pohaikawahine
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I guess I'm going to start this parsha because bandit isn't feeling too well .... I'm afraid that I won't be too good at this, but I will try my best ....
This parsha is certainly one of the better known ones ... Pharoah lets the people go by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds (I'm loving these symbols but will refrain from going into my brain thing right now) .... Moses carries the bones of Joseph (I don't think this is well known).... and we have G!d appearing in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day .... and then of course, one of the most famous scenes .... the parting of the red sea ....
there is also a song to be sung (but I don't know if the song was sung before enter the sea or during or after???)
after departing from the Sea of Reeds (is this another name for the Red Sea?)
the people could not find sweet water (only bitter) and Moses threw a piece of wood into the water to make it sweet (with directions from G!d of course)
then we have the people arriving at a place called Elim where there are twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees (two important numbers) ....
for food (because the people are grumbling about being hungry) and bread (a fine and flaky substance) fell from the sky and later they called it manna and ate it for forty years ....
so we have lots of miracles and probably a prophecy here and there .... but what does it all really mean ....
I usually receive weekly a parsha overview by Rabbi Noson Weisz who presents a philosophical and kabbalistic perspective (and you know I really like the kabbalistic perspective) .... and I love these two quotes:
"Raba bar Chana said in the name of R'Yochonon: It is as difficult to match them (two people in marriage) as the splitting of the sea .... (Talmud, Sotah 2a)"
"R'Shizvi said in the name of R'Elazar the son of Azariah: It is as difficult to provide people with the necessities of life as it was to split the sea; as it is written, (in Psalms 136): "He provides bread to all flesh ..." And an adjacent verse reads: "He divides the sea into sections ...." (Talmud, Pesachim 118a)"
and Rabbi Weisz asks the question .... what does the splitting of the sea have in common with matchmakeing or providing people with a living? ....
Rabbi Weisz also states that actually the Israelites were not clearly deserving of such a great miracle as the splitting of the sea because the moral difference between them and the Egyptians was not sufficiently marked to justify saving one while drowning another .... so it was not really a moral issue and answer .... he says "it is not moral merit that brings miracles; it is emuna, or belief in G!d. The sea can only split for a people who can believe that it will split before they see it happen. Miracles require the human power or emuna or faith."
and the song (Rabbi Weisz states "how does one go about instilling a belief in infinite possibilities into the mind of an idol worshipper? The Torah gives us a hint in Exodus 15:1 .... the verb "to sing" is spelled as yashir, which is the way to write the verb in the future tense acording to the rules of Hebrew grammar. Taken literally, the text says that Moses and the children of Israel will sing this song in the future." It is a song of resurrection ....
now back to the first question, what does the parting of the sea have to do with matchmaking or earning a living .... Rabbi Weisz says that a Jewish spouse is not someone you live with for a few years as long as it is pleasant or convenient .... he or she is an integral part of the same whole as you and you and your spouse are parts of a single soul .... we think we know what attracks us to another, but these are not usually the things that make the marriage survive through eternity .... it takes faith to appreciate the reality of a jewish marriage (which will survive forever because G!d made the match in advance) and one needs emuna to be able to see their own marriage in this eternal light. also to earn a living takes a great deal of effort and judaism teaches no amount of effort can enable a person to get hold of a single farthing more than G!d alloted him or that was intended for someone else .... even if one immerses himself totally in his labors, he must believe that his intense striving has no bearing on the outcome. "To the extent that he internalizes this lesson, a jew is rescued from the temptation to work the sort of hours that leave him with insufficient free time to learn a bit of Torah or to attend prayers in his synagogue, or to remain in close touch with his wife and children." We live in a time in which divorces are easy and frequent and we live in a time when people forget to have a balance in their lives for both work and family and other aspects of life .... we need balance,we need faith .... the parting of the sea required absolute faith because the israelites had to actually enter the sea before it parted .... they did not wait on the shore to see if it would in fact part, they had to have faith and enter with the belief that it would part .... how much faith do we today really have, we say we have it ....but for many faith is only words and not action .... so perhaps the great lesson of this parsha is that we must "walk our talk" .....
I'm very interested to hear some christian views of the parting of the sea and its meaning .... and what would a buddhist have to say about possible meanings .... or a druid .... to enter the sea, in my point of view, requires the same amount of faith and belief to enter the holy of holies .... aloha nui, poh
This parsha is certainly one of the better known ones ... Pharoah lets the people go by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds (I'm loving these symbols but will refrain from going into my brain thing right now) .... Moses carries the bones of Joseph (I don't think this is well known).... and we have G!d appearing in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day .... and then of course, one of the most famous scenes .... the parting of the red sea ....
there is also a song to be sung (but I don't know if the song was sung before enter the sea or during or after???)
after departing from the Sea of Reeds (is this another name for the Red Sea?)
the people could not find sweet water (only bitter) and Moses threw a piece of wood into the water to make it sweet (with directions from G!d of course)
then we have the people arriving at a place called Elim where there are twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees (two important numbers) ....
for food (because the people are grumbling about being hungry) and bread (a fine and flaky substance) fell from the sky and later they called it manna and ate it for forty years ....
so we have lots of miracles and probably a prophecy here and there .... but what does it all really mean ....
I usually receive weekly a parsha overview by Rabbi Noson Weisz who presents a philosophical and kabbalistic perspective (and you know I really like the kabbalistic perspective) .... and I love these two quotes:
"Raba bar Chana said in the name of R'Yochonon: It is as difficult to match them (two people in marriage) as the splitting of the sea .... (Talmud, Sotah 2a)"
"R'Shizvi said in the name of R'Elazar the son of Azariah: It is as difficult to provide people with the necessities of life as it was to split the sea; as it is written, (in Psalms 136): "He provides bread to all flesh ..." And an adjacent verse reads: "He divides the sea into sections ...." (Talmud, Pesachim 118a)"
and Rabbi Weisz asks the question .... what does the splitting of the sea have in common with matchmakeing or providing people with a living? ....
Rabbi Weisz also states that actually the Israelites were not clearly deserving of such a great miracle as the splitting of the sea because the moral difference between them and the Egyptians was not sufficiently marked to justify saving one while drowning another .... so it was not really a moral issue and answer .... he says "it is not moral merit that brings miracles; it is emuna, or belief in G!d. The sea can only split for a people who can believe that it will split before they see it happen. Miracles require the human power or emuna or faith."
and the song (Rabbi Weisz states "how does one go about instilling a belief in infinite possibilities into the mind of an idol worshipper? The Torah gives us a hint in Exodus 15:1 .... the verb "to sing" is spelled as yashir, which is the way to write the verb in the future tense acording to the rules of Hebrew grammar. Taken literally, the text says that Moses and the children of Israel will sing this song in the future." It is a song of resurrection ....
now back to the first question, what does the parting of the sea have to do with matchmaking or earning a living .... Rabbi Weisz says that a Jewish spouse is not someone you live with for a few years as long as it is pleasant or convenient .... he or she is an integral part of the same whole as you and you and your spouse are parts of a single soul .... we think we know what attracks us to another, but these are not usually the things that make the marriage survive through eternity .... it takes faith to appreciate the reality of a jewish marriage (which will survive forever because G!d made the match in advance) and one needs emuna to be able to see their own marriage in this eternal light. also to earn a living takes a great deal of effort and judaism teaches no amount of effort can enable a person to get hold of a single farthing more than G!d alloted him or that was intended for someone else .... even if one immerses himself totally in his labors, he must believe that his intense striving has no bearing on the outcome. "To the extent that he internalizes this lesson, a jew is rescued from the temptation to work the sort of hours that leave him with insufficient free time to learn a bit of Torah or to attend prayers in his synagogue, or to remain in close touch with his wife and children." We live in a time in which divorces are easy and frequent and we live in a time when people forget to have a balance in their lives for both work and family and other aspects of life .... we need balance,we need faith .... the parting of the sea required absolute faith because the israelites had to actually enter the sea before it parted .... they did not wait on the shore to see if it would in fact part, they had to have faith and enter with the belief that it would part .... how much faith do we today really have, we say we have it ....but for many faith is only words and not action .... so perhaps the great lesson of this parsha is that we must "walk our talk" .....
I'm very interested to hear some christian views of the parting of the sea and its meaning .... and what would a buddhist have to say about possible meanings .... or a druid .... to enter the sea, in my point of view, requires the same amount of faith and belief to enter the holy of holies .... aloha nui, poh
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