CHOCHMAS NASHIM:
ON THE MOUNTAIN WITH MY LAWS
Birhday Blessing
By: Suri Davis
SLAVERY. A scourge. Generations of trauma. 210 years we suffered Egyptian slavery, as Pharaoh bathed in the blood of our children, for over two centuries!!!
Our employers discuss productivity, what it really means is how to squeeze out work from each employer while providing them with a minimum of benefits, calling them independent employees, although they work day and night for an employer who makes billions worldwide, and compensation lining the pockets of the upper echelon, who with 10,000 lives could not ever spend the money thrown upon them each year.
Parents being forced to spend more time in the office, away from family to satisfy employers so they can keep their jobs, feed, clothe and educate their children, and live.
Distinguish it from our service to the King of Kings, G-d. G-d says to us, via the Torah, every 7th day, I want you to rest, as I rested from creation. As a matter of fact, I will bless with you more, if you take off the day of the rest, for if you take off the Sabbath, you acknowledge that it is I, G-d, who is driving your life, as you put in your efforts to partner with G-d, by staying rooted in the material world, while taking time to pray, and bless your activities throughout the day, e.g., eating, going to the bathroom, seeing a beautiful flower or grand ocean.
And not only that, but I, G-d, want you to take off every seventh year to rest the land and let it lie fallow, and I will provide you with double during the sixth year to sustain you, it’s on Me, believe in Me, I am your G-d. Your land is holy, it is My land, have faith in Me, I provide for you.
The contrast in G-d’s management style is stark.
For many of us, the pandemic was and is a harsh challenge of faith. Many were laid off. Going into our second year of pandemic limitations, our faith is tested as it was tested in Israel in the year of jubilee, when farmers had back to back years of fallow lands, and deep faith in G-d’s provisions carried us through.
The two torah portion names, Bhar and Bechukotai/On the mountain With My Laws, reveal the content of their parshahs, which is to take G-d’s laws, which support us as human beings, encouraging us to stop the madness of our everyday lives, reduce our material pursuits, and take our laws on to the Mountain and elevate them internally to sustain our faith during lean times.
I am distraught over the losses suffered by family, friends and clients. In my thirty years as an elder law tax attorney, I could never ever ever have predicted that one client would call me during one year, over the loss of several family members, parent, sibling, spouse, child, the losses are horrific, the family tragedies, unfathomable. I have lost all words of comfort for them, I’m sorry, so unsatisfying, so banal.
The answer is to take the Torah, and elevate it, bring it back up to the mountain from whence it came to elevate us as individuals, a nation, a community, country and world.
Not work more, trust more.
My Jewish birthday is this Shabbos iyh. My blessing to all of us is to have the clarity to see what G-d wants of us and what He wants us to learn to elevate our souls/neshamas, so we don’t have to go through tough times over and over to learn the lessons. We should have the wisdom to see all the brachot which are obvious and less obvious, and to consider everything as from G-d and good. That those who need a livelihood/parnassah, a shiduch/spouse, a refuah/healing, yeshuot/redemption, besurot tovot/good news, menuchat nefesh v’guf/peach of mind and body and forgiveness, be blessed with these together with shefa brachot bgashmiyut v’ruchniyut amush. G-d should fulfill the wishes of you mind, heart and soul only for the good. G-d should bring us personal and the final communal redemption speedily in our time. Amen.
Gut Chodesh.
Shabbat Shalom.
-Suri