Last week, during winter break, we were in Israel and I spent a few afternoons in the Jerusalem neighborhood where I lived 25 years ago. Jerusalem - the place and the relationships nourished there - is still on my mind this week. Inspired by Jerusalem, this week's dvar Torah about the places and people most precious to us is in three parts.
Part 1: When I was living in Jerusalem, the (then 30-year old) comedian Jon Stewart would tell a joke about the intensity of claims to Jerusalem. "Israel is a tiny, tiny country. Yet every monotheistic religion began in Israel. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all began in Israel. All began in Jerusalem. All began within like a two block radius of each other. You know what this means? It means Jesus, Muhammad, and Moses all went to the same high school!" Stewart would get a lot of laughs - precisely because it is so untrue as the three lived several centuries apart and neither Moses nor Muhammad ever lived in Jerusalem.
Part 2: There is a Jewish folktale about land claims. One version of this story* tells it in the name of Reb Chaim ben Isaac of Volozhin (18th century Lithuania). As head of the local rabbinical court, Reb Chaim presided over a dispute on a single parcel of land. Two men each claimed the land belonged exclusively to him. These men were obstinate. They refused any offer of compromise or resolution. Each wanted only one thing - to validate their exclusive claim to the disputed land. After listening patiently to the men, Reb Chaim asked to go to the parcel under dispute.
Together they went. At the parcel, Reb Chaim bent down and placed his ear directly on the ground. You know that expression "put your ear to the ground"? That's just what he did. As if listening to the ground. After a few minutes, Reb Chaim stood up. He said, "Gentlemen, I wanted to hear what the actual ground had to say about your disagreement. You know what the land said?"
Reb Chaim paused. "The land said, 'Why are they fighting over me?!? The land does not belong to them. In fact, they actually belong to the land.”
For me, the deeper truth is that the talking land of this story is only partially correct. For me, our most precious relationships with people and places depend on mutuality -- that we experience both holding and belonging.
Part 3 - A familiar passage from this week's Torah narrative hints at a five-part framework for developing relationships enriched through that type of mutuality. The passage describes Moses encounter with the "burning bush." A different element of the framework, it seems to me, is found in the opening verses of this passage.
The first element is empathy. After Moses' early years that begin the Torah portion, he grows up to become a shepherd. (Exodus 3:1) Shepherds are famous for their empathy. Their success depends on the extent to which they can understand the instincts and feelings of other living things and protect those who are most vulnerable.
The second element is wonder. While tending his flock one day Moses encounters the phenomenon of a bush that's on fire but is not consumed by the fire. (Exodus 3:2) Presumably, other shepherds could have seen this, but only Moses pauses to take in the wonder of it. Only Moses brings a sense of curiosity to his wilderness experience. (Exodus 3.3)
The third element is being present. The passage continues with God calling out to Moses from the midst of the bush. Hearing that call Moses has a unique reply, "Here I am." (Exodus 3:4) Even before he can understand it, there is nothing casual about this encounter for Moses. He is completely mindful and present.
The fourth element is authenticity. God asks Moses to take off his sandals. (Exodus 3:5) To stand directly on the ground with nothing external, not even his sandals, mediating Moses experience of the land. His bare-feet can directly feel the land, connect to it.
The fifth element is humility. As the conversation between Moses and God begins, Moses hides his face. (Exodus 3:6) Moses demonstrates a deep awareness of his place in the world. His ego is not inflated by experiencing the divine. Rather, he keeps his ego and sense of perspective respectfully in place.
It seems to me these are the five essential elements for nurturing relationships with the people and places that are most important to us. At JCHS, for example, we use these elements toward building a school community where every student feels as if they belong and each student feels as if the school belongs to them.
Those relationships of both person and place depend on our capacity for empathy, wonder, presence, authenticity, and humility. In other words, through these elements, we build relationships with those people and places not only that we claim as belonging to us, but also that have a claim on us.
=====
Reb Chaim paused. "The land said, 'Why are they fighting over me?!? The land does not belong to them. In fact, they actually belong to the land.”
For me, the deeper truth is that the talking land of this story is only partially correct. For me, our most precious relationships with people and places depend on mutuality -- that we experience both holding and belonging.
Part 3 - A familiar passage from this week's Torah narrative hints at a five-part framework for developing relationships enriched through that type of mutuality. The passage describes Moses encounter with the "burning bush." A different element of the framework, it seems to me, is found in the opening verses of this passage.
The first element is empathy. After Moses' early years that begin the Torah portion, he grows up to become a shepherd. (Exodus 3:1) Shepherds are famous for their empathy. Their success depends on the extent to which they can understand the instincts and feelings of other living things and protect those who are most vulnerable.
The second element is wonder. While tending his flock one day Moses encounters the phenomenon of a bush that's on fire but is not consumed by the fire. (Exodus 3:2) Presumably, other shepherds could have seen this, but only Moses pauses to take in the wonder of it. Only Moses brings a sense of curiosity to his wilderness experience. (Exodus 3.3)
The third element is being present. The passage continues with God calling out to Moses from the midst of the bush. Hearing that call Moses has a unique reply, "Here I am." (Exodus 3:4) Even before he can understand it, there is nothing casual about this encounter for Moses. He is completely mindful and present.
The fourth element is authenticity. God asks Moses to take off his sandals. (Exodus 3:5) To stand directly on the ground with nothing external, not even his sandals, mediating Moses experience of the land. His bare-feet can directly feel the land, connect to it.
The fifth element is humility. As the conversation between Moses and God begins, Moses hides his face. (Exodus 3:6) Moses demonstrates a deep awareness of his place in the world. His ego is not inflated by experiencing the divine. Rather, he keeps his ego and sense of perspective respectfully in place.
It seems to me these are the five essential elements for nurturing relationships with the people and places that are most important to us. At JCHS, for example, we use these elements toward building a school community where every student feels as if they belong and each student feels as if the school belongs to them.
Those relationships of both person and place depend on our capacity for empathy, wonder, presence, authenticity, and humility. In other words, through these elements, we build relationships with those people and places not only that we claim as belonging to us, but also that have a claim on us.
=====
* With thanks to Rabbi A. Leib Scheinbaum of Hebrew Academy of Cleveland for introducing me to this story through his prodigious and profoundly rich dvar Torah anthologies. You can find his version of the story online here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment Here