Parshah Summary – P’shat
This second parshah of Sefer Devarim continues with Moses’ monologue to the Children of Israel on the banks of the Jordan. He opens with how he prayed to enter the Promised Land along with them, but instead he was told he must climb a mountain and view the Land from afar before he dies. He then continues telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt and their receiving of the Torah at Sinai, followed by the prophesy that future generations will abandon the Path for “false gods,” leading to the exile and their being scattered among the nations. But, from their exile they will once again seek the Divine and return...
Torah of Awakening
וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן אֶל־יי בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖וא לֵאמֹֽר׃ אֲדֹנָ֣י יי אַתָּ֤ה הַֽחִלּ֙וֹתָ֙ לְהַרְא֣וֹת אֶֽת־עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶ֨ת־גׇּדְלְךָ֔ “I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying, ‘My Lord, Hashem, You have begun to show Your servant Your Greatness…’” - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23, 24 Parshat Va’Etkhanan
Among the disciples of Rabbi Mendel of Kosov was a kindhearted and generous hasid by the name of Rabbi Moshe. Moshe had been successful in business and was rather wealthy, until one day when his fortune turned. Through a series of unsuccessful business endeavors, he lost all his money and fell into debt. He went to his master, Rabbi Mendel, and told him about his predicament. “Go to my brother-in-law, the Seraph of Strelisk, and pour out your heart to him.” He did so, and when Rabbi Uri of Strelisk heard the story, he replied, “I will take a mikveh, and I will dedicate the merit of the bath to your benefit.” The man returned to his master and told him what had happened. “Go back to my brother-in-law,” said the rabbi of Kosov, “and tell him that the mikveh will not serve to pay your creditors.”
The man rode back to Strelisk again and said what he had been told to say. “Very well my son,” said the Seraph, “in that case, I will also dedicate the merit of my tefillin to your welfare.” When the man returned to Kosov and told his master what had happened, Rabbi Mendel said, “Give my brother-in-law this message from me: the tefillin can’t help either.” The man did as he was bidden. The Seraph reflected, and then replied, “Well, if that is the case, then I shall do even better for you. Today I will dedicate the merit of all my prayers to you, and the three merits will unite into one and come to your aid.” Rabbi Moshe returned to Kosov and gave his report. “Go,” said the tzadik, and he spoke more softly, yet the softness had the effect of making his words more intense, “Go to my brother-in-law and say to him in my name that all of this will not settle a single debt.” When the Seraph received this message, he immediately put on his fur coat and set out for Kosov. The moment he arrived and greeted his brother-in-law, he asked him: “What do you want from me?” “What I want,” said Rabbi Mendel, “is for both of us to travel around for a few weeks and collect the money he needs from our people. For it is written: וְהֶֽחֱזַ֣קְתָּ בּ֔וֹ V’hekhezakta bo – You shall support them… (Lev. 25:35). And that is what they did. וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן אֶל־יי – I implored the Divine… The word for “I implored” is וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן va’etkhanan – from the word חֵן hein, which means “grace.” To “implore” is to beg for grace. What “grace” is being prayed for? In the plain sense, Moses is asking to be able to enter the Promised Land. But on a deeper level, the “Promised Land” is a metaphor for that inner sense of completeness or wholeness, hinted by the mention of God’s “Greatness” – גׇּדְלְךָ֔ Your Greatness, and represented by the letter ג gimel, which begins the word גָדוֹל gadol. But this Gadol, this Divine “Greatness,” is not something separate from us; it is the revelation of our own innermost being. It is “great” in the sense that it is infinitely more spacious than any particular thing within our experience; it is the vast space within which all experience arises – the space of awareness itself. חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם Beloved are human beings, for they are created in the Divine Image…” (Pirkei Avot 3:18, Rabbi Akiva). The Divine, or Reality, expresses Its Greatness as our own awareness – that’s the tzelem, the Divine “image.” Rabbi Akiva calls us “beloved” because of this gift – the gift of our Divine Greatness. Then he says: חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְצֶלֶם It is indicative of an even greater love that our Divine Image is made known to us… In other words, though our Divine Greatness is a wonderful gift, it doesn’t do us much good unless it is made known to us, unless we experience the Infinite directly. To experience our Gedulah, our Divine Greatness, is the greatest gift – the Supreme Grace, because it is the revelation of our own being, something that can never be taken away. But, our Divine Greatness is not really hidden; it is only that our awareness tends to look at everything except Itself, so it can be difficult to notice. But if we ask for grace, if we implore God to reveal our Divine Greatness to us and then wait with silent and present alertness for the answer, the prayer itself can help us open to this Truth of who we are. This is the kind of prayer that is answered instantaneously. And from that inner “greatness,” that sense of abundance and completeness, rather than lack and scarcity, generosity on the outer level naturally arises as well, just like Rabbi Mendel in the story. Let’s try it: “Oh Hashem, please reveal to us our own Divine Greatness, that Place within that is free and spacious, that embraces this moment as it is and overflows with love and generosity into the world...” Then, notice – this moment is complete – sensation, feeling, thought – all arising in the space of this moment, which is awareness itself, free and open, complete and miraculous…
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Parshah Summary – P’shat
The fifth and final book of the Torah opens with Moses beginning his recap of the Torah to the Children of Israel, who are all assembled on the bank of the Jordan river. He begins by recounting the events and teachings that were given in the course of their forty-year journey from Egypt to Sinai and then to the Promised Land, both rebuking them for their failings and encouraging them to remain faithful to the path he has set before them. In the course of the parshah, Moses recalls the judges and leaders appointed to ease his burden in leadership; the journey from Sinai through the vast desert; the sending of the spies and the people’s fear of entering the Land, leading to that entire generation dying out in the desert.
Also recounted are more recent events: the refusal of the nations of Mo’av and Ammon to allow the Israelites to pass through their countries; the wars against the Emorite kings Sikhon and Og, and the settlement of their lands by the tribes of Reuven and Gad and part of the tribe of Manasheh; and Moses’ message to his successor, Joshua, who will take over Moses’ leadership after his death.
Torah of Awakening
לֹֽא־תַכִּ֨ירוּ פָנִ֜ים בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֗ט כַּקָּטֹ֤ן כַּגָּדֹל֙ תִּשְׁמָע֔וּן Don’t show favoritism in judgment; like the lesser as the greater, you shall listen… Devarim (Deuteronomy) 1:17, Parshat Devarim
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk asked one of the hasidim of Rabbi Moshe, soon after Rabbi Moshe’s death, “What was most important to your teacher?” The hasid thought for a bit and then replied, “Whatever he happened to be doing in the moment.”
Maintaining attentiveness to whatever we happen to be doing in the moment is crucial, though not particularly easy. On the other hand, it is relatively easy to see when someone else is not being attentive. When we see someone being defensive, angry, or complaining, or blaming, it is simple to diagnose. But, when we become annoyed with that person for getting caught in their own unconsciousness, how easy it is to get caught ourselves; we resist the resistance of others, and can’t see that we ourselves are resisting. While it would certainly be desirable for everyone to wake up from the dream of ego, we can only ever wake up ourselves. Yes, there is a synergy between people; awakening begets more awakening, and unconsciousness begets more unconsciousness. But at the end of the day, the choice to awaken – meaning, the choice to receive and accept this moment as it is – is an essentially individual matter; you can only do it for yourself, right now. So, in the moment that we perceive the ego of someone else and forget to be aware of our own, we must remember: there is only one time to be awake, and that time is always now. This can be difficult because now is constant; we tend to be unconscious of things that are constant, like our breathing, for example. That is why it is so helpful to use that which is not constant to remind us of the Constant, to use time and change to stay awake to the Changeless and the Timeless… וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר בְּמִצְוָה קַלָּה כְבַחֲמוּרָה Be careful with a light mitzvah as with a grave one… Pirkei Avot, 2:1 There are lesser and greater mitzvot; obviously, the mitzvah to light a Shabbat candle is not as great as the mitzvah of saving a life, for example. And, yet, this mishnah is saying we should be just as careful with the lesser ones as with the greater ones. How can this be? If we should be just as careful with the lesser ones as with greater ones, doesn’t that destroy the whole idea that are lesser ones and greater ones? וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר – Be careful… The word for “careful” is זָהִיר zahir, which can also mean “watchful” or “attentive.” Understood this way, it is not saying that it is just as important to observe the lesser mitzvot as the greater ones; it is saying that no matter what mitzvah you are doing, you should be just as זָהִיר zahir – you should be just as attentive, just as present. And furthermore, it is our awareness of the very fact that not all mitzvot are equal that reminds us: even though the mitzvot are not all equal, we can still bring equal Presence to them all. And, as different as the various mitzvot are, even more varied are our moments in life; you cannot compare a moment of childbirth or a moment of death to a moment of putting toothpaste on your toothbrush. And yet, the message is: וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר hevei zahir – be present in all moments, great and small. And, use your awareness of the great and small to remind you: the moment to be זָהִיר zahir is always this moment… לֹֽא־תַכִּ֨ירוּ פָנִ֜ים – Don’t show favoritism in judgment… On the surface, this is Moses is telling the Israelites judges that they should judge fairly, not giving preference to either the poor and powerless or to the great and powerful. But on a metaphorical level, כַּקָּטֹ֤ן כַּגָּדֹל֙ kakaton kagadol – “like the small, like the great” – regardless of whether the moment is mundane and insignificant or crucially important, תִּשְׁמָע֔וּן tishma’un – listen! Be fully present. Why? Because in being fully present, you are being what you truly are, beneath and beyond the sense of self that is constructed of thoughts and feelings, the self that judges lesser and greater, the self that prefers this over that. At the core of your being and beyond the border of all that you perceive, you are presence, vast and unconditionally free. And even more, that presence is truly the One Presence, the One Reality present in all things, awake right now through your own senses, ever creating and perceiving Itself, That from which all arises to Which all will return. This is not merely a belief or an idea; it is a description of the experience that arises when we sustain our attentiveness over time; this is meditation. When we apply meditation in the flow of life, being זָהִיר zahir moment to moment so as not to get lost in the fantasies of the mind, this is the Path of ש Shin – the fire of awareness. In this week of Shabbat Devarim, the Sabbath of Words, may we dwell in the stillness of Presence brought on by the fire of awareness, so that all our words may arise from the wisdom of that stillness…
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Parshah Summary – P’shat
Parshat Matot
The parshah opens with Moses teaching the laws about oaths and vows and how they may be annulled. The Israelites then go to war against Midian for the incident at Baal Pe’or in which the Midianites attempted to corrupt the Israelites by seducing them into idolatry. After the Israelites defeat the Midianites, the Torah gives a detailed account of the war spoils and how they were allocated amongst the people, the warriors, the Levites and the high priest. The tribes of Reuven and Gad (later joined by half of the tribe of Menasheh) ask Moses for permission to remain in the good pasture lands east of the Jordan rather than crossing over with the rest of the tribes. Moses is initially angered by the request, but then agrees on the condition that they not abandon the other tribes when in need of military assistance. Mas’ei The forty-two journeys and encampments of Israel are listed, from the Exodus all the way to their present position on the banks of the Jordan river. The boundaries of the Promised Land are given, and cities of refuge are designated as havens and places of exile for those who accidentally kill another person and are seeking protection from retribution... The daughters of Tzelafhad marry within their own tribe of Menasheh, so that the estate which they inherit from their father should not pass to the province of another tribe.
Torah of Awakening
אִישׁ֩ כִּֽי־יִדֹּ֨ר נֶ֜דֶר לַֽיי אֽוֹ־הִשָּׁ֤בַע שְׁבֻעָה֙ לֶאְסֹ֤ר אִסָּר֙ עַל־נַפְשׁ֔וֹ לֹ֥א יַחֵ֖ל דְּבָר֑וֹ כְּכָל־הַיֹּצֵ֥א מִפִּ֖יו יַעֲשֶֽׂה׃ If a person vows a vow to the Divine or swears an oath to forbid something to one’s soul, they shall not empty their word; everything that comes from their mouth, so shall they do… BaMidbar (Numbers) 30:3, Parshat Matot
One Friday afternoon, the Baal Shem Tov traveled with his disciples to a certain far-off village, and led them to a little broken down shack of a house. He knocked, and when a woman opened the door and saw they were travelers, she warmly greeted them. “Won’t you stay for Shabbos? My husband and I would love to have you,” she asked.
The Baal Shem Tov immediately accepted. The disciples were surprised – why were they bothering this poor family who obviously had hardly enough for themselves? At Shabbos dinner, when they came to the motzi, the blessing over the challah, the challah cover was removed to reveal a tiny crust of moldy bread. After the blessing, the Baal Shem grabbed the tiny crust and gobbled it down himself. The disciples were terribly embarrassed. Next, a little bit of dried fish was brought out for dinner. Again, the Baal Shem grabbed it and gobbled it down, not allowing anyone else even a taste. For the rest of Shabbos, the Baal Shem did similar things, while the disciples endured his actions in silent agony. After Shabbos was over and they set off to return home, they could restrain themselves no longer: “How could you behave that way? What is the matter with you??” The Baal Shem was just silent. A year later, the Baal Shem Tov brought those same disciples back to the same little village where they had visited the poor family the year before. But, when they arrived, there was a palatial mansion in the place where the little shack once stood! The Baal Shem Tov explained: “The holy couple whose home we visited last year was blessed with everything they needed to be extremely successful in business, but they were so full of faith, that they chose to rely only on God’s grace and wouldn’t do anything to help themselves. So, while they prayed passionately for their livelihood, they refused to take any steps on their own toward it improving it. When we visited last year, that crust of bread and bit of fish were enough to keep them trapped in their passivity. All I needed to do was take away that last bit of sustenance, so that they would be pushed over the edge and forced to take some action. That’s what they did, and just look at them now!” Desperation can be a powerful motivator. In the case of spirituality, when we are feeling good and things are going well, there is a tendency to allow our practice to become weak or even drop away completely. But when disturbance comes and we are face to face with our own spiritual immaturity, the desperation can force us to return more powerfully to the Path. But is it possible to keep that seriousness of intention and commitment even when things are going well? כְּכָל־הַיֹּצֵ֥א מִפִּ֖יו יַעֲשֶֽׂה׃ – Everything that comes from their mouth, so shall they do… Verbally affirming our intentions in the form of a vow is a way of defending ourselves against the sneaky klippa of complacency. Even when we are moved to desperation and our intentions for the Path become clear and powerful, that doesn’t mean we will continue to be connected to that intention, especially if the intention goes against longtime habits. For that, we need to create a new pattern in our nervous systems so that the intention remains present with us. How to do it? The key is write your intention down and repeat it often. Then, when the flow of life is easy and you would tend to become lax you’re your practice, you will be solid as a rock; if your intention is clear to yourself, nothing can shake you. This is the Path of Netzakh, the sefirah of carrying out an intention by steadily working toward a goal over long periods of time. But, you might ask, isn’t attaching ourselves to some goal a function of ego? Isn’t spirituality about surrender, not holding on to anything? It’s true – commitment to a particular goal alone can often be a function of ego. The hallmark of ego is that it seeks control; that’s why intention and commitment (Netzakh) must be balanced by humility and gratitude (Hod) and this is the basic function of prayer. In the story, the couple had lots of Hod, but not enough Netzakh; the key is balancing them. When we take an action, the action has some intention behind it; there is always some goal attached which motivates the action, whether we are aware of it or not, even if the goal is simply to create a certain feeling. The purpose of praying for things, on the other hand, is not merely to bring about the thing we pray for; it is not to control God or to “manifest our desires,” but rather to make our desires transparent, not-fixed, not-egoic. The essence of prayer is the recognition that we are not in control; we don’t even control our own thoughts. We pray only because the words have arisen in our mouths to pray – on this level, there is no separate “me,” there is only God – unfolding in every form and in every happening. At the same time, if your prayer makes you passive so that you simply wait for God to act, you’ve make a false split between you and God. You assume that “God” is one thing and you are another. But there is One Reality. Commit and act, but know that it is not you who acts. Pray, but know that God prays through you. In this week of Shabbat Mattot, the Sabbath of Tribes, may we support each other in manifesting our visions and goals. May we recognize that commitment to both action and prayer are two sides of the Whole – Netzakh and Hod, the passive and the active sides of the Tree, as One.
Read past teachings on Matot HERE.
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Parshah Summary – P’shat (literal level)
The parshah opens with Hashem seeming to reward Aaron’s grandson, Pinhas, for a murderous act of zealotry. In the midst of a plague caused by an idolatrous orgy between the Israelite men and Midianite women, a prince from the tribe of Shimon named Zimri, along with his partner, a Midianite princess named Cozbi, is killed by Pinhas at the end of the last parshah. Ironically, Pinhas’ reward is that he receives God’s Brit Shalom – “Covenant of Peace.” In preparation for war with the Midianites, a census is then taken of men eligible for battle between the ages of twenty and sixty, numbering 601,730. Moses is then instructed on how the Land is to be divided by lottery among the tribes and families of Israel. The five daughters of Tzelafhad come forward and petition Moses that they be granted the portion of land belonging to their father, who died without sons; Hashem accepts their claim and incorporates it into the Torah’s laws of inheritance. Next, Moses is told to ascend a hill and view the Land, after which he will die, a consequence of striking the rock to draw forth water. Moses then empowers Joshua to succeed him by placing his hands upon him, which is the origin of s’miha, the ordination of rabbis and other Jewish spiritual leaders today. The parshah then concludes with a detailed list of the daily offerings, along with the additional (Musaf) offerings brought on Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh (first of the month), and the festivals of Pesakh, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.
Torah of Awakening
פִּֽינְחָ֨ס בֶּן־אֶלְעָזָ֜ר בֶּן־אַהֲרֹ֣ן הַכֹּהֵ֗ן הֵשִׁ֤יב אֶת־חֲמָתִי֙ מֵעַ֣ל בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּקַנְא֥וֹ אֶת־קִנְאָתִ֖י בְּתוֹכָ֑ם וְלֹא־כִלִּ֥יתִי אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּקִנְאָתִֽי׃ לָכֵ֖ן אֱמֹ֑ר הִנְנִ֨י נֹתֵ֥ן ל֛וֹ אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י שָׁלֽוֹם׃ “Pinhas, son of El’azar, son of Aharon the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Children of Israel by avenging My vengeance among them, so that I did not destroy the Children of Israel in My vengeance. Therefore, say: ‘Behold – I grant him My Covenant of Peace.’” - Bamidbar (Numbers) 25:11,12; Parshat Pinhas
Menahem Mendel, the infamous and much hated rabbi of Kotsk, once returned to the little town in which he was born. There he visited the teacher who had taught him his aleph-bet when he was a child, but he did not go to see the teacher with whom he learned when he was older. During his visit, he happened to run into the other teacher, who asked why he hadn’t visited and if he had any cause to be ashamed of him.
Mendel replied, “You taught me things that can be refuted, for according to one interpretation they can mean this, and according to another they can mean that. But my first teacher taught me simple things that cannot be refuted, and they have remained with me as such. That is why I owe him special reverence.” פִּֽינְחָ֨ס... הֵשִׁ֤יב אֶת־חֲמָתִי֙ מֵעַ֣ל בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּקַנְא֥וֹ אֶת־קִנְאָתִ֖י – “Pinhas… has turned back My wrath from the Children of Israel by avenging My vengeance…” This sounds like the vengeful, jealous God that everyone loves to hate. And yet, in a sense, there is a truth here. From a certain point of view, God is a vengeful, jealous God. Not literally, of course, but this is scripture. It is pointing to something spiritual in the language of the time it was written. What is it pointing to? There is a basis, or a foundation for everything we are experiencing right now. Whether we are talking about things that appear to be “outside” of us, like the sensory world – what we see, what we hear – or things that appear to be “inside” ourselves – such as feelings or thoughts – everything is perceived only because of this miracle called consciousness. And in the field of our experience, everything we perceive is, in fact, literally made out of consciousness. So the image of that thing I see “over there” is nothing but consciousness. And, in fact, the sense of “me” that sees the thing over there, this body/mind that I call “me,” is also something that I perceive, so it too is also just a form of consciousness. The thing I see, and the “me” that sees, are both forms of the one consciousness that I am. And yet, most people have no sense of this at all. Instead, there is only the sense of me “over here” in this body, and that thing “over there” that “I” see. Why? Because we are constantly framing our experience with language that reinforces the belief that things are objective and separate. The language we use refers to “me” and “that thing over there,” and so our thinking, which is largely made out of language, is deeply conditioned with this assumption of separateness, even though our experience right now tells us otherwise. But to really see what our experience is telling us, we have to pierce a hole through the lie that is created with our language. And to do that takes a special effort, because language lie is two-ply. Just like good toilet paper. If you have only one-ply toilet paper, that doesn’t work very well. Good toilet paper has at least two layers! It is the same with our minds – there are two layers. The first layer is simply the fact that our minds are constantly moving. Bla bla bla bla. It’s like a song that you get stuck in your head. Once that song is stuck, it just repeats over and over, because it has created a groove in your nervous system. That’s why music is “groovy.” Dance music is always talking about “getting into the groove” and “making you move” because it’s playing on this tendency of the mind to get into grooves of thought patterns within which your mind moves. That’s the first layer you have to get through – the movement in the groove of constant thinking. The other ply is the content of the groove – the nature of how language conditions our experience. Right now, these words are creating the impression that “I” am talking about “language” – there’s the sense that “I” and the topic of “language” are two separate things. This doesn’t get questioned unless we deliberately decide to question it. But when we do decide to question this basic assumption, we can notice that these words right now, as well as the “you” that is reading them, as well as everything else in your experience right now, are all living within and are forms of consciousness. And as soon as we point this out, there can be a subtle but profound shift – a shift into knowing that there is only one thing going on… שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יי אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ יי אֶחָד– Hear Israel: Existence Itself is our God – Existence is One! יי אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ Existence Itself is our God… All Existence, all Being, is not separate from Eloheinu – our own inner Divinity, meaning consciousness. And how do we know this? Because we are the שְׁמַע Sh’ma – we are the listening, the perceiving, and nothing we perceive is separate from that. יי אֶחָד – Existence is One! Isn’t it funny that we tend to look for God, thinking we know the world but we have to find God, when in Reality, God is the only thing we really know? Meaning, we know that there is Existence. And we know that the “knowing” and “Existence” are not separate; that’s the Oneness of God. So if you choose to think in this very different, very counter-intuitive and yet very obvious kind of way, you can pierce through that ply of separateness almost instantly. Because even though it’s counterintuitive, it’s also really obvious. It’s really obvious that there is only one Reality and this is it. How many Realities could there possibly be? Only one, because Reality just means whatever is. And it’s also totally obvious that you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything to find Reality, because there is only ever one place to find it, and that’s always right now in your present moment experience. This is the Path of י Yud, of Trust and Simplicity – the recognition of the simple truth of What Is, right now, appearing within awareness. But to recognize this, we first must move ourselves out of the movement of the mind, we must become present. This means, moving our attention away from its involvement with thought, and into sensory awareness – into “that which cannot be refuted,” as the story says. In this way, the mind effortlessly becomes quiet, and we can pierce through the first ply – the layer of the constantly moving mind. וַתֵּֽעָצַר֙ הַמַּגֵּפָ֔ה מֵעַ֖ל בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל – Then the plague against the Children of Israel was checked… Once we’ve moved through the two layers (and maybe we just have), Reality can be our friend, and the “plague” can be lifted. What is the plague? It is the emotional pain that arises from the belief that you are separate. And that’s why God can be thought of as “jealous” or “vengeful” – if we are not seeing the underlying Being of everything, always focused on the conditional world, then we are literally in exile from ourselves; we become identified with a tiny piece of who we really are, without even realizing what we are doing. This is why God gives Pinhas the covenant of shalom – of peace and wholeness– for killing זִמְרִי Zimri and זְבִּי Kozbi. Because, who is זִמְרִי Zimri? It is like the word זֶמֶר zemer – “song.” So זִמְרִי Zimri can mean “my song” – meaning, the constant movement of the mind; the song that my thoughts are always singing. And who is כָּזְבִּי Kozbi? It is like the word, כָּזָב kazav – “lie,” or “falsehood.” So כָּזְבִּי Kozbi can mean “my lie.” And when Zimri and Kozbi unite, that’s the two ply barrier of both constant thinking and the lie of separateness that Pinhas is able to pierce through. What who is פִּֽינְחָס Pinhas? Pinhas is פ Pey נחס Nekhs. Pey פ means “mouth,” and Nekhs נחס is bad, or unsuccessful. So Pinhas means “bad mouth” – he knows the bad side of language – how it tends to veil the Truth, through the movement of thought and the assumptions of thought. When he pierces through these two layers, he receives the בְּרִיתִי שָׁלֽוֹם Brit Shalom, reminding us that whoever wants real peace and wholeness, must also pierce through these two layers of the mind. How do we do it? Come to the fullness of this moment with simplicity – this is the Path of י Yud…
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