Mateh of Light: The meeting of Avimelech, the heat and Yitzhak, the light

The Mateh leaned against the wall of the tent to witness this momentous meeting. For though it was indeed, a branch from the Tree of Life/Knowledge, it was not to be the center of this council. If wood could chuckle, laughter would have burst from the Mateh at the thought. For in the center of the tent, the center of the meeting, there was wood, bursting in flame, as it was being transferred from mass to the energy of heat and light. And that was the metaphor for this meeting.

Here sat the tribal chief of Gerar, a man named Avimelech, and his warriors. They were men of heat, the heat of battle the heat of anger and possessiveness. Across from them sat Yitzhak and his herdsmen, Yitzhak the leader of light, the seeker of peace. Avimelech had called the meeting after the challenge of the wells. The Mateh thought back over the events of the past few weeks. Yitzhak and his men had dug a well and struck water. When seeing their good fortune, Avimelech’s men claimed the well for themselves. Yitzhak called the well ‘Esek’ ‘to be deprived.’ But Yitzhak would not fight for the well. He and his men moved and dug another well. Again there was a quarrel and Yitzhak named the well ‘Sitnah’ ‘Enmity’ and moved on without a struggle. Finally Yitzhak dug another well but this time there is no fight. Indeed, now, amazed at Yitzhak’s maze of good fortune, the warrior chieftain Avimelech came to sit in council with Yitzhak. Avimelech, this man of heat and war was sitting in the tent of Yitzhak the man of light and peace. Between the two men was a fire of heat and of light. The Mateh knew that its own role was not that of the burning wood, for it was to bring only light as it lightened and enlightened the burdens of the two-leggeds.

Avimelech the enemy was invited into the tent of Yitzhak and they sat to negotiate, with no preconditions, a path to peace, a way to live together on the earth from which these earthlings were formed. Outside there is thunder and lightning (barak) as these men sat in a tent on a raised platform (bama) and elevated the confrontation of conflict to a gentle journey of justice and hope. These two men, the man of heat and the man of light swore an oath to strive not against each other but to live with one another in harmony.

And so the place of this meeting was given a name of hope for all future history; ‘Be’er Sheva’ the ‘well of the oath’ the well-spring of light and hope and peace.

Blessings and challenges: Jacob and Esau

Sometimes parents are blind. We can be blind to the blessings and failings our children. We want the best for them and, of course, we KNOW what is best for them. Sometimes, when one parent does not see, the other sees clearly. That is our story this week. Yitzhak is blind to the strengths and weaknesses of his two sons. He sees his strong, outgoing, warrior son Esav as the wise choice to become leader of the tribe, to receive the blessing of tests and lessons. He sees his softer, gentler, quiet son Yaakov as the weak choice. He does not see the wily ways of Yaakov blossoming into wisdom. He only sees the hairy strong arm of Esav who will bring meat to the table.

Rivkah sees things differently. She will use the wily ways of Yaakov to secure the blessing of tests and lessons for him. She sees that in the future, the thorny path of Yaakov’s guile will blossom into the thirteen petalled rose(1) of wisdom for the tribe.

Esav has shown his short-sightedness by selling his soulful soul-food birthright to his brother for physical sustenance. This is not the one to lead a people to holiness. And so, Emah(2) Rivkah devises a plan. Yaakov puts on the outer garb of the mighty Esav and Yitzhak, blinded by the might gives Yaakov the blessing/challenge of leadership. Yaakov is promised the dew of Heaven, the ‘do’ of G. If he can teach people the path of blessing, then they will be blessed, but if people can only find the path of curses then they will be cursed. The blessing is the challenge.

There is no getting around the fact that wily ways become thorny thoroughfares on the path to wisdom. This too is part and parcel of the blessing/challenge of Yaakov.

Yitzhak says as much to his older, warrior son Esav. The traditional translation of Gen. 27:35 is: “Your brother came with cleverness and took your blessing!” And the root ‘RMH’ blossoms into a thornbush; ‘Mirmah’. Some will translate this as deceit and delusion. One is aimed outward the other inward. Others will call Mirmah shrewdness, which can be shallow or deep. Rivkah sees the depth that will be, but Esav in his shortsighted seething, sees only the slight against him by his brothers slight of hand.

A father’s torment at the tears of his child, brings Yitzhak to give a blessing to Esav. The blessing starts on a similar path to that of Yaakov, but roars with an anguished anger as he calls out: “By your sword shall you live!” The blessing contains the curse, for if one lives by the sword others must die by the sword.

And so two brothers are given the blessing/challenge according to their ways. And the trails they will follow lead both to the heights and depths of human path.


(1) see the book of the same name by Adin Steinsaltz
(2) Emah means mother

Toldot: A powerful point along the line.

What a word of wonder is the name of our potion this week; ‘Toldot!’ One might simply translate it as ‘The annals’ but that meaning is pale and thin compared to the wondrous, thick, multi-colored, multi-dimensional meaning of Toldot. For Toldot speaks of past and future. Inside that word we find child bearing and childhood. Inside that word we find the opportunity to peruse the pages of the diary of our people. But most of all Toldot calls us to stand at this point and become aware.

I turn back to my dim memories of geometry to energize my understanding of the word and the potion, Toldot. In geometry, there are terms with very specific meanings; ‘line’, ‘line segment’ and ‘ray,’ among others that have long since left my memory.

A line has no end or beginning and the only true line is G who always was, who is in the moment and who always will be. We, the creation of G, exist as line segments, for we have beginnings and endings. We are part of the greater line, we are part of G. We are a segment of the greater line that is G. And yet, when we are young, we see ourselves as a ray, that which has a beginning but no end in sight.

All three concepts share a sameness in that each one is made up of an infinite number of points. Though we are a finite line segment, our lives are filled with an infinite number of moments offering an infinite intimation of meaning. Each point in our lives is a turning point, if only we will see that point and seize that moment.

In our story, in our potion this week, a magic moment is made manifest. It is one point among many to which Torah points. “Look at me,” it cries out, “let this moment move you!” We can stand on this point and we can look back and look forward. We can mount this moment and learn lessons that will ferry us into our future. This moment can be for us a point of powerful proliferation. If we will seize this moment, this point on our line segment, our life segment, it can point the way, a compass along our pathway, with meaningful messages from the line of which we are but a segment.

Mateh of the Midrash: Transcending realms

There is a fourth statement that floats in our potion like a lily pod floating in a tranquil pond. It gently attracts our attention. It is worth our while to sit by the pond and ponder the power and worth of words and tales and tellings. Our spirits are calmed as we hearken back to journals and journeys allowing them to guide our lives and our souls.

“I am a stranger among you (23:4).” The Mateh focused on that line. If it were possible for a staff of wood, even a staff formed by G from the Tree of Life/Knowledge to smile a melancholy smile, that is what would have happened. For something as special as the Mateh, time and space bend and flow in many directions and the Mateh can see downstream and upstream with ease. And it saw and heard and felt the words of a Rabbi some four thousand years later, trying to capture the continuous connection to this verse.

He was teaching that this verse was referring to the Jewish soul and hir(1) relationship to this world. A Jewish soul is part of the physical reality, for it is taught to inhabit and elevate it. Virtually all Mitzvot, all Sacred Connections are connections between this world and the higher realms. Virtually all Mitzvot are actions involving elevating physical objects. The challenge for the Jewish soul is to make a dwelling place for the Shehinah (the dwellingness of G) in the material realm, by making sacred everyday actions and mundane materials. And yet the Jewish soul is a ‘stranger’ in a strange land, the material world. Hir(1) true home, the secret inner home is higher and deeper than the material world. It is in the realm of the spirit. The home of the soul is the world of holiness, the wholeness of harmony. The Jewish soul yearns to return and yet remains through the physical body in the realm of the physical, learning its lessons, teaching its lessons until it is called to separate and return home.

This, the Mateh grokked, it understood. For the Mateh, this piece of staff this piece of wood is the symbol of the residing in, and elevating of the physical. The Mateh was not just a piece or wood. It was a piece of would, a piece of hope. It was the would of elevation. The Mateh is the physical reminder of what the Jewish soul, indeed what all souls could, should and would do and be. The soul would elevate the soporific secular into the stirring sacred. The Mateh felt justifiable pride in its place as the reminder to the two-leggeds of the connection between the material realm and the spirit realm. It felt the heavy weight of the honor of obligation. The Mateh was, is and always will be the symbol of hope. The Mateh of wood: The symbol of would. “Loo Yehi” (That it would be, that it will be)



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(1) I use 'hir' to replace the awkward 'his/her'

Listen, Speak and Act: The quiet power of the hidden Torah

There is so much of import, so much power in our potion. Great tales and deeds leap out at us from the parchment. And yet there are 3 quiet lines in this potion unrelated and unpretentious. They do not but leap from the parchment at us demanding our attention. They float gently on the surface with roots of meaning deep below the surface. And if we sit by the pond and gaze deeply into it seeking these gentle words and their meaning, they refresh and refill. These lines imply import and reach for realms of majesty.

The first is found in the story of Eliezer’s quest for a bride for Yitzhak. He finds Yitzhak’s Bshert (his perfect partner) at a well. He goes to her family to share his story and his desire and his knowledge that Rivkah is the one for Yitzhak. The family sees his wealth and encourage him to eat, drink and be merry and, after resting, to share his story. But he refuses. Dusty and tired and hungry from his journey, Eliezer will not dine nor rest. Lavan the greedy brother of Rivkah requests that Eliezer the servant eat as a guest in his home. Eliezer does feed his camel for, as my wife always says, quoting Midrash HaGadol: “It is forbidden for a person to taste anything until he feeds his animals” But after feeding his camel he replies to the offer of his own comfort: "I will not eat, until I have told my errand." Something comes across the avaricious Lavan. As if mesmerized, as if taken aback, as if rooted beyond reason and avarice, Lavan replies with but one word: "Speak!" (24:33) “Daber!” “Daber,” he says “make something real. Make something or worth with your words!”

Onkelos, in his Aramaic translation/commentary on the Torah, translates the words from Braeshit; "And the human became a living soul," as "And the human became a speaking spirit." In the philosophical and Kabbalistic works of our sages, humanity is called the speaker. The Rabbis taught that the entirety of creation is divided into four realms: ‘domem,’ the silent or inanimate creations; ‘tzomeach,’ growing things; ‘hai,’ the animal world; and ‘medaber,’ the speaker—humanity

Words have power and even Lavan was open to the magic message of the word/things. And this then is a theme of this potion. For here, as we begin the creation, the procreation of our tribe, we reinforce the powerful, potent portent of human potential. We strive for communication, we strive to ‘com’ ‘be with’ ‘union’, the oneness. With the word/things we strive for unity. And so, Eliezer refuses respite until he can put forth the idea formed at the conjunction of Abraham’s desire, his own wise awareness and G’s stream of consciousness. And Torah summarizes the path and the power of our words with the challenge: “Speak.”


The next wondrous words offered, underplayed, downplayed, tossed forth in simplicity, open our souls and our hearts. Again they are put into the mouth of Lavan, the treacherous and avaricious. He simply says: “We will call the girl, and inquire at her mouth (24:57).” This is in response to Eliezer asking that Rivkah accompany him to a strange land and marry a man she has never met. And Torah says; ‘we will inquire of her mouth.” We shall seek the wisdom of women. For in Torah where men are heard so loudly, we have to listen more carefully for the words of women. It requires effort, it requires a willingness to sit in silence and listen in quietude. If humanity is the speaker, the ‘medaber’, then we should also be good listeners, we should ‘Shema!” If, in Torah, as I have written before, the influence of the feminine is ethereal, light, flowing, muted, gentle, understated and sometimes hidden, then the other half of being human, the speaker is to be able to listen. The teaching of women (in part) is that we human beings, we living souls, who are called the ‘speaking souls’ must also be “listening souls.” We must listen to the voices of women.



My last choice, the last little line that wafts up from Torah and over our soul is taken from the burial scene at Mahpelah. “And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the Cave of Machpelah (25:9).” Two estranged brothers stand together in grieving silence and bury their father. Two brothers put away differences and pick up shovels. They sweat and strain as they dig a separate peace. We almost hold our breath in the belief that this might last. 4000 years later we still wait breath bated, for the children of Abraham to make that separate peace. But if we take the gentle lessons, the quiet lessons the floating lessons of Torah to heart, if we will speak and we will listen and we will act, then maybe, just maybe we will reach a level of fulfillment of our dream as earthlings; not just to rest in peace, but to live in peace.


To be fully human we must learn our power. We must speak our power. We must listen to the power of the word/things of others. And we must act on the power of the truths that we speak and that we hear.

We are the ones who speak, we create a body of word/things to teach and grow our future.

We are the ones who listen, we hear the quiet voice of the wind in the willow, we hear the still of the night, we hear in each other the promise for tomorrow.

We are the ones to act. We will live the spoken promises of yesterday, we listen to the hopes for tomorrow and we must act upon them both today.

HAYEI SARAH: Sarah lived

The name of our potion is Hayei Sarah, usually translated as “The Life of Sarah!” Strangely enough, the potion begins with the story of her death. If we look at this name of the potion as a beginning, it seems very strange that it discusses the end. On the other hand if we view the name of this potion as the end, then it is a remarkable beginning.

As the beginning of the potion the words “The Life of Sarah” introduce her death. But if the title is a reminder to look back, or look deeper before we continue, then the power punches through the potion. Sarah the quiet, Sarah the brave, Sarah the giving, is passing on. One might even translate the words as “Sarah Lived!” Indeed she did. She is our fore-mother. She was a wife who elevated the path of her people. Her influence, as with the influence of most of the feminine in Torah is ethereal, light, flowing, muted, gentle, understated and sometimes hidden. It is our challenge to gaze through the gauze of the Mehitzah and glean the glow of their teachings.

Hayei Sarah, Sarah lived. Sarah gave life, not just to her son Yitzhak but to her husband Avram. And she is mother Sarah who gives life to us all. Her husband eulogizes this Aishet Hayal, this valorous woman. Her son Yitzhak takes no comfort until he can marry “a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad.” Sarah lived: Sarah gave life to a people, she gave succor to her husband and she laughed with G. This potion begins with her passing from this realm and into our soul journey. And Torah is our journal of the journey.

Barak Obama, a gleam in the gloom.

Eight years ago our President spoke of shock and awe. Now we stumble in shock and dismay through an ever-weakening economy. We have moved from having the largest surplus in American history to the largest shortfall in American history. We have seen our growing economy shrink in stagnation. As jobs have left our shores, we have become the country from which Emma Lazarus imagined us emigrating. We are rapidly becoming “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore… the homeless, tempest-tost (sic).” No longer are we the shining beacon, we are becoming the shadowy bastion of corporate self-interest.

In these dour days, there is a hint of hope. We might call him the great white hope, except that he is black. And more amazing than the fact that he won, or maybe part of the fact that he won is that we are finally getting it. What is the ‘it’ that we are getting? That ‘it’ does not matter! In a time of fiscal free-fall, we are unfettered of our intolerance. In a race to remain a viable power, race is not an issue. In a time of economic despair, ecological dismay and executive distrust, our country looks to a different paradigm of promise.

Hope is a seed. It is not the end but rather the beginning. For the first time, in a long time, hope blossoms. In this country that has become a parched plane of broken promises and broken dreams, the blossom of hope appears. In this country where fear has become a force of nature, the bud of hope is being nurtured. But if hope is not watered with its compliment, action, then hope dies on the vine.

We need action! But the action that we need is not the action of the movie cowboy. It is not the shoot-from-the-hip, knee-jerk reaction to stress and strain. We must always remember that no matter what the result, the perpetrator of a knee-jerk reaction is, by definition, a jerk. Action must be planned and purposeful. Our action should be well-informed and well-advised, in contrast to the ill-informed and ill-advised actions of the past eight years.

Soon, Barak Hussein Obama will take office. Mr. Obama is an intelligent and inquisitive, man. He is conscientious and he is conscious. He is not a caricature of mediocrity. Nor should he be. When my plumbing backs up, I want the best plumber, not the average Joe. When my country is backed up, I do not want an ordinary person as president. I want someone extraordinary. I pray, Mr. President, that you are he.

What is in a name: VaYera (Genesis 18:1-22:24)

Sitting outside his tent, Avraham sees three strangers. Maybe this was unusual for him, living in a lonely wilderness. But we see people passing by everyday and though we may see them, they are not apparent to us. They do not register in our minds. People pass into and out of our lives without our inner sight ever registering them as sacred guests in the hotel of our soul.

The name of our Torah Potion invites us to open our inner sight. The name of our Torah Potion challenges us to leave the light on for the sacred guests. The name of our Torah Potion this week calls us to ‘awe-awareness’. VaYe’Ra derives from the Hebrew root Resh Alef Hey, meaning ‘to see’. That root itself does not assert awareness. But the way in which the letters are placed engages us, evoking a higher meaning. This word, the first word of the potion, VaYera, intimates the intimate process of elevating sight into awareness. The word VaYera is related to another root; Yod Resh Alef which means awe. Indeed our Potion title is spelled Vahv Yod Resh Alef. The Remez key/clue here is that sometimes we see things with only our eyes, that is, our limited sight. But sometimes things appear to us, appear to our inner sight, and we become ‘awe-aware’. That is the teaching of the title of this week’s potion: “Awe-awareness!” In the story we see three strangers treated with kindness and compassion, with affable accommodation. Avram runs out to greet the guests pleading that their stopping for food and rest would be a great compliment to him. He washes their feet, hot from travel, in cool waters. Food and drink are placed before the guests. Avram even interrupts a discussion with G to accompany the guests a little way, to give them a good send-off.

Avram treated these strangers as if they were messengers from G and indeed they were. The question now arises, are not all guests messengers from G. Are not all people who come within our ‘sight’ in potential, messengers from G. How would the world be different if we did not just RO’EH (see) people, but they all Ye’Ra (appear) in our inner sight. Every person who passes has an important message for us if we will only let it appear to us. And when the message becomes apparent to us, the awe-awareness blossoms brightly. If we learn not just to see other people but to let them appear to us let them become manifest in us, we take one step towards making our world more Mashiah ready.

Shock and Awe: Not the answer. Filled with Awe is awful, some awe is awesome

Over the past eight years terms have crept into our vocabulary, such as “homeland security,” and “weapons of mass destruction.” Words have meaning and words have power. They have power to harm and power to heal. One phrase that bubbles up in my consciousness when I look back over these eight years and when I read this week’s potion is “Shock and Awe!”

Shock can fill us with awe and that idea intimidates me. I am uncomfortable with being filled with awe. I do desire some awe in my life. I want some awe. When the foothills appear over the horizon I want to feel some awe. When I see my children, I feel some awe. When I pray in the morning and the quiet calms my soul, I feel some awe. But I am wary of being filled with awe. I am wary of losing my reason to awe. I am wary of awe filling me to such an extent that I can no longer think or decide or use my judgment. And shock fills me with awe. When I am in shock, reason wants to flee and awe wishes to fill.

In this week’s potion we are taught the lesson through two of Avram’s tests. Avram is tested by G in relation to the cities of Sdom and Amorah and in relation to Avram’s precious relation, Yitzhak. In the first, G informs Avram that these cities are so evil that every last human resident must be destroyed. Avram feels the awe of G at hearing this news. And yet Avram, unlike No’ah before him is not shocked into silence. Avram’s awe is tempered with his awareness and he stands up for justice, even to the Source of Awe. Avram challenges G; “Would you destroy the righteous with the wicked?” “What a curse it would be for the Judge of the world not to use judgment!” (Gen. 18:23, 25). Every time that I read this potion, my breath stops for moment. Avram bravely, brazenly, brashly, stands up to G for justice. Avram can do this because he is reasonably awed, he is awed into reason, he has some awe but is not filled with awe to such an extent that all reason falls away. We are in awe of Avram.

Later in our passage, G seems to ask Avram to slaughter his own son. Can you imagine the shock of such a concept. Avram is shocked into silent. It is his shock and awe. Avram is so shocked that he filled with awe, all reason, all righteousness fall away in the furor of fundamental extremism. In response he does not say a word but saddles his donkey and takes his knife. He takes his son to a mountain and so filled with awe, that he would have fulfilled the awful command. If only the shock had not filled him with awe, he would have realized that G was not telling him to kill his son, rather G told him to take his son up to the mountain and teach him of the sacrifices (see Rashi on Gen. 22:3).

In the case of Sdom, Avram is not shocked out of reason. He has some awe and his response is awesome. In the second case Avram suffers from shock and awe. He is so shocked by the thought of what he thinks that G has commanded him that he is filled with awe. And the result of being filled with awe could have resulted in something awful.

And that is the transcendent teaching of shock and awe. Shocked into awe and the results will be awful. If our awe is reasonable, that is if we carry with us on our life journey some reason and some awe, our responses can become awesome.

Misrash of the Mateh: Tests and Lessons

Surely this is the tested people thought the Mateh, resting in it’s usually place by the entrance of the tent. What a time this has been. First G emanates to this two legged to
“. . .get going.” That in itself is such a test. This two-legged and his wife and family walked south out of Syria and into a new country to settle. Then came the visit. It’s an honor to be visited, but to be visited by G’s messengers is mind blowing. And yet, what does one do with that information of mass destruction. There is going to be a mass destruction of a neighboring town. Now it is true that the people were pretty evil. But to destroy everything indiscriminately is a response of shock and awful. It is shocking and awful to kill the innocent with the guilty. One might even call it overkill. And there stood Avram standing up to G standing up to that test. Avram spoke out for justice. That is a first in history. No where in my wanderings do I recall someone standing up for justice especially not before G, thought the Mateh.

But the two-leggeds will learn from tests even when they do not do well. How many times over the millennia will people look to the heavens and ask: “Oh G, is this a test?” And, of course G knows that not everyone is an “A” student. Even Avram is not an “A” student. G tested Avram again with an emanation that was not clear, especially when one considers where Avram lives. Avram lives near people who have some pretty extreme beliefs and harsh practices. They even sacrifice their first born sons. So when G emanated to Avram; “Take your son for a sacrifice!” Avram misunderstood. He did not do so well on that test. He was actually considering sacrificing his son. Thank G that G stopped him.

After every test there is a lesson. The lesson here is that if you are one of the two-leggeds and you feel that G has told you to do something, stop, wait and think. Avram’s test teaches that G never requires death as a proof. G never requires death as a sign. G requires love, G requires compassion, G requires faith. G requires awe. And G requires reason. All life is chosen by G. But no one asks for what s/he (1) was chosen. The answer is, as all answers are, easy. All two leggeds are chosen to be tested. Even the word, in Hebrew, is the same. To be chosen is to be tested. And why should one be tested, so that one can learn. The two-leggeds learn from their tests and grow from them.

The Mateh sighs as only a Mateh can, as it looks upon this family of mother, father and son. Yes it is the beginning of the never-ending story of tests and lessons.
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(1) I use s/he to avoid the awkward "she or he" or the more awkward choosing one sex over another

Our Constitutional Process

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Thus begins a covenant made by the leaders of that new experiment in liberty. Representatives from 12 of the 13 new states came together and crafted a document signed in Philadelphia on May 1787.

Our Torah is also a covenantal document. While the Constitution is for the nation called the United States, the other is the Constitution of the Jewish People. As with the Constitution of the United States, Torah has amendments. We call them commentaries, midrashim and Takanot. Indeed the Talmud might be viewed as amendments to Torah. No matter how we call them or what we deem are their origins, they serve the same function as amendments and judicial interpretations. As with the Constitution of the United States, Torah is interpreted and argued and lauded loudly or with quiet pride by we who are signatories to it.

In this potion of our constitution, our Torah, we discover the manner in which we sign our constitution, sign on to our Torah. Unlike the original signatories to the Constitution of the United States, who wrote with quill and ink, we sign our constitution in blood. In our parsha there is outlined for us the way for every generation to sign on and to carry a sign on our bodies. That tradition has been carried on by Jews around the world throughout every generation Indeed the words “to cut a contract” may originate with Avram and Yitzhak (we should remember that Yishmael also, was a signatory of blood to the covenant). That is how we signed our covenant our constitution, we signed in blood taken from a symbol of the lineage of our legacy (Gen 17:-15). And just as with the constitution of the United States, we Jews have struggled in modern times to make interpretations of equality for women in the signing of the contract. We call the signing of the constitution by men; Brit Milah, the constitution of circumcision. For women there are many names, including Brith Bat, the woman’s constitution and, my favorite, Brit Levanah, the constitution of the moon.

The United States is celebrating our constitution as we make history by electing the first African American President of the United States. We are justifiably proud of ourselves. In Judaism with every child we celebrate the chance that history will be made. But, as an American I ask the question, what do we know of our Constitution. I suggest that, as citizens we should all take a look, periodically at parts of the Constitution and engage in discussions and spirited debates. As Jews I suggest that we take a look, periodically at parts of the Jewish Constitution, the Torah and engage in discussions and spiritual debates. That is the purpose of my little weekly messages. They are the starting point for exploration into our spiritual constitution, the one signed so long ago by the family who heeded the call to ‘get going’.

Midrash of the Mateh: A new leader for a new time

Oy vey, it has been a long time coming. I have waited for the right person to make the quantum leap of history. I floated along until Noah plucked me from obscurity, but he was not the right man. I was passed on to Shem to Arpachshad to Shelah to Eber to Peleg to Reu, to Serug to Nahor to Terah and then it happened. I knew he was the one. I knew that this person was destined for greatness. He was going to change the story.

It started with me in a rather humiliating position. Terah had not recognized what I was, that I was The Mateh. To him I was just a stick. He attached straw to me and used me as broom. Me, whose origins are from the Garden of Eden itself, who came from the Tree of Life and Knowledge, I was a broom. And what did I sweep everyday, I am ashamed to admit it. I swept our Terah’s idol shop. If a Mateh could blush, I would be blushing. Then one day Terah left the shop in the hands of his son, Avram.

It was so amusing when that woman walked in all self-important, looking down her nose at Avram son of Terah who was minding the store for his father.

“Oh, boy,” she exclaimed. “Fetch me a nice idol for the niche next to my door!”

Avram was confused. He asked the lady politely: “Madame, didn’t we sell you one of our finest idols only last week?”

“None of your lip boy,” she responded harshly. “Well, if you must know, my cat jumped up into the niche and knocked it over. I need it replaced.”

I noticed the gleam in Avram’s eye, he was coming to one of those revelations that changes lives. He asked again being very polite; “Madame if the idol could not defend itself from a pussy cat, how will it protect your entire home from harm. Isn’t the idol merely an ‘eye-doll,’ something you keep to please your eye and assuage your superstitions!”

The woman was in shock and walked out in a huff, or maybe it was a minute and a huff. No matter, she left. And then I saw Avram do the most amazing thing. He grabbed me pulling off all the straw. I am so glad that he did, that stuff itched. Then he swung me again and again, shattering all of the idols. I knew he was going to get it for that. His father might find another demeaning use for me, in the woodshed as an implement of retribution. But then I noticed that Avram left one idol, the largest, intact. He rested me in the arms of the idol. I did not understand until later when his father came home. Terah was livid. “What have you done,” he screamed. “I didn’t do it,” replied Avram (this is not your George Washington and the cherry tree story). “Then who did,” cried his father. Avram pointed silently at the idol in whose hands I lay. I wish at times that I could laugh and that was one of them.

• Breaking 20 idols: $100.
• Ruining a broom: $10.
• The look on Terah’s face: Priceless.

Well needless to say Avram never was allowed in the store again. And soon after that. G emanated to Avram: “Get going from this your homeland to a land that I will show you. You will become the father of a nation!” I felt so good, such a fit when Avram picked me up and with me led his wife and friends out of his father’s shadow and into history, the beginning of the history of the Jewish people. Now I was truly on my path with the two-leggeds. I would be able to serve. I would become an implement of mass construction.

Heshvan The Magic of the Messiah

In Jewish Mysticism, Kabbalah, each Jewish month is assigned a letter of the Alef Bet, a sign of the zodiac, a tribe of the amphyctyony of Jewish tribes, one of the senses and a part of the body. The manner in which these come to light is fascinating and filled with the inner light of involvement in text and commitment to life.

This month is called Heshvan. It is the eighth month of the Jewish calendar.

In the Bible, Heshvan is called Hodesh bul, from the word mabul, "the flood." According to Jewish tradition the flood began on the 17th of Heshvan, and ended the following year on the 27th of Heshvan. The following day, the 28th of Heshvan, No’ah brought his sacrifice to G and G swore never again to bring a flood upon the earth to destroy all the earthlings, and then revealed the sign of that covenant with the world, the rainbow. Also, the story of No’ah is read right before the month of Heshvan begins.

Heshvan is the only month which has no holidays or special mitzvot. We are taught that it is "reserved" for the time of Mashiah, who will inaugurate the third Temple in Heshvan.



Letter: nun.
In Kabbalah the letter Nun symbolizes Mashiach, because of a rather clever interpretation of T’hilim 72:17: (Literal translation) “May G’s name be forever, as long as the sun exists, may G’s name be bright and may all nations bless themselves with G’s name and praise G.” But the mystery of the words flows through in a different way. The word for bright is Yod Nun Yod Nun (or Yod Nun Vahv Nun). This is interpreted as the letter Nun (spelled Nun Vahv Nun) preceded by the Yod of G’s ineffable name. The Midrash of T’hilim refers to the Mashiah as YahNun. The translation becomes a hint that the Mashiah will spread the sacred light of enlightenment to the nations. The eighth month is the month of Mashiah. If we look to the traditional view of Creation we find 6 days of physical creation followed by the creation of the spiritual on the 7th . Therefore the 8th day is that step into the mystical, that which starts with the rational reaching into the spiritual and stepping off into the realm of all mystery.

In a play on the shape of the nun, in this realm it has a flat bottom נ, confined by the boundaries of nature. With the coming of Mashiah, the nun "straightens out" (the shape of the final nun ן), breaking through the boundaries of physical nature, and descends "below the line" into the all realms of reality revealing G's all-encompassing Infinite light, the light of the first day of creation, the light of enlightenment which is the end of all duality.



Mazal: akrav (Scorpio--scorpion).
Our sages teach us that the scorpion is the most deadly member of the general category of poisonous creatures whose archetypal figure is the primordial snake of Eden (whether or not this has scientific validity, it has poetic value). The word akrav is similar to the word akev, "heel." And so the mystics make the connection to Genesis 3:15 "and you (snake) shall bite the human at the heel." The Mashiah is the soul that overcomes the curse of the snake from Eden, ending the good and evil duality of life. In the Gematria game Mashiah and Nahash (snake) both equal 358. Also the root of Heshvan, which is Het Shin Nun when moved around spell Nahash, Nun Het Shin. And because Nun is the last letter in Heshvan, it is straightened out symbolizing again breaking through the barriers of physical nature and duality. And just for fun, King David, the ancestor of the Mashiah spells his name Dalet Vahv Dalet = 14 and nun is the 14th letter of the Alef Bet. What more proof could one seek?



Tribe: Menasheh.
In the realm of the Jewish mystery, Menasheh the firstborn of Joseph symbolizes the month of Heshvan. Menasheh derives from the root Nun Shin Hay which means "to forget" (literally "to slip away"). There is a story at the end of Braesheet (Braesheet 48:13-20) in which Manasheh is slighted when his grandfather blesses his younger brother Efriam on a higher level. Menasheh, unlike his uncle Esau does not seek revenge and is not even perturbed. Perhaps that is why the mystical view of Menasheh is that he implies the power of the tzadik, to forgive and forget. The teaching is that we, in the time to come we will let slip away all residual anger and hurt readying the world for the coming of Mashiah. In the name of Menasheh, all jealousy and anger, pettiness and spite will slip away inaugurating the Messianic era. The name Menasheh, when we scramble the letters, spells Neshamah, "soul." Peeking out from within the gentle egoless nature that we ascribe to Menasheh, our soul opens up to the Divine. It is of interest and maybe of great meaning that the name Moshe is similar to Menasheh. Menasheh has an additional nun (the last letter in Heshvan as we have discussed above). The Midrash claims that Moshe “is the first redeemer and he is the final redeemer" (Shemot Rabbah 4:2; Zohar 1:253a; Sha'ar HaPesukim, Vayehi; Torah Or, Mishpatim). The Sod, secret, of Menasheh is that his name is Moshe+nun. In the Zohar we are taught that when Moshe first passed from this world he received the "50th gate" (of secret knowledge) and was "buried" in the Mishnah. Mishnah, when the letters are scrambled becomes Neshamah ‘soul’ which is also Menasheh and Moshe+nun. Imagine if we were to study Mishnah through the opened eye of Rational Kabbalah. We might discover our collective Neshamah and open the door for Mashiah to enter our lives and our realm.



Sense: smell.
The word for smell in Hebrew is Ray’ah. It shares a root with Ru’ah, the wind spirit of our soul. As we have seen, another word for soul is Neshamah, the permutation of Menasheh. The sense of smell is the only of the five common senses that is not implicated in the exile from the Garden. Our sense of smell is used in Mitzvot and there are several blessings for the smell of the wonders of this realm. TaNaCh hints that the sense of smell will be the first sense with which we recognize the Messianic Era. "And he shall smell in the awe of G"…"he shall judge by smell" (Isaiah 11:3 and Sanhedrin 93b). One could go so fare as to translate Ru’ah HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) as ‘The sacred aroma.’


Body Part: intestines.
Jewish mystics are masters of connection. They connected the intestine to the sense of smell and the Mashiah. It works like this. The word intestines is dakin. Its root is, arguably Dalet Koof. Dak (DK) is ‘particle, subtle, thin’. It seems to point to refining, making fine. What bubbles up in one’s mind is the process of preparing the incense for the Temple. How is the Mitzvah of incense activated, through the Ray’ah Nechoah, the satisfying smell? This was part of the service when the Temple stood. When preparing, we are told, the priests would repeat again and again "grind well, grind well" (hadek heitev, heiteiv hadek: hadeik comes from DaK). And so the intestines are connected to the sense of smell and our soul. Now for one more goody.

Our sages interpret the phrase Ray’ah Nechoah as "a satisfying smell for G. And when do we first hear of such satisfaction, such a relationship between the Divine and the earthling? We find it within No’ah, the passage that we read last week. According to tradition, when did the sacrifice of No’ah take place. According to eye witnesses or the calculations of the sages, it was the 28th of Heshvan. On that date, G swore to No’ah never again to destroy the world by flood. In the way of sacrifice, it is the fats of the intestines that are a source of the Ray’ah Nechoah the "satisfying" aroma for G-d. Yet one more way in which intestines are connected to the sense of smell.

• The intestines are connected to the sense of smell.
• The sense of smell is connected to the soul.
• The soul is connected to Menasheh.
• Menasheh is connected to study and Moshe and Mashiah.
• Mashiah is connected to the Nahash and therefore to the Scorpion Akrav.
• Mashiah is also connected to the letter Nun.
• The letter nun is connected to Heshvan.
• Heshvan has no mitzvot because it represents the coming of Mashiah which symbolizes the end of duality.

The month of Heshvan is the hint and hope for a better world. Heshvan points to a world where anger slips away, where we smell the awe. Heshvan is the hope that duality will snake away, as we connect to each other, in this realm and all others.

May this Heshvan and the election that takes place in it bring the hint and hope to life.

Thanksgiving, the Jewish spin,

FROM WHERE I SIT

My Dear Friends:

Thanksgiving is, in many ways, the American equivalent of Sukkot and Pesah and Shavu'ot, the three "Hagim", Pilgrimage festivals of our tribe. In ancient times we would congregate at the Temple to give thanks and to remember.

Thanksgiving, too, is a pilgrimage festival. For over 50 years, my family congregated, in Rhode Island, for Thanksgiving. In the beginning it was to honor my paternal grandmother, Sadie Davis (z’l). After her death, we returned to honor her memory. Then, when my father (zt’l) passed away, we returned to the synagogue where he grew up to remember. And though it has become difficult to return, it is not difficult to remember. We will remember.

Our Hagim are filled with ritual foods and ritual actions. On Sukkot we wave the Lulav and build a Sukkah, on Pesah we eat Matzah and have a large family meal called a Seder. On Shavuot we stay up all night in study, recalling the giving of Torah.
And we remember.

Thanksgiving also is filled with ritual foods such as Turkey and Pumpkin pie. There are other traditional foods, but I am a purist. By purist I mean that a traditional Thanksgiving includes the things I grew up liking and eating. To be sure my Aunt Hannah prepared and supplied many more goodies. Cranberry sauces, stuffings and other things that were, I am told, delicious. But I was and still am only interested in the Turkey and pumpkin pie. The rest is just window dressing. By the way, the menu for the first Thanksgiving went something like this:
• Seethed [boiled] Lobster
• Roasted Goose
• Boiled Turkey
• Fricase of Coney
• Pudding of Indian Corn Meal with dried Whortleberries
• Seethed Cod
• Roasted Duck
• Stewed Pumpkin
• Roasted Venison with Mustard Sauce
• Savory Pudding of Hominy
• Fruit and Holland Cheese

For many, there is the ritual of the football game that is played over that weekend and watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. For our clan, it was always an evening of cards (bridge and poker) with one memorable exception when we played Trivial Pursuit.
And we taste and remember.

Our three Hagim (also called the Shalosh Regalim) began as harvest festivals. We still remember that aspect of each holiday with foods and prayer, songs and stories. Thanksgiving also began as a harvest festival for our American ancestors after surviving their first harsh winter due to the great kindness of the Native American tribes around us.
And so we remember.

Our Hagim are imbued with the historical memory of our growth from slavery to freedom. During Pesah we remember the Exodus from Egypt, Sukkot commemorates the wilderness experience and Shavu'ot celebrates the giving of Torah at Mount Sinai. Thanksgiving also has a historical aspect to it. The early settlers would have starved if their Tribal neighbors had not come to their aid. Our American ancestors were, in fact, giving thanks for the Native Americans who had saved their lives. And we all know how the Indians were repaid for their kindness to the strangers in their land.
The children of the Pilgrims did not remember.

We gather each year for Thanksgiving with our families and friends. It is a time for playing catch up. We look at pictures of Thanksgivings past, while we coo over the children who will be our future.
And we hope that they will remember.

We Jews added to our Hagim a moral imperative. In countless verses we read the refrain,"because you were strangers in the land of Egypt". "Love your neighbor as yourself because you were strangers in the land of Egypt". "You shall not glean the corners of your fields, you will leave them for the widow, the orphan and the stranger because you were strangers in the land of Egypt". So on each of our harvest holidays, on each of our Thanksgiving Days, on each of our agricultural times we give Tzedakah to those who are in need. Thanksgiving has the implied Mitzvah of remembering that the Pilgrims were strangers in a strange land and through the kindness of strangers they survived. Today, Thanksgiving should be a time of learning more about and seeking to be of service to those Tribal Folk who insured our survival and were rewarded so poorly.
It is time that we remember.

This month, when families join together to celebrate the American Thanksgiving, how will we remember. We will remember with food and fun. We will remember by looking to our elders and our young. But let us take a moment to take Thanksgiving at its word, at its name. Let us give thanks with a Jewish flare. Let us give thanks by remembering the 3 pillars of all Jewish thanksgivings. Torah, Tfilah, Tzedaka. Let us give thanks through study. Let us give thanks in prayer. Let us give thanks by giving to others.
And so we will always remember.