Parsha Kedoshim - Be Holy

Leviticus 10:2 “ You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.”

What does it mean to be holy, not just to act in a holy way or to think holy thoughts – but to BE holy? 

Rest in the awareness of your body doing its dance of aliveness – the breath coming in, the breath going out; the blood circulating; the mind thinking; the heart loving – and ask, what does it mean to BE?
   

Ezekiel - Alive with breath

 Ezekiel: 4-5 “Then Adonai said to me: ‘Prophesize over these bones, and say to them: O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord:  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.  .  .  .’”

Ezekiel’s inspiration continues: There was a noise and the bones came together, bone by bone.  But there was no breath in them.  Then God said prophesize to the breath and say come you four winds and breath into these slain that they may live.  Then God said these bones are the whole house of Israel, prophesize to them saying I will open your graves and bring you to the land of Israel.  I will put my spirit in you and you will live.

Resting our attention on the breath as it fills and as it empties, we become aware of the tenuousness and the miraculousness of life itself, and the way that breath enlivens our otherwise dry and unmoving bones.

On this Pesach, may we realize and appreciate moment by moment the miracle of breath and spring and share these blessings with all of the house of Israel and all humanity.

Meditation for Passover - Softening the heart

Why is the Haggadah silent regarding the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, while in Exodus it is mentioned along with every plague and elsewhere – twenty times in all?  Why are the plagues visited upon the entire Egyptian people, when it seems that only Pharaoh or a minority of the Egyptians are responsible for the oppression of the Hebrews?  Do we embrace collective punishment?  What can we learn about the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart for our own lives?

The events in the Middle East over the last several months shatter our preconceptions.  At least temporarily, our paradigm of the good children of Israel versus the evil Egyptians from the Exodus story has receded and revealed a much more complex and nuanced reality of the Tunisians, Egyptians, Bahrainis, Libyans, Yemenis, Iranians, Jordanians, Syrians and other Arabic and Islamic peoples fighting often peacefully but sometimes violently for freedom against their own Pharaohs.  For once, the focus has shifted from the real and imagined struggle between Israel and Palestine to the oppression of Arabic and Islamic people by their own rulers.  We laud Nachshon in our midrash for having the faith and courage to be the first to wade into the Red Sea.  Yet equally brave and worthy of praise are the Tunisian street vendor who set himself aflame in response to the constant theft of his wares by the police, and the Libyan woman who burst into the hotel filled with international journalists to report her gang rape by Libyan soldiers.  Like the Arabic and Islamic people of that region, we seek not the illusion of peace, but peace itself.  Not the foreign minister of Libya promising a cease fire while Gadhafi’s troops continue to bomb Misrata, but a lasting end to attacks on civilians and the opportunity for genuine democracy.

Can we transcend our own Passover story?  Can we go beyond stereotypes of good and evil to an awareness of the reality before us?  Can we discern the difference between genuine Pharaohs in the world, and those we create or strengthen by hardening our own hearts?  Can we understand the distinction between the plagues over which we have little or no control, and those over which we can have a significant influence?

Let us sit.  Find a comfortable position, back erect, but not rigid, hands resting gently in your lap.  Breath in.  Feel the breadth first in your nostrils, then in your chest, then in your stomach.  Breath out.  Allow the breadth to rise from your stomach, chest, and nostrils.  Find your own rhythm breathing in and out.  Continuing your breathing, when you are ready to begin allow yourself to feel a place in your heart that is hardened   How does having this hardened place in your heart narrow your choices or keep you in Mitzraim.  Allow yourself to feel the pain and sadness of being constricted and enslaved to this hardness.  Knowing that healing begins with the open and compassionate recognition of these difficult parts of ourselves, surround the pain and suffering with warmth and acceptance.  Now invite these healing qualities to you’re your heart.  Say quietly to yourself – May I be blessed with:

Simcah (joy)

Chesed (lovingkindness)

Rachamim (compassion)

Shalom (peace)           

Continue to repeat these phrases.  Gradually, include in your blessings all other who seek to free their hearts.   

On this Pesach, may we each be blessed to soften and act with wise hearts, to live compassionately with those plagues that are real, to let go of those that are not, and to work toward a better world in which adonai echad ushmo echad - God is one and God’s name is one.

Parshat Acharei - Present to the Presence

Parshat Acharei
Vayikra 18: 2-4.
2. Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: I am the Lord, your God.
3. Like the practice of the land of Egypt, in which you dwelled, you shall not do, and like the practice of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you, you shall not do, and you shall not follow their statutes.        
4. You shall fulfill My ordinances and observe My statutes, to follow them. I am the Lord, your God.

How can we be more aware of Presence?  The parsha instructs us not to live in the past for the past is a place of narrowness. Dwelling on it locks us into restriction. Nor should we live in the future. The future presents too many temptations which distract us and lead us astray.  What is left? Living in the present. Resting in now, attending to exactly what is happening in this moment  - that is what makes us feel connected and alive.

Parshat Metzora - The first step

Parshat Metzora: Chapter 14: 21. “But if he is poor and cannot afford [these sacrifices], he shall take one...”

Faced with a need to change, there are times when we feel we don’t have the energy or resources to even begin. Rather than stay stuck, this parsha teaches us to take one beginning step toward change. When we take this one initial action, a new way forward will begin to unfold. 

Parshat Thazria

Parshat Thazria: There are times in life when it may be necessary to seclude oneself for a time. Tzara'at, which is usually translated as "leprosy," can be understood as a difficult inner journey that manifests as a disturbance on the surface.  Someone with this condition needs to separate from the community for a time in order to pay close attention to those inner changes, which may be the causes of outer confusion.  The blessing of Metzora comes to us as a force of re-integration, recognizing our transformation and returning us to the community. In the ritual of re-entry, two birds are brought. One is killed, to symbolize the old self that has died; and one is set free to express the new self that is born.   

May we know when separation is necessary and when we are ready to return to a new higher self and those we love.   

Thanks to Rabbi Shefa Gold for the teaching.

Parshat Thazria- Separation and Return

Parshat Thazria: There are times in life when it may be necessary to seclude oneself for a time. Tzara'at, which is usually translated as "leprosy," can be understood as a difficult inner journey that manifests as a disturbance on the surface.  Someone with this condition needs to separate from the community for a time in order to pay close attention to those inner changes, which may be the causes of outer confusion.  The blessing of Metzora comes to us as a force of re-integration, recognizing our transformation and returning us to the community. In the ritual of re-entry, two birds are brought. One is killed, to symbolize the old self that has died; and one is set free to express the new self that is born.  Thanks to Shefa Gold


May we know when separation is necessary and when we are ready to return to a new higher self and those we love.