pursued and came after them all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen, into the midst of the sea.

Just reflect on this. They charged FULL STEAM AHEAD. They were the essence of arrogance. They could not pause and reflect. They reacted.

And inevitably – it cost them:

24It came about in the morning watch that the Lord looked down over the Egyptian camp through a pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw the Egyptian camp into confusion.

25And He removed the wheels of their chariots, and He led them with heaviness, and the Egyptians said, Let me run away from the Israelites because the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians

What is our takeaway?

Where can we dig into our hearts to uncover arrogance?

• In our relationships with friends?
• In our relationships with significant others?
• In our relationships with our parents (or children)?
• In our relationships with work or career?
• In our relationships with money?
• In our relationships with food?
• In our relationship within ourselves?

The gift here is leadership – the prize is humility. If we are never arrogant, we cannot reach humility. And? I think (these are my thoughts after all – arrogance intentional) the deeper our arrogance, the higher our humility once we navigate this shadow. Time and time again.

We don’t need to feel guilty over the arrogance. We don’t need to see it as shame. We can recognize it as BEAUTIFUL soil in which to turn over, aerate, and then plant a new tree in – which will provide us a gift of leadership with the prize of humility.

Those are my thoughts.  What about you?