The Ten Commandments — Morning Minyan w/ Rabbi Lizzi

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai.

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Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

Transcript

Transcript

0:03  
All right, all right. Well, first of all, I'm going to put on Talit and share this um.

0:24  
Let's see. Well,

0:27  
all right, share the sea door that we discovered here a couple weeks ago. It's a lot, it's a lot on the page. It's a lot to look at, and it's good stuff. So

0:44  
very enough. She's at an eye. Adonai, oh, hi, God, tell me. Oh, hold the dollar. Basta or Casa Man O ti Sham, I am karakia.

0:58  
That means Bless my soul. Oh, God, God. You are very great. You are enrobed. You are wrapped in majesty and radiance, like I'm about to wrap myself in majesty and radiance. O te or keselma You, you crown light like a curtain and spread out the and spread out the heavens like the firmament, and so with all that beautiful natural imagery of light being spread out like a curtain, I wrap myself in this Tallis Baruch hat on. I don't a cherk, but seat. Seat. Trying to actually absorb and take into myself the expansiveness of the firmament, the light filled world around us, even if you're just sitting in your home, sort of imagining all that light emanating toward toward you, and then and then out from you as well. And here we go. Here I am about to put this to fill in on my head here, taking it out of its cute little box. I have a little story about going Tallis shopping in Jerusalem a week ago, which I'll share with you in a moment.

2:30  
Baruch atah, Adonai Elohim,

2:34  
I share Keith shanabham mitts, oh, shoot, I should have done the arm first. That's what you're supposed to do. My bad, I'm going to start gonna start with arm. I was like, that's not the right blessing to do first.

2:50  
Varuhata, Adonai,

2:55  
placing this right on my bicep. Elohim, so feels right, and then wrapping it around seven times. And even if you're not putting on tefillin in this moment, you can take this time to actually just do a little body meditation. You know, how are you breathing into your limbs, your left arm, your right arm. How are you feeling? Kind of the sanctity of each finger, you know, all of the different parts of our body that have so much complexity to them, every single one, all of the little all of the little knuckles and bones and things that hold them together, you know, in blessing something like a to fill in like a wrapping that goes around it, it's also helping us just draw attention to the parts of our body that we maybe don't pay attention to that often, but actually help us do absolutely everything we do in life, 1234567, all right, and Now putting my little head to fill in on barbucha, feeling. And then, as I do the wrap around my hand, there are still really but Sadek of a mishpa to Bucha Rachamim, erastically the amunah via data at Adonai, I betroth you to me forever. I betroth you to me in righteousness, justice, loving kindness and compassion. I betroth you to me in faithfulness. And through this, you will come to know God. I just, I want to offer this as a meditation every single day. I also, you know, we listen to so many songs here on this Minion, you know, tunes that have been composed in recent years by people who are just like so inspired by Judaism, they need to write new tunes. I have, I've only heard like one good tune for this piece of liturgy. I'm sure. There are more. But I want to put out as an invitation to any, any of you who encounter, you know, all this liturgy every day, all of you minyan people, I would love a good, catchy earworm for this verse of Hosea, because I just feel like it's setting an intention in the morning to be attached to the world with this intention, righteousness, justice, loving, kindness and compassion. It's saying to God, this is how I want to be in relationship with you. It's saying to the world around us, this is how I want to be in relationship with you. This is how I want to be this is how I want to live my day. This is what I want Judaism to mean in my life, as I like wrap myself in this crazy Jewish garb, like this is what I want it to mean. And I don't know I would love to you know in the way that good a good song follows you all around the world, all around your day, there is typically lay olam verestically, but Sadek over Mishkan over Rachamim, the emuna, the a data et Adonai, I put it out there to you. I betroth you to me. I betroth you to me in righteousness, justice, compassion and loving kindness. I betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you will come to know God All right, and now, all right. Melody, thank you. I appreciate you. I can't wait to hear it. We're going to go into we usually will begin with, we'll begin with moda Ani, like the the blessing on Waking up this matovu is also like one of the early blessings. I'm gonna do a tune written by actually a cantor who was a local Cantor here in Chicago, Jeff Klepper, like back in the late 80s and 90s. This is a tune I grew up with, and it's a way of affirming that every place you are is a Mishkan of Israel, is a is a prayer space and a holy space of your people, whether or not it's a synagogue, but that's what a Mishkan is. It's a holy space for our people wherever we are now, You know, mA to

7:30  
mA to Mishkan, Israel, ma To

7:50  
You know,

8:10  
COVID

8:20  
again. Ma

8:37  
to

8:43  
A to

8:52  
Mishkan

9:02  
Oh, oh,

9:22  
so when I was in Jerusalem for all of eight days last week, but it was exactly the eight days that made me miss the Wednesday of minion two weeks in a row. So I'm sorry I missed you, but I'm glad to be back. So on the last day of the trip, it was a very packed trip of mostly just like going to the Hartman Institute and learning and, you know, learning means just like sitting down in a classroom with a bunch of other Rabbi's and having and having whoever the teacher, the instructor was that day, you know, laying out what the learning was going to be, what the theme of it was going to be, and the theme of the. This week of learning was just small concepts in Jewish thought, including peace, truth and justice, just, you know, some like minor just, you know, minor little concepts and and so every day, a scholar from the institute would, you know, basically lay out a bunch of sources, give us some, you know, frameworks to think about, and then send us off to go sit in harvruta in a learning pair and like, work our way through different Jewish sources, Torah, Midrash, Talmud, modern Jewish thought. And then we come back and we talk about it. And so that's what I did for eight days straight. And by the way, if you ever you know, if that sounds good to you, the Harmon Institute actually does like a week long program for lay people in the summer, but so do most of the yeshivas in Jerusalem. Also, there are a couple here, like one in New York. So if you're ever if that sounds interesting to you, doing like serious Jewish learning for some limited period of time, I would love to help you figure that out, because I think it's a real gift. And you walk away feeling, I think, very invigorated and like there's so much more to learn. Anytime you sit down and learn, then you realize how much more there is to learn. So this is what we did all day, every day, and there was not time to do things. You know, usually you take a trip to Israel, and it's like you go sightseeing, you do justice work. You do any number of things. We didn't do most of that, but on the very last day of the trip, there was like two or three hours to maybe get a little bit of shopping done. So I accompanied a friend, female rabbinic colleague like me, who needed to get a new Talis and going to buy a new Tallis in Jerusalem is like, I mean, I don't know how many of you heard my sermon last Friday night, but like, it's not necessarily the most egalitarian Jewish friendly environment. Like you might go into a store and ask to buy a Talib, and they might say to you, who's it for? And then you might say, Me. And then they might say, but you shouldn't wear one. This has happened to basically everybody I know, female, and so many of us have taken to doing things like you go into a store and you say, I'd like to buy a Tallis. And they say, Who's it for? And you say, my brother or my son or my nephew who's becoming Bar Mitzvah. And then they don't give you a hard time. And then you say, Well, can I try it on? And they're like, why do you need to try it on? And they're like, Oh, he's about my size, you know. Anyway, so Sharon, my colleague, decided I'm not gonna lie, you know what? I don't have it in me. And so the young guy, you know, work in the Tallis counter says, who's it for? And she says, me. And he says, and this is a Hebrew word, voila. You know, basically, like, wow. And he doesn't, and not in a sarcastic way, just in a like, really, like, you wear a Tallis. And she said, Yeah. And then she said, I'm a rabbi too. And he goes, Wow. And he's like, wearing a Keith PA, he's clearly religious, and she was just blowing his mind, just by existing, you know. And so this is just just to share with you that some of the stuff that we just take for granted here as normal, everyday Judaism, we've basically come so far in egalitarian process and the process of making our tradition an egalitarian one that our children don't even realize. That a woman wearing a Tallis into fill in and being called rabbi is not completely unprecedented in the Jewish tradition, you know, until about 40 years ago. Anyway. So this guy helps her find a Tallis, and he's just, he's just like, smitten. He's smitten with her. He's smitten with us, like in an intellectual and spiritual way. He's probably like, I don't know, 24 years old, clearly religious and clearly he's never encountered this before, and it was just one of those moments of cultural exchange with your own people that was actually a very positive and life affirming, one where it felt like he walked away having learned something that he was grateful for, and we walked away with a little bit of tikkun healing for an experience that, like every female you know, practitioner of Judaism who has wanted to buy a set of tefillin or a Tallis in Israel, has had, and like A little bit of healing for that, and being like, you know, like a window, window of possibility, of what, you know, sort of real pluralism could look like, you know, anyway, so Wow, that was that, that story took a little bit longer to share than I had intended. But, like, thank you. Susanna, yay, indeed. Um, okay, so I'm going to, I'm gonna fast forward us actually, to schmafta and healing prayer, because I wanted us to look at, I wanted us to look at some of the stuff from this week's Torah portion. Um, oh, I'm reading from Irene, similar to the post of women from the wall going. Barrel on Facebook, where a religious Chabad person said it was okay for women to wear to fill in. You know, what? Freaking Rashi says it's okay for women to wear to fill in. You know, like the Chabad people didn't invent this. It's like the 1000 years ago Rashi was saying it. And I think even in the Talmud, there's a there's a debate about it. And, you know, one of the top, you know, one of the guys is like, I don't think so. And one of the guys is like, but why? It's fine. Okay, so moving on. I'm gonna move down to schma. Voila. All right, here we go.

My goodness, okay, all right, so if you are wearing a teliz, I want to invite you to gather the four corners of your seat seat together and hold them in one hand. This past this past week, we did a be mitzvah rehearsal with a kid who, for the first time, was putting on their their talus for the first time and kind of learning how to pray using this Jewish prayer garb. And they said, Wait, so I don't understand. I'm sorry. I'm supposed to put, I'm supposed to hold all the seat seat in my hands. He said, but I don't have four hands. I only, I only have two hands. So do I put them in both hands? And we said, no, no, you take all four TSI, and you put them in one hand, oh, and then they're like hunting around for all four of them. And then you have to be able to bring them up to your eyes, to hold them over your eyes, embodying all of the all of the disparate parts and pieces, all the fragmentation that we bring together. Keith had as one as we name and say that we believe that everything fundamentally is a unity, is one, all right, so take a moment close your eyes. If you have your Tallis, you know, pull the TSI toward you, and if not just gather yourself. Take a few deep breaths. You

17:06  
she

17:21  
though Hey, no,

17:38  
they are half to eight. Adonai Aloha, the whole of our REME a share I know he mitzava shenan Tom Levana COVID sheep to Rabbi Taha over left, ahava Derek over shock Bucha, love

18:16  
Adonai your power, with all your courage, With all your passion, with all your strength. Let these teachings, which I enjoin to you today, guide you and enter your heart. See that your children understand them, speak about them when you're settled in your home, when at work in the world, when you lie down and when you rise up, tie them as a witness to the work of your hands. See through them as they form a front lip between your eyes pass through them as they frame the places of your passage. And you shall love yourself, for you are a spark of the divine. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And you shall love the stranger, for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt. Let love fill your heart for all being I call on heaven and earth to witness before you today, life and death that I have set before you, the blessing and the curse. Choose life so that you and your children may live source of being and the power of all your powers by heeding the voice and joining the one for the eternal is your very life and the Infinite is the fullness of your days, thus you will become aware and carry all the divine direction you receive from the one and your lives will be bound into the holiness and the power within you. I am the divine that drove you to leave the land of bondage to become your power. I am the infinite your power in truth. And we read that like every single day, actually, that's part of the liturgy. But it's only once a year is it part of where we are in the story of the Torah. Because, as we read about the Exodus right now, we just came out from parting the Red Sea, we're on the other side of it. And this, this week's Torah portion, of course, is the 10 Commandments the week right afterwards. Yeah. That's a beautiful interpretation, right? Gail, it's really, it's really lovely. Okay, the only thing I don't love about this particular seed door is it doesn't have the healing prayers that we often do in this place, in this place, in our in our seed, or we put them here. You know what I will well, we'll use mija Mocha, as we often do, as a healing prayer this morning. So if there's anybody you're thinking about today who needs a prayer, who needs to be carried through something hard, somebody who is sick or suffering, heartbroken, in recovery, struggling with mental health, struggling with employment, even, yes, federal employees and contractors. Thank you seeing everybody on irene's list. Irene's extraordinary list of healing and prayer, which includes, really everyone in this Minion room and everybody you're praying for, including all of your mamas, Scott and Sherry, Beth and Ron. Linda. Hi is all about Miriam Andren, Charlotte, Jacob, Bucha, bird, Sara and Becky, Kim, Mindy, Nancy, Susanna, Aiden, Gilbert, green, all right, and you all can continue. Can continue down this list here. Abra Hashem, Noah, my dad's out of surgery and as well on the mend. Good, everyone you're thinking about here, even if I haven't said the names, and if you continue to write and speak them after, I begin to play great before, and a prayer for healing to every single one of

21:40  
them. Mohoshe, Moshe, Maryam, Israel, Miha

21:54  
Moha Bailey, Madonna, Mika Moha na dab, Codd no Rabbi,

22:30  
who?

22:41  
Dave,

23:00  
all right, I

23:20  
am transitioning into a little bit of Torah study, but I have to admit that as I was beginning to think about Torah study, I couldn't help but think about the 10 Commandments. And when I say the 10 Commandments, this will not surprise you. Hold please, thinking about, well,

this

23:59  
Moses went to the mountain, and God spoke unto him,

24:05  
sorry for this. Moses, this is the Lord thy God commanding you to obey my law. Do you hear me? Yes, I hear you. I hear you. A deaf man could hear you. What? Nothing. Garnished. Forget it. Oh, Lord, why have you chosen me? What did you have me do for you? I shall give you my laws, and you shall take them unto the people. Yes, Lord, what?

24:43  
Lord, I shall give these laws unto thy people. Hear me. Oh. Hear me. All. Pay heed the Lord, the Lord Jehovah has given unto you these 15 the. Like 1010, commandments for all to obey.

25:09  
So, of course, that is how it happened, my friends. So good, right? Is there anybody for whom that was the first time you were seeing this? Oh, my God. Oh my god. Well, okay, so obviously, well, not obviously, but what this was making fun of, like the whole Mel Brooks, I mean, it's at the it's from the history of the world, right? So are the history of the world part one. So what it what that's make, what that scene is making fun of or playing off of, is what I'm going to show you now, slightly longer, um, which is the scene from the Charlton Heston movie The 10 Commandments, much more serious and earnest. Um, but which is an interpretation really? I mean, because any attempt to put the Bible on the big screen, you know, and and portray it visually is an interpretation. There is so there are so few clues in the Bible, you know, it for, like, what, what exactly happened here, you know. And I just, I want to show you this. I want to show you the where. Oh, here's Exodus. Okay, there's so few clues for if you were to make a movie of this scene, what did it look like? So we're in parsha yetro. I'm kind of picking up here in the middle of chapter 19, okay, and Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for God had come just notice the up and down here, by the way, the use of the language of up and down. For God had come down upon it in fire and smoke rose like the smoke of the kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. And the blare of the horn, by the way, Cole shofar grew louder and louder and louder. And as Moses spoke, God answer him, God answered him. Bucha, which means in a voice. You'll notice here, vaihi, kol hashofar, the sound of the shofar. It's a sound. Kol, in Hebrew, means voice. And then over here, they're translating it as thunder. So God answered him in thunder. But it also, that's an interpretation. It also just means a sound like Moses. You know, the what we saw with Mel Brooks and God, it wasn't necessarily words, but it was some kind of exchange of communication. And it was clear that God was speaking in some kind of a sound. What kind of sound? We don't know. All right, they're saying thunder, okay? And God came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain, and God called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And God said to Moses, Go down, warn the people not to break through to God to gaze, lest many of them perish. The priests also who come near to God must stay pure, lest God break out against them. Okay, we could. We could spend hours, and once we turn off the recording and and close minion out, I'm happy to do that like there's so much going on here. It's so weird, all right, but Moses says to God, the people can't come up to Mount Sinai. You already told us, set mountain. Said bounds around the mountain and sanctify it like God said, keep them away. It's going to be dangerous. And the people, they said were scared, so they didn't come close. So God's like, Moses is like, remember, God, you actually already said that. So what are you talking about? And God said to him, okay, fine, go back down. Come back with Aaron, but don't let the priest or the people break through. Up to God list, God break out against them. And Moses went down to the people and spoke to them the year. And Moshe vayomer, alejam, and spoke to them. And then you get via bar Elohim, el Harima Eli more, God spoke all these words, saying, and you get the 10 Commandments. Okay, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. That's commandment number one. It's not exactly a commandment, although my rabbi, right, like, is it a commandment? Sort of an announcement. It's like an introduction. My Rabbi always said, growing up, that was a statement of God, saying, I'm God, not you. Number two, you will have no other gods besides me. Three, three, you will not make yourself a sculptured image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above or the earth below or the waters underneath. Basically, don't make, don't carve graven images. Number four, well, actually, this is part of the same thing. Don't bow down to them or serve them. I the LORD your God. Am an impassioned God, a jealous god visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, the third and fourth generation of those who reject me. So God's also reminding us the consequences of not obeying, but shows kindness to the 1,000th generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments. God has a longer memory. God is saying for our good deeds. You will not swear falsely by the name of your God. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Zach horith. Show Zach hor. We're going to see it. It's it's different than the other set of the 10 Commandments in Devarim and Deuteronomy, when Moses remembers having said the 10 Commandments, he uses a different word, shamor Guard, the holy Sabbath. And so that's why, why? One of the reasons we say we have two Shabbat candles for each one of the different ways that Shabbat is described in the Torah. Okay, right? And you get this whole thing. This is kiddish, by the way. She should come left taka. Anyway, you have all of Kiddush in here. Fine Honor your father and mother COVID, and then, boom, boom, boom, boom, do not murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal, don't bear false witness against your neighbor. Don't cover your neighbor's house or their wife or their slave or their ox or as or anything that is your neighbors. And then all the people the people, the Cole Ha, am ro e metta colos everyone saw and witnessed the thunder and the lightning, but also the voices, the voice the blare of the horn, the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance. Okay? And then, and then they keep going. And then the story keeps going. But it's a really like kind of strange insertion of the 10 Commandments in this very chaotic, kind of terrifying scene. Anyway, there's so much to talk about there. I thought. I thought, Well, we're here in on this. I would show you the other, the other representation of this here. So this is also an equally not amazing YouTube clip here. So here we go. This is from the Charlton Heston version of the movie

31:56  
from the burning bush. Oh, Lord, you charged me to bring the people to this holy mountain to behold your Glory and receive your law. What have I left undone?

32:20  
I am. I am the Lord thy God. Have no

32:30  
other gods before me. God

32:38  
not make unto thee any religion. Any take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

32:53  
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it

33:02  
holy honor. Thy

33:19  
father and thy mother. Thou shalt not heal, Thou shalt

33:21  
not commit adultery. False

33:35  
witness against thy neighbor and those

33:40  
do

33:44  
not covet anything that is thy neighbor. Oh.

34:16  
Written with the finger of God and

34:29  
go get me down for thy people have corrupted them.

34:43  
All right,

34:45  
I cannot wait to discuss this. We are going to say mourners coddish, because it's 837, and then I'm very happy to discuss how, how revelation is represented. And. I know so so much whatever, whatever might be on your mind, after seeing all those representations of Revelation, but having learned a little something, and because it is the end of our time together, officially, I want to make sure we do caddy Chateau mourners, Scottish. So pausing who this morning might we be honoring in Kadisha to mourners, coddish,

35:26  
my aunt Nancy Jacobson, my uncle Sheldon tobalski,

35:32  
my sister in law, Holly, my sister Oh, my sister Joan I

35:46  
anybody else?

35:52  
Nathan Pollock, mark near love, Brandon Silva, Leah siasco, Taylor, le camp, Roberta lead

36:03  
is there anybody who would like to lead us in Kaddish this morning?

36:11  
Nobody else wants to lead. I can lead. Please feel free to join me. Yes, good doll, the iska dash may Rabbi, bialma, divra, Say, vi amlik, Mark, who say, Bucha. Rabbi,

36:41  
oh. Amen,

37:00  
am Iran, V Alma, vmru, amen, amen, yeah, hey, shalama, Rabbi Amen, Shamaya, Bucha, alainu v al call, yes, for El VM Amen, Amen. O se Shalom. BIM, romav Huya ASA, shalom. Alainu, vilcayas for El via, call your table. Vmru, a main, a

37:23  
main, a main, may all of their memories be blessings. And Carla, what a what a recent and sad loss. Yeah,

37:33  
I was a main character. So, yeah, do

37:39  
you want to tell us anything? You want to share anything about her?

37:43  
She was blind and had a lot of health issues, and she lived in DC, I mean, William Fredericksburg, Virginia. And so I was going back and forth a lot, and I had set up all the services, and then, like, she so she had people with her, and then she died within a week. So it was kind of, but, yeah, so it's, you know, it's just been a lot. But okay, and I, I can reach out to you too. Thank you, yeah, but I want to be here today.

38:26  
Oh, I'm so sorry. And this was your husband's sister,

38:29  
yes, but I was the one who did all that, taking care of so, yeah, but she, she, you know, was a force of nature, and she had a big support group there. So thank you. All right,

38:49  
you know what? I'm going to play us out with an Osei Shalom prayer for peace, and then turn off the recording. And then anybody wants to stick around and talk about the 10 Commandments, or anything else is welcome. Let's see

39:04  
Oh se

39:11  
Shalom BIM Roman de a, Ko yo, Schnabel, a, me,

39:35  
Shalom a, nei, no, me, a, me,

39:56  
sending up a prayer for peace to the world.

40:13  
I

40:18  
know they Shalom.

40:41  
I mean, I.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai