Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Hashem calling upon the Children of Israel to contribute thirteen materials toward the building of the Mishkan, 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 Mishkan’s innermost chamber, behind a woven curtain, the ark containing the tablets of the testimony engraved with the Aseret Hadibrot (the Ten Commandments) would be housed.
Upon the ark’s cover would be two winged keruvim (cherubim) hammered out of pure gold. In the outer chamber would be the seven-branched menorah, and the table upon which the Leḥem haPanim, the “showbread,” literally the “Bread of the Faces,” was arranged. These sacramental loaves were to always be present, and thus might more accurately be translated as “Presence Bread.” 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 “takhash” 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/within them… - Shemot (Exodus) 25:8, Parshat Terumah
A hasid once came to Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotsk in search of a blessing for his poverty and troubles. “Don’t worry,” the rabbi tried to comfort him, “Pray with all your heart, and surely HaRakhaman – the Merciful One – will have rakhmanus on you.”
“But I don’t know how to pray,” said the hasid. “Well then,” replied the rabbi, “you indeed have much to worry about.” The Kotzker Rebbe’s answer points to the vital practice of prayer in spiritual life. But it leaves us wondering: how can we pray? יהוה מָגֵן בַּעֲדִי כְּבוֹדִי וּמֵרִים רֹאשִׁי... וְאַתָּ֣ה You, Hashem, are a shield for me – My Presence, lifting up my head… - Psalm 3:4 This verse describes the Divine with opposing images: on one hand, God is a magein, a “shield” – something external that can protect against danger. כְּבוֹדִי... – my Presence… On the other hand, God is k’vodi – literally “my Presence,” or “my glory” or “my honor.” In other words, God is a dimention of my own being, not something external. How can we know that? וּמֵרִים רֹאשִׁי... – lifting up my head… In other words, transcending the mind: to the degree we can manage to be aware of our thoughts, rather than become absorbed in them, we can become aware of ourselves as awareness, as k’vodi, “my Presence.” This is meditation. But this experience of our Essence is subtle and fragile. How can this realization become integrated into our lives with people? How can we live in the world of time from this deeper dimension? מָגֵן בַּעֲדִי – a shield for me… For this we need protection from our ordinary conditioning; we need prayer. Prayer is an embodying of our Inner Reality in a palace of words, an expression of the ineffable in the holy sounds of language. This is magein ba-adi – a “shield for me.” Normally, our patterns of thought, feeling, and words tend to conceal the Divine essence; no matter how much we uncover It through meditation, it is doomed to fall back into hiddenness again and again. The remedy is to craft a form that reveals It as well as conceals It. This is the role of prayer and words of Torah in general – to give form to the Formless, to “shield” us against the spirit-deadening powers of the mundane. וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ – Make for me a a Sanctuary… The Exodus from Egypt was an uncovering, a going forth from the familiar and habitual, into the freedom and discomfort of the unknown. Even the receiving of the Torah thus far has been a revelation outdoors, up on a mountaintop, far above the throng of human life. But the content of the revelation always points back to life; it doesn’t emphasize transcendence, but rather the expressing the transcendent in the imminent. This movement is embodied symbolically as the building of the Mikdash. וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ – and I will dwell within them… Moses leaves the world of form to connect with the transcendent, but it is through the building of sacred form that the transcendent becomes part of communal life. For us, our spiritual practice must contain both of these poles as well. It doesn’t matter so much which pole comes first, as long as the other follows. Our awareness may begin to glow and shine within the silence of meditation, overflowing into the sacred vessels that are the words of prayer, or we may begin with chanting the words, allowing them to draw us back into the majesty of silence. Either way, it is through the interplay of silence and sound, of ayin and yesh, that the transformational power of prayer and meditation work their magic; prayer and meditation are the tones and rhythm of the music of the soul.
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Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah continues with the giving more mitzvot at Sinai, this time focusing on civil laws, including the laws of the indentured servant, the penalties for murder, kidnapping, assault and theft, compensation damages, the granting of loans, the responsibilities of the “Four Guardians” (unpaid guardian, paid guardian, renter and borrower), the rules 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 seasonal festivals, the agricultural offerings that are to be brought to be brought the Temple in Jerusalem; the prohibition against cooking meat with milk, and the mitzvah of prayer. The parshah also contains the special words 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
כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֨א אֵ֜שׁ וּמָצְאָ֤ה קֹצִים֙ וְנֶאֱכַ֣ל גָּדִ֔ישׁ א֥וֹ הַקָּמָ֖ה א֣וֹ הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה שַׁלֵּ֣ם יְשַׁלֵּ֔ם הַמַּבְעִ֖ר אֶת־הַבְּעֵרָֽה׃ When a fire goes out and finds thorns, and it consumes stacked or standing (grain), or a field, the igniter of the fire shall make restitution… Sh’mot (Exodus) 22:5, Parshat Mishpatim
A disciple of Rabbi Moshe of Kobrin awoke one morning overcome with worry, so instead of going to work, he went straight to the rebbe’s house. The rebbe was just sitting down to eat breakfast, and pronounced the brakha over his bowl of porridge: “Blessed are You… בִּדְבָרוֹ שֶׁהַכֹּל נִהְיֶה – She-hakol nihyeh bidvaro – by whose Word all things exist.” The rebbe did not greet him, but just went ahead and ate his breakfast, while the man waited.
Finally, the rebbe said, “Zalman, I thought you were like your father, but I see you are not like him. Your father once came to me with a huge burden of problems. Just as he entered, he heard me say, ‘she-hakol nihyeh bidvaro,’ just as you did. When I finished, I saw he was preparing to leave. ‘Abramele,’ I called to him, ‘didn’t you have something on your mind?’ ‘No,’ he said, and left. “Do you understand? When a person hears that all things exist only because of God’s Word, what more is there to talk about? This is the answer to all questions and worries.” Rabbi Moshe gave his hand to Zalman, who held it in silence for some time, then he bade his master farewell and left. The root of all angst of the soul stems from what the Torah calls the עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע eitz hada-at tov vara – “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad.” That is, our ability to project our imagination into the future or the past and envision different possibilities. What shall we choose? What are we afraid to lose? What if this or that happens? What if things had gone a different way? Or, it could also be our resistance the present moment, our saying “no” to what is actually present. This ability to envision and judge is not a problem in itself; that is what allows us to be creative and to make choices. But the problem comes when our ability to judge pushes us out of alignment with the present moment, which really means that we get pushed out of alignment with ourselves. While we are focused and worried about something “out there,” we have unknowingly created a split within ourselves. בִּדְבָרוֹ שֶׁהַכֹּל נִהְיֶה – She-hakol nihyeh bidvaro – “By whose Word all things exist.” The truth of a spiritual teaching is not in its factuality, but in its ability to cut to the core of the one single problem: non-alignment with the moment. The true teaching at once sheds light on the root of the problem and simultaneously burns away all impediments, bringing one back to unity. כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֨א אֵ֜שׁ וּמָצְאָ֤ה קֹצִים֙... –When a fire goes out and finds thorns… The קֹצִים֙ kotzim – “thorns” – are resistance to the present moment; the true teachings, the mishpatim, are like a fire that “goes out” and burns up resistance… וְנֶאֱכַ֣ל גָּדִ֔ישׁ א֥וֹ הַקָּמָ֖ה... – and it consumes stacked or standing (grain)… It then consumes the “stacked” and the “standing.” The “stacked” is the way we frame reality, the way we “stack” our thoughts and words together to describe what we think is going on. The “standing” means the grain that is growing from the ground, which represents our thoughts and feelings that spontaneously arise, before we “stack” them into bundles of words and judgements. א֣וֹ הַשָּׂדֶ֑ה שַׁלֵּ֣ם יְשַׁלֵּ֔ם הַמַּבְעִ֖ר אֶת־הַבְּעֵרָֽה׃ – or a field, the igniter of the fire shall make whole… Finally, the “field” is awareness itself, within which everything else arises. The true teaching is one that will ignite all these levels and return us to our state of radiance, the inner light of consciousness in which true Wholeness is found. Practicing this true teaching is meditation. The phrase for “making restitution” is שַׁלֵּם יְשַׁלֵּם shalem yishalem – literally, “Whole shall make Whole” – hinting at the quality of Wholeness inherent within the שָּׂדֶה sadeh – the “field” of awareness itself, which becomes revealed through הַמַּבְעִ֖ר אֶת־הַבְּעֵרָֽה hamavir et haberah – the “igniter of the flame” – that is, the true teaching… This שְׁלֵמוּת Shleimut, this Wholeness of the consciousness, is ever available to the one who knows how to discover It, again; this is the Meditation Path of ג Gimel.
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Parshah Summary – P’shat
Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro (Yitro), hears of the great miracles of the Exodus, and comes from Midian to the Israelite camp, bringing with him Moses’ wife and two sons. Jethro advises Moses to appoint a hierarchy of 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 a “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 Divine Presence descends on the mountain amidst thunder, lightning, billows of smoke and the blast of the shofar, and Moses is summoned. God proclaims the Aseret Hadibrot, the Ten Commandments, instructing the Children of Israel to be aware of the Divine Oneness as the power of liberation, not to worship idols or misuse the Divine Name, to keep Shabbat, to honor their parents, not to murder, not to misuse intimacy, not to steal, and not to lie about others or be jealous of others.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהֹ–וָ֖ה מִכׇּל־הָאֱלֹ–הִ֑ים... Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods… - Shemot (Exodus) 20:1, 2 Parshat Yitro
Rabbi Abraham was asked: “Our sages say: (Pirkei Avot 4:3) ‘There is no thing that does not have its place.’ And so human beings too have their place. Then why do people sometimes feel so crowded?” He replied: “Because each wants to occupy the place of the other.”
The fruit of meditation could be described as alignment with the place in which we stand – the dropping away of resistance to the moment as it appears, and the embrace or at least acceptance of the task we are given. This state of alignment gives birth to the many middot, such as generosity and kindness, creativity, wonder and awe of the outer universe and expansive bliss of the inner universe, and many more. But, if we are fixated on achieving those qualities, we sabotage the process, because they must arise from alignment from where we are now, not where we imagine we would like to be. עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי – Now I know… When Moses’ father-in-law Jethro (Yitro) comes to rejoin Moses and the Israelites, Moses tells him the whole story of how they escaped from Egypt, to which Jethro replies that now he knows Hashem is greater than all the gods. The word for “gods” is elohim – an interesting word, because not only does elohim mean “gods,” but it is also itself a Name of God. In fact, it is the name used in the beginning of the Torah when God creates the universe: בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹ–הִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. - Bereisheet (Gensis) 1:1 In this opening Torah verse, Elohim the Creator is the Source of all diversity. This plurality is hinted at by the name Elohim, which is a plural word, as in, “gods.” In this sense, then, Elohim could mean “God of Plurality.” כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל יְהֹ–וָ֖ה – For Hashem is great… But what does Hashem mean? This is the four letter unpronounceable Name יה–וה YHVH that means “Existence” or “Being.” גָד֥וֹל יְהֹ–וָ֖ה מִכׇּל־הָאֱלֹ–הִ֑ים – Hashem is greater than Elohim… Understood this way, Jethro is saying that Being greater than Plurality. In other words, there are many Divine qualities – kindness, creativity, inwardness, and so on. But of all of them, the simple quality of Being is the greatest, because it is the Source of all the others. The good news is that you don’t have to achieve Being. Everything is already Being. But it is from a rootedness in Being that the many middot can arise as expressions of Being; they are qualities we must bring to the work we do in the world and upon ourselves. זָכ֛וֹר֩ אֶת־י֥֨וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֖֜ת לְקַדְּשֽׁ֗וֹ׃ – Remember the sabbath day, to sanctify it… But to do this, we must remember to practice Being – this is Shabbat. שֵׁ֤֣שֶׁת יָמִ֣ים֙ תַּֽעֲבֹ֔ד֮ וְעָשִׂ֖֣יתָ כׇּֿל־מְלַאכְתֶּֽךָ֒׃ Six days you shall labor and do all your work… Working to cultivate and express the Divine qualities is crucial; this work makes up the majority of what we are here to do. וְי֨וֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔֜י שַׁבָּ֖֣ת – But the seventh day is a Sabbath… In other words, work must be oriented around rest; Shabbat is smaller, but it is the Center. How do we do this? עַתָּ֣ה יָדַ֔עְתִּי – Now I know… Jethro is giving us the answer: Atah yadati- “Now I know!” In other words, to truly know the Greatest Quality, you have to connect with the Now. This moment has a texture, a flavor, an aliveness, if you would but take a Shabbat to taste It, to feel It, to dive into It. Beneath all the doing, the cultivating, the creating, is the Divinity of this moment, always available, yet easily obscured. This awakening to the dimension of Being is the Path of Malkhut, also known as Sh’khinah, the Divine Presence that shines from all things…
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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 to allow 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 others 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 stood on a hill with his hands raised to heaven, Israel would begin to win the battle, and when he became tired and lowered his hands, Israel would begin to lose. So, Moses’ brother Aaron and Israelite named Hur supported Moses’ hands on either side to help them up, and Israel was victorious.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י ׀ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ And it was, when Pharaoh sent forth the people, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.” - Shemot (Exodus) 13:17, Parshat B’shalakh וַיָּבֹ֖א עֲמָלֵ֑ק וַיִּלָּ֥חֶם עִם־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בִּרְפִידִֽם׃ Amalek came and attacked Israel at Rephidim… - 17:8
Once, when Rabbi Pinhas of Koretz felt confused about his faith in God, he could think of no way to help himself except to travel to the Baal Shem Tov. But just then, he heard that the master had just arrived in Koretz. Filled with happiness, he ran to the inn. There he found a number of hasidim gathered about the Baal Shem, who was expounding the Torah verse in which Moses’ hands, held up during the battle with Amelek, are spoken of us being emunah, Faith – that is, Trust and Simplicity.
“It sometimes happens,” said the Baal Shem, “that a person grows confused about their faith. The remedy is to implore God to strengthen it. For the real harm Amalek inflicted on Israel was to chill their trust in God and infect their simple faith with worry. That’s why Moses taught them to implore God to strengthen their faith, by stretching to heaven his hands which were, in themselves, like Trust and Simplicity. In the hour of struggle against the powers of evil, this is the only thing that matters.” When Rabbi Pinhas heard this, his hearing it was itself a prayer, and with this prayer he felt his faith grow strong. Trust and Simplicity, which together comprise אֱמוּנָה Emunah, Faith, are tools we need at different stages of the spiritual process, for different reasons. וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ – And it was, when Pharaoh sent forth the people… As a symbol for ego, Pharaoh “sending forth the people” points to the dual role of ego: on one hand, the arising of ego enslaves our consciousness; ego wants to survive and enhance itself, and uses powerful emotions to compel us to serve its agenda. On the other hand, its insatiable appetite for control is what eventually gives away its game; when we recognize that we are being manipulated by our emotions to no good end, we may be motivated to “go out from Egypt” – that is, to escape the control of ego/Pharaoh. In this way, ego defeats itself – Pharaoh himself “sends forth the people.” But, it is rare that meditation results in immediate transformation; usually, we have to persist in meditation for years before getting dramatic results. It is then that we need אֱמוּנָה Emunah – trust in the process and simple dedication to persist in our meditation. Then, when we finally do break through, there can be a sense at all our work has paid off. Tasting the magnificent brightness of freedom from ego and the profound relief that comes from letting go of its burden, our motivation to practice can be greatly renewed and reinforced. פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה... – “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.” At this stage, meditators often go through a kind of “honeymoon” period, in which life feels bright and easy. This is like God leading the Children of Israel on an easier, roundabout way, free from conflict, so that they stay motivated to keep going and not return to “Egypt” – that is, not return to the ordinary motivations of ego. וַיָּבֹ֖א עֲמָלֵ֑ק וַיִּלָּ֥חֶם – Amalek came and attacked… But then, there is another problem: when things are so bright and easy, there is an unconscious tendency to expect the ease to continue, to become infected with an unconscious sense of entitlement; this is the ego’s second strategy for reestablishing its control, represented by the attack of the Amalekites… כִּי קָרוֹב הוּא... – which was close... At this point, we need אֱמוּנָה Emunah again to keep us on track, hinted by this phrase, ki karov hu. In the plain sense, this is referring to the road which would have been the closer path for the Israelites to take. But the word הוּא Hu, “It,” is also a Divine Name. The word קָרוֹב karov means close, but it can also mean intimate, connected. So on this deeper level, it’s saying that the Divine is present on the road of battle, that is, the experience of conflict and dis-ease. Have faith in that, because at first you won’t experience it – instead you’ll experience the pain of more resistance, the ego rearing its ugly head once again. But know: כִּי קָרוֹב הוּא ki karov Hu – beneath all the suffering is the spacious Openness and Wholeness of this moment, the Divine Presence that is not separate from your own presence, your own consciousness. You can always access this Presence, again and again, by becoming present – that is, by being קָרוֹב karov, coming close to your actual experience in this moment, especially in suffering. Don’t resist the resistance; use it: do the inner alchemy of transforming it through prayer: calling out from the heart that leads to the simple acceptance of this moment; this is the interplay between prayer and Jewish meditation.
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