Tetzaveh – Exodus 27:20 – 30:10

Feb 21 to 27, 2021 | 15 Adar 5781

Watercolor by Nurullah

Preparing for Union

In a world beset by GLOBAL afflictions — COVID, climate change, the narrow accumulation of wealth, nuclear buildup and the trend toward fascism to name a few — we see more than ever the necessity to unite as one Humanity to solve our problems, and possibly even to survive.

And the positive signs? One curious, unexpected development of this pandemic is our daily experience of connecting outside of time and space in cyberspace. We are one family.

And how does today’s parsha Tetzaveh inform us in this pursuit toward unity? More than a structure, the Tent of Meeting – the portable Tabernacle of the Children of Israel – defines a people, a potentiality, and a path toward Unity in G’d.

Now you,

command the Children of Israel,

that they may fetch you

oil of olives, clear, beaten,

for the light,

to draw up a lampwick, regularly.

– Exodus 27:20

The name of this parsha Tetzaveh means “You command.” Moses was to command the Children of Israel to prepare the oil for the Menorah which lit the outer sanctuary. The oil was to be “beaten” so as to be purified. Later, oil would be used to anoint the priests (Exodus 29:7).

And what of the flame? Pure, luminous, rising, the flame transmutes the material realm into the etherial. As spiritual beings anchored in a physical body, the flame reminds us of our true nature. Like us, the flame surges upward as it maintains its grip on the body of the wick, drawing fuel from the oil that feeds it.

In the Divine Art of Alchemy, the minor mystery is to return to the One. This is the direction of the flame. The major mystery is to remain tethered to this earth as the flame to the wick — while experiencing the Return. This is the mystery of life: the experience of Unity remembered in our individuality.

Reflection: In what way are you like the flame with its will to remain tethered to the wick and oil that feeds it? And in what way are you like the flame yearning to rise above the material life to reunite with the One Being? This is the paradox of self-realization and self-transcendence. Both are necessary for fulfillment in this lifetime. Being here, living life WHILE experiencing Unity with the One.

The Soul of Man a Lamp of G’d

– Proverbs 20:27

And of what does the lamp consist? To contain the oil and wick, the lamp needs a vessel. Joined and lit, they burn in a steady and controlled light. Let’s explore how these aspects correlate with our lives. How may we produce the Light that shines to uplift all? 

For divine wisdom to manifest in the world, there needs to be oil, wick, vessel and flame. The article Oil, Wick, Vessel, Flame elucidates this truth that shines through the  Temple Menorah, Shabbat candles, and the Hanukkah lights.

“Every mitzvah is oil for the soul”

Oil – Divine ideals and deeds, given as Torah (revelation) and our Mitzvot (good deeds)

Wick – Physical existence of body and mind – both tether and lifeline for the flame

Vessel – Container to hold together the wick and oil

Flame – Divine spark

Together, vessel, wick and oil form the lamp to carry the spark of divine light. And how can the way we live our lives contribute to the well-being of the world?

By acting in ways consistent with divine will, we carry the torch that illuminates our life’s path and the the lives of others. We touch Heaven while remaining on earth, reaching upward and yet with our feet solidly standing on the ground of Malchut – the Kingdom of this world.

Mirror of Divine Splendor

A good portion of parsha Tetzaveh describes the priestly garments and inscriptions on those garments. The purpose? So that all could see in the priest’s garments a reflection of the divine splendor:

You are to make garments of holiness for Aharon your brother,

for glory and for splendor.

– Exodus 28:2

The detailed descriptions include elements from the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms. A noteworthy article of clothing was the efod, the apron worn only by the high priest. Its shoulder pieces bore two stones carved with the names of the 12 Tribes of Israel in order of birth. Likewise was the breastplate, with 4 rows of 3 precious stones, each one bore the name of one of the 12 Tribes.

The breastplate also carried the Urim and Tummin — oracular objects worn “over his/Aharon’s heart” regularly in the presence of YHWH. Whenever Aharon presided in the sanctuary, he bore this emblem of his office on his heart to include and uplift the Children of Israel in the presence of G’d.

Purify and Revivify Us

The parsha Tetzaveh focuses on maintaining ritual purity. Employing the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, the specific fabric, design and adornments of the clothing were meant to forgive our impure human inclinations, including unintentional error. And to protect the high priest who guides us:

that they do not bear iniquity and die

— a law of the ages, for him and for his seed after him.

– Exodus 28:43

Sacrifices in the courtyard were a means for “hattat” (hah-taht) — a purification offering. Ever since the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, the human capacity for speech has replaced animal sacrifice. Analogous to what we call in Sufi terms the nafs al-‘ammārah, the intent of prayer is to purify and uplift the animal aspects of our being. 

Healing the Illusion of Separation

By internally constructing the Tabernacle within ourselves, we can be lead out of the land of Mitzrayim: our blind bondage to this material world.  The details of the structure and rituals of the Tabernacle reveal the overarching theme of Exodus. Not only will we experience G’d through Wonders displayed on our behalf, but through our heart-full communication with the One Being.

And I will dwell amidst the Children of Israel

and I will be a G’d for them

and they may know that I am YHWH their G’d

who brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim

to dwell, myself, in their midst,

I am YHWH their G’d.

– Exodus 29:45-6

This week we will choose practices that prepare us to enter the Tent of Meeting. Through breath, light and sound we can create the conditions to tune ourselves with the Infinite and harmonize with the rhythms of this life. This beautiful, chaotic, ever changing, all-pervading Life.

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Photography by Glenn Sackett

WEEKLY PRACTICES: Purify and Elevate

The Soul Manifestation Process awakens us to the present in the fullness of our being. This gentle, embodied awareness allows the heart to begin to heal its wounds and unify the broken shards of separation. This week, we will work with breath infused with light and sound to purify us and revivify us to prepare a dwelling place for G’d.

If you have been following along with us, you will notice that the purification practices continue from last week. Both last week’s parsha Terumah and this week, Tetzaveh describe the Tabernacle and its rituals of drawing near to G’d. Likewise, we will endeavor to do the same. 

Suggestion: Do one practice a day, or do all 6 consecutively. Remember… have your Journal nearby to jot down any insights that may arise.

Audio Recording – Coming Soon

BREATH

To enter the courtyard of the dwelling place of G’d, first we must remove the accumulations and stories of our heart, mind and body. By so doing we purify ourselves before entering into prayer. We will use the energetic states of Earth, Water, Fire and Air to remove all obscurations. Begin with a complete exhalation. Throughout the practice, breathe deeply and rhythmically, with an even exhalation and inhalation.

Earth: Inhale and exhale through the nose 5 times. Feel the capacity for solidity. Release to the earth all that belongs to earth.

Water: Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth 5 times. Feel the capacity for liquidity. Set adrift in  water all that belongs to water.

Fire: Inhale, sipping through the mouth, and exhale through the nose 5 times. Feel the capacity for heat and transformation. Give to fire all that desires to be released in flame.

Air: Open your mouth and inhale and exhale through the mouth 5 times. Feel the capacity for expansiveness in the gaseous state. Let the wind carry away all that belongs to air.

Now sit quietly, breathing gently in and out through the nose. Feel the capacity for stillness. This is Ether from which the four elements arise. Do you feel the stillness? A lightness of being? When you are ready, return to your normal breath and open your eyes.

CONTEMPLATION

In this purified atmosphere, we turn to prayer. Contemplate the lines below from the week’s parsha Tetzaveh. And drawing from the words of the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan, consider Nayaz — a prayer to heal our bodies, hearts and souls. 

LIGHT

Now that we have purified ourselves with the Purification Breaths and readied ourselves with prayer, now we can enter the outer sanctuary. With eyes closed, breathe in and out gently through the nose. Balance your inhale with your exhale. Keep your body still. As with the practice on breath, focus on your heart center. On the inhale, visualize pure, clear light entering through the crown of your head. On the exhale, direct this crystalline light into your heart. Breathe in pure, clear light through the crown; exhale pure, clear light into your heart for 5 breaths. You are building your Mishkan of Light.

Continuing to inhale pure, clear light in through your crown center, exhale through your heart center whispering, “Toward the One.” As you inhale, remain receptive and open to what comes. Stay with this concentration as long as you can peacefully, comfortably maintain it.

When you are ready, open your eyes and breathe naturally. Witness your experience of this practice. Do you feel the quieting of your mind and the purification of your heart? What qualities arise?

SOUND

We enter ever more deeply into the subtle realm of the Mishkan, the dwelling place for G’d, with sound. The 99 Beautiful Names of Allah carry a sound code with the capacity to quiet our minds and open our hearts to Truth beyond concept. Through repetition, focus and intent, layers of meaning of the Name will be revealed to you.

Ya Quddus (yaa ḳud-DOOS), the ever-purifying one, requires us to take leave of what we cling to in order to experience intimate union. Ya Quddus allows the spiritual traveler to transcend the lower self and keep going toward the one. A force that constantly cleanses us from the conceptual mind and its differentiations, Ya Quddus moves us toward intimacy and union with the absolute. (Source: Physicians of the Heart by Pir Shabda Khan).

We recite Ya Quddus 33 times.

• Inhale: Ya Quddus
• Exhale: (silence)

Afterwards, let the sound of this practice reverberate in your being. Note how you feel. Does a feeling of intimate union arise?

.

ZIKR

Meaning “remembrance”, Zikr is the repetition of a sacred phrase with the intention of returning to the essence of Unity. Similarly, in Hebrew Zakar means to remember, recall, or call to mind. Today we will offer Zakar in Hebrew and Zikr in Arabic. Simply click on the tab labeled “Zakar” or “Zikr”.

NATURE

This week as you take time to walk in nature, notice your life-giving breath. Can you coordinate your footsteps with the rhythm of your breath? Pay attention to the play of light. Where do you glimpse sparkling clear light in nature? What shades of white does the winter light reveal?

To be guided in two more nature practices – the Medicine Walk and the 360 Listening Practice – please enjoy the podcast with Maria Rosa Galter: Answering Our Soul’s Longing to Connect in All Dimensions.

Shabbat Shalom!

After 6 days of practice, when Shabbat arrives, observe how this week’s practices shape your Shabbat experience. Be sure to check in Sunday morning for next week’s parsha.

You are invited to comment on how the contemplations and practices for this week have shaped your experience of daily life… any big Ah-ha’s? Please share your thoughts and feelings below.

חַיִּים
L’Hayyim…. To Life!

Terumah – Exodus 25:1 – 27:19

Feb 14 to Feb 20, 2021 | 8 Adar 5781

Watercolor by Nurullah

The Mother of All Questions

Again we ask the perennial question: What’s my purpose? Why am I here?

Torah offers several answers, depending on your point of view. Going back to the opening chapter of Genesis, we are created in the image of G’d to express Goodness. From the viewpoint of Mussar – Jewish ethics – our purpose is to become living examples of divine qualities: courage, loving kindness, equanimity and so forth.

And from Kabbalah? This week’s parsha Terumah details the building of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle where G’d dwells with the Israelites during their 40 year sojourn through the dessert. How does the Kabbalist answer this essential inquiry? Chassidic teaching explains that the previously mentioned reasons are but the various faces of a singular Divine desire for creation:

Chassidism offers its own formulation of this Divine desire: that we make a home for G‑d in the material world.

– Chabad, The Answer to the Mother of All Questions

From the point of view of the Kabbalist, we are here to create a dwelling place for G’d. And yet, our 40 years of wandering in the dessert are but a fragrance of memory. Two Beit Hamikdash – Holy Temples in Jerusalem – have been built according to the plan of the Mishkan and destroyed centuries ago.

And yet, now is as then. What was true then, is true now. What can the structure of the Miskhan tell us about creating a dwelling place for G’d here and now in our personal lives?

Building a Bridge to the Divine

YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying:

Speak to the Children of Israel…

Let them make me a Holy-Shrine

that I may dwell amidst them.

– Exodus 25:1, 2 and 8

In the parsha Terumah, the structure of and activities within the Mishkan are described in detail. This portable dwelling place for G’d consists of 3 chambers: The courtyard, the outer chamber of the sanctuary, and the inner Holy of Holies.

The courtyard was open to all. It is where sacrifices were made, charred and eaten. The outer chamber was reserved for the priestly function, the Levites. And the inner Holy of Holies? Only the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest of Israel, could access the inner chamber which housed the Ark, and then only after much preparation on Yom Kippur.

What can this ancient structure and practice tell us about our lives today? Obviously, we no longer make animal sacrifices. What has replaced that practice? And drawing from our podcast with Rabbi Mendel Brackman, how can we bring our passions of Tohu into the world of Tikun?

To learn how to apply the wisdom of Torah found in the parsha Terumah to our lives, and to better understand its current-day relevance, I called my friend Rabbi Mendel. You are invited to listen in on our conversation:

Mysteries of Alchemy

We will further our discussion about the Alchemical Arch which began in parsha Yitro by considering the first 3 Stages of Alchemy that correspond with the 3 chambers of the Mishkan.

Stage 1: Courtyard

Separating from ordinary life, we are purifying and elevating our Nafs, our unrefined breath, our self-centered and egoistic tendencies. The part of us that forgets our Source and our connection will all Beings.

Stage 2: Outer Sanctuary

Arising in a purified state, we shift our primary consciousness from the individual, separate self to begin to identify with the real being that one is: pure consciousness.

Stage 3: Holy of Holies

In this stage of Pure Spirit, the sense of individuality surrenders into complete Unity. The soul awakens in the state of all possibility and pure potential. As Rabbi Mendel says, there is “no room” for anything else. Nothing exists but G’d.

In Sufism as in Judaism, our mission is not only to connect in absolute Oneness with G’d. No, we must continue from this Fana, this complete dissolution of self, to re-enter everyday life, bringing with us this experience of peace – the love, harmony and beauty of the One Being. In this way, all three points of view mentioned in the opening paragraph find expression: the image of Goodness, living G’dly qualities, and creating a dwelling place for G’d.

As above, so below. As below, so above.

This week we will choose practices that build our inner Mishkan so that we may enter the Tent of Meeting. Through breath, light and sound we can create an avenue to tune ourselves with the Infinite and harmonize with the rhythms of this life. This beautiful, chaotic, ever changing, all-pervading Life.

.

Watercolor by Nurullah

WEEKLY PRACTICES: Entering the “Tent of Meeting”

The Soul Manifestation Process awakens us to the present in the fullness of our being. This gentle, embodied awareness allows the heart to begin to heal its wounds and unify the broken shards of separation. This week, we will work with breath infused with light and sound to build our inner capacity to make a dwelling place for G’d.

Suggestion: Do one practice a day, or do all 6 consecutively. Remember… have your Journal nearby to jot down any insights that may arise.

Audio Recording – Coming Soon

BREATH

To enter the courtyard of the dwelling place of G’d, first we must remove the accumulations and stories of our heart, mind and body. By so doing we purify ourselves before entering into prayer. We will use the energetic states of Earth, Water, Fire and Air to remove all obscurations. Begin with a complete exhalation. Throughout the practice, breathe deeply and rhythmically, with an even exhalation and inhalation.

Earth: Inhale and exhale through the nose 5 times. Feel the capacity for solidity. Release to the earth all that belongs to earth.

Water: Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth 5 times. Feel the capacity for liquidity. Set adrift in  water all that belongs to water.

Fire: Inhale, sipping through the mouth, and exhale through the nose 5 times. Feel the capacity for heat and transformation. Give to fire all that desires to be released in flame.

Air: Open your mouth and inhale and exhale through the mouth 5 times. Feel the capacity for expansiveness in the gaseous state. Let the wind carry away all that belongs to air.

Now sit quietly, breathing gently in and out through the nose. Feel the capacity for stillness. This is Ether from which the four elements arise. Do you feel the stillness? A lightness of being? When you are ready, return to your normal breath and open your eyes.  

CONTEMPLATION

In this purified atmosphere, we turn to prayer. Like many, one of my most heartfelt prayers is the 23 Psalm of David. And when remembering the prayers of the Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan, the Prayer for the Universel comes to mind — a place of worship on earth and in our hearts for all people:

LIGHT

Now that we have purified ourselves with the Purification Breaths and readied ourselves with prayer, now we can enter the outer sanctuary. With eyes closed, breathe in and out gently through the nose. Balance your inhale with your exhale. Keep your body still. As with the practice on breath, focus on your heart center. On the inhale, visualize pure, clear light entering through the crown of your head. On the exhale, direct this crystalline light into your heart. Breathe in pure, clear light through the crown; exhale pure, clear light into your heart for 5 breaths. You are building your Mishkan of Light. 

Continuing to inhale pure, clear light in through your crown center, exhale through your heart center whispering, “Toward the One.” As you inhale, remain receptive and open to what comes. Stay with this concentration as long as you can peacefully, comfortably maintain it.

When you are ready, open your eyes and breathe naturally. Witness your experience of this practice. Do you feel the quieting of your mind and the purification of your heart? What qualities arise?

SOUND

We enter ever more deeply into the subtle realm of the Mishkan, the dwelling place for G’d, with sound. The 99 Beautiful Names of Allah carry a sound code with the capacity to quiet our minds and open our hearts to Truth beyond concept. Through repetition, focus and intent, layers of meaning of the Name will be revealed to you.

Ya Quddus (yaa ḳud-DOOS), the ever-purifying one, requires us to take leave of what we cling to in order to experience intimate union. Ya Quddus allows the spiritual traveler to transcend the lower self and keep going toward the one. A force that constantly cleanses us from the conceptual mind and its differentiations, Ya Quddus moves us toward intimacy and union with the absolute. (Source: Physicians of the Heart by Pir Shabda Khan).

We recite Ya Quddus 33 times.

• Inhale: Ya Quddus
• Exhale: (silence)

Afterwards, let the sound of this practice reverberate in your being. Note how you feel. Does a feeling of intimate union arise?

.

ZIKR

Meaning “remembrance”, Zikr is the repetition of a sacred phrase with the intention of returning to the essence of Unity. Similarly, in Hebrew Zakar means to remember, recall, or call to mind. Today we will offer Zakar in Hebrew and Zikr in Arabic. Simply click on the tab labeled “Zakar” or “Zikr”.

NATURE

This week as you take time to walk in nature, notice your life-giving breath. Can you coordinate your footsteps with the rhythm of your breath? Pay attention to the play of light. Where do you glimpse sparkling clear light in nature? What shades of white does the winter light reveal?

To be guided in two more nature practices – the Medicine Walk and the 360 Listening Practice – please enjoy the podcast with Maria Rosa Galter: Answering Our Soul’s Longing to Connect in All Dimensions.

Shabbat Shalom!

After 6 days of practice, when Shabbat arrives, observe how this week’s practices shape your Shabbat experience. Be sure to check in Sunday morning for next week’s parsha.

You are invited to comment on how the contemplations and practices for this week have shaped your experience of daily life… any big Ah-ha’s? Please share your thoughts and feelings below.

חַיִּים
L’Hayyim…. To Life!