SKG Articles: Av - Awakening Ideas

In New York and perhaps it is also so in other places that there has been a subtle and yet clear
change in the quality of light as of Tu B’Av, the full moon of this month which was August 20th
this year. The weather is a little less humid in New York, and we are beginning to sense that
Fall will soon be upon us. Tu B’Av marks also the beginning of the teshuva (turning) process
that will become more intense during the month of Elul. Whether we are aware of it or not, the
soul enters into a new contract with the Universe on Tu B’Av that is refined and defined on
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

On Shabbos Nachamu, which was Tu B’Av, this year, we read one of the most beautiful Torah
portions, VaEthChanan, when the Ten Commandments are repeated, the Shema as we recite
it today with the blessings surrounding it is recorded . We read the Haftorah that begins with
“Comfort, comfort My people, says God.“ We really needed to receive God’s comfort this year.
As I heard this Torah and Haftorah portion this year, after Tisha B’Av, I felt that we were being
given another chance to begin again. It is so important to remember that wherever we are in
our lives, we can always begin again.

Much of last weeks’ Torah portion Ekev talks about the prophecies for the future regarding the
Land of Israel as well as the rewards that we as individuals will experience if we work towards
transformation and chaos if we do not. This Torah concept of reward and punishment is difficult
and challenging for many people to accept. The child and ego within is rebellious. “Does this
mean that God’s love is conditional? Do I have to do what God wants which may be different
than what I want to be blessed and if I am suffering, does it mean that I did not do what God
wanted me to do.”

We need to reassure the child within us that she is loved unconditionally by you and by God.
We may not feel that we were loved unconditionally by our parents. They did the best that they
could but they were limited human beings. And as such, many of us felt that we had to give up
parts of who we were to survive and to be loved by our parents and we may still question our
worthiness to receive the goodness of life.

Our relationship with God, and the way that we live our lives need not be a projection or a
continuation of our relationship with our parents. We need to do the inner work to liberate
ourselves. God is the essence of reality, not a human being who loves us conditionally, even
though the Torah often describes God is human terms so that we can easily relate to God.
The Haftorah of Ekev says these beautiful words:

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, not having compassion on the son of her womb?
Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you.”

God will not forget us or forsake us. God is ready to give to us when we are ready and
available to receive. The Torah is reminding us that if our lives are not working, and we are in
physical and emotional pain, we need to look inside ourselves and create channels and
connections that will bring our selves into greater alignment with God, with God’s unconditional
love, with our true selves, our souls, who is always ready and happy to surrender to the divine.

We need to hear and meditate upon Moses’ words to us, ‘ Remove the barriers from your
heart, and do not remain so stubborn any more.”( Ekev 10:16) “And now Israel, what does God
want of you. Only that you remain in awe of God your lord, so that you will follow all His paths
and love Him, serving God your lord with all your heart and with all your soul.“ Ekev (10:12) It is
not the God “needs” our love and awe, but rather, WE NEED to love God and be in awe of God
because this is what liberates us from the limiting constraints of materiality and we can
experience the freedom of the soul.

When we read the Torah portion of Ekev on the level of connection with the soul within us, we
can feel grateful that God is giving us some tools to do to bring our lives into alignment with
reality so that we can receive the goodness that God wants to give us. When we take on a
mitzvah, we make a connection to receive the goodness of God. We feel nourished. When we
are connected to the soul within us, and to God, we feel good, regardless of what is happening
around us. We may feel very sad, our eyes may be filled with tears, but when we feel
connected to God, we are connected to the truth of who we are, we are connected to life, to
reality, and we feel alive and that feels good.

This week’s Torah portion of Re-ay begins with “You can see that I am placing before you both
a blessing and a curse.” On one hand, God is saying to us that you have free will to chose your
life experience. You are the creator of your reality, as we say in new age vernacular. You can
have a blessed life or a painful challenging life, it is your choice but also know that the good
and the bad also come from God, and it's not really "bad." Sometimes, what happens to us
feels like a blessing, we see the light of God and we rejoice and some times life is so painful, we
wonder what did we do wrong to deserve this. Re-ay is telling us that it is all from God, so we
must remember that there is good in the painful life experiences but is concealed rather than
openly revealed.

During this time period, Elul, we begin to reflect on our lives, what we have, what we want, and
do not have. How can I be more open to receive what I want in my life? What do I need to let go
to open to newness in my life? The inner stirrings of teshuva are beginning. We all have a
deep desire for newness, for expansiveness in our lives, so we need to make a new
commitment to our well being and also to the well being of the Land of Israel. In the month of
Elul, we will be given opportunities to come close to God, to complete unfinished business, to
heal and to do the vision work of creating the life that expresses more of who we are. We all
need to remember that if nothing changes, nothing changes.

Love and blessings, Mindy Ribner