This Parsha tells one of the more entertaining stories of the Torah.  Balak fears for his Kingdom as the Israelites approach.  He knows that it will take extraordinary measures to defeat the Israelites, so he calls on Balaam.  Balaam is the only non-Hebrew prophet who can communicate with Hashem.  Balak sends his men to recruit Balaam with the promise of great riches for cursing the Israelites as they approach Balak’s Kingdom.  Balaam receives the message from Hashem that the Israelites are destined to displace Balak and the Amorites.  After much resistance to Balak’s request, Balaam agrees to come to his service with the proviso that Balaam will not voice any words about the Israelites, unless the Lord places those words in his mouth.

Along the way to the Kingdom of Balak, an angel of the Lord brandishing a large sword stands in the way of Balaam and his donkey.  The donkey can see this angel and stops in his tracks.  But Balaam beats the donkey to move forward on 3 occasions since Balaam cannot see the angel.  Finally, the donkey turns its head back toward Balaam and speaks directly to Balaam much to his surprise.  The donkey states why he stopped and why should Balaam not trust his loyal donkey who has served him faithfully for so many years?  Balaam finally sees the angel who then allows them to go forward to his appointment with Balak.

The climax of the story is when the Israelites draw near Balak’s kingdom.  In the presence of Balak and the Amorites, although Balaam tries his best to curse the Israelites, he cannot help but sing the praises of the Israelites that Hashem places in Balaam’s mouth.  The prayer of Balaam’s praise we know as Ma Tovu.  This has since become the prayer we sing to begin the morning service when we enter the Sanctuary.  There is more I can say on this, but now I must stop and redirect to the message this Parsha spoke to me.

Balak typifies the nature of a person who lives a transactional existence.  If Balak pays enough money to Balaam, why shouldn’t Balaam be able to curse the Israelites in accordance with their contract?  But life is so much more than just a series of sequential transactions orchestrated by the highest bidder of material goods.  Balaam cannot help but state the exceptional nature of a people wedded to the ideal of a heart and faith-based existence.  Transactional living is the most basic level of existence.  Heart and faith-based living is elevating and inspiring.  It creates a platform for emotional and spiritual evolution that elevates humans above an animalistic survival-kill or be killed- level of existence.

If we simplify a heart and faith-based existence and distill it to the basics of a process, our tradition sees life in the following formula.  Humility leads to a diminishment of pride that allows time and space to forgive most anyone and anything.  Forgiveness softens the heart which enables the ability to Love.  The feeling of Love is so strong and such a positive emotion, that it leads to an overwhelming sense of gratitude.  Gratitude leads directly to Joy.  A joyful heart opens the door to generosity and the ability to give.  Generosity emotionally moves the giver and the receiver toward an inspired heartfelt faith in the intertwined destiny of all humankind.  Recognition of our intertwined and mutually dependent human destiny diminishes individual pride, leaving room for Humility and Hashem’s formula starts anew.  So Please practice and remember:  Humility leads to Forgiveness that leads to Love that leads to Gratitude that leads to Joy that leads to Generosity that leads to Inspiration that leads back to Humility as the cycle repeats.  Ma Tovu my friends!  Shabbat Shalom!

Kedoshim literally means “(the) Holy ones.”  Usually, the title of the Parshah is the first, second or third word, but this time it is the 14^th word- or the 10^th word if one counts hyphenated word combinations as single words.  Is this merely a coincidence or is this intent since the Parshah begins with recounting the Ten Commandments?  Is this a statement that to become Holy, the Ten Commandments are sufficient or are they a required starting point or again merely a coincidence?

Hashem begins the Parshah commanding Moshe to speak to the entire congregation informing them that “You shall be Holy: for I the Lord your G-d am Holy.”  The Parshah continues to recount the next nine of the Ten Commandments before expanding the requirements of Holiness.

Ethical behavior is critical to starting a civil society.  But it is a minimal requirement from which it is too easy for some of us to occasionally “fall off the wagon” of consistent ethical behavior.  This is where striving for “Holiness” takes over.

Holiness occurs when we appreciate an emotional or higher dimension link with one another, something beyond simple ethical transactions regulated by local and state laws.  Holiness is an expansive term.  It exemplifies the potential for infinite love, infinite compassion, infinite forgiveness and recognition that we are all connected to one another.  Holiness can start with something as obvious and tangible as the Second Commandment- to Honor one’s Mother and one’s Father.  How appropriate as Mother’s Day approaches- tomorrow!

But Holiness is, as Holiness does.  Holiness is not an aloof concept, only achievable by priests and the like.  Holiness is beyond acceptance of ethical principles… it is how each of us carry on our daily, oft mundane, interactions with one another, recognizing the “Spark of Life” that unites us all.  It is that recognition of the spark of life that we see, feel and hear as we interact with one another that unites us as Human Beings, and gives meaning to our lives.  Holiness is when we give from our hearts:  food or money for the poor; compassion to the ill; and compassion to the bereaved.  Holiness is the power we sense when we connect with each other in such a way that we never want the sensation of connection to end, nor can we resist the need to pursue more and more of such fulfilling connections.  It is the actions we pursue, not out of seeking recompense but rather feeling the necessity for that which yields meaning to Life.

This Parshah brings a Hasidic tale to my mind.  There was a miserly man of the community named Yosele.  He would never give to any charity when asked, no matter how nicely he was asked.  By the way, I am simplifying and paraphrasing this poignant tale.  The community had obvious negative feelings toward Yosele.  There was… quite to the contrary, an anonymous donor who would deliver money in envelopes to the poor, every Friday morning with just enough money to pay the rent or to pay for food for the next week.  When Yosele died, with no family to be found, he was buried in a small corner of the cemetery with no fanfare.  When next Friday morning came, there were no envelopes at the doorway of the poor.  All the poor, then sought out the Rabbi to tell them of their plight.  The Rabbi then realized that Yosele was a “Holy Miser”, who upheld the highest levels of giving Zedakah.  That is, that he gave anonymously to all the poor of the community, each according to his need.  Yosele was then moved to a prominent part of the cemetery commensurate with the Holiness with which he lived his life, in anonymity.

This Hasidic tale always brings tears to my eyes and energizes my Heart.  Truly, “Holy is… as Holy does.”  Shabbat Shalom.

This parsha closes the book of Exodus, Shemot- meaning “words”.  It is the last of 5 parshiot that all depict the construction of the Mishkan.  Pekudei literally means “accounts”.  Accounts can be audits or can mean taking “account” of what we have, and what we need to complete… you fill in the blank.  The Book of Shemot has been an account of the Exodus from Egypt and a preparation for what it will take to enter the Promised Land.

In order to prepare for entering the Promised Land, Moshe has acted as G-d’s agent to direct us in what we had to collect, and how we had to assemble the Mishkan, so that G-d could dwell “amongst us”.  An obvious metaphor for the Mishkan is our own individual selves, our Souls, what we had, and what we needed to construct or rather to “reconstruct” ourselves in order to create a “Holy space” within ourselves, where G-d could dwell.  Hence, the great importance of us needing a detailed repetition in 5 parshiot, an accounting, of how to build a proper Mishkan to hold the Ark of the Covenant- that which represents our collective Souls’ connection to the Almighty.

When we carefully build the Mishkan- when we carefully build or rebuild ourselves- we become “Miracles of Faith”- human incarnations of the Ark of the Covenant.  Just as on the tablets of the Ark, we have the opportunity to write upon our own Souls, the Ten Commandments… and more!

When we carefully, lovingly, and with attention to detail construct or reconstruct ourselves, the process of this construction helps us to recognize and correct our spiritual and communal flaws.  It is my firm belief, that what matters most to the Almighty, is not the final product, but rather what we go through, and how we grow in this process of carefully constructing or reconstructing ourselves, and our Souls.  Indeed, in the process of taking an account of how we have built ourselves as a Mishkan, we collectively become “Miracles of Faith”.

Shabbat Shalom

Just as in the creation of the Universe there are many points of creation in our own lives, that lead to new beginnings. These are moments of great discomfort and of great hope all at the same time. These are points of significant potential for growth or they can be times for disaster. No one will ever know how many times Hashem had created other worlds that failed, prior to creating this one that succeeded. In our own lives, how often have we had to pick ourselves up from the discomfort of failure, so that our hope and optimism could lift us to try one more time and finally succeed?

Think back, if you will, to specific times and places, the skinned knees of childhood, the bullying from peers as a teen, the bruising hard knocks of the adult “real world”. What would have happened to us if we had succumbed to self-pity and crawled into comfortable cocoons without further risk? Each of these points in our lives are moments of creation- times of growth – or if we let them, moments of destruction.

Creation comes out of chaos and darkness, much as in our parshat. Hope and optimism can and do spring forth as that proverbial silver lining in each dark cloud. In physics, the Big Bang which spawned the Universe came from a single point. In Hebrew, that point is Reshit. It is believed that this is much like a New Star or a New World coming out from the other side of a black hole, which as we know consumes and destroys.

The lessons of Creation are many, but for my simple mind, I focus on the most obvious. We, as often does Hashem, have choices to make at critical times in our lives. The right choice can lead to creation, that is- to new beginnings, to building new aspects of ourselves or building new relationships. The wrong choice can lead to a black hole of destruction, ruining relationships, or even ruining ourselves and our lives.

I urge us all to recognize these moments in our lives and to make the right choices. Let us embrace and become that creative light that illuminates the darkness and brings order out of chaos. Let us inspire one another. Let us lift each other up, when one of us is down. Let us create a better and brighter world, together!

Shabbat Shalom