Brilliant author Gerry May wrote, Wilderness....is not only nature you find outdoors. It can also refer to your own true Nature - the You that is closest to your birth. This inner wilderness is the untamed truth of who you really are, (The Wisdom of Wilderness, p.xx). As we begin the book of B'midbar this week, we are called to discover our own true nature. How do we travel in the world? Who and what do we put first? Opening to the wild within calls us into a process of discernment,
uncovering what anchors our relationships with people, places, and the resources around us. You can read more about this in my piece published today in ejewishphilanthropy at https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/category/opinion/
As we begin the new book of B'midbar/wilderness and prepare to receive Torah on Shavuot, I'm wondering, what does the wilderness say to you? What happens when we understand b'midbar as in the words? Not just the words of the text, but the narrative of who we are in our soul. What message do we hear in the wilderness? Leading up to the High Holy Days, we engage in Heshbon Hanefesh, a soul-accounting to ask who we really are and how we unearth that person from a place buried deep within us. On Passover, celebrated just 7 weeks ago, we collect and discard our hametz - by fire even - ridding ourselves of what makes us big, gets in our way, and prevents us from being more like the matzah/lechem oni, simple, humble and honest bread that comes to respond to what enslaves us. On Shavuot, we place ourselves in the desert, b'midbar, where the sacred covenant comes to anchor our narrative. Who are we really as travelers? What are our strengths and our growing edges? What makes us impatient? Where do we find our passion?
In preparation for Shavuot, I invite all of us to listen for the words of our wilderness. What is your nature and how will you engage it moving forward as a way to bring your Torah to the world? For this month of Sivan, let us focus on the words found in our final parasha of the year, V'zot habracha, Torah tziva lanu Moshe, morasha kehillat yaakov/The Torah Moses commanded us is our inheritance. May the Torah we receive and the Torah we share offer a showering of blessing and may we come to embrace it as a sacred gift.
Shabbat Shalom v'Hag Sameach!
rg
Congregation Habonim 103 West End Ave New York, NY 10023
