Torah Travel

I’m thinking that awe comes in many forms .  Being a very visual person, I am easily moved by awesome sites.  (However, that is not to say that listening to ‘Story Core’ on Friday mornings on NPR does not often move me to tears!! )

Living in a small Jewish community, it is sometimes those smaller (sometimes sensory) experiences and rituals that can be profoundly moving.   And so it was this past Simchat Torah (celebration and joy of the Torah) when we gathered, younger and older, in anticipation (written on everyone’s faces not to mention the comments from the children!) to celebrate the Torah together.   This was finally a year that we had enough hands to hold the Torah, completely unscrolled from beginning to end.  AWESOME SITE (surround sound visually)!!  Yes some of us had to stand on chairs because we were too small, and others had to support each other’s arms because we were a bit tired, but we managed to do it while unraveling the stories of our People, or as our Rabbi says, the DNA of our People.  We saw how the scribal text changes at the verses of the ‘Song of the Sea’ following the Exodus; how it looks like ripples and waves in the water.  Similarly the scribal distinctiveness at the end of the Torah, the ‘Song of Moses’, where Moses reiterates the laws and prescribes what will come next after his death when the People can finally enter the Land.  

….And everything in between – our holy stories, the ones we teach our children,

…and then the children physically supporting the unscrolled Torah,

…and the Rabbi running from section to section finding the little gems that we want to recall from the year’s recitation,

… and the excited questions from everyone, where is this and where is that…wanting to see our favorite stories in the context of the whole – why is that important to us?

…And the satisfaction of knowing where that story lives…

…and the re-scrolling of the Torah, back to resting stance, many hands again.

I know that I was not the only one with a little bit of glistening at the corner of my eye!  Thank you dear friends and community.

But very importantly, I think it is necessary to leave to posterity the wonderfully superb cheer from Team Leviticus from Simchat Torah 5774 (though our competition from the other 4 books was fierce!!) :

“in Exodus, Pharoah tried to kill us , so we moved over to Leviticus!”

 

Reflections

Endings and beginnings…  This time of the year on the Jewish and secular calendars makes me mindful of the cyclic nature of so much that we do; the progression of time, changes, transformations, and continuity.   Of course, the Jewish New Year and this season (the Yamim Nora’im – Days of Awe) are days of reflection upon ourselves; how are we are living our lives; what adjustments can we make to allow us to live more meaningful lives?  Riffing off of the word ‘reflection’ -  my mind immediately conjures the visual of sitting on the banks of a reflecting pool and seeing myself and my surroundings.  There I am in all of my glory, entwined with all of my successes and all of my pain and pitfalls.  Looking closer, I begin to see elements of the stories that are my life- the turbulence and the calm glassy stretches, the surprises, humor and gifts – that seed my life.   After some time, I find myself looking in that reflection, specifically for the people in my life who I have loved and do love –impossible to comprehend that reflection without them.  They have shaped so much of who I am.  Ultimately, though, it is me who takes full responsibility for that person staring back at me.  I am hopeful that in the year ahead, my hand will not recklessly throw a stone, damaging my image, but instead that it will gently toss a pebble making interesting waves and lovely distortions adding interest and strength.  And so may it be with you.  Shanah Tovah umitukah and may you be written in the book of life!