Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Moses taking a census of the Children of Israel. Each person who is counted must contribute a makhazit hashekel – a half shekel of silver to the Sanctuary. Instructions are also given regarding the making of the Sanctuary’s water basin, anointing oil and incense. The “wise-hearted” artisans Betzalel and Aholiav are singled out as possessing hokhmat halev – “wisdom of the heart” – and are placed in charge of the Sanctuary’s construction.
Moses does not return when expected from Mount Sinai. The people lose faith, and make themselves a golden calf to worship. Hashem grows angry and proposes to destroy the errant nation, but Moses prays for them. Moses descends from the mountain carrying the edut – the “tablets of the testimony” engraved with the Ten Commandments. But when he sees the people dancing about their idol, he breaks the tablets, and destroys the golden calf. But then he pleads once again with God: “If You will not forgive them, blot me out from the book that You have written.” Hashem forgives them, but says that the effect will be felt for many generations, and as they continue their journey, Hashem will not be with them; only an angel will accompany them. But, Moses pleads that Hashem to continue to accompany them on their journey to the promised land. Moses then prepares a new set of tablets himself (as opposed the first set which were inscribed by God). On the mountain, Moses is also granted a vision of the “Thirteen Attributes of Compassion.” When Moses returns, his face is so radiant that he must cover it with a veil, which he removes only to speak with God and to teach Torah to the people.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
זֶ֣ה יִתְּנ֗וּ כׇּל־הָעֹבֵר֙ עַל־הַפְּקֻדִ֔ים מַחֲצִ֥ית הַשֶּׁ֖קֶל בְּשֶׁ֣קֶל הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ עֶשְׂרִ֤ים גֵּרָה֙ הַשֶּׁ֔קֶל מַחֲצִ֣ית הַשֶּׁ֔קֶל תְּרוּמָ֖ה לַֽי–הֹ–וָֽ–ה׃ This shall be given by all who pass through the counting: a half-shekel by the sanctuary weight--twenty gerahs to the shekel—a half-shekel as an offering to the Divine. - Shemot (Exodus) 30:13, Parshat Ki Tisa
There is a teaching ascribed to the Hasidic master, the Maggid of Mezritch, in which he taught: “Today the holy spirit comes upon us more easily than when the Temple was standing. Once there was a king of a country that was conquered by a foreign power, and the king was driven into exile. In the course of his wanderings, he came upon the home of some poor people who recognized him as king. They took him in, offered him modest food and shelter, and treated him as honored royalty the best they could. The king deeply appreciated their hospitality and chatted intimately with his hosts, as he had once done in his court with those closest to him. Now that the Holy One is in exile from His Holy Temple, He does the same with us.”
This teaching gets at the open secret for communing with the Divine Presence – that is, to humbly and gratefully offer yourself to this moment as it is, in all its fullness, in its beauty and ugliness, in its orderliness and chaos, because this Presence is not something other than your own Essence, hearing these words right now. This Presence is a gift – you cannot manufacture It, you cannot generate It, but you can do your part to open to It, to reveal Its Reality through you; this is meditation. There is a hint in our verse: זֶ֣ה יִתְּנ֗וּ כָּל־הָעֹבֵר֙ עַל־הַפְּקֻדִ֔ים מַחֲצִ֥ית הַשֶּׁ֖קֶל... תְּרוּמָ֖ה לַֽי–ה–וָֽ–ה This shall be given by all who pass through the counting – a half shekel, an offering to the Divine… - Exodus 30:13 The “half” that we bring into the sanctuary of this moment is ourselves; we, meaning our bodies, our feelings, our thoughts, are “half” – the other half is the Divine, the Reality behind all forms, and also our own Essence. Bring the half, that is your “self” to this moment, and the Other Half appears. How do we do it? וַיַּעֲבֹ֨ר יְ–ה–וָ֥–ה עַל־פָּנָיו֮ וַיִּקְרָא֒ יְ–ה–וָ֣–ה יְ–ה–וָ֔–ה אֵ֥ל רַח֖וּם וְחַנּ֑וּן אֶ֥רֶךְ אַפַּ֖יִם וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶד וֶאֱמֶֽת: The Divine passed before his face and called out, “Hashem! Hashem! Compassionate and Gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in Lovingkindness and Truth!” - Exodus 34:6 These Divine qualities that God reveals to Moses are a practical instruction: Hashem! Hashem! The Divine Name that means “Being” or “Existence” is said twice, indicating the realization that whatever is before you is a form of the Divine, and your own consciousness is also the Divine; through the meeting, The Divine becomes One with Itself. This is the fundamental knowledge that brings the felt connection with the Divine Presence. El Rakhum V’Hanun – Compassionate and Gracious God… that is, make the qualities of compassion and grace “God” over all your other qualities…You may not feel like it, but you can bring forth these qualities if you decide that they are “God” to you – meaning, that you revere them: Erekh apayim v’rav hesed v’emet – Slow to Anger, and Abundant in Lovingkindness and Truth… You have the ability to not get caught by anger and bitterness. Instead, choose love. And then to make sure you get it, it also says Emet –Truth – because it is not about “faking” it; it is about holding these qualities as our highest ideal. Then, the prophesy of Purim will be fulfilled, as says in Megilat Ester: לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשׁוֹן וִיקָר... For the Jews there was Light, Joy, Gladness and Essence… - Ester 8:16 And as we say every week at the close of Shabbat: כֵּן תִּהְיֶה לָנוּ – So may it be for us! In order for this Light, Joy, Gladness and Essence to blossom, we don’t need to micro manage it or manufacture it. We only need to recognize the inconceivable gift we are now being given, the gift of Being, the gifts of Light and Joy that are always our potential, and open to this potential with humility and gratitude. This is embodied by the sefirah of Hod on the Tree of Life.
Read past teachings on Ki Tisa HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below:
0 Comments
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Hashem calling upon the Children of Israel to contribute thirteen materials toward the building of the Sanctuary—gold, silver and copper; blue, purple and red-dyed wool; flax, goat hair, animal skins, wood, olive oil, spices and gems. On Mount Sinai, Moses is given detailed instructions on how to construct this Sanctuary so that it could be readily dismantled, transported and reassembled as the people journeyed through the desert. Within the Sanctuary’s innermost chamber, behind a woven curtain, the ark containing the tablets of the testimony engraved with the Ten Commandments would be housed. Upon the ark’s cover would be two winged cherubim hammered out of pure gold. In the outer chamber would be the seven-branched menorah, and the table upon which the “showbread” was arranged. The Sanctuary’s three walls would be fitted together from 48 upright wooden boards, each of which was overlaid with gold and held up by a pair of silver foundation sockets. The roof would be formed of three layers of coverings: tapestries of multicolored wool and linen; a covering made of goat hair; a covering of ram and “tachash” skins. Across the front of the Sanctuary would be an embroidered screen held up by five posts. Surrounding the Sanctuary and the copper-plated altar in front of it would be an enclosure of linen hangings, supported by 60 wooden posts with silver hooks and trimmings, and reinforced by copper stakes.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ Let them make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them… - Shemot (Exodus) 25:8, Parshat Terumah
Rabbi Moshe of Kobryn taught on these words that Hashem spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Shemot 3:5)
שַׁל־נְעָלֶ֙יךָ֙ – Remove your sandals… Rabbi Moshe said, “Remove the habitual which encloses your ‘foot’ – that which comes between you and your experience of the world – and then you will know: הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ עוֹמֵ֣ד עָלָ֔יו אַדְמַת־קֹ֖דֶשׁ הֽוּא – the Place upon which you stand is holy ground… That is, the place upon which you find yourself is holy; for there is no aspect of human life within which we cannot find the holiness of the Divine – everywhere, and at all times.” This is meditation. וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ – Let them make for Me a sanctuary… The Mikdash, “Sanctuary,” comes from the root קדש kadosh, which means “holy” or “sacred.” The actual meaning of קדש is “separate,” but not in the ordinary sense. In the case of a troubled relationship, the word “separate” connotes distance, disconnectedness, alienation. But kadosh is the opposite. In a Jewish wedding ceremony, we hear the words: אַתְּ מְקֻדֶּֽשֶׁת לִי At meKUDESHet li – “You are holy to me.” The betrothed couple becomes “separate” because they are each other’s most intimate, and therefore separate from all other less intimate relationships. So, the separateness of קדש kadosh points not to something that is distant, but most central. It points not to alienation, but to the deepest connection. וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם – and I will dwell among them… The Mikdash is the place that the Divine quality of קדש kadosh dwells and communes with the Israelites, as it says – שָׁכַנְתִּי shakhaniti – I will dwell. This root of shakhaniti, שכן, is also found in the other word for the Sanctuary, Mishkan, as well as the word for the Divine Presence itself, Shekhinah. And what is the main function of שכן– this communing with the sacred? The Israelites came to the mishkan, and later the Temple in Jerusalem, to heal their separation from the Divine – separation in the ordinary sense of the word. They brought their fruit, their grain and their animals to be offered on the fiery altar in order to heal the disconnectedness and alienation caused by their own transgressions. The word for a sacrificial offering is korban, from the root קרב which means not sacrifice, but nearness, closeness, intimacy. Where was this Mikdash placed? Was it separate from the camp, off at a distance? No – it was in the very center of the camp. And within the very center of the Mikdash was the most holy – the kadosh kadoshim – the Holy of Holies – the Center of the Center. This representation of the sacred in space and architecture is not mere ritual magic from the past. It is a pointer to the true sanctuary of Presence within your own life. There can only be one center of your life, and that center is the one place that life is actually being lived – this moment. You are never separate from this moment, and yet – are you truly dwelling within it? וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ Asu li Mikdash v’shakhanit mitokham – Let them make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among/within them… There is a Divine call – It calls to us equally in pain and in joy, in excitement and in boredom. It says, “Come to the center. Build me a sanctuary.” How do we build it? The essence of the sanctuary is not the structure, but the space within the structure. The structure is already there as your body, your mind, your heart. They become a sanctuary the moment you allow there to be a space. The space completes the structure. Come into that space – come into your body, come into this moment. Bring your korban to the altar. Is there pain? Is there fear? Is there regret? Is there embarrassment? Bring it all. Let the fire upon the altar of the present moment burn away the separation; this is meditation. If it hurts, let it – the pain is temporary, and gives way to the Sacred. Because from within the space of allowing yourself to feel whatever needs to be felt, there is the possibility of transmutation – the energy of separation and pain becomes the energy of love. And from this love there is the possibility of external healing as well – the healing that happens between people through deeds of love. The sages taught that it is for the sake of love that the universe has come into being, that when we do acts of Hesed, of loving kindness toward one another, we make the world itself into a Sanctuary, into a home for the Divine. That is our tremendous potential: to uncover this fundamental quality of sacredness – first within ourselves, through Presence, and second toward others, through our words and deeds. This is the Path of ק Koof, “Sanctification.”
Read past teachings on Terumah HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah continues with the mitzvot given at Sinai, this time focusing on civil laws, including the laws of the indentured servant, the penalties for murder, kidnapping, assault and theft, redress of damages, the granting of loans, the responsibilities of the “Four Guardians” (unpaid guardian, paid guardian, renter and borrower), the rules gover governing the conduct of justice by courts, and laws warning against mistreatment of the ger, the stranger – “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Also included are other ritual laws: the observance of the seasonal festivals, the agricultural gifts that are to be brought to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem; the prohibition against cooking meat with milk, and the mitzvah of prayer. The parshah also contains the special words we use in our meditation that the Children of Israel proclaim at Sinai: נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָֽע na-aseh v’nishmah – “We will do and we will hear.” The parshah concludes with Moses ascending the mountain and remaining there for forty days and forty nights to receive the rest of the Torah…
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃ כִּ֤י תִקְנֶה֙ עֶ֣בֶד עִבְרִ֔י שֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים יַעֲבֹ֑ד וּבַ֨שְּׁבִעִ֔ת יֵצֵ֥א לַֽחׇפְשִׁ֖י חִנָּֽם׃ These are the judgements that you shall set before them: When you acquire a Hebrew slave, six years they shall serve— and in the seventh year they shall go free, without payment… - Shemot (Exodus) 21:1-2, Parshat Mishpatim
There is a Midrash in which the ministering angels challenge Hashem: “You have given Moses the task of writing down the Torah. What is to prevent him from saying that it is he who gives the Torah, and not You?” Hashem replied, “This he would not do. But, even if he did, he would still be keeping faith with me.”
The disciples of Rabbi Yitzhak of Vorki once asked him what this story means. He answered with a parable: Once there was a merchant who wanted to go on a journey, so he trained an assistant to work in his shop. He spent most of his time in an adjoining room, from which he could hear everything that the assistant was saying next door. During the first year, he sometimes heard his assistant tell a customer, “The master cannot let this go for such a low price.” During this time, the merchant held back from his journey. Over the second year, he occasionally heard his assistant say, “We cannot let it go for such a low price.” The merchant still postponed his journey. But in the third year, he heard his assistant say, “I cannot let this go for such a low price.” It was then that he commenced his journey. The merchant’s assistant coming to identify with the merchant himself points to an inner transformation: that is, from thinking of the Divine as something separate, to knowing the Divine as the deepest dimension of your own being. This transformation is similar to going from having a boyfriend or girlfriend, to being married and fully committed. Before marriage, there may be some commitment, but at the end of the day, you are always free to go to your separate homes. In marriage, that “freedom” is over; there is only one home. Does that mean that “marriage” is a permanent state in which the relationship is constant and perfect? Of course not! Like all living things, it is in motion. It needs attention and nurturance. And yet, there is something that changes completely when two people decide to have one life together, to be one family. כִּ֤י תִקְנֶה֙ עֶ֣בֶד עִבְרִ֔י שֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים יַעֲבֹ֑ד – When you acquire a Hebrew slave, six years they shall serve… The word for slave, עֶבֶד eved, is the same root as יַעֲבֹ֑ד ya’avod, “serve.” אִם־אֲדֹנָיו֙ יִתֶּן־ל֣וֹ אִשָּׁ֔ה וְיָלְדָה־ל֥וֹ בָנִ֖ים – If his master gave him a wife, and she gave birth to children… The master of the slave is called an אֲדֹנ adon – “lord”. But these two words, עֶבֶד eved and אֲדֹנ adon, also have a completely different connotation: God is sometimes called Adon, and a holy person is called an Eved Hashem – a Servant of God. The ultimate spiritual goal is to become an Eved Hashem – meaning that your separate, egoic self-sense becomes subordinate to the Reality of the One. In this state, you no longer live for yourself, you live for God. In fact, “you” don’t really live at all; there is no separate “you” – there is only God. Seen metaphorically, then, the Hebrew eved who goes free is like someone who has a spiritual experience, but when the experience is over, s/he goes free from it; it is temporary. וְאִם־אָמֹ֤ר יֹאמַר֙ הָעֶ֔בֶד אָהַ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־אֲדֹנִ֔י אֶת־אִשְׁתִּ֖י וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑י לֹ֥א אֵצֵ֖א חׇפְשִֽׁי׃ – But if the slave declares, “I love my master, my wife and my children; I do not wish to go free…” When the eved does not want to go free, he is brought to a doorpost and declares that he loves his adon and his new family and that he wants remain an eved. His ear is then pierced against the doorpost and he becomes a slave forever. In a similar way, to become an Eved Hashem means that you commit to Reality as your Lord, your Master, your God. Reality also becomes like your family – your home base – the place you live, not the place you merely visit. Does that mean that you are now a perfect eved? Of course not! Just as in marriage, you can and must get better at it. There is risk – failure is possible. But you have stepped into marriage with the Beloved. All of the rituals of Judaism are really expressions of this basic commitment, this brit, this “covenant” with the Divine. How do you take this step? וְהִגִּישׁוֹ֙ אֶל־הַדֶּ֔לֶת א֖וֹ אֶל־הַמְּזוּזָ֑ה – He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost… The word for doorpost is מְּזוּזָה mezuzah – the same as the ritual scroll traditionally fastened to the doorposts of Jewish homes. And what is the first word of the text written on the mezuzah? Sh’ma – “Hear!” Hearing, unlike seeing and tasting, is the sense that we cannot shut down; our ears are always open; we cannot shut our ears to escape the sounds around us. Similarly, we cannot escape Reality. There is nothing but Reality, everywhere! To step into Reality, then, is actually the most simple thing. It means dropping the excess commentary of the mind and being with what is, as it is. It means being an open ear; this is meditation. וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים – These are the judgements… At the deepest level, there is only one spiritual מִּשְׁפָּט (judgment) to ever make: commit or don’t commit. Hear or refuse to hear. Awaken now from the dream of the mind-created self or live in the dream. Are you ready to commit to Reality as It steps up to you in this moment? Are you ready to give up the false dream of freedom from Reality and embrace the true freedom, which is to surrender as an Eved Hashem, attentive in the heart of stillness to the flow of life as it unfolds? This is Jewish meditation of the Path of צ Tzaddi, Devotion to God.
Read past teachings on Mishpatim HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro (Yitro), hears of the great miracles which God performed for the Children of Israel, and comes from Midian to the Israelite camp, bringing with him Moses’ wife and two sons. Jethro advises Moses to appoint a hierarchy of magistrates and judges to assist him in the task of governing and administering justice to the people.
The Children of Israel camp opposite Mount Sinai, where they are told that God has chosen them to be a “kingdom of priests” and “holy nation.” The people respond by proclaiming, “All that God has spoken, we shall do.” On the sixth day of the third month (Sivan), seven weeks after the Exodus, the entire nation of Israel assembles at the foot of Mount Sinai for the Giving of the Torah. The Presence of God descends on the mountain amidst thunder, lightning, billows of smoke and the blast of the shofar, and Moses is summoned. God proclaims the Ten Commandments, instructing the people of Israel to be aware of God, not to worship idols or take the Name in vain, to keep Shabbat, honor their parents, not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, and not to bear false witness or covet another’s property. The people cry out to Moses that the revelation is too intense for them to bear, begging him to receive the Torah from God and convey it to them instead…
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֵ֛ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה לֵאמֹֽר׃ אָֽנֹכִ֖י֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֧ר הוֹצֵאתִ֛יךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם מִבֵּ֣֥ית עֲבָדִ֑ים׃ God spoke all these words, saying: I am Hashem your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage… - Shemot (Exodus) 20:1, 2 Parshat Yitro
Once, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz of Peshischa (known as “the Yehudi”) was asked to examine the thirteen-year-old Hanokh in the Talmud. (Hanokh later became the rabbi of Alexander). It took the boy an hour to think over the passage which had been assigned to him before he could expound it. Once he had done so, the tzaddik cupped his hand around Hanokh’s cheek and said: “When I was thirteen I plumbed passages more difficult than this in no time at all, and when I was eighteen, I had the reputation of being a great Torah scholar. But one day it dawned on me that a person cannot attain to perfection through learning alone. I understood what is told of our father Abraham: that he explored the sun, the moon, and the stars, and he did not find God, yet in this very not-finding, the Presence of God was revealed to him. For three months I mulled over this realization. Then I explored until I too reached the truth of not-finding.”
The function of the mind is too “find” – to navigate through time by creating an inner context through which we can conceptualize who and where we are, what we are doing, and why; this is essential. But, this creates the side effect of seeing reality through the screen of that map. The mind sees the surface of things – a collection of related but separate parts, and the mind also feels itself to be separate from what it sees וַיְהִי֙ ק֣וֹל הַשֹּׁפָ֔ר הוֹלֵ֖ךְ וְחָזֵ֣ק מְאֹ֑ד מֹשֶׁ֣ה יְדַבֵּ֔ר וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖ים יַעֲנֶ֥נּוּ בְקֽוֹל׃ And it was that as the voice of the shofar louder and louder, Moses spoke, God answered him in that voice… But there comes a time when that inner map breaks down, and we are confronted by the naked present, in all its Mystery. When we are shaken from the continuity of mind-created context, and the “familiar” disappears, we step out of the Mitzrayim of the known, out of our conditioned mental patterns of separateness. This “wilderness” can be terrifying. And yet, in the unknown there is the possibility of receiving Reality in a very direct way, a way that knows Being as a Whole, as a Oneness אָֽנֹכִי יי – I am Hashem… According to our tradition, this Divine declaration of identity is the first of the Aseret Hadibrot, the “Ten Sayings,” otherwise known as the “Ten Commandments.” But what exactly is the commandment? According to Maimonides (b. 1135- d.1204 CE), in his work Sefer HaMitzvot, this first commandment is simply to believe in God. אֲשֶׁ֧ר הוֹצֵאתִ֛יךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם – who brought you out of the land of Egypt… But if we look at the second part of the verse, there is a deeper message that is not about mere belief, not about events of the past, but rather it is about this moment within which we now find ourselves, this moment through which we too may be brought out of Mitzrayim. אָֽנֹכִי יי – I am Hashem means that the Anokhi – the “I” – is actually Hashem – Divine. Meaning, our own inner identity, and in fact the inner identity of all things, is the Ultimate, Living Presence of Existence; that is what the Divine Name actually means… חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם. חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ט) כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם. Beloved are human beings, for they were created as images for the Divine. But they are extra beloved that it is made known to them that they are created as images for the Divine, as it is said: “for in the image of the Divine humans were made.” - Pirkei Avot, 3:18 The Israelites are shaken by the terrible awesomeness of the natural world around them, and in that heightened state, the inner identity of nature reveals Itself as their own inner identity. It is not about believing in the idea of a divine entity; it is not about adding another concept to the mind’s ideas about reality. It is about subtracting the conditioned sense of the ordinary imposed by our minds, and recognizing Existence Itself – recognizing That which the mind cannot map. This “knowing” through not finding, that is, not mapping with the mind, is itself liberation – liberation from the burden of time and conditioned identity; this is meditation. וְכׇל־הָעָם֩ רֹאִ֨ים אֶת־הַקּוֹלֹ֜ת – and all the people saw the voices… It does say they heard the voices, but saw! In other words, they perceived everything in a completely new way. It is a kind of awakening. Physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson talks about how we can imagine our “cosmic address.” The first step is to notice we are on planet Earth. Next, we can expand our perspective to see that Earth is part of our Solar System. Then, we expand further to see that our sun is one of hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Even further, we can see the family of galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs, called the Local Group. Then, even further, we expand to see the Local Group as part of a larger cluster of galaxy families, called the Virgo Supercluster. And even further, the Virgo Supercluster is one of the many clusters that make up the Observable Universe. But what comes after that? We have come to limits of our map, beyond which is simply Mystery. Perhaps, says Tyson, our whole universe is merely a single bubble in an infinite ocean of bubbles, each one a complete universe. Now consider: where would that “ocean” of universes be? The imagination reaches out toward infinity and comes to stillness כָּל יָמַי גָּדַלְתִּי בֵין הַחֲכָמִים, וְלֹא מָצָאתִי לַגּוּף טוֹב אֶלָּא שְׁתִיקָה. וְלֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הָעִקָּר, אֶלָּא הַמַּעֲשֶׂה. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה דְבָרִים, מֵבִיא חֵטְא: All my days I grew up among the sages, and I have found nothing better for a person than silence. Study is not the point, but practice; whoever indulges in too many words brings about great error. - Pirkei Avot, 1:17 Ultimately, we don’t and can’t know where or what or why any of this is. And yet we do know: Hinei! Here it is! This practice of finding the limits of thought, beyond which is the simple Mystery of Being, is the Path of ר Reish, of Awe, of Wonder. May our efforts in this Path add momentum to the awakening of our species from the mind-created madness that gives rise to our present plagues of violence and suffering.
Read past teachings on Yitro HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Pharaoh changing his mind about allowing the Children of Israel to leave Egypt, and chasing after them to force their return. The Israelites become terrified, finding themselves trapped between Pharaoh’s armies and the sea. God tells Moses to raise his staff over the water; the sea splits allowing the Israelites to pass through, and then closes over the pursuing Egyptians. Moses and the Children of Israel sing a song of praise and gratitude, while Miriam and the other women play drums.
In the desert the people suffer thirst and hunger, and repeatedly complain to Moses and Aaron. The bitter waters of Marah miraculously become sweet when Moses throws wood into it, and later Moses brings forth water from a rock by striking it with his staff. A miraculous kind of bread, “manna” (man) rains down from the heavens before dawn each morning, and quails appear in the Israelite camp each evening.The Children of Israel are instructed to gather a double portion of manna on Friday, as there will be none on Shabbat, the day of rest. Some go out on Shabbat to gather manna anyway, but find nothing. Aaron preserves a small quantity of manna in a jar, as a testimony for future generations. In Rephidim, the people are attacked by the Amalekites, but when Moses stands on a hill with his hands raised to heaven, Israel begins to win the battle, and when he becomes tired and lowers his hands, Israel starts losing. So, Moses’ brother Aaron and an Israelite named Hur supports Moses’ hands on either side, and Israel is victorious.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
דַּבֵּר֮ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וְיָשֻׁ֗בוּ וְיַחֲנוּ֙ לִפְנֵי֙ פִּ֣י הַחִירֹ֔ת בֵּ֥ין מִגְדֹּ֖ל וּבֵ֣ין הַיָּ֑ם לִפְנֵי֙ בַּ֣עַל צְפֹ֔ן נִכְח֥וֹ תַחֲנ֖וּ עַל־הַיָּֽם׃ Speak to the Children of Israel – they should turn back and encamp before Pi Hakhirot, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. - Shemot (Exodus) 14:2, Parshat B’shalakh
We often hear the advice that we should get out of situations, jobs, or relationships that don’t serve us…which is good advice; for sure we should be in situations that are supportive and healthy. But sometimes staying in a situation, even if it feels bad, is the right thing. For example, when a father abandons his family, doesn’t he do it because the responsibility feels bad to him? Doesn’t he just want to be free? In that case, it’s obvious that “freedom” in the ordinary sense is not the highest value. Because, freedom in the spiritual sense doesn’t necessarily mean leaving behind that which imprisons us; rather, if we really want real inner freedom, we must turn toward our bondage. This may feel counterintuitive; if we want freedom from pain, it’s natural to want to get away from whatever is causing the pain.
Just as in the Exodus from Egypt – the Israelites cry out because of their suffering, and Moses leads them out of Egypt to freedom. That’s the ordinary way of thinking – leave Egypt behind. But there’s a hint of something different in this week’s reading: וְיָשֻׁ֗בוּ וְיַחֲנוּ֙ לִפְנֵי֙ פִּ֣י הַֽחִירֹ֔ת – they should turn back and encamp before Pi Hakhirot… When we think of the Exodus story, it’s common to imagine the Israelites fleeing Egypt, then coming to the Sea of Reeds and getting trapped with the Egyptian army behind them and the sea in front of them. But look at the text: they had already past the Sea of Reeds – they were already on their way, when Hashem tells them: v’yashuvu – turn back! They deliberately turned around and back tracked, coming to camp at Pi Hakhirot, in front of the Sea of Reeds. There the Egyptian army caught up with them, and there the miracle of the parting sea occurred. Pi Hakhirot means “Mouth of Freedom.” It’s a description of the splitting sea. The message is: If you want to truly leave bondage behind and go through the “Mouth of Freedom,” you have to first fully turn back toward your “oppressor.” Is there something or someone that “triggers” you, that stresses you out, that makes you angry or uncomfortable? Those feelings are within you; they are only brought to the surface by the external trigger. Until you can be present in the face of those feelings arising and not get caught, not get seduced, you will be in bondage, no matter far you flee from the external trigger. Instead, shuv – return – return to this moment, be present with any discomfort, and make friends with it, because that is the “Mouth of Freedom.” Ordinarily, we keep emotional pain alive by feeding it with our thoughts. Just as the soldiers of Pharaoh rode after the Israelites on their horses, so the mind is the “rider” and the emotion is the “horse,” pursuing us and seeking to drag us back into bondage. But stop feeding the emotion with thought, and instead become present with your feelings – bring your awareness to your actual experience without adding extra interpretation – and the “army drowns in the sea” – this is meditation. The “army drowns” because all your pain, all your constriction, is nothing but a form of awareness. Bring your awareness to the Mitzrayim – to the constricted form of awareness. It may hurt a bit at first, but the constriction cannot persist in the light of Presence; through being conscious, it will let go. Then you too will be able to sing: אָשִׁ֤ירָה לַּֽיי כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה ס֥וּס וְרֹֽכְב֖וֹ רָמָ֥ה בַיָּֽם I will sing to the Divine, Transcendent an Exalted, horse and rider are cast into the sea… that is, mind and feeling, thought and emotion, are cast into the sea of consciousness, dissolved in an ocean of bliss. The middah we need to accept this moment with simplicity is trust – embodied by the letter yud. Try it now – trust this moment to be as it is.
Read past teachings on Beshalakh HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah begins with last three of the Ten Plagues: a swarm of locusts devours all the crops and greenery; a thick darkness envelops the land; and on the 15th of the month of Nissan at midnight, all the firstborn of Egypt die.
The first specifically Jewish mitzvah is then given to the Children of Israel: to establish a calendar based on the monthly rebirth of the moon. The Israelites are also instructed to bring a “Passover offering” – a lamb or goat is to be slaughtered, and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Israelite home, so that God should “pass over” (Pesakh) those homes when the plague of the firstborn takes place. The roasted meat of the offering is to be eaten that night together with matzah and bitter herbs. The death of the firstborn finally breaks Pharaoh’s resistance, and he drives the Children of Israel from his land. So hastily do they depart that there is no time for their dough to rise, hence the practice of eating matzah in commemoration of the Exodus. Before they go, they ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold, silver and garments—fulfilling the promise made to Abraham that his descendants would leave Egypt with great wealth. The Children of Israel are instructed to consecrate all firstborn, and to observe the anniversary of the Exodus each year by removing all hameitz, leaven, from their possession for seven days, eating matzah, and telling the story of their redemption to their children. They are also instructed to wear tefillin on the arm and head as a reminder of the Exodus and their commitment to God as the Power of Liberation…
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיַּ֣עַל הָֽאַרְבֶּ֗ה עַ֚ל כָּל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם And the locusts came upon all the land of Egypt… - Shemot (Exodus) 10:14, Parshat Bo
Nowdays there are two popular horror images – Zombies and killer robots. Both cultural motifs – the undead as well as dangerous rogue machines – are so powerful not only because we are automating more and more of our external world with AI, but also because they point to a particular reality of our inner world as well: the world of unconscious impulses, desires, and passions.
Like most of our external automations, our desires are mostly useful. When we feel the impulse to breath, for example, we can generally trust that impulse. We don’t have to pay much attention to it; we can let it “take over” and dictate our next breath. However, when we swim under water, the impulse to breath can be deadly. In that case, we’ve got to be aware of the impulse and not succumb to it until we come up for air. Similarly, the impulse to eat is crucial to our survival. But if you work in a bakery and you’re surrounded by cake all day long, you might have to watch your impulse to eat. The same goes for many other impulses we have. The problem is not desire; desire serves our survival. The problem is unconsciousness of desire, of letting the desire take control, of becoming the victim of our desires. A good example of this are the many accidents we hear about nowadays with driverless cars: they could be helpful, but we shouldn’t lose our attentiveness completely; we still have to watch. All of this is true for anyone in ordinary situations. But for the aspirant who wants to become more conscious, attentiveness has a whole other dimension. It’s not merely for the sake of averting danger, it’s also for its own sake. Ordinarily, it is important to be aware of our breathing only if we are under water. But spiritually, it is beneficial to be aware of our breathing constantly, because it is through the deliberate cultivation of awareness that we come to know ourselves as awareness and thus become free in the spiritual sense, which really means free from feeling trapped by any experience. In fact, awareness of our impulse to breath or eat is itself a kind of breathing and eating; through awareness of our desires, awareness itself is deeply nourished. There is a hint of this in the parshah: וַיַּ֣עַל הָֽאַרְבֶּ֗ה עַ֚ל כָּל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם And the locusts came upon all the land of Egypt… (Shemot 10:14). Then is says: And they ate all the greenery of the land and all the fruits of the trees which the hail had left, so that nothing green was left of tree or grass of the field, in all the land of Egypt. These locusts are the embodiment of desire, consuming everything in their path. They are also insects, which are often considered to be disgusting by humans and generally unfit for eating: כֹּ֚ל שֶׁ֣רֶץ הָע֔וֹף הַהֹלֵ֖ךְ עַל־אַרְבַּ֑ע שֶׁ֥קֶץ ה֖וּא לָכֶֽם׃ – All winged swarming things that walk on fours shall be an abomination for you. (Leviticus 11:21) Insects are generally not kosher. And yet, when it comes to locusts, the taboo against eating insects no longer applies: …אַ֤ךְ אֶת־זֶה֙ תֹּֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּל֙ שֶׁ֣רֶץ הָע֔וֹף הַהֹלֵ֖ךְ עַל־אַרְבַּ֑ע אֶת־הָֽאַרְבֶּ֣ה– But this you shall eat from all winged swarming things that walk on fours… the locust! (Leviticus 11:22) The locust, the symbol of desire and consumption, is good to consume! The hidden message here is that we must “eat” our “eating” – we must “feed” our consciousness by being present with our impulses and desires. How do we do that? בֹּ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה Bo el Paro – Come to Pharaoh means that the Divine is within Pharaoh, beckoning us to “come” – meaning, to bring awareness to the feeling of the impulse in order to reclaim the consciousness trapped within it. הִכְבַּ֤דְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ֙ – I have hardened his heart… The “hardness” of our impulses is not merely for keeping us alive. Its deeper purpose is to give our consciousness something to wrestle with, so that it may be strengthened and thus awaken to its full potential. That is the greatest miracle – the miracle of coming to know what we truly are – alive, spacious and free לְמַ֗עַן שִׁתִ֛י אֹתֹתַ֥י אֵ֖לֶּה בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ – so that I may place My signs among them… What are these signs? In the plain meaning, they are the ten plagues that will show everyone that God is in charge. But the word for sign is ot, which is also the word for “letter,” and each of the Hebrew letters represents a certain quality of consciousness – for example, aleph is openness to feeling fully, bet is hospitality, and so on. When a person embodies these qualities in their actions, their actions become outward “signs” for these inner spiritual realities. Interestingly, the last letter of the aleph-bet, ת tav, also means “sign.” Tav is connected with the quality of אֶמֶת emet, “Truth,” hinting that this final letter tav is the “sign,” or “testimony” of all the preceding letters. In other words, tav represents our ability to embody the spiritual qualities in the way that we live, moment to moment. This is the culmination of all our learning and practice, all our Torah and meditation: the quality of our actions. How do we grow in the quality of our actions? There is an essential ingredient: self-awareness. We must be in touch with the truth of our experience, not resist or be in denial, if we wish to grow in our ability to embody all the middot (spiritual qualities) in our lives, moment to moment, in real time. This is the ultimate fruit of meditation.
Read past teachings on Bo HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Hashem telling Moses, “Va’era – I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” and promising to bring the Children of Israel to the Promised Land. Moses and Aaron repeatedly come before Pharaoh to demand, “Let My people go,” but Pharaoh refuses. In response, Aaron’s staff turns into a snake and swallows the staves of the Egyptian sorcerers which had also turned into snakes, but Pharaoh remains obstinate.
A series of plagues then begin to descend upon the Egyptians: The waters of the Nile turn to blood; swarms of frogs overrun the land; lice infest human and beast alike; wild animals invade the cities; a pestilence kills the domestic animals; painful boils afflict the Egyptians. For the seventh plague, fire and ice combine to descend from the skies as a devastating hail. Still, “the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he would not let the Children of Israel go…”
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְיְ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה רְאֵ֛ה נְתַתִּ֥יךָ אֱלֹקִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹ֑ה וְאַהֲרֹ֥ן אָחִ֖יךָ יִהְיֶ֥ה נְבִיאֶֽךָ׃ Hashem said to Moses, “See – I have made you God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet… - Shemot (Exodus) 7:1, Parshat Vaeira
The Talmud relates the following story: Rabbi Yohanan was a great miracle-worker and healer. When he visited a sick person, he would ask, “Are these afflictions dear to you?” If they would answer, “Neither they nor their reward,” then he would take them by the hand and they would be instantly healed.
One day, Rabbi Yohanan fell sick. Rabbi Hanina went to visit him and asked, “Are these afflictions dear to you?” Answered Rabbi Yokhanan, “Neither they nor their reward.” Just then, just as Rabbi Yohanan had done for so many others, Rabbi Hanina offered his hand and healed Rabbi Yohanan. The Talmud then asks, “Why did Rabbi Yohanan need Rabbi Hanina’s help? Let him heal himself!” It then answers its own question: אֵין חָבוּשׁ מַתִּיר עַצְמוֹ מִבֵּית הָאֲסוּרִים – A prisoner cannot release himself from prison! - BT Berakhot 5a Just as a prisoner needs someone else to open the jail cell from the outside, so too a teacher can help us get free in the spiritual sense. But just as the prisoner still has to walk out of the jail cell on their own, so too a teacher can “unlock” our inner prison by imparting knowledge, but we still have to “walk out of the jail cell” ourselves by doing the inner work of meditation. And yet, in the case of getting free from our own minds, there must be a part of ourselves that is already free. Otherwise, it would be impossible to see beyond our limited perspective and we would be stuck forever. The part that “sees” was never stuck in the first place: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיְ אֱלֹקֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁלֹּא עָשַֽׂנִי עָֽבֶד – Blessed are You, Divine Being, our own Divinity, who has not made me a slave… - Morning Blessings. No matter how stuck we become, our essential identity is still bigger than the “me” – bigger than the patterns of thoughts and personal stories with which our consciousness tends to identify; our essential identity, beyond the “me,” is always already free. Of course, when we are stuck, we lose consciousness of this fact; we call this being unconscious: הֵ֤ן אֲנִי֙ עֲרַ֣ל שְׂפָתַ֔יִם וְאֵ֕יךְ יִשְׁמַ֥ע אֵלַ֖י פַּרְעֹֽה׃ – “Behold, I have sealed lips – how is Pharaoh going to listen to me?” -Ex. 6:30 But Hashem reassures Moses in an incredibly surprising way: רְאֵ֛ה נְתַתִּ֥יךָ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹ֑ה – See! I have made you God (Elohim) to Pharaoh...” Moses is God? What does this mean? But the key is in the first word: רְאֵה Re’eh – See! That which sees, the awareness that looks through your eyes, is the master over all the other elements of the “me” – it is the God within, your essential identity. If you don’t know that, you identify with all those other elements – with feelings, with thoughts, with memories, with ideas – all those strands that make up the web of the personality, of “Pharaoh.” But as soon as you hear the Divine command to see (meaning, receive the teaching to be aware), then the Exodus can begin, and your essential identity can start to awaken. And even deeper – your awareness is not only the master over your personality; it is much more than that: וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֱלֹקִ֖ים אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו אֲנִ֥י יְיְ׃ – Elohim said to Moses, “I am Hashem.” Shemot (Exodus) 6:2. The first Divine Name, Elohim, means the divine personality; it is the deity. The second Name, the unpronounceable Yod-Hei-Vav-Hei, is far more expansive – It is Existence Itself, not a divine being merely within Existence. The message here is that your אֲנִ֥י ani, your essential identity, is not something separate from the rest of Existence. Your essential identity is Existence, waking up as you, within yet beyond the “me.” The awakening of your essential identity beyond your personality is actually something very simple. And while it may take years of learning and practice for this awakening to stabilize, it takes no time at all to shift into an awakened state – that is, to become present; this is meditation. Over time, this practice of seeing the fullness of this moment as it is leads to a shift in identity, a shift into knowing yourself as the seeing, and even deeper, as Being Itself, the Divine, seeing through your eyes. This realization one of the many fruits of meditation. In this week Shabbat Va-eira, the Sabbath of Appearing, may we practice bringing our wakefulness into every encounter, moment by moment, bringing ourselves and our species closer to our Divine potential…
Read past teachings on Va'era HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with the Children of Israel prospering and increasing in Egypt, while a new king now sits on the throne. Threatened by their growing numbers, this new Pharaoh enslaves them and orders the Hebrew midwives, Shifrah and Puah, to kill all male babies at birth. When they do not comply, he commands his people to cast the Hebrew baby boys into the Nile. A child is born to Yokheved, and she puts him in a basket on the river, while the baby’s sister, Miriam, stands watch from afar. Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the boy, raises him as her son, and names him Mosheh, Moses.
As a young man, Moses leaves the palace and sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and kills the Egyptian. The next day he sees two Hebrews fighting; when he rebukes them, they reveal they know of his murder of the previous day, and Moses is forced to flee to Midian. There he rescues Jethro’s daughters, marries Tzipporah, and becomes a shepherd of his father-in-law’s flocks. Hashem appears to Moses as a burning bush, and instructs him to go to Pharaoh and demand: “Let My people go.”
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וְאֵ֗לֶּה שְׁמוֹת֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַבָּאִ֖ים מִצְרָ֑יְמָה אֵ֣ת יַעֲקֹ֔ב אִ֥ישׁ וּבֵית֖וֹ בָּֽאוּ׃ And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with their household. - Shemot (Exodus) 1:1, Parshat Sh’mot
A disciple once asked Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apt: “It says that the seven years Jacob worked to marry Rachel seemed like a few days to him because of his love for her. How does this make sense? If he loved her so much, the seven years should seem even longer, not shorter! I would think that every minute he had to wait would feel like an eternity!”
The rabbi of Apt responded: “There are two kinds of love: the kind that attaches you to the object of your love, and the kind that is given freely to your beloved. We are most familiar with the first kind – we love someone or something, and the love enslaves us; that’s the kind when every minute away from your beloved seems like an eternity. But Jacob had the second kind of love – his love was given away freely to Rachel, and so he too was free. In that freedom, he wasn’t longing for the future, he was simply being in the moment; so, the entire seven years seemed like only a moment, because throughout that time he had always been in the moment!” On the physical level, we are absolutely slaves, in constant need of external support to survive. This is reflected in the story – the children of Israel are driven to Egypt by the famine and the promise of food: “To sojourn in this land we have come…for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan...” But once they’re there, they became enslaved: Egypt enslaved the children of Israel with crushing labor… Egypt is Mitzrayim, which comes from the root that means “constriction” and “suffering,” hinting that on the physical level we are ever incomplete, ever in need of external nourishment, without which we suffer and die. But the physical, form-based dimension of experience is not all there is. The very fact that we can feel suffering at all means there is awareness that feels. That awareness, that dimension of being without which there cannot be any experience at all, is itself beyond Mitzrayim, beyond constriction. Spacious and free, awareness is the ever-present openness within which all experience arises. How do we access this dimension of freedom? Love the moment you’re in. It is true, we are often acting to bring about results that we need for our survival; even our next breath is toward this end. But our actions need not only be aimed at the narrow and conditional goals of the future; we have the power to also be in this moment lishma, for its own sake, to offer our Presence to the inner goodness of this moment, as it is. This is the second kind of love the Rabbi of Apt speaks about: the love that sets us free. To bring forth the love that sets us free, we must remember that the inner goodness of this moment is easily hidden by our goals in time, by our Mitzrayim-based aim to secure something for ourselves. There is a hint of this in the passage about Moses’ birth: וַתֵּ֤רֶא אֹתוֹ֙ כִּי־ט֣וֹב ה֔וּא וַֽתִּצְפְּנֵ֖הוּ – She saw that he was good, so she hid him… She feared for Moses’ life, because Pharaoh threatened to kill him. Moses represents the pathway to freedom, the goodness of being, while Pharaoh represents the encroaching and deadening power of ego that kills this simple goodness. So, Moses is hidden away. Why? Because if the inner goodness were not hidden, there would be no desire for it, no longing in the heart for release from Mitzrayim – we would just take it for granted. It is only because it is hidden that desire for freedom is born: דִּרְשׁוּ יְהֹוָה וְעֻזּוֹ בַּקְּשׁוּ פָנָיו תָּמִיד: – Seek the Divine and Its Power; search for Its Presence constantly… And this is the promise: when we sincerely seek, we find – because It is not elsewhere; It is hidden within this moment, hidden as the Presence of Being within all being. Give your attention to this Presence and you draw it forth; this is meditation. Just as Pharaoh’s daughter drew forth Moses from the river, so too we draw forth the light of the present from the river of time; it shines like a soft glow at first, then like a fire that blazes forth but heals rather than burns. All we need do is give our attention to It, to love this moment for Its own sake, for the inner goodness to appear. This inner goodness, hidden away in plain sight, is represented by the letter ט tet.
Read past teachings on Shemot HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
Joseph’s imprisonment finally ends when Pharaoh dreams of seven fat cows that are swallowed up by seven lean cows, and then of seven fat ears of grain swallowed by seven lean ears. Joseph interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of hunger, and advises Pharaoh to store grain during the plentiful years. Pharaoh is pleased with Joseph’s advice and appoints him governor of Egypt. Joseph marries Asnat, daughter of Potiphar, and they have two sons, Menasheh and Ephraim.
In time, as the famine spreads throughout the region, food can be obtained only in Egypt. Ten of Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to purchase grain; the youngest, Benjamin, stays home, for Jacob fears for his safety. Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they do not recognize him; he accuses them of being spies, insists that they bring Benjamin to prove that they are who they say they are, and imprisons Shimon as a hostage. Later, they discover that the money they paid for their provisions has been mysteriously returned to them. Jacob agrees to send Benjamin only after Judah assumes personal responsibility for him. This time Joseph receives them kindly, releases Shimon, and invites them to dinner at his home. But then he plants his special silver goblet in Benjamin’s sack. When the brothers set out for home the next morning, they are pursued, searched, and arrested when the goblet is discovered. Joseph offers to set them free and retain only Benjamin as his slave.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיַּ֨עַן יוֹסֵ֧ף אֶת־פַּרְעֹ֛ה לֵאמֹ֖ר בִּלְעָדָ֑י אֱלֹהִ֕ים יַעֲנֶ֖ה אֶת־שְׁל֥וֹם פַּרְעֹֽה׃ Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is beyond me! God will give Pharaoh peace with an answer.” - Bereisheet (Genesis) 41:16, Parshat Mikeitz
There’s a story of Rabbi Moshe of Sasov, that once during Hanukkah he came into the beit midrash to find some of his students playing checkers. When they saw their rebbe, they were embarrassed and started putting the game away. “No, keep on playing!” said Reb Moshe. “You know, you can learn three important things from the game of checkers: first, you can only make one move at a time. Second, you can only go forward and not backward. And lastly, when you get to the last row, you can move in any direction you want.”
While it’s true that life is complex and there are many steps to accomplishing things, it is also true that, in any given moment, you can only do the step you’re on. This is obvious, and yet because we have the power to envision our next steps, the mind tends to dwell in the imagination of the future. The present is often approached merely as a stepping stone toward something else, and this creates a feeling of separation from this moment, a disconnect from Reality. This in turn can produce a feeling of incompleteness, and a belief that fulfillment lies somewhere in the future. The remedy for this feeling of incompleteness is to remember: “You can only make one move at a time.” Bringing your attention to simply see the “move” you are now making liberates your consciousness from its imprisonment in the world of thought and its imagined future. You can try this right now; simply see; feel how this moment is. But what if, while we are simply seeing and feeling, thoughts of regret arise about the past, pulling us into a painful dwelling on what could have been? Then we must also see this simple truth: “You can only go forward and not backward.” Accepting the past and moving on doesn’t mean you have to somehow push away feelings of regret; that would just be more resistance to the present! Instead, simply see that they are there, feel the feelings; accept whatever thoughts and feelings are arising, and let them dissolve of their own accord. Everything that arises is part of the complete texture of the present – don’t resist. And in this act of simply seeing this moment without resistance, there can be the realization that, in fact, you have arrived – there is nowhere else to go, because you’re always Right Here! At that point, you can “move in any direction you want” – meaning, you can think about the future or the past and not get caught by them, because they all arise in the open space of the Present – the Eternal Now has come to the foreground, as the Presence that permeates all things – this is meditation. This quality of inner freedom is embodied by Yosef. Pharaoh asks him to interpret his disturbing dream, but Yosef says,“Biladai, Elohim Ya-aneh – It is beyond me, but God will answer!” This short phrase is a code for this teaching: Biladai – It is beyond me: Meaning, the future is beyond me; there is only this moment – whatever will be will be. Elohim, God refers to the fact that we cannot go back and change the past; whatever has been is the “Divine Will” – which is another way of saying, it already is. The only right relationship we can have with the past is total surrender; there’s nothing you can do to change it. Finally, ya-aneh – (God) will answer. In other words, see that this, now, is “God’s speech.” This is the ultimate fruit of meditation – the recognition of Divinity everywhere. When we rest in seeing the miracle of this moment, there need not be any strained effort in “trying to be present” or in “letting go of the past” because the movements of the mind are no longer charged, no longer motivated by grabbing after fulfillment. Rather, we become the seeing; or more precisely, we know ourselves as God’s seeing through our eyes. This aspect of meditation, the middah of perception as Divinity, is represented by the letter ayin.
Read past teachings on Mikeitz HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: 
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Jacob/Israel and his family settling in Hebron. Joseph is his most beloved son, so he makes Joseph a special multi-colored coat, which sparks jealousy in the other brothers. Joseph then tells his brothers two of his dreams which foretell that he is destined to rule over them, increasing their envy and hatred toward him even more. Shimon and Levi plot to kill him, but Reuben suggests that they throw him into a pit instead, intending to come back later and save him. So, the brothers strip Joseph of his special coat and throw him into the pit. Later, Judah convinces the other brothers to sell him to a band of passing Ishmaelites. The brothers then smear Joseph’s special coat with the blood of a goat and show it to their father, misleading him to believe that his most beloved son was devoured by a wild beast.
The text then shifts to Judah, who marries and has three sons. The eldest, Er, marries a woman named Tamar, but then he dies. So, Tamar then marries the second son, Onan, but Onan also dies. Judah is reluctant for his third son, Shelah, to also marry Tamar, so she disguises herself as a prostitute and seduces Judah instead. Judah hears that his daughter-in-law has become pregnant and accuses her of harlotry, but when Tamar produces the personal objects he left with her as a pledge for payment, he publicly admits that he is the father. Tamar gives birth to twin sons, Peretz (an ancestor of King David) and Zerach. Joseph is taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, the minister in charge of Pharaoh’s slaughterhouses. God blesses everything Joseph does, and soon he is made overseer of all his master’s property. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph, and when Joseph rejects her advances, she tells her husband that the Hebrew slave tried to force himself on her, and has him thrown into prison. Joseph gains the trust and admiration of his jailers, who appoint him to a position of authority over the other prisoners. During this time, Joseph meets Pharaoh’s chief butler and baker, who were both imprisoned for some offense. They tell Joseph about some disturbing dreams they have been having, which Joseph interprets: in three days, he tells them, the butler will be released and the baker hanged. Joseph asks the butler to intercede on his behalf with Pharaoh. When the predictions are fulfilled, the butler forgets all about Joseph and does nothing for him…
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיִּרְא֣וּ אֶחָ֗יו כִּֽי־אֹת֞וֹ אָהַ֤ב אֲבִיהֶם֙ מִכׇּל־אֶחָ֔יו וַֽיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ When his brothers saw that their father loved him the most, they hated him… - Bereisheet (Genesis) 37:4, Parshat Vayeishev
Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev once saw a man hurrying down the street, bumping into things and knocking people over. The rabbi grabbed him and said, “Why are you rushing so?” “I’m running to make a living!” replied the man as he tried to break free from the rabbi’s grip. “But how do you know that your livelihood is in front of you?” argued the rabbi, “Perhaps it’s behind you, and all you have to do is slow down and let it catch up with you!”
In our rush to escape the discomfort of the present, our hurriedness can sabotage the arrival of a better future. The remedy for that impulse of aggressive hurriedness is twofold – Presence and Planning. “Presence” means intentionally being where we are; it means learning to rest awareness in the truth of the moment, even and especially when it is uncomfortable; this is meditation. “Planning” means living with intention; it means having a clear vision of where you are going. When you know where you’re going, you’re less likely to worry about the temporary discomfort of the moment; it just doesn’t matter that much. You have a long-term plan, so you can fully enjoy the journey and be present. In this way, even though “planning” is aimed at the future, it actually supports connection with the present. וַֽיִּשְׂנְא֖וּ אֹת֑וֹ – They hated him… Israel’s sons are jealous of Joseph for being the most beloved of their father. But instead of trying to appease his brothers, he chooses to irritate them. וַיַּחֲלֹ֤ם יוֹסֵף֙ חֲל֔וֹם וַיַּגֵּ֖ד לְאֶחָ֑יו וַיּוֹסִ֥פוּ ע֖וֹד שְׂנֹ֥א אֹתֽוֹ׃ – Joseph dreamt a dream that he told to his brothers, and their hatred of him increased even more… In Joseph’s first dream, he and his brothers are binding sheaves in a field together, when his brother’s sheaves bow to his sheaf. In the second dream, the sun, moon and eleven stars all bow down to him, implying that one day he would rule over his eleven brothers, father and mother. Why was Joseph unconcerned about upsetting his brothers with these dreams? Some say that Joseph was immature and vain, but people who are immature and vain tend to complain when bad things happen to them. Joseph, on the other hand, never complains. His brothers throw him into a pit and sell him into slavery. When he later rises to be the most trusted and powerful slave in the house of his master, he is framed and thrown in the dungeon. Through all of these calamities, he never once complains, never once gets angry, never even defends himself. Why? Because he trusts his “dreams” and he knows where he is going. Since he knows where he is going, he doesn’t have to fuss much about how he gets there. His brothers are mad at him? No big deal, it will work out. Sold into slavery? There’s an interesting turn. Everything that happens to him is merely a modulation of the present moment. Whatever it is, he is there with it. He sees his north star guiding him into the future, and therefore he is fully in the Now. In fact, his name embodies this quality: יוֹסֵף Yosef, which means “increase.” וַיּוֹסִ֥פוּ ע֖וֹד שְׂנֹ֥א אֹתֽוֹ׃ – Their hatred of him increased (יּוֹסִפוּ like יוֹסֵף) even more… No matter how much his suffering increases, he always bounces back and “increases” toward his goal. He is like cream – always rising to the top, never growing anxious or complaining. He just rides the story of his life, moving steadily toward his destiny. In this week of Shabbat Vayeishev, the Sabbath of Dwelling, let us remember that to be present, we don’t have to give up our dreams for the future. But, we don’t have to run after them either. Instead, let us rest in the intention of where our ship is going, trusting the process. Take the steps you need to actualize your intention, then trust and enjoy the cruise, even when the world seems to be against you. And, if you don’t know yet where you want to go, be present with the not knowing. In the silence of meditation, your dreams will reveal themselves. This quality commitment and persistence is embodied by the sefirah of Netzakh on the Tree of Life – the seventh sefirah which also corresponds to the festival of Hanukkah.
Read past teachings on Vayeishev HERE
Learn Integral Jewish Meditation
Get Free Guided Meditation Below: |
Free Integral Jewish Meditation Instructional Recordings Here.
Daily Meditation on Zoom: Experience our growing community Here Archives
March 2026
|
RSS Feed