March 12, 2012

Vayak’heil/P’kudei -- Excruciating Detail

I have not read “Lord of the Rings” by Tolkien in a few years. But these parshot remind me of the long, long descriptions contained in that series of books. Descriptions of landscapes, descriptions of rooms, descriptions of people. Lots of descriptions.

Why would an author go into all this detail?

I think the reason is that they feel like they were there--really actually there--at these momentous events. And/or they wish they were there, and they try to will themselves there by noticing every little detail.

And most of all, they want us to be there with them.

Reading these parshot felt exactly like reading Tolkien. “Join me, and together, we will experience this really, really cool stuff.”



March 3, 2012

Ki Tissa -- Giving the Finger to the Golden Calf

The “finger of God” (Exodus 31:18) inscribed the tablets. Really? God’s actual finger?

Well, no, that’s a metaphor. We Reform Jews say that the words of our Torah were “divinely inspired," which means that they were written by thoughtful people, not nincompoops.

I am re-reading “Iron John” right now, Robert Bly’s wonderful book about the mythic journey that men make to maturity. He spends a lot of time talking about the value of ritual. I see that value in my own life and experience, because sometimes we need to leave the “real world” behind and briefly enter a different world in order to become who we are meant to be.

I truly believe this. It is probably why I spend a lot of my time creating imaginary worlds though music, drama and gaming. I suspect I am trying to create ritual space for myself.

So, this week, instead of attacking the many Tabernacle Rituals that we are presented with in the parshah (as my prior postings would have suggested I would!), I embrace these rituals. I see them serving a vital purpose. They give us a chance to enter sacred space and change ourselves.

That seems pretty important to me.

The problem comes when people take these METAPHORS too literally. All the details of the Tabernacle are not important, unless they are leading to personal and societal growth. Making sure the hem of the cloth of the priest is the exact number of cubits is not crucial, but being willing to do some degree of work that seems pointless and to let that work take you to another place/space/dimension …. that has meaning.

To borrow a phrase from Glenda the Good Witch of "The Wizard of Oz," the people who demand and build a golden calf forgot that they had the power all the time. They had it before Moses came along, and they had it while he was on Mount Sinai. They got lost in the physical symbols and the details of the rituals.

We don’t need the ruby slippers.

Putting your faith in outside symbols and powers is the easy path to take, because then responsibility for yourself is transferred outside yourself. Doing the tough inner work of facing your own mythical demons …. well, it’s just not as fun as partying with a golden calf.