Are you human? I am.
What does it mean to be alive? What is the purpose of life?
Huge questions.
I became a rabbi and it is not all of who I am, but it is a large slice of my identity and my day-to-day. Life as a rabbi is not a secluded or exceptional existence, but I do spend much of my day thinking about the meaning of life, what is good for the Jewish people, and how to make our world better.
Being a rabbi is both the absolute best and the worst. A great joy and a burden to carry.
The essence of what it is to live and work as a rabbi lines up very closely with the mission of any Jewish person, any person of spirit on a mission.
Abraham, who appears on the Torah stage in this week’s parsha, in our weekly Torah reading, is described in our Midrash [Genesis Rabah, 39:2] as like a bottle of fragrance. Whilst he is still, you don’t smell the scent, but as he begins to move in the world, the sweet scent in the bottle begins to disperse. That is the essence of ‘לֶךְ־לְךָ’, Lech Lecha, ‘go on a journey’ [Genesis 12:1], the first words uttered to Abraham, 'go out there, you got something special kid; your journey will be seen and will transform the generations'.
For the Hassidic masters, including Menachem Nochum Twersky of Chernobyl, the world is divided into two parts, described in the words of the creation story:
‘וַיַּבְדֵּל בֵּין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ וּבֵין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מֵעַל לָרָקִיעַ’, ‘God separated the water which was below and the water which was above’ [Genesis 1:7].
A world of spirit of the upper world and a spirit of the lower worlds. Our physical selves, the life that we see, the world we operate in day-to-day, our homes, the bus, the birds and trees, our loved ones and people around us, all belonging to the blood and flesh of this lower world. And too we live in an unseen world, one of the heavens, the upper world, both indescribable and inconceivable.
In Torah, no single letter or word goes unnoticed without additional meaning and insight. In the stories of Abraham and for Moses, they are called twice ‘אַבְרָהָם, אַבְרָהָם’, ‘Abraham, Abraham’ [Genesis 22:11], ‘מֹשֶׁה, מֹשֶׁה‘, ‘Moses, Moses’ [Exodus 3:4]. For the teachers of spirit, this is a call to the two worlds we inhabit.
What does this mean in practice? Abraham Twerski in The Spiritual Self, describes in simple terms, anything that we do that animals cannot achieve is us achieving in the world of spirit. That is a call to live in both places; we have work to do here, sometimes that work is a heavy burden, taking care of loved ones, children, aging parents, paying the bills, challenged by our own health and any number of daily obstacles.
The call of Lech Lecha is to be on a journey, to consider oneself as precious, with a story to tell and lessons to teach. This is the sacred essence of what it is to be alive. Our mission and purpose is the core of beginning to develop a life of spirit. We too acknowledge that a part of our sacred selves is not in the office, on the train or in the classroom, but somewhere in the heavens and that part of our selves also needs tending to in acts which are sacred and precious.
In the words of Abraham, the call ‘אַבְרָהָם, אַבְרָהָם’, ‘Abraham, Abraham’ is answered in one word, ‘הִנֵּנִי’, hineini, ‘I am here’, I am present, whole, alive, in relationship with what it means to live, the different parts of me, tended to, here.
SHABBAT SHALOM
I am teaching a brand new programme, LECHTECHA, ‘your journey’, every Wednesday 8:30pm (UK time, 9:30pm CET) Interested in the above? Come with your big questions! Find us on Instagram Live and on zoom (message me for a link). LECHTECHA is also a travelling class, if you want to host us in your home or at your place of work or study, please be in contact!
