Get free & become unstoppable! | Parshat Devarim & ש SHIN
Shin ש | Jewish Kabbalah Meditation: "Fire of Awareness"
Parshah Summary – P’shat
The fifth and final book of the Torah opens with Moses beginning his final address 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, to the Promised Land, both rebuking them for their failings and encouraging them to remain faithful to the path set before them. In the course of the parshah, Moses recalls his appointment of judges and leaders to decide cases of justice and teach them Torah; the journey from Sinai through the desert; the sending of the spies and the people’s recoiling from 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 | Jewish Meditation Teaching
...אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־כל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel… -D’varim (Deuteronomy) 1:1, Parshat D’varim
Once there was a scorpion who was looking for a way to get to the other side of a river. As he searched up and down the banks, he came upon a fox who was about to swim across. “Please let me swim on your back!” implored the scorpion. “No way!” replied the fox, “You’ll sting me!” “Why would I do that?” argued the scorpion, “If I stung you, we would both drown.” After thinking about it, the fox agreed. The scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim across. But, when they were about half way across the river, the scorpion stung the fox. As the poison began its work, the fox started to sink. “Why did you do it?” said the fox, “Now we’ll both drown!” “I couldn’t help myself,” said the scorpion, “It’s my nature.”
אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים... – These are the words… Moses speaks his final words to the Children of Israel before he dies. They too stand by a river, preparing to cross, and he reminds them of their journeys up to that point. He begins by recounting the highest moment, when they stood at Mt. Sinai and received the revelation. And yet, as sublime as Sinai was, Moses reminds them of God’s command not to stay there: רַב־לָכֶ֥ם שֶׁ֖בֶת בָּהָ֥ר הַזֶּֽה׃ – “It is too much already for you to still be dwelling by this mountain!” In other words, don’t be the scorpion – life is change – don’t resist. The words of God are urging you to move on, to free yourself from the comfortable. The world is turning; you must turn with it. פְּנ֣וּ וּסְע֣וּ לָכֶ֗ם – Turn and journey for yourselves! The journey is actually “for yourselves” – meaning, it is for your own well-being that you must not cling to comfort and the avoidance of pain. וּבֹ֨אוּ הַ֥ר הָֽאֱמֹרִי֮ – Come to the mountain of the Amorites… The tribe of the Amorites – Emori אֱמֹרִי – has the same letters as the verb “to speak” – אמר aleph-mem-reish. The hint here is that you must leave the “mountain” where you hear the word of God, so that you can come to a new mountain, where there will be new words; don’t cling to the old words… בָּעֲרָבָה – in the plain… But, sometimes the new “words” will not be the ecstasy of a “mountain” experience; there will also the עֲרָבָה aravah, the “plain” – the daily work of life, a mixture (עֵרֶב erev) of many ordinary experiences. וּבַשְּׁפֵלָה – in the lowland… Then there is the שְּׁפֵלָה sh’felah – the “lowland” – times of sadness, of tragedy, of failure, of loss – all part of God’s “speech” to us. These times are medicine for the distortions of ego… וּבַנֶּ֖גֶב – in the desert… Then there is the נֶּגֶב negev – the “desert” – times when your life and work don’t seem to be yielding anything good, but we must persevere through these stretches. These times train us to stay focused and true to our path… וּבְח֣וֹף הַיָּ֑ם – and on the seacoast… Then there is the חוֹף הַיָּם hof hayam – the “seacoast” – like when the Children of Israel stood at the Sea of Reeds, with the Egyptian army behind them. These are times when our path involves risk, when we are tempted to fear and despair. This is training for the supreme quality of Trust, to take the leap into the unknown… עַד־הַנָּהָ֥ר הַגָּדֹ֖ל – as far as the Great River… The Great River is at the end of the journey, because if you can learn to work with life in all of its manifestations, you will see: Life itself is the Great River. God incarnates as your mind and your body, for just a brief time, to take a journey on this Great River. If we wish to flow with it, we need to be attentive to what life is telling us, to the words God is speaking to us. This is the Path of the letter ש Shin, the letter of Sh’ma, of deep listening. It is also the letter of fire: the fire of meditation, the fire of Presence.
Read past teachings on Devarim HERE
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