Good faith in people

“How are you?”

“Hmm…I am doing OK, if I don’t think too much about it.”

This is an unsatisfying if honest beginning to a potentially good conversation. I know, because one of the best conversations I’ve had “post November 5, 2024” began this way.

Many of us may be feeling very “not OK”.

In an America where polite greetings include the incredibly curt “How are you?”, seldomly followed by enough time to answer that question honestly, finding time to sit down and chat seems more necessary than ever.

Let’s do that.

Meet more in person with everyone, especially those closest to us.

Pay more attention to the relationships that sustain us and to those around us who need sustaining.

Jews sum up all of Judaism in many ways, one of those central teachings that I have felt and aimed for is:

“In order to care for the world, we must start with ourselves, our families, and our communities.”

I don’t have a citation for this, it may be my own digest of several rabbinic aphorisms. I like to think of it as a Jewish communal version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – we can’t take care of anyone else if we aren’t taking care of ourselves first. Like the instructions to put on our own oxygen masks before helping others.

Let’s go back to basics. And when we do that, see what we really need and the people around us really need. Let’s focus on those fundamental needs for ourselves. When we do that, let’s see ourselves as interconnected with a whole lot of other people with fundamental needs. Everyone’s got them.

I don’t know what will work for all of us going forward.

I do know that caring for one another, listening to each other, and believing each other when we say what we’re feeling and what we need, is the start of good faith in each other, and maybe the beginning of a community of people working in good faith with one another.

It’s a start.

I am ready to meet you and go with you into a better future together.

Responding as We

Let us respond from a sense of we.
We the community of Americans.

We may all be targets of violence.
None of us want that.

We offer condolences and sympathies
to the loved ones of those who died from violence.

We hope for healing and recovery
the those injured by violence.

We pray for the broken minds and souls
of those driven to do violence.

We promise to work
to connect with those we disagree with.

We commit to quiet
our overly judgmental selves and listen more.

We hope for better times
and know we must co-labor to bring them.

The labor starts with you and me,
and becomes ours, and then?

Let us begin, and continue,
and never give up on each other.

No Straight Lines

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

The arc of history doesn’t bend towards justice. Not by itself.

We must bend and break the arc, again and again, to pursue justice.

Time and patience always favor the oppressors. Falling apart is the natural direction of things.

This holds for individuals, peoples, and nations.

I am a moderately lucky person. My life does not move in a straight line of progress. I worked hard, got lucky, faced challenges, got unlucky, and struggled. Life is filled with interruptions of any easy path forward. I can look back and see progress over time, which is lucky, but only by smoothing over all the falls and drops and times of difficulty. And sometimes, in the middle of one of those “valleys in the shadow of death”[1], seeing any progress feels impossible. The arc of my personal history may bend towards justice over time, but it is no smooth climb. It is rocky and challenging and sometimes every step forward is an enormous effort. And still, I am much luckier than most.

As a Jewish person working with many multi-faith partners, I often explain how Jews are not a “people of the Book”[2]. Judaism is a culture of many books, even Hebrew Scriptures themselves are a library written and compiled over centuries. Most importantly, the books that help define who Jews are today and how we organize ourselves were written much later, they are rabbinic works like the Mishnah, the Talmud, all the interpretative stories of the Midrash, and the commentaries and legal codes written about them starting in the Early Middle Ages and continuing today. And like our own lives, while we can smooth out the struggles and show a steady progress in Jewish history, many Jewish innovations overturned and upended all Jewish culture sometimes all at once.

One of the biggest interruptions in Jewish history was the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE. We can easily break Jewish civilization into before and after this moment. To this day, Jews are the heirs of the culture developed in the wake of that time. We are no longer a Biblical people, adhering explicitly to customs and laws laid out in Hebrew Scripture. We are no longer a people of burnt offerings and a hereditary patriarchy of monarchs and priests. Rather, in the millennia without a center, the Jewish people became varied in our identities and ethnic cultures, often trying to be pluralist in our acceptance of our differences, and in our best moments, struggling towards becoming democratic and meritocratic. Our many ways of reading and living were outlined and explored by the authors of all those later works.

Judaism responded to that great historical tragedy, the destruction of our central place of worship and rulership, with a revolution. Instead of that central ancient Temple run by an elite few, we became a decentralized people with local leaders who usually convinced nearby Jews of their authority by answering Jewish questions in ways that Jews felt were most authentically Jewish.[3] The many Jewish peoples continue to make our way into the future with progress fought for and lost and fought for again.

Americans like to think that American History follows an arc of inevitable improvement – that progress comes as time passes. This is not the case in Jewish History, and it is not the case in American History. Progress by fits and starts, through disruptions and steps forward and back, is the norm. Kermit Roosevelt III convincingly makes this point about the United States of America in The Nation That Never Was[4]. Roosevelt argues that the United States didn’t set out on a course of justice for all and a democracy that would expand to include everyone. The United States course-corrected violently during the Civil War, needed to course-correct again during the Civil Rights Era in the 1960’s, and must do so again now. Furthermore, we obstruct our own progress when we hold that the ideals the mythological “Founders” held and fought for are the same principles we hold dearest today and that those principles were clearly articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the original US Constitution.

Our understanding of “all people are created equal” is not the same as Thomas Jefferson’s, who not only owned slaves but refused to free his own children from slavery. The American Revolution was fought by insiders, people who were British citizens – white, landowning men – so that they could govern themselves. They were not interested in sharing government with anyone else. President Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. both used Thomas Jefferson’s words and the principles of the Declaration of Independence differently than Jefferson intended. Lincoln and Dr. King aimed to establish more inclusive and expansive understandings of American citizenship and democracy than Jefferson ever considered. Their versions weren’t perfect, they still needed work, like the inclusion of women Native Americans. Yet their versions were improvements, and we can improve upon them still.

The people who took Jefferson most seriously, the ones who felt they could throw off the yoke of a government they disagreed with for the sake of their own advancement, were the Confederates who sought to preserve slavery against the democratic will of the American people in 1860 who chose Lincoln largely in order to abolish enslaving people. American history does not lead neatly and directly from Jefferson, to Lincoln, to King, to the electing of the first African American president. It is a crooked path of oppression and fighting for justice and Americans are still in the thick of it today. Roosevelt lays this all out in detail and I recommend his book to anyone interested in helping make a better, more inclusive, more egalitarian, more democratic, and more “e pluribus unum – out of many one”, American future for us all.

We must be clear and honest about who we are and what we think and why. The Civil War was fought against enslaving people and the those who thought that owning people was their “American Way”. Most of the American Founders agreed with the Confederates and more than half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were owners of enslaved people. Progressive Americans have been refighting the issues of the Civil War since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870’s. Fighting against Jim Crow which was slavery by another name for a century and fighting against the abuse and misuse of due process and citizenship in the Fourteenth Amendment for the sake of the powerful against the powerless for nearly a hundred and fifty years. This fight continues today as those who would oppress still use the same words against us all. They call it “originalism” and mean minority-rule, or religious freedom and mean freedom to restrict other people’s rights with whom they disagree, or “history and tradition” and mean the protection of gun rights and no rights for women.

People of faith who are also of good faith tend not to quote scripture at one another because we know that we can justify almost anything with a good Biblical quote. How we use an ancient source and for what principles are more important than whether we’ve found a clever text to support our opinion. Judaism evolved to read our ancient sources in ways that created a more just society over time. Not a perfect one, not one that we can’t question, but one that we are responsible for making better as individuals and as members of a community. In my own life the guideposts that led me down roads into trouble before are not permanent. I must reinterpret them, learn from them anew, and find a better path forward.

As thoughtful Americans we must embrace the complicated history and figures in that history, flaws and all, and see ourselves as empowered participants in building something better and new. We have no one in the past who “got it right”, whose words are the blueprint for “getting it right again”.

Let us leave aside simplifications that close us off to a better future and instead boldly walk forward together, creatively equipping ourselves with ancient wisdom and contemporary innovations and everything in between, so that our thoughts are guided by good values and lead to better practices and a better existence for us all.

[1] Psalm 23, Verse 4, my own perspective on the Hebrew, בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת, as seen in:

Jewish Publication Society. (1999). תנ״ך = JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh: the traditional Hebrew text and the new JPS translation (2nd ed.).

[2] “People of the Book” seems to originally come from Muslim sources, and not Christian characterizations. Now, in my opinion, it is inappropriately embraced by many contemporary Jewish people. For Muslim roots of the term, see:

Dana, N. (2014). Part Three: The Qur’an’s Approach to “The People of the Book” (Ahl al-Kitab). In The struggle for Jerusalem and the Holy Land: A new inquiry into the Qur'an and classic Islamic sources on the people of Israel, their Torah, and their links to the Holy Land (p. 185).

[3] This is a description of Judaism sourced from many places throughout the course of my learning as a rabbi. I am happy to explore my references and reasons for this portrayal in future conversations.

[4] Roosevelt, K. (2022). The nation that never was: Reconstructing America's story. University of Chicago Press.

Counting Tao - Omer 32

Today’s Omer theme is endurance and eternity in humility and grace. (See comments below for more on the Omer)

Before and after meditating today, I read chapter 59 from the The Lao Tzu (See comments below for full text)

Eternity and endurance in the application of humility and grace, frugality as the seed that leads to everlasting existence - some days the connection between the Tao and the Omer themes seem designed to be together.

Big things start small.

I think about breathing when meditating. Each breath, each unique breath, varies in size. Smaller controlled breaths may lead to a calmer body and mind and spirit.

For the long term accomplishment, let’s start with a small breath.

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), pages 167-168, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

59.
To rule people and to serve Heaven there is nothing better than to be frugal.
Only by being frugal can one recover quickly.
To recover quickly means to accumulate virtue heavily.
By the heavy accumulation of virtue one can overcome everything.
If one can overcome everything, then they will acquire a capacity the limit of which is beyond everyone’s knowledge.
When their capacity is beyond anyone’s knowledge, they are fit to rule a state.
One who possesses the Mother (Tao) of the state will last long.
This means that the roots are deep and the stalks are firm, which is the way of long life and everlasting existence.

About the Counting of the Omer in the Jewish holiday cycle:

Today is thirty-two days, which is four weeks and four days of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover, the celebration of freedom, and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”, when Jews celebrate the covenant given at Mount Sinai. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days in these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today’s Omer theme is endurance and eternity (“netzach” נֶצַח) in the week of humility and grace (“hod” הוֹד).

Counting Tao - Omer 31

Today’s Omer theme is beautiful harmonious balance in humility and grace. (See below for more on the Omer)

Before and after meditating today, I read chapter 58 from the The Lao Tzu (See below for full text)

There is a fine balance in ruling over ourselves internally, spiritually, and bringing our governing ideas into the world so that our spirit can be made real.

I find the Tao inspirational in this regard, asking us to follow the sage in honing our best attributes and not overextending them.

Balance requires restraint, even when we have done the work and think we it might be our time to shine.

In Judaism, one of the central ideas on this topic is summed up in the Hebrew term, tzimtzum, or self-reduction. Creation is facilitated not by over-attention, but by a combination of caring and restraint, action and inaction.

We are working on this right now in our yard. We recently planted apple trees and berry bushes and I am so tempted to over-water and over-attend to them, which might crowd out the plants’ own abilities to grow and take hold on their own.

Real growth happens when we find that subtle balance between attention and inattention.

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 167, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

58.
When the government is non-discriminative and dull,
The people are contented and generous.
When the government is searching and discriminative,
The people are disappointed and contentious.
Calamity is that upon which happiness depends;
Happiness is that in which calamity is latent.
Who knows when the limit will be reached?
Is there no correctness (used to govern the world?)
Then the correct again becomes the perverse
And the good will again become evil.
The people have been deluded for a long time.
Therefore the sage is as pointed as a square but does not pierce.
They are as acute as a knife but do not cut.
They are as straight as an unbent line but do not extend.
They are as bright as light but do not dazzle.

About the Counting of the Omer in the Jewish holiday cycle:Today is thirty-one days, which is four weeks and three days of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover, the celebration of freedom, and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”, when Jews celebrate the covenant given at Mount Sinai. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days in these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today’s Omer theme is beautiful harmonious balance (“tiferet” תֵפְאֶרֶת) in the week of humility and grace (“hod” הוֹד).

Counting Tao - Omer 30

Today’s Omer theme is stringency and judgement in humility and grace. (See comments below for more on the Omer)

Before and after meditating today, I read chapter 57 from the The Lao Tzu (See comments below for full text)

The smallness of this week, combined with the strength of today’s theme, and the Tao offering a hands off way of governing ourselves and each other - all pose a challenge indeed to the “type A” version of achievement that seems to consume me today.

When facing difficulties or crises we celebrate the ones who take charge and act, I know that I do.

And yet, at every moment our sages ask us to assess - just how much will our action help? How important is it that we take charge? Can we really take charge?

The “stop and breathe” and “take five minutes before we act” advice seems pretty sound. There are very few of us who couldn’t benefit by taking a moment or two before embarking on the next great leap forward.

Aiming to find for myself the space of a breath before my next action - a good afternoon to all.

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), pages 166-167, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

57.
Govern the state with correctness.
Operate the army with surprise tactics.
Administer the empire by engaging in no activity.
How do I know that this should be so?
Through this:
The more taboos and prohibitions there are in the world,
The poorer the people will be.
The more share weapons the people have,
The more troubled the state will be.
The more cunning and skill a person possesses,
The more vicious things will appear.
The more laws and orders are made prominent,
The more thieves and robbers there will be.
Therefore the sage says:
I take no action and the people of themselves are transformed.
I love tranquility and the people of themselves become correct.
I engage in no activity and the people of themselves become prosperous.
I have no desires and the people of themselves become simple.

About the Counting of the Omer in the Jewish holiday cycle:
Today is thirty days, which is four weeks and two days of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover, the celebration of freedom, and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”, when Jews celebrate the covenant given at Mount Sinai. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days in these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.
Today’s Omer theme is stringency and judgement (“g’vurah” גְבוּרָה) in the week of humility and grace (“hod” הוֹד).

Counting Tao - Omer 29

Today’s Omer theme is compassion and lovingkindness in humility and grace. (See comments below for more on the Omer)

Before and after meditating today, I read chapter 56 from the The Lao Tzu (See comments below for full text)

There is an easy pitfall to the value of humility. Sometimes we say that humility means “being nothing” as opposed to “accepting our smallness in the face of the enormity of everything”.

The second thought is a clear one for me about this week’s theme of humility and grace in the Omer Counting.

Grace and humility is that beautiful and awe-inspiring feeling of laying back on a grassy field and looking up at a star-filled night sky. Slowly allowing oneself to get lost in the motion of the cosmos, feeling the earth and our bodies slowly revolve and move through the sea of space, merely one speck amid a nearly infinite grandeur.

And yet, we are still not nothing.

Seeing our smallness clearly can be a kindness because we can begin to see our proportional place in the world and have compassion for our worries that everything we do, every good or ill action we take, is so consequential. To be given a sense of our smallness can be a kindness.

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 166, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

56.
One who knows does not speak.
One who speaks does not know.
Close the mouth.
Shut the doors (of cunning and desires).
Blunt the sharpness.
Untie the tangles.
Soften the light.
Become one with the dusty world.
This is called profound identification.
Therefore it is impossible either to be intimate and close to them or to be distant and indifferent to them.
It is impossible either to benefit them or to harm them.
It is impossible either to honor them or to disgrace them.
For this reason they are honored by the world.

About the Counting of the Omer in the Jewish holiday cycle:

Today is twenty-nine days, which is four weeks and one day of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover, the celebration of freedom, and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”, when Jews celebrate the covenant given at Mount Sinai. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days in these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today’s Omer theme is compassion and lovingkindness (“chesed” חֶסֶד) in the week of humility and grace (“hod” הוֹד).

Counting Tao - Omer 28

Today’s Omer theme is presence and rulership in eternal victory and endurance. (See comments below for more on the Omer)

Before and after meditating today, I read chapter 55 from the The Lao Tzu (See comments below for full text)

I must admit that I find today’s reading in the Tao difficult.

There are lines that remind me that the long-lasting action, the thing that will be effective, after these days of contemplating what will endure, the path of presence is one of moderation, going back to our discussion of the consistent teaching of the Middle Path and Golden Rule in many traditions.

On this day where we focus on being present and taking charge, that is the rulership theme in the Omer, the Tao reminds us not to force things. In this I find much insight, that the Tao reminds us that to be an effective ruler, of ourselves first and foremost, is to not force things. This non-typical image of the ruler is one I need more than ever in my own heart and soul.

Accomplishing often feels like pushing things by force of will and personality and the traditions that remind us that nothing lasting is accomplished by force are so important.

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 165-166, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

55.
One who possesses virtue in abundance
May be compared to an infant.
Poisonous beasts will not sting them.
Fierce beasts will not seize them.
Birds of prey will not strike them.
Their bones are weak, their sinews tender, but their grasp is firm.
They do not yet know the union of people,
But they are aroused.
This means that their essence is at its height.
They may cry all day without becoming hoarse,
This means that their (natural) harmony is perfect.
To know harmony means to be in accord with the eternal.
To be in accord with the eternal means to be enlightened.
To force the growth of life means ill omen.
For the mind to employ the vital force without restraint means violence.
After things reach their prime, they begin to grow old,
Which means being contrary to Tao.
Whatever is contrary to Tao will soon perish.

About the Counting of the Omer in the Jewish holiday cycle:

Today is twenty-eight days, which is four weeks of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover, the celebration of freedom, and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”, when Jews celebrate the covenant given at Mount Sinai. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days in these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today’s Omer theme is presence and rulership (“malchut”) in the week of eternal victory and endurance (“netzach”).

Counting Tao - Omer 27

Today’s Omer theme is balanced foundation in eternal victory and endurance. (See below for more on the Omer)

Before and after meditating today, I read chapter 54 from the The Lao Tzu (See below for full text)

In order to build something lasting we need to start with solid first principles - both the Omer and the Tao direct us today to work progressively, in concentric circles, starting with the most basic and personal and moving outward through expanding relationships to the universal.

The tricky part of this is that unlike the idealized version of things in the Tao, we don’t get to finish working on one area before we need to devote ourselves to the next.

At the heart of both the Tao and the Jewish Mystical teachings underlying the Omer practice is the notion that holding onto one particular idea as central is also a challenge. That we need to work from foundational principles and also not hold onto them in a way that prevents us from growth elsewhere.

Finding that balance between building what we planned and insuring that we are not dragged down by our own determination isn’t easy. And we also know that jumping around from project to project seldom gets them done either.

Figuring out when to build and when to rethink may be the foundation of something lasting.

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 165, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

54.
One who is well established (in Tao) cannot be pulled away.
One who has a firm grasp (of Tao) cannot be separated from it.
Thus from generation to generation their ancestral sacrifice will never be suspended.
When one cultivates virtue in their person, it becomes genuine virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in their family, it becomes overflowing virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in their community, it becomes lasting virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in their country, it becomes abundant virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in their world, it becomes universal.
Therefore the person should be viewed as a person.
The family should be viewed as a family.
The community should be viewed as a community.
The country should be viewed as a country.
And the world should be viewed as the world.
How do I know this to be the case in the world?
Through this (from the cultivation of virtue in the person to that in the world).

About the Counting of the Omer in the Jewish holiday cycle:

Today is twenty-seven days, which is three weeks and six days of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover, the celebration of freedom, and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”, when Jews celebrate the covenant given at Mount Sinai. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days in these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today’s Omer theme is balanced foundation (“yesod”) in the week of eternal victory and endurance (“netzach”).

Counting Tao - Omer 26

Today’s Omer theme is humility and grace in eternal victory and endurance. (See comments below for more on the Omer)

Before and after meditating today, I read chapter 53 from the The Lao Tzu (See comments below for full text)

The connections between the reading in the Tao and the theme of the Counting of the Omer continue today - as they both seem to be reminding us of the temporary nature of things, and the importance of humility in finding something enduring.

As I meditated this morning, aiming to breathe past all of the distractions and try to find some solid ground on something that could be called enduring, I found myself seeing my attention stray after the things that shine brightly, but usually only for a moment in real time.

In this challenging environment, I learn a bit from this Counting tradition in Judaism that directs us to “count up” to the next holiday. We are not wishing away the numbers, hoping for them to diminish to that destination of “zero”, when “it happens”. Rather, we are trying to see each day as leading to the next, a moment connected to that which has passed upon which we can build, a little.

Each of our days contributes to our whole, and our whole is still so small in relation to the immensity of time and space around us. It is from some sense of smallness that we may be able to find our way to participating in that which endures past the now.

Wishing everyone a good day.

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 164-165, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

53.
If I had but little knowledge
I should, in walking on a broad way,
Fear getting off the road.
Broad ways are extremely even,
But people are fond of by-paths.
The courts are exceedingly splendid,
While the fields are exceedingly weedy,
And the granaries are exceedingly empty.
Elegant clothes are worn,
Sharp weapons are carried,
Food and drinks are enjoyed beyond limit,
And wealth and treasures are accumulated in excess.
This is robbery and extravagance.
This is indeed not Tao (the way).

About the Counting of the Omer in the Jewish holiday cycle:

Today is twenty-six days, which is three weeks and five days of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover, the celebration of freedom, and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”, when Jews celebrate the covenant given at Mount Sinai. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days in these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today’s Omer theme is humility and grace (“netzach”) in the week of eternal victory and endurance (“netzach”).

Torah Thought for this Week

“You shall be holy, for I, Adonai your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2)

So begins this week’s Torah reading, and then the text goes on to detail the behaviors that are “holy” and thus also, most like God.

Revering parents, keeping the Sabbath, not turning to idols - these set us apart, help us distinguish ourselves, they and the others elaborated in this week’s reading, make up the “holiness code” at the heart of the Five Books of Moses.

We are practical theologians. We imagine good behaviors, exemplary behaviors, as God-like, even when the universe often doesn’t seem to behave this way. After all, the universe seems not to distinguish between worthy and unworthy people when disease and difficulty rains down upon us.

And so we must take up the cause of finding the holy in all things, of trying to make distinctions that help us to behave better and cultivate good behaviors in those around us.

Whether it is getting vaccinated, sharing one’s plenty with those in need, finding ways to be kinder and better one moment at a time - let us all distinguish ourselves a little more and bring some extra holiness into the world.

Wishing everyone a good week.

Omer Day 5 - Precious and Small

Today is the fifth day of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days of these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar..

Today is the day of splendor, or the beauty of the tiny, or humility (“hod”) in the week of loving-kindness (“chesed”).

With the reading on the mysterious nature of the Tao below, I am reminded about a particular image to explain this idea of “hod”, which seems so difficult to translate. I imagine myself laying on my back, in an open field, looking into a clear night sky, seeing stars, knowing that they are a tiny amount of the total of stars in the universe. Around those stars might be countless beings looking up at them too. In this sea of vastness, I can float feeling the earth spin beneath me, and me carried away as an infinitesimal speck in creation. This seems a good image of humble meaning that I think “hod” may be aiming for.

We can be kind and compassionate, and do so out of humility, our of our sense of having little and still having something to give. We know that there is no naming of it that means anything more than that singular moment of generosity. That moment is precious and tiny all at once.

Wishing everyone generous moments of meaning, and a Shabbat Shalom, and Happy Passover.

Before and after meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 156, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

32.
Tao is eternal and has no name.
Though its simplicity seems insignificant, none in the world can master it.
If kings and barons would hold on to it, all things would submit to them spontaneously.
Heave and earth unite to drip dew.
Without the command of people, it drips evenly over all.
As soon as there were regulations and institutions, there were names (differentiation of things).
As soon as there are names, know that it is time to stop.
It is by knowing when to stop that one can be free from danger.
Analogically, Tao in the world (where everything is embraced by it), may be compared to rivers and streams running into the sea.

Omer Day 4 - Caring is Strategic

Today is the fourth day of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days of these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar..

Today is the day of eternity, or victory, or ego (“netzach”) in the week of loving-kindness (“chesed”).

In combination with the reading below, I am reflecting on the long-term effects, the lasting impact of kindness from this day in the Omer, and the temporary effectiveness of the tools of conflict, as expressed in the Tao.

The lasting effect of compassion can be real, even if we don’t see it.

The lasting damage of conflict is real, and often both visible and unseen.

In both of these realms, the most profound effects are the least visible.

Let us not be easily swayed by the idea that a short-term visible impact makes the biggest difference.

Let us deliberate on the long-term effects of well-thought out kindnesses and compassion. Caring is strategic.

Wising all of you a meaningful day and a Happy week of spring festivals.

Before and after meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 155, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

31.
Fine weapons are instruments of evil.
They are hated by all people.
Therefore those who possess Tao turn away from them.
The good ruler when at home honors the left (symbolic of good omens).
When at war they honor the right (symbolic of evil omens).
Weapons are instruments of evil, not the instruments of a good ruler.
When they use them unavoidably, they regard calm restraint as the best principle.
Even when they are victorious, they do not regard it as praiseworthy.
For to praise victory, is to delight in the slaughter of people.
One who delights in the slaughter of people will not succeed in the empire.
In auspicious affairs, the left is honored.
In un-auspicious affairs, the right is honored.
The lieutenant-general stands on the left.
The senior general stands on the right.
That is to say that the arrangement follows that of funeral ceremonies.
For the slaughter of the multitude, let us weep with sorrow and grief.
For a victory, let us observe the occasion with funeral ceremonies.

Omer Day 3 - Beautiful limits

Today is the third day of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days of these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar. For more on the Jewish mystical sources of these ideas, join us for today’s Jewish “Lunch” and Learn on Zoom here.

Today is the day of balanced beauty (“tiferet”) in the week of loving-kindness (“chesed”).

In my mind, this is the kind of beauty that one finds in the balance between two things, in symmetry, in good “feng shui” - the kind of beauty that communicates wholeness without blowing our minds.

In this it embodies this middle path that the Taoist reading below advises for generals, asking us to see our efforts as successful when limited.

When looking at this balanced beauty in the context of loving-kindness, the theme for this third day of the Counting of the Omer, I am reminded of the sense that no one attribute is enough. We need to be kind, to one another and to ourselves, but not to the extent that we no longer aim at a bigger purpose. All of these attributes are in service of our constantly shifting encounters with the world, which need kindness and strictness, at different times and in different ways.

Finding that beautiful balance means finding limits, means reflecting and stopping on the project, and asking whether or not we have done enough, or done enough in one way, before proceeding.

Both the Tao and Jewish mysticism are asking us to reflect - to think, feel, and seek inspiration - as part of our process of doing in the world.

Wishing all of you a good day, a Happy middle of Passover, and meaningful counting.

Before and after meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 154-155, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

30.
One who assists the ruler with Tao does not dominate the world with force.
The use of force usually brings requital.
Wherever armies are stationed, briers and thorns grow,
Great wars are always followed by famines,
A good (general) achieves their purpose and stops,
But dares not seek to dominate the world.
They achieve their purpose but do not brag about it.
They achieve their purpose but do not boast about it.
They achieve their purpose but are not proud of it.
They achieve their purpose but only as an unavoidable step.
They achieve their purpose but do not aim to dominate.
(For) after things reach their prime, they begin to grow old,
Which means being contrary to Tao.
Whatever is contrary to Tao will soon perish.

Omer Day 2 - avoid extremes

Today is the second day of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days of the week correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere” or perhaps better, a divine emanation. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today is the day of strength or strictness in the week of loving-kindness, so I will look at these ideas in myself and in the world around me.

Ironically enough, I had to rush to get in my meditation and this reflection today as I spent the early part of the day getting my first vaccination shot, thank God! This is particularly poetic because it embraces the two ends of the range of kindness and strictness that form today’s themes. I pursued a strictness in the kindness of my meditation practice, all while trying perhaps to do to0 much while also showing self-compassion.

This may seem a bit confusing, and yet the challenge of being rigorous with myself while also pursuing self-care I imagine is one that most of us can sympathize with.

It totally relates to the reading from the Tao below in which we are advised to not follow extremes. Finding that middle path sometimes means doing two opposing things at the same time - holding the extremes together to find a path in between them.

Wishing all of you a good week, a Happy Passover, and meaningful Omer counting.

Before and after meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 154, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

29.
When one desires to take over the empire and act on it (interfere with it),
I see that they will not succeed.
The empire is a spiritual thing, and should not be acted on.
One who acts on it harms it.
One who holds on to it loses it.
Among creatures some lead and some follow.
Some blow hot and some blow cold.
Some are strong and some are weak.
Some may break and some may fall.
Therefore the safe discards the extremes, the extravagant, and the excessive.

Omer Day 1 - home in the low places

Today is the first day of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days of the week correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere” or perhaps better, a divine emanation. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today is the day of loving-kindness in the week of loving-kindness, so I will look at this idea in myself and in the world around me.

In combination with the Taoist text below, I thought of a line from Psalm 23 that has accompanied me through moments of difficulty, verse 4:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

Maybe the low places, “the valley of the shadow of death” in the Psalm, the “ravine of the world” and the “valley of the world” in the Lao Tzu below, are not places to emerge from but places to work in.

I don’t need to leave the low place, I need to notice that the low place is a source of good things. I don’t need to run away, I need to find the companionship of meaning and mystery that dwells most deeply in the low places.

And for the Counting of the Omer, I need to be guided by compassion for both myself, my situation, and for everyone else.

Wishing all of you meaningful counting, a Happy Passover, a celebratory Holi, and a good week.

Before and after meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 154, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

28.
One who knows the male (active force) and helps to the female (the receptive element)
Becomes the ravine of the world.
Being the ravine of the world,
They will never depart from eternal virtue,
But return to the state of infancy.
One who knows the white (glory) and yet keeps to the black (humility),
Becomes the model for the world.
Being the model for the world,
They will never deviate from eternal virtue,
But return to the state of the Ultimate of Non-being.
One who knows glory but keeps to humility,
Becomes the valley of the world,
They will be proficient in eternal virtue,
And return to the state of simplicity (uncarved wood).
When the uncarved wood is broken up, it is turned into concrete things (as Tao is transformed into the myriad things).
But when the sage uses it, they become the leading official.
Therefore the great ruler does not cut up.

Everything is good building material

Before meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 153, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

27.
A good traveler leaves no track or trace.
A good speech leaves no flaws.
A good reckoner uses no counters.
A well-shut door needs no bolts, and yet it cannot be opened.
A well-tied knot needs no rope and yet none can untie it.
Therefore the sage is always good in saving people and consequently no one is rejected.
They are always good in saving things and consequently nothing is rejected.
This is called following the light of Nature
Therefore the good person is the teacher of the bad,
And the bad is the material from which the good may learn.
One who does not value the teacher,
Or greatly care for the material,
Is greatly deluded although they may be learned.
Such is the essential mystery.

Some thoughts:

Originally, I felt resistance to this reading. It seemed to be about perfectionism. I took to heart the idea that “a good speech leaves no flaws”.

And yet, the piece concludes with a discussion of “the bad is the material from which the good may learn”.

The goal: arrive at a place where “nothing is rejected”.

My personal resistance is often in the those inner places where I am most judgmental, most willing to self-criticize, especially in personal practices: “my posture is wrong”, “I am not training right”, “this is not the way it’s supposed to be done”.

That which isn’t yet good enough, in this reading, “the bad”, is what we have to work with in order to make it better. In Jewish thinking since everything originates with the Divine, everything is potentially good.

I am working on forgiveness and mercy to myself. Smiling at my own tendencies to chastise myself. “Yes, I just saw myself as not fulfilling some abstract ideal, isn’t it funny that I do that? I get to have mercy on myself for wanting to be perfect and not achieving it.”

Wishing all of you self-forgiveness and joy on this First Day of Passover - may you all of a good holy day and a good week.

Balancing “no” and “yes”

Before meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 153, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

26.
The heavy is the root of the light.
The tranquil is the ruler of the hasty.
Therefore the sage travels all day
Without leaving their burden.
Even at the sight of magnificent scenes,
They remain leisurely and indifferent.
How is it that a ruler with ten thousand chariots
Should behave lightheartedly in their empire?
If they are lighthearted, the minister will be destroyed.
If they are hasty, the ruler is lost.

Some thoughts:

Saying no is really difficult. I want to help and I want to be useful. When someone asks for my help it is a validation of my own value in the world.

Or is it?

To be valued and to feel valued are different, and we all know it. So much of what goes on around me, if I give into it, can be characterized as “empty calories”, superficial validation.

Whether it is an app on a device that incentivizes me with a point system or a person we’ve never met asking for advice, I need to stop and wonder, what is this for? Am I getting something real out of this and am I the right person to help?

To follow the middle path implied in the reading above is also to follow the balanced position that a Jewish mystical system describes through the “sefirot” or “spheres”, and that we will explore in the coming weeks as we begin to count the Omer starting on the Second Day of Passover.

To follow a path of balance means saying no as often as we say yes.

Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom and a very Happy and Healthy Passover starting tonight.

Overcoming “should”

The meditation text is below - only somewhat related is the insight I discovered today.

In attempting to figure out how to be in the world, I have often been led by the responsibilities that I perceived. For example, in order to be a spiritual person as a rabbi I should be a particular type of Jewish spiritual person.

I believe “should” and “spiritual” may have taken up a difficult place in my thinking.

I have a part of me that seeks and reacts to deeper meaning in the world. My first experiences of this were varied: in nature while on a lake or a mountain, while exercising, in a youth group service celebrating the end of the Sabbath on Saturday evenings, gathered around singing.

Since starting on the path to become a rabbi I took the “should be” of being a rabbi to guide me so that I could be a better facilitator of meaningful experiences for Jewish people and people interested in Judaism.

The thing is, what led me to think that a Jewish path could be a good one was the amazing way in which I found a Jewish echo and teaching in all of those experiences that weren’t stereotypically Jewish. My Judaism was the conversation about what was meaningful regardless of where I found it. My Judaism doesn’t only start in Judaism, it starts in my experiences everywhere and then helps me to reflect on them.

And so this is how Taoist texts help connect me to meaningful thinking and feeling and Jewish reflections on the world too.

Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom and a Happy Passover,

Before meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 151, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

25.
There was something undifferentiated and yet complete,
Which existed before heaven and earth.
Soundless and formless, it depends on nothing and does not change.
It operates everywhere and is free from danger.
It may be considered the mother of the universe.
I do not know its name; I call it Tao.
If forced to give it a name, I shall call it Great.
Now being great means functioning everywhere.
Functioning everywhere means far-reaching.
Being far-reaching means returning to the original point.
Therefore Tao is great.
Heaven is great.
Earth is great.
And the sovereign is also great.
There are four great things in the universe, and the sovereign is one of them.
Humans model ourselves after Earth.
Earth models itself after Heaven.
Heaven models itself after Tao.
And Tao models itself after Nature.

Aiming for Confident Humility

Before meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 151, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

24.
Those who stand on tiptoe are not steady.
Those who stride forward do not go.
Those who show themselves are not luminous.
Those who justify themselves are not prominent.
Those who boast of themselves are not given credit.
Those who brag do not endure for long.
From the point of view of Tao, these are like remnants of food and tumors of action,
Which all creatures detest.
Therefore those who possess Tao turn away from them.

Some thoughts:

Being sure of ourselves - seems like a good thing. And yet humility in the face of the world opens up the universe to us.

In a culture that seems to be attracted to brash displays of confidence over modest avenues of inquiry, it seems like we have a lot of repair to do in this realm.

Personally, balancing confidence and humility is a constant aim.

This balance is fundamental to Jewish mystical thinking, encapsulated by the teaching of Rabbi Simcha Bunim, and early Hasidic thinking, who was famously known to have taught:

Everyone must have two pockets, with a note in each pocket, so that they can reach into the one or the other, depending on the need. When feeling lowly and depressed, discouraged or disconsolate, one should reach into the right pocket, and, there, find the words: "For my sake was the world created." But when feeling high and mighty one should reach into the left pocket, and find the words: "I am but dust and ashes."

Wishing everyone a good day.