Accepting our limits allows us to go farther

Tomorrow night is Rosh HaShanah - the daily Elul thought will transform into daily thought for the High Holy Days or Days of Awe, as the month of Elul will end, and become the month of Tishrei. Make sure to take time out to acknowledge the Jewish New Year on Sunday night, and Monday, and Tuesday. L'shanah tovh u'metukah - a good and sweet new year to everyone!

Today we look at Va-yak-heil, Exodus 35:1 - 38:20 - the gathering of the donations to build the Tabernacle, and the fashioning of the pieces and construction takes place.

Perhaps the only not-for profit effort in all time to be so enthusiastically completed, as it says here in Exodus, Chapter 36:
5: ...The people are bringing much more than enough for the service of (doing) the work that God has commanded, to make it!
6 So Moses commanded and they had a call go throughout the camp, saying: Man and woman-let them not make-ready any further work-material for the contribution of the Holy-shrine! So the people were stopped from bringing;
7 the work-material was enough for them, for all the work, to make it, and more.

As we think about Elul, we might look back on the last year and note how often we felt the opposite of this. How often did we feel depleted and without the resources to complete the tasks we set before us?

Is this about the demands made upon us by our tasks, or is it about the number of tasks and the details we promise to get done?

When the task is finite, we can complete it with enthusiasm. If the goals we have set require work without end, we mistreat ourselves as unlimited resources.

For the year to come, let us try to set ourselves reasonable tasks - and find ourselves bringing more than enough to them.

We must treat this world's existence as limited in order to better find connections with the infinite.

I know I will be working on this for a long time!

Transformation all around, if only we would see it

Today for our daily Elul thought we look at Ki Tisa, Exodus 30:11 - 34:35 - a lot happens here, not least of which is the Golden Calf incident.

I just had a random reason to glance at one particular verse from this parasha today:
Exouds 34:29 Now it was when Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of Testimony in Moshe's hand, when he came down from the mountain - (now) Moshe did not know that the skin of his face was radiating because of his having-spoken with him...

Encounters with the mystery of the universe transform us, and often we don't recognize the transformation ourselves.

Elul asks us to be open to our own growth - to be like Moses and absorb the changes. Reality is filled with the miraculous. When we notice it we can be transformed.

When someone asks about something, we may learn more than we teach.

Dress for Spiritual Success, Judge Not

Today for our daily Elul thought we look at T'tzaveh, Exodus 27:20 - 30:10 - more details about things for the Mishkan, or portable Temple, the special garb for the priesthood, offering ceremonies for the ordaining of priests and their regular duties, and the description of the altar.

We could sum it all up by saying notes on interior decorating and fashion.

We don't like to think that we get judged on our spaces and our garb. Often we unfairly judge others based on their appearances.

Perhaps the Elul thought of the day on this is: let our work on our spaces and appearances be ours alone, and let us avoid judging what others do for themselves.

Dressing because we want to look good for the Universe seems OK, allowing ourselves to be judgmental about other people's choices in this, less so.

Remembering 9/11 and Thinking About Elul

Today we look at Mishpatim, Exodus 21:1 - 24:18 - lots of laws, the promise of a guardian that will go before the Israelites and vanquish our enemies as we enter the Land of Israel, and the call to approach Mount Sinai.

Of the many laws, here are two:
Exodus 23:4 When you encounter your enemy's ox or his donkey straying, return it, return it to him.
5: When you see the donkey of one who hates you crouching under its burden, restrain from abandoning it to him - unbind, yes, unbind it together with him.

On this September 11 during Elul, the month leading up to our High Holy Days, we should  remember our tragedy and be moved by it to approach our enemies and those who hate us with integrity and generosity.

Let us turn hatred and enmity into civility.

Sharing - Worth Doing After Kindergarten Too

Today we look at Yitro, Exodus 18:1 - 20:23 - Moses' father-in-law Jethro arrives at the Israelite camp, advises Moses, converts to Judaism, and then Moses receives the Ten Utterances*. Drama and special effects - this is a big reading!

The people don't get to approach close to the thunder and lightning of Mount Sinai - they remain at a distance and let Moses go encounter the Divine on his own.

Truly, who can blame them or God? The people have already proven themselves to be fickle, and we haven't even gotten to the Golden Calf yet, and God seems to be an angry and dangerous supreme being - sometimes an emissary isn't a bad thing.

While we want to solve all of our problems on our own, recognizing when we might best team up with others shows great wisdom and insight. Moses and the Israelites both admit to limits in this reading.

For Elul, recognize that all is not up to us alone. We share the planet with each other, we can work together on our burdens too.

*Jews tend to refer to the text known as the "Ten Commandments" as the "Ten Utterances" - in the Jewish division of the text the first utterance, "I am God", isn't really a commandment. Furthermore, by the Jewish counting, there are 613 commandments in the Hebrew Bible.

Look Before We Kvetch

Today we look at B'shalach, Exodus 13:17 - 17:16 - the Israelites leave Egypt, Pharaoh chases them, the Sea of Reeds splits, we celebrate our freedom en route to Mount Sinai, plus the beginning of Israelite kvetching (complaining), and manna, quail, and the Amalekites attack.

People complain, oy do we complain!

Even though we have received teachings about the resources we might find if we only would look more closely.

Let us rein in our complaints for Elul, and seek solutions before we even give voice to our kvetches.

We Make Our Own Redemption

Today we look at Va-Eira, Exodus 6:2 - 9:35 - God's instructions to Moses to free the Israelites, the description of the descendants of Israel in Egypt by name and tribe, and lots of plagues.

In order to convince the Israelites that God is really God, God manipulates Pharaoh, hardening his heart which leads to more plagues and divine interventions.

I don't like this God, the one who decides to sacrifice the well-being of the Egyptians, to kill off their people, for the sake of proving a point.

The Israelites though, in other words, we, are in fact the problem. We refuse to admit the miraculous in our midst and want proof that Moses and God will truly redeem us.

Today we live without supernatural intervention and we must find redemption in human actions and kindness - we must make redemption in our own good acts and attitudes of compassion. This Elul, let us participate in the miracle of existence by generously giving a little bit more of our selves.

Noticing the Normal and Finding the Miraculous

Today we look at Shemot, Exodus 1:1 - 6:1 - the first section of the Book of Exodus. During this parashah we go from the death of Joseph to the beginning of the bringing of the plagues and the conflict between Moses and Pharaoh over the freeing of the Hebrew slaves.

This includes the dramatic encounter at the Burning Bush - from the Hebrew in Exodus 3:2:
"the bush is burning with fire, and the bush is not consumed!"

While we often identify this as a dramatic moment, Jewish scholars remind us that noticing a bush that is not consumed by fire requires some attention. After all, it is not merely a plant on fire, but also one that doesn't disappear slowly in the flames - this may in fact be a subtle message.

A midrash, an interpretative gloss on the Torah, notes that Moses passed the bush every day as a shepherd during the years he lived in Midian. Only when Moses overcame his anger at having to leave his comfortable life in the court of Pharaoh did he notice that the bush still burned, and then he was able to encounter the divine message that it contained.

As Elul progresses, let us slow down and notice the miracles around us that may require more attention, that may require us to overcome our own internal turmoil, and find a good teaching in the midst of our everyday lives.

Joseph and Forgiveness

Back to our parashat-ha-yom, daily Parashah, commentary heading into the High Holy Days, after a Labor Day hiatus - remember that Shabbat was the first fair labor practice ever!

Today we look at Va-Yechi, Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 - the end of Jacob's life, his blessings for his sons, his request that his remains be buried near his fathers', and Joseph's fulfillment of that request - so ends the book of Genesis.

Near the end of Joseph's stories, after his father Jacob has died, his brothers worry that without their father around, their now powerful brother will now seek revenge upon them.

Joseph responds:

Gen. 50:20 Now you, you planned ill against me, (but) God planned-it-over for good, in order to do (as is) this very day- to keep many people alive.

During our season of forgiveness and making apologies, Joseph stands as a model, letting bygones be bygones, and forgiving his brothers. So may we all bury the hatchet and move into the new year holding peace in our hearts for our family, friends, and communities.

Conflict and Resolution - Joseph and his brothers

For today, Mi-Keitz, Genesis 41:1 - 44:17 - Joseph's dream interpretations in prison and Egypt, his ascent to influence under Pharaoh, and the first part of Joseph's encounter with his brothers.

As we go through the month of Elul preparing for the holidays, the story of conflict and resolution between Joseph and his brothers seems particularly appropriate.

A quick recap: Joseph was an obnoxious and precocious child, rubbing his favored status in his older brothers' noses. This got him sold into slavery, and eventually, many years later, his brothers came to him after he rose as a man of power in Egypt to try and get food since famine grips their homeland. Joseph tested them, and when they proved their reluctance to sacrifice their other younger brother Benjamin, he reconciled with them.

When we suffer wrongs, allowing ourselves to see those who have hurt us as having learned a lesson from their misdeeds may be a huge challenge. Opening ourselves up to the idea of offering forgiveness may be even more difficult than reconciling, and thus all the more important.

Reflecting on Rights in Elul

For today, Va-Yeishev, Genesis 37:1 - 40:23 - the beginnings of the stories of Joseph, and some other stories about Jacob's household.

The story of Tamar is here, a wife of two sons of Judah who don't provide her offspring. When Judah shirks his obligations to her, she tricks him into doing the right thing.

This story, a triumph of a woman for justice over a society that tends to ignore women, reminds us that the fight for equality even within Jewish culture has gone on for millennia.

The reflective time of Elul offers us the reminder that we should not take our rights for granted. We should appreciate how far we've come as people and individuals, and how much work we still have ahead of us.