Great ironic grasshopper story in this week’s Torah reading! And with a choice of moral lessons, too! Here’s how it appears in Parshat Shlach (Num 13:1-15:41). Moses sends twelve scouts to tour the land of Canaan. When they return, they file their report before the people (Num 13:1—14:39). “Look at this giant fruit that grows…
Ten Commandments: Inner Edition
The Ten Commandments. In Hebrew, Aseret Hadibrot. The Hebrew does not tell us to think of them as ten commandments —that would be “Aseret Hamitzvot.” Instead, the Hebrew tells us to think of them as dibrot דיברות, things said in the midbar מדבר, the wilderness, that can fertilize our lives and bring us the honey…
Spiritual Birth: Omer 49
Birth Day. That’s one way of thinking about the last day of the Omer. The day we touch on Shechinah she’b’Shechinah. And complete our journey through the tree of sefirot. Sometimes I picture the tree of sefirot as a throne. Divine being, which I can’t really picture, sits on it. Some Kabbalists call this throne…
Activism: Omer 48
Yesod she’b’malchut: Foundation of the divine kingdom. Today I’m thinking about activism. That’s how we create a perfected “kingdom” on earth. Traditional language of Jewish prayer calls God “king.” Some people (like me!) recoil from this. We don’t want a king, thank you. Not even a benevolent dictator. We’re trying to get rid of tyrants,…
Afterlife: Omer 46
Netzach: eternity. Malchut or Shechinah: close divine spiritual presence. I think about the afterlife sometimes. As in life after death. I’ve had some visions of it. So I know? believe? hope? it’s another kind of life. And it goes on forever. When my father died, my son was five years old. One day, about a…
Bad News: Omer 45
Tiferet means balance. Malchut, the Kingdom, is also known as Shechinah, the Presence. Tiferet she’b’Malchut could refer to the presence of mind one needs to find balance in political matters. But what if all that is present to my mind is, “I don’t know what to say about the news?” Do I have to take…
Resilience: Omer 44
Today’s topic is resilience. I think it fits with the day’s quality. Gevurah means Judgment. Malchut is another name for Shechinah, the Divine Mother. So, Gevurah she’b’malchut means: Judgment in the mother. I’m thinking today of judgments I made as a mother. Good judgments, actually. One of my young children, for example, was not very…
God is a Woman: Omer 42
Malchut. Also known as Shechinah, God’s Maternal Presence. Yesod. Foundation. Malchut she’b’Yesod: Mother God at the foundation of the world. So, this happened to me about two years ago. I am walking on the UBC campus one day. Early in the afternoon, before teaching my class. It’s a damp, grey day, so I’m in a…
Yesod the Stream: Omer 41
Yesod. Foundation. Yesod she’b’Yesod. Ultimate Foundation. What kind of foundation? Not the solid one we see under a house. But a dynamic one, always on the move. Maybe you have a little glass carafe where you mix your salad dressing. You put in oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar. Then you shake it up. And, when…
Caretaking: Omer 40
Caretaking. A hidden foundation of the world. One that merits much gratitude. But gets little. Today in the Omer, Hod, gratitude meets Yesod, foundation. Today’s quality is Hod she’b’Yesod, gratitude for a solid foundation. Also today: What to do with myself? I’m not sure what day it is. I know I haven’t slept in three.…