Seek and Ye Might Find - Vaetchanan, Shabbat Nachamu 2011

Parshat Vaetchanan-
Shabbat Nachamu:  Seek and Ye Might Find

Rabbi Neil A. Tow©2011

People in Arab nations, in Egypt in Syria are searching for something.

Japanese who live in the area of the Fukushima plant are also searching.

Those suffering from deprivation in the Horn of Africa are looking.

We think, wonder, watch and search ourselves.

Is it always clear what we are searching for?  Can we always spell out what we lack, what we want, what we need, what can be done?  Is it ever possible to be realistic in our expectations and to be hopeful at the same time?

The Torah this week teaches us a lesson about searching.

“You will seek Ado—nai, Your God, from there and you will find, if indeed you reach out/ki tidreshenu with all your heart and all your soul.”(Deut. 4:29)

“From there” from wherever we are, in time, in space, physically, emotionally, wherever we may be.

From that place we look around us and we look to the future. 

The words of the parsha tell us we will find God from any place.  But what does it mean to find something that we cannot see our touch? 

Finding God might be a sense that we feel in rhythm with creation, one with our spirits and ourselves.  It might mean that we feel part of a community, a history.

But finding God is by no means an exact search with a programmed destination or result.

And we are searching at a time when we no longer have the Temple, the Temple that was destroyed 4 days ago in the Jewish calendar.  Seforno shares that the selection from our parsha reminds us that we will find God even though the Temple no longer stands, even though its holy vessels are long gone. 

Today on Shabbat Nachamu, Shabbat of comfort after mourning the destruction, ki tidreshenu/if we reach out, if we seek, we still may find.

But it is a comfort that comes at a price, as we find in the case of all those searchings, yearnings, and strivings that we feel.  The price is the faith that we must discover, the motor that will power us through that search and keep us on the path when events threaten to steer us off the path.

The search for help in this world, the search for hope and meaning, for security, for nourishment is neither definite nor assured even at a time when we what we can do seems to only be limited by what we can dream.

And so let us take the leap of faith that our selection from the parsha asks of us.  Let us dream together.  Let us dream that if we put our full heart and soul into anything that we may, we just might, contribute to this world in a way that will bring more light where there is darkness. 

And if we fail, if it comes to that, God will still be with us, for God accompanies us on every journey and is especially present when our whole heart and soul are engaged.

For each of us, today, tomorrow, what will our search be?  Whose journey will we be able to make easier and lighter? 

Representative Gabrielle Giffords visits the Capitol

On January 8, 2011 we watched in horror as emergency vehicles gathered around the Safeway in Tucson, Arizona after a shooting spree in which Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head.  We mourned with those families who lost loved ones in that shooting, we praised the courage of Daniel Hernandez - the 20 year old intern who tried to staunch the bloodflow from Rep. Giffords and rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital, and we waited with hope for reports from Giffords' doctors about her recovery.

Last night, my wife called me to show me on the computer that Rep. Giffords returned to the Capitol to participate in a vote.  It was a moment of joy and thankfulness to witness her strength and presence as the other members applauded and recognized her with warm words.  Her own sense of thanksgiving was clear as I watched her mouth form the words "Thank You" over and over again.  Such (bipartisan) support for her return can only be good medicine as she continues her recovery.

Her return to the Capitol coincides with the 9 days before Tisha Be'Av/The Ninth of Av, the day that commemorates the great tragedies of Jewish history, primarily the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples.

As I watched Rep. Giffords re-enter the House chamber I could see in her a symbol of the way Jerusalem has been rebuilt within the modern State of Israel.  The New City radiates out from the Old City in wider and wider concentric circles of neighborhoods, businesses, synagogues, parks, museums, roads and so much more.  Even as we remember suffering, exile, death and destruction we marvel at the way that Jerusalem continues to grow as a city. 

The Rabbis taught us that among the causes of the destruction of the Temple was sinat chinam/terrible hatred amongst the people of Israel.  It is my prayer that the strength of spirit Rep. Giffords has showed in her recovery and return will help pull us all up out of the spiritual low that we have experienced with all the terrible natural disasters and tragedies over the past many months.  It is my prayer that now we might feel a reason to have new hope and a reason to spread goodness and kindness into this world.  With God's blessings, we will be together next Shabbat to hear the words of Isaiah, "Nachamu, nachamu ami..." "Take comfort, take comfort My people..." 

Repetition - a reflection/dvar Torah on Parshat Devarim

Repetition

Devarim 2011/5771

©Rabbi Neil A. Tow

Deuteronomy – a name second only to Leviticus in its strange sound to today’s ear, means “The Repetition of the Law,” a second Torah.

And so we will hear over the next many weeks a repetition of what has come before.  A retelling of some keys points in the journey from Egypt toward the Promised Land, the 10 commandments later on. 

We’ll hear time and again about how we must root out idol worship from our midst and focus our attention on the central sanctuary in Jerusalem, how we must love God.

As Ramban-Nachmanides points out though in his introduction to the book, not everything we find in it is a repeat.  There are new mitzvoth mentioned here that were not previously recorded. 

Ramban also notes that we, the people, unlike the priests of old, require repetition in order to learn.  “pa’am achar pa’am” time after time we must hear and think about the meaning and practice of God’s teachings. 

Ramban underlines an important point when we think about repetition.  Repetition does not necessarily mean that what happens a second time will happen exactly the same as the first, nor that we will think about it in the same way. 

We also must be aware of how we respond to repetition.  Children can say the same thing, watch the same video, read the same book, wear the same clothing over and over again.  As adults, we may grow out of these patterns and look for more novelty.  We hear many messages over the course of a week about the ‘new thing’ as we have for so long.

I have noticed, though, the value of returning to words ideas, images, pieces of art, many times over.  Each time the message sinks deeper.  Each time the picture grows a bit clearer, especially if we engage with a teacher who helps us to see more effectively with each review. 

Return, repetition, is a mindset, a decision to re-engage in a serious way on many occasions with the goal of clarification and deeper connection.

The review of Deuteronomy then is not a sentimental journey backwards in time, nor a desperate reprise of past events with the hope of a last parting impression.  It is a moment when the review of past events and ideas will extend to a new generation that did not itself stand at Sinai.

And that reality extends through until today.  We may have been at Sinai in spirit, but we ourselves did not see the mountain on fire with God’s Presence.  Hearing the words again is as important as it ever was.

This week we will observe Tisha Be’Av, the ninth of Av, a holiday of repetition, repetition of the destruction of Jewish life and community over the centuries in different places on the globe—especially the Temples in Jerusalem.  We lament these losses and the suffering that they brought, and we re-enter those difficult worlds of experience to learn what we can from them, to search for meaning in the darkness once again. 

Our history is alive, a living, breathing phenomenon that must be dusted off, reviewed, replenished, and renewed through every generation.  Let us rededicate ourselves to cultivating an approach of openness and willingness to engage and re-engage.  Let us challenge ourselves to read and re-read the news and process it with others.  Let us find in the prayers of our tradition, in the words of the Torah the messages that carried our ancestors and carry us as we examine them through our own eyes-the messages of the past are ours too, may we hear them and hear them again, each day, each season, and one year into the next.

Musings - the stone in the park

There is a park on Windsor Road in Teaneck, New Jersey that I pass every summer morning as I drive my daughter to summer camp.  It is a large swath of green grass and dry summer trees.  It may not even be an official "park" that belongs to the city of Teaneck or to Bergen County. 

In this park, the only feature that catches my attention as I drive by everyday is a large stone that sits awkwardly on this green suburban space.  It does not nearly approach the size of the town rock, called pamachapura (stone from heaven) in my town of Glen Rock.  It may be a stone that rises five to six feet high.  It is a stone of light brown color as sand. 

The stone catches my attention every time I drive by.  I, figuratively, ask it, "What is your place here?"  I wonder how it came to this spot, or, conversely, how people came to this area and built up train tracks on one side and a road on the other.  Two modes of high speed travel run on either side of the park area and contrast with the immobility and silence of the stone.  I think about whether--no, I think about how many children have climbed the stone and sat upon it, and how some children who sat on it are now adults with their own children who look at, and even climb the stone as well. 

As human beings, we are attracted to what is different, what is unique.  A cactus in a desert is undeserving of notice but a cactus on top of a house catches widespread attention.  What is different and unique also causes us to look, to think, to feel and, hopefully, to discover new meaning and truth.

Perhaps what is most amazing to me is that the stone, despite the fact that we drive by it twice a day, has not become mundane over time.  Often, what is 'special' can become mundane after we grow accustomed to it.  Here, there are more opportunities for reflection, and the word reflection is appropriate for it is likely that we see ourselves reflected in what captures our attention.


 

Parshat Pinchas - "Losing it"

Losing It

Pinchas 2011/5771

©Rabbi Neil A. Tow

She shakes a pillow and all the feathers inside scatter over the ground.

He throws a pitch and watches, stomach tightening, as it flies straight and easy to the sweet spot on the bat.

The child yells and says something terrible to her parents.

What do all these three events have in common?

We say or do something and what we’ve said or done blasts away from us like a rocket from the earth.  They are moments that we cannot retrieve, and most often we end up feeling sad or upset for what we did or what we said. 

The one who shakes the pillow feathers out feels bad because she was illustrating a point using the pillow but now the feathers are stuck in the ground and blowing in the breeze.

The pitcher was trying his best to throw a strike and end the game.

The child felt he was right and that his parents weren’t listening and so he raised his voice since he did not know any other way to express what he was feeling.

Pinchas, the title character of this week’s parsha, is a person who acts in a similar way to all three of these cases.  He acts in a very strong way in the moment and in the opening words of the Torah portion God blesses him and rewards him. 

It seems strange that God would reward Pinchas for acting impulsively, for seeking a revenge of sorts on people who were misbehaving.  God steps in to bring Pinchas back.

It seems strange to us since we know that we (usually) cannot retrieve what we put out into the world.  We can try to soften it, try to change it, try to ask forgiveness for it, but we cannot alter the fact that in the given moment we lost it—we lost control.

Pinchas seems to have received rewards and praises for doing something that would only earn us shame, embarrassment, and a longing to apologize (if the other person allows us to apologize).

How can we make sure to not be in the situation of Pinchas, in a situation in which the only option we have left seems to be to act with great force?

The classic wisdom of thinking carefully before we speak is still good advice. 

But we sometimes speak without thinking first, or we think that what we say will mean one thing and the listener hears something else.  We have to be willing to apologize, and also to be flexible. 

We also need to try again, to be creative and find the strength within ourselves to admit where we went wrong and make a different type of effort the next time.

Even though Pinchas may have acted in a very strong way, he did show courage.  We need courage, too.  We need courage to let go of the way we hope the world will turn and to confront the world as it exists and flows through our thoughts and actions.

And that’s where synagogue Chinese food dinners come in…

The stronger the community in which we live, that is, the stronger the friendships we make, the stronger the support we provide to one another, the better our ability to build bonds of trust and willingness to forgive each other, and also to celebrate one another.

Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz taught that the Pinchas in our parsha acted in a strong way.  But he acted within the community of Israel.  He did not separate himself and build an altar to himself.

The Rabbi of Koretz judges Pinchas positively by arguing that he was still part of the people, in other words, in his mind and among the people he was one of them.

We do our best to express ourselves as individuals and also to find ways to live together as a community.

May the power and beauty of our individual voices and actions come together into a web of community and meaningful relationships that will reaffirm that each of us is among the people of Israel, the people of the Eternal God of the Universe.  Then we will be better able to avoid "losing it", and if we do, we will have many people around us to gently push us back on the path.  Amen.

Angels in front of us

Balak 2011

Getting stuck along the way

Rabbi Neil A. Tow 2011©

It is easy to get caught while we are on the way…

We’re driving and we stop along the road to rest, to eat.  The 20 minute break turns into 40 minutes.

We’re getting ready to leave the house and then the phone rings, or we cannot find a wallet or cell phone.

There is a limitless array of potential obstacles between us and our daily objectives.  The same is true for the long range view of our lives.

The Bal Shem Tov tells of what happens when a person is on her way to synagogue or to do another mitzvah.  Along the way, she stops to chat with people.  This is a sin because she did not journey with urgency to complete the mitzvah, to pray with a community.  And so, in a case like this, God would cause her to have to cross a river on a very narrow bridge, a bridge that would motivate someone to run and cross it as quickly as possible, a scary prospect!  In that moment on the bridge, God would send an angel to block the person from crossing the bridge.  This angel was the same angel that was created when the person thought to do the mitzvah in the first place—for in the moment when she committed to do a mitzvah, any mitzvah, the angel’s soul was created, but without the completion of the mitzvah  - the angel’s body remains incomplete.  Since she delayed in the mitzvah by chatting with others along the way, the angel comes to the bridge to prevent her from crossing.(Besht, Amud HaTefillah, 33)

This teaching from the Bal Shem Tov echoes with an overtone of this week’s parsha, Balak, as we follow the magician Balaam on his way to the Kingdom of Balak.  While there is some controversy about Balaam’s true intentions, Balaam already agreed with God to only bless the Israelites.  Balaam was on his way to do a mitzvah and God sent an angel to stand in his way. 

The delays and distractions, according to the Bal Shem Tov, have an impact on the world of the divine.  The expansion of the universe of God that was set to happen with the formation of a new angel seemed poised not to continue.

We recognize the difficulty of the angels that stand in our way.  We recognize that they can be completely unexpected and undeserved.  They appear like a brick wall in the course of our days and in the course of our years, our projects, our plans and we stand before them wondering what to do.

While some of these angel obstacles may yield us knowledge and precious experience of life-whether easy or hard-others are opaque, stubborn, and painful.  The angel in the story of the Bal Shem Tov is there to be a guide, a reminder, “so that a person will not run away and be troubled and scared.”  The angel standing in front of Balaam seeks justice, and holds up a sword and provides a firm rebuke and new instructions.

How will we respond when the angel steps into our path?  Will we get upset at ourselves and succumb to the moment?  Will we find ways to learn something about ourselves?  Will we be thankful to the Eternal One for granting us a new level of awareness?  (Or a combination of all)

Yesterday as we witnessed the launch of Atlantis, the final shuttle flight to space – I was thinking about the end of the shuttle program as a type of angel in the roadway, compelling us to think again about our plans for space flight, motivating us to recapture the dream that took us to space in the first place. 

In all our journeys, both on and off the planet, may each moment of delay when we face the angel who sees us in our time of distraction and interruption, help us to get back on the path so that we may continue to pursue our tasks, our goals, our dreams, and so we may walk in the way of the wisdom of the Holy One who sends the angels, reflections of the Divine, to shape and guide our lives.  Shalom Aleychem malachey El—yon, we welcome you in our lives, angels of the Most High.

Noach, Yitro, Korach, Pinchas - 4 Parshas With One-Name Titles

There are 4 Torah portions whose titles reflect the name of a person.  I do not include "Chayey Sarah" since the title does not fit the one-name rubric.

Noach - The righteous person God chooses to save from the flood.

Yitro - Father in law of Moses.  The one who helps Moses set up a judiciary system among the people of Israel.

Korach - Member of the tribe of Levi. He rebels against Moses' leadership and his company suffers a punishment from God.

Pinchas - Grandson of Aaron.  He kills an Israelite who is having a relationship with a Moabite woman.

Do these four personages have characteristics in common?