A Pesach thought: Mishna Pesachim 10:4

The Mishna in Pesachim 10:4 begins with the four questions and then continues:

The father should teach [about the exodus] according to the son's knowledge, wisdom, and ability. You begin in disgrace and end with praise.

The traditional explanation is that one teaches about the disgrace of our slavery and end with the praise of God for bringing us out of Egypt. I think it's more didactic: teach your children according to their ignorance and curiosity. When they are uncomfortable with their ignorance is when learning begins, so find out the things which don't sit right with them about the exodus and about the seder and begin the teaching there.

May you all have wonderful Seders that move from confusion and consternation to praise and connection to God.

The Jewish Standing Stone

Photo courtesy of Minipixel

The study of sacrifices brings us to the story of Jacob's dream. The story can be found in Genesis 28:10-22.

To quickly recap the story: Jacob has left home to find a wife in Paddan-aram and left an angry and vengeful Esau behind. He's on his way and, seeing that the sun is about to set, takes a stone from the area and lays his head upon it. That night, he dreams that there is a ladder fixed to earth upon which angels ascend and descend. God stands by his side and promises him that his many descendants will be a blessing to all the nations. God also says that God will protect him be with him where ever he goes.

When he wakes, Jacob lifts the stone upon which he slept into a Matzebah מצבה (pillar), pours oil upon it, and proclaims that this is the house of God and it a Gateway to heaven. Jacob then vows to God that if God protects him, he will accept God as his God and the pillar will be God's house. Furthermore, of all the God gives him, he will tithe 10 percent  to God.

On the pshat (simple) level Jacob had an unexpected spiritual experience, his first, in which he found that God was protecting and standing next to him. He realized that where he slept was a place of power and created a Matzebeh to mark the place. He then makes a vow to God demonstrating that he was changed by the experience.

One central issue in this story is what is a Matzebah? The word derives from the root יצב which means to station oneself or to take a stand, and appears three times during the story.

The first is verse 12 in reference to the ladder that reaches from earth to Heaven: סלם מצב ארצה "the ladder was fixed in the ground". In this case, it means fixed permanently. We learn here that this is a place where there is always a שער השמים a gate of heaven (Gn 28:17). The ladder is not resting on the ground, but it is fixed to the place.

The next occurrence is in the next verse ה' נצב עליו which can be translated as "God is standing upon him" or "God is stationed with him". Again, there is a sense of permanence here. God will always be with him.

The last two occurrences are in relation the rock. In 28:18 it states: וישם אתה מצבה "and he put it (the stone) as a pillar".  In 28:22: והאבן הזאת אשר שמתי הצבה יהיה בית אלקים "And this rock that I put as a pillar will be the house of God". The Brown Driver Briggs translation of Matzebah is a pillar or obelisk or a stone that is anointed as a memorial of a divine appearance.  In addition to that the Matzebah is a special marker that denotes a place where God can always be reached. Then Jacob poured oil upon it, it was a type of sacrifice to proclaim that this was a holy place, a place of power where the gate of heaven is easily accessible.

A מזבח mizbayach is the more common type of Altar that can be moved or built as needed. The Matzebah is determined by it's location and can't be moved.

Bringing this to the present day, I'm left wondering if there are certain places where everyone can connect more easily with God? Or places where individuals can easily connect to God due to a prior history with the place? Or if we need to build some sort of altar when we want to connect, and what that would look like from a modern Jewish perspective? What do people think?

Healing to Face to Face

 

Image courtesy of joshbousel

Last night I learned a text on Purim from the Shaar Hakavanot by R Luria and R Vital. His explanation for something I commonly experience was quite beautiful and I'll try to explain it here.

What I experience is that on some days the divine energy flows and on some days it just feels like it's inaccessible. It flows in a very cyclic manner. The other thing I experience is a period of deep stillness during my treatments. In craniosacral terms they are known as "still points". The energy in the patient and the room seems to come to a halt as everything slows to a stop. Sometimes they last just moments, sometimes they extend beyond the time I have for the treatment. When things start to move again, it as if everything has "reset" and where there was dysfunction is now health. I always explain it as equivalent to hitting Ctrl-alt-delete in the PC world. But I think the Ari's explanation is a lot more beautiful.

In Lurianic Kabbalism, when God created man during the first creation story, God created man as androgynous, one being containing both male and female, connected back to back. During the second creation, God put the man to a deep sleep דורמיטא and separated the two halves which allowed them to turn around and be face to face.

One way of understanding the effects is to look at how the two beings would relate to each other. Back to back allows no communication and, although they are connected, they aren't having much of a relationship. When they are face to face they can really relate to each, see each other, understand and love each other.

God took a being in a state of dysfunction, caused a still point, and they awoke from sleep in a state of health. My experience in the treatment room models on the same process. I help the client enter a stillpoint at which point God rearranges them into a state of health.

The Ari points out that during Purim, Haman, who was a master Astrologer, knew when the connection between the Jewish people and God would be weakest. It was then that Haman planned to destroy them.

The Ari writes that the human experience of the deep sleep דורמיטא is a time of troubles and difficulties, during which there is very little divine providence. God feels very distant to us, but when the cycle completes and the connections again strengthen, there is much greater health. In the midrash around Purim, it is believed that Esther's son became King and assisted the Jews to return to Israel to build the second temple.


The cycles of divine energy are part of the healing too. This is a beautiful way of understanding the ebb and flow of divine energy in the world, and how that too, pushes us towards healing.

The Unbinding of Avraham

 

Photo Courtesy of Underpuppy (And Rembrandt)

As my study of sacrifices continues, we have come to the Akeda - the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22). Avraham is asked to sacrifice his only child and in return for doing so, he is rewarded with a promise from God that he will have many, many descendants. The paradox is that in his willingness to give up the thing he most cherished, he was able to assure that it would remain.

The story is very well known and studied. God tests Avraham by telling him that he needs to sacrifice his son as an Olah עלה sacrificial offering. Avraham sets off with his son and two servants. He gets to Mount Moriah, binds Isaac, and places him on top of his newly built alter. As he reaches out for the knife to do the sacrifice, an angel calls out to him and tells him to stop. He raises his eyes and sees a ram stuck in a thicket which he sacrifices instead.

To understand the deeper meaning, we need to look at changes that occurred as a result of the Akeda. As Avraham is approaching the mountain, he and Isaac are described as walking as one: וילכו שניהם יחדו (Gn 22:8). After the Akeda, Avraham returns to his servants but we are not told what happened to Isaac. The two never spoke again after that day, and Midrash has it that they departed separately from the mountain. It is certain that they no longer walked as one.

In response to Avraham's actions, God blesses him with "...descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven..." (Gn 22:17) If the separation that occurred between the two led to the blessing of descendants, then the connection between the two was a spiritual blockage that prevented it. As Avraham was the one commanded by God, then the blockage was inside of him.

In Shamanic healing,  most powerful blockages are usually fear. In this case, Avraham's greatest fear was that he would not have descendants (see Gn 15:2). As is the case with all fears, if they have power over us and we work too hard to try to prevent them coming true, that pretty much ensures that they will come true. In order to take back the power from the fear, Avraham had to be willing to give up his what he most wanted. 

When Avraham reaches for the knife he is stopped and looks up to sees a ram. The text reads "וירא הנה איל אחר" And he saw, here was another (a different) ram (Gn 22:13). The text makes a point earlier in Genesis 22:7-8 that there was no animal for the offering, so how can there be "another" at this point? If you remove the Yod from איל (ram) then you are left with El, God. The fear had become so dominant for Avraham that it had become like a God to him. At that moment, he was finally able to see the fear that had been the other god in his life and in sacrificing it, bring himself back to God.

It was the emotional intensity of the moment that freed him. In order to go through the catharsis, he had to believe that he really was going to do it. When I think of ways to bring this idea into the modern world, we must be prepared to give up things that we want in order to make them happen. It's important to note that Avraham's fears revolved around Isaac and not around himself. He was trying to influence something over which he ultimately had no control.

It's a lesson to all parents, that we can hope for our children, but it's best not to be dominated by our expectations and fears for our children. It will only ensure that the fears will come true. If it's in our control, we can work hard and get it. If it's out of our control, we always have to be prepared to let go of it completely.

One final note on symbolism in the text: when Avraham gets to the top of the mountain, he built an alter, laid out the wood, then bound Isaac. Building the alter is how Avraham builds spiritual power and creates connection to God. Laying out the wood is the preparation that went into the act. In order for wood to burn easily as is required for a burnt offering, it needs to be dried for months and sometimes years. It shows that Avraham had already been putting in a lot of hard work before God enabled him to break through the fear.

The last is the actual binding of Isaac. There is a midrash that Isaac asked Avraham to bind him so when the moment came, he did not flinch. When we go to do things of such emotional intensity, we need to bind ourselves to the act so that we don't flinch when the moment comes.

Why Shaman? A definition and clarification

 

Photo courtesy of Akiva

People often ask me why I use the word Shaman. The question usually follows the statement that being Jewish and being a shaman are not compatible and that shamanism is part of Avodah Zarah (Idol worship and therefore forbidden). The term shaman originally referred to tribal healers in Eastern Asia, most probably Mongolia, who definitely held beliefs and performed rituals which would have been considered avodah zarah. However, over the past 50 years as the term Shaman has become more widely used in the west, it's meaning has blurred to such an extent that it no longer really refers to those original tribesmen.

In it's vagueness, Shaman has come to denote a type of person, not a set of beliefs. A shaman is one who interacts with the spirit world. Most Shamans, but not all, use that interaction for healing. The only common belief among all shamans is that there is a physical world and there is a spirit world. The shaman is a person who can access the spirit world. There are beings that exist in the spirit world which can interact with the shaman. Lastly, changes made in the spirit realm effect the physical world so any changes done there are reflected in the physical world.

None of these are incompatible with Judaism or could be called Avodah Zarah. Judaism  believes that there is a physical world and three other worlds above that. Judaism believes that some people are able to transcend the pargod (veil) to enter the spirit world and interact with angels, demons, ghosts, and tzaddikim there (among others) or through practices in this world make contact with those beings (look up the practice of lying on graves of Tzaddikim). Jews believe that these spiritual beings can cause all sorts of blessings or problems in the physical world. Jews also believe that people in this world are capable of making changes in the spiritual realm to heal in this world. Jews commonly ask for blessings from rabbis or brides or anyone who is considered to be in a holy state and can more easily bring down blessings from God.

A shaman is a descriptor of a type of person, not a set of beliefs. That's why I see no problem with using the term Jewish Shamanism for what I do. I use Jewish means to effect changes in the spirit world for healing and that makes me a Jewish Shaman.

One man's trash...

I went to the bank yesterday. I had about 10 minutes between appointments, and I needed to make a deposit. My heart sank when I walked in - the place was mobbed. The banks here are known for their long lines, so by the door is a number dispenser. I pulled out number 481. I looked up and heard them call number 444. I sighed and looked for a seat. At least I could eat my lunch before I had to go.

I sat down and noticed some crumpled papers on the table in front of me. I didn't give them much thought but pulled out my food. I heard them announce 446, then 447 when no one moved. I had another bite. I got curious and smoothed out the papers. It was number 446. I smiled to myself. If I had just looked at the papers first, I would have been able to do my deposit. As it was, I had to come back the next day and wait another half hour to get it done.

Sometimes God does you little favors, it just takes an open mind to notice them.

Home is where your altar is

Photo courtesy of Premasagar

In this post, I will look at how altars are used in Genesis 12 & 13. Avram builds altars to mark places of power, to invoke God's name to help him through difficult situations, and to help him establish a home.

After the Sacrifices in the story of Noah, the next time we encounter them are in Genesis 12:7. God appears to Avram and Avram build an altar to mark the spot. The word for altar is מזבח which derives from the root זבח which means sacrifice or slaughter for sacrifice. An altar in biblical Hebrew is a place where sacrifices happen.

In this case, we are not told if he actually made a sacrifice, but only that he "built there an altar to God". It's interesting that he did not build an altar when God first appeared to him in Ur (Genesis 12:1) and told him to go to Canaan, but only when he arrived there and God showed him the land. In this case, the altar is used as a place marker for a place of power.

There are two general ways of contacting the spiritual world. The first is when the souls or God intrude upon us and they initiate the contact. I don't use intrude in a negative way. The second is when we do some sort of ritual or practice that opens us to the spiritual world. In the traditional metaphor, the first type is that heaven descends upon us and the second is when we ascend. One aspect of places of power in the world is that Heaven is closer to the earth at those points and contact is easier. Avram's altar is marking the place where contact is easier.

The narrative continues and Avram continues to travel through Canaan. He builds another altar when he is in the mountains between Bethel and Ai (Gn 12:8). His innovation here is that instead of a sacrifice, he "invokes the name of God". He has discovered that the name of God is itself powerful and can bring him into the spiritual world. For those of us in the modern world who are averse to animal sacrifice (and I hope most of you are), this has important implications.

It's easy to see his intention for making the altar by looking at the literal translations of his locale (thanks to my chevruta for this insight): Bethel בית אל means the house of God and Ai עי can be translated as destruction or ruin. עי comes from עוה which means distortion or ruin. Avram is in a hard place and doesn't know which direction to go. He sees that one way leads to God and another to ruin, but he's unsure of the path to take so he builds an altar to ask. In the verse immediately following the altar, Avram moves forward on his journey, so clearly he got an answer.

After a brief sojourn in Egypt, Avram returns to the altar and again invokes the name of God. This time, there is strife between his herdsmen and the herdsmen of his nephew Lot. He is looking for a good solution, and invokes the name of God to help lead him to peace between his people and Lot's. Lot goes one way and Avram another.

The last altar in this section is built when Avram moved his tents to Mamre in Hebron. In this case, there is no clear reason given for building an altar. He moves, sets up camp, builds the altar, and then the narrative moves on in another direction entirely. In this case, Avram is setting up his camp and knows that a strong spiritual connection to God is central to creating a good home.

Altars are used in three ways: to mark a place of power, to get direction from God, and to create a home. The commonality is that each use is about creating or noting a connection to God. In the two cases where Avram creates the connection himself, he invokes God's name to do it. This is a little bit different from the next mention of sacrifice in Genesis 15 which involves no altar but cutting animals in half. Stay tuned!