yitro
parasha yitro, Exodus chapters 18—20
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and thoughts…
yitro
This is THAT PARASHA, folks. The one that, if you allow yourself to let go of the present and traverse space and time in your mind, will leave you trembling and breathless.
Close your eyes. Can you see yourself among the people? It’s not so far-fetched. The Torah tells us that every Jewish soul was present at the foot of the mountain. Surely your soul remembers. Can you get there?
Feel the sand under your feet, the sand that sticks to your toes as it spills over the top of your sandals.
Smell the heat of the desert sun. Feel it against your skin.
Hear the cacophony of voices, the sense of wonder in all their words.
How amazing is this? Ein Sof. Unknowable, transcendent, all encompassing, chooses to descend through the higher realms, through the worlds to the place where a conversation can actually occur between Creator and creation.
Feel the thunder. Smell the lightning. Sense the trembling in every cell of your body;
sense the trembling of every person, and of the very air around you.
Feel the awe, the majesty, the fear, and exhilaration.
Do you dare hear with your own mortal ears or is the revelation just too much to bear? Does it feel safer to step back and wait to hear the information second hand, through your prophet, your leader?
Now open your eyes and return to our time.
As the person chanting the Torah on the bimah reaches the crescendo, I don’t need to have the rabbi motion for me to stand. I’m drawn to my feet like magic at the sound of the words,
“"I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
You shall not have the gods of others in My presence.”
In this moment, my soul cries out, “"All that the Lord has spoken I shall do!"
In this moment I long to be holy as God is holy.
We, all of us, heard the first two sayings as clearly as hail shattering on glass, but the rest was unintelligible to most of us, for all the words were spoken at once by The One Who Is, Was, and Shall Be. We were being shown that such is the nature of time—all things are happening concurrently—but our frail human selves are designed to experience time sequentially. Only Moshe could transcend that and grasp the bigger picture.
And then…from the extraordinary we return to the mundane, as we’re told how and where to construct an altar.
And then…we’re also reminded to wear undies when ascending the bima…
Sounds kinda funny to the modern ear, but this concept of keeping your privates private, of rising above our animal souls and engaging with our higher, human souls, was in stark contrast to the morals of the time. And it lets us in on a secret: even stones have consciousness.
On that note…
So what shall we eat?
What constitutes a normal Shabbat dinner looks very different to Jews who come from different backgrounds and locations.
If you tell me that we’re going to have a traditional Shabbat dinner, I’m expecting challah, gefilte fish, chicken soup, roasted chicken, potato kugel, and a vegetable or two.
But, you may be anticipating something entirely different.
What’s exotic to me could be ordinary to you.
I’m thinking that this Shabbat, it could be fun to explore what this meal might be to another Jewish soul who was present at the foot of the mountain; one whose future generations ended up in a different part of the world than my family did.
One could perhaps set aside the classic Ashkenazi meal and try something from the Middle East. Or from any other spot on the globe where a community of Jews has established itself.
Then again, if your family hails from West Africa, perhaps you should try something new, like gefilte fish and chicken soup!
This week, I’m going to embark on a culinary journey to several lands, but particularly to the Bene Israel community of India. Please join me!