Come On In, Pharoah

Today's Morning Minyan features a teaching by Rabbi Shefa Gold as well as the songs "Modeh Ani" by Omer Adam and “I'm Not Alone” by Aly Halpert.

https://www.rabbishefagold.com/bo/

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.

https://mishkan.shulcloud.com/form/reg-morning-minyan-evergreen

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

Transcript

Transcript

00:00:00:10 - 00:00:23:20
Unknown
Okay. I'm going to be a grandmother. All right. So that's that's my exciting, important update. Yay! Bisha I Tovar. This is an important this is like, an important blessing everybody should know. When somebody's pregnant or somebody's expecting something exciting that hasn't happened yet. You don't pre. Mazel tov. You say the chateau vase. So repeat after me. The chateau.

00:00:23:21 - 00:00:45:15
Unknown
That. Me too. Should I say. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's it's for your family, so you could just accept the blessing, which means, like, may everything happen at the right time, in the right way. You know, and, yeah, you know, on the journey that your family is on the chateau. Far may be a good journey. Thanks. Okay. Yeah.

00:00:45:17 - 00:01:16:17
Unknown
All right. I discovered a new mode at Une this morning. That kind of, the the vibe of it kind of encapsulated, something very different than the usual tunes that we use for modern. So I'm going to. I'm going to put it up. You should know, the sounds you're hearing are kind of a combination of Mizrahi, like Arab, you know, sort of like non Ashkenazi Jewish musical sounds.

00:01:16:17 - 00:01:42:13
Unknown
The, singer, prey or leader is an Israeli singer named Omer Adam. It's a very well known, Israeli musician. And the translation will be up on the screen. So you can see the translation. Let it kind of carry you through the feelings of gratitude this morning, for you know, that that are kind of implicit in Moderna or Moderna.

00:01:42:15 - 00:02:03:17
Unknown
But, let him take you through all of that with his, you know, he he articulates that kind of phrase by phrase, and let's see how that feels. All right. Here we are.

00:02:03:19 - 00:02:11:13
Unknown
Oh.

00:02:11:15 - 00:02:48:04
Unknown
One more down here. Cornball vocal segues on the theme on the On Me and Bhagat Sena. That goofy cello really gotta show me the line. More than he can walk. And I know I'll let him in. Your theme on the on the I let him chin up tall issues I need to know why. And I have to know and I can I.

00:02:48:06 - 00:03:31:17
Unknown
I landfall cuz I'm on there I need a kiss on earth I fell conceal I am cool, I'm like this. Like on the left hand I left the same on the new make up that gets up left. Up in the seams, up. And this guy, a guy up with, guy. Let's, me be the thought of me like I had kind of like, I,

00:03:31:19 - 00:03:36:18
Unknown
Under the. So the.

00:03:36:20 - 00:04:05:08
Unknown
More down you go vocal goes. Hey, I love me believe me more than me I'll get you shine I thought I missed note I don't let off I ain't no. But I left I no I know the highly of a man. Oh come on down here I'm seven. What's up love me spice I can't leave a crease. Walk up the left I'm down.

00:04:05:08 - 00:04:50:17
Unknown
It's up to more than I need. Is, you know it's up less, up. It seems, any guy. Guy, that, guy I messed, be the one that thought. I feel like I guy up and left. Guy light up the way. The truth is one. But in the rest of the world, never run on a contest.

00:04:50:17 - 00:05:41:01
Unknown
No. No time on the knee. Like summertime. Cannot you mention I am cooler over the day. And I can't believe it. Luckily, some tell me never to. Let's, be seems, Hey, let's I think I think, guy, let's, Maybe that one. I feel like like I, look like, right up. Okay, okay, okay.

00:05:41:03 - 00:05:52:12
Unknown
Was there anything in there? Anybody sort of was moved to be inspired to be grateful for this morning?

00:05:52:14 - 00:06:11:11
Unknown
I love that that they were saying that I, I cry for this because I just literally keep having tears coming out, like putting my prayer shawl on. And I keep it for the first time in the morning minyan. And then the fact that he brought up like, you know, it's not always just for the things that we think are good in life, that we that we praise Hashem for.

00:06:11:12 - 00:06:24:21
Unknown
But even things that like, seem like obstacles or challenges are also here for me for a reason. And I really appreciated that. Thanks, Marina.

00:06:24:23 - 00:06:52:07
Unknown
Yeah. All right. Well, I'm going to actually move forward. There were so many, sort of hidden, like Easter eggs, if you want to call it that. Passover eggs of, prayers from Bear Cortazar. And look at his amrabat verse sections of the morning prayer service, like the background singers were kind of like taking us through the beginning of the morning service.

00:06:52:09 - 00:07:09:18
Unknown
So I don't know if you caught that. I obviously want to go back and listen to it and try and discover those little Passover eggs. You can, but I feel like we have been brought all the way forward to our battle. So if people want to, stand or sit up a little straighter, I invite you to join me in that.

00:07:09:20 - 00:07:16:13
Unknown
Go ahead and unmute so that we can have the back and forth of it.

00:07:16:15 - 00:07:45:08
Unknown
Turn and face east if that's the direction that you can face. Oh, and just take a moment to notice the the difference in feeling from, you know, the posture you were just in sitting to standing or, you know, slouching to or sitting up straight. Take a nice deep breath in, maybe take a few.

00:07:45:10 - 00:08:15:11
Unknown
Very. Whoo that I don't. I never, oh, I love them, but, Ruth, I don't know. I never asked you them, but, take a seat that I don't know anything about them. Your chair or over there. Whole. Shalom, Weaver. Air tackle and the air. That's right. For that, I mean, Tiffany Haddish has to meet my savior.

00:08:15:11 - 00:08:53:19
Unknown
A sheet or I'll contact you of any material role. Now, Hurtado. Nyota Hammett wrote column. Alluvium column. The ream column. People ream the column. Shadow. Shame. There's this whole section about the angels that gets repeated again during the Amida. You know, the angels going up and down on their cute little legs saying Kadosh, kadosh, Kadosh. And we often skip over it here because it's sort of like what we do it again in the Amida, but we often also skip the Amida to spend more time in the first part of the service.

00:08:53:21 - 00:09:14:15
Unknown
And the learning we're going to do later is about this. This week's Torah portion, which begins with the word bow, which means come. And it's just a strange word to use because it's God saying come, but he's saying, Come to Pharaoh. And so there's this whole question of wait a second, like, well, where is God in the story?

00:09:14:15 - 00:09:37:01
Unknown
Is God with Pharaoh? And so as we will, as we will read, if God is everywhere, then God is with Pharaoh and Moses and Aaron. But there's no such thing as like God is here, but not there. And so we got all these angels all around us. Cool Lama who? Veeam. Columbarium. Calamity, barium calamity. Hashem. All of them loved all of them.

00:09:37:05 - 00:09:55:15
Unknown
Sort of clear. Having a purpose. All of them having power. And strength. All of them holy. And the question is, how do we meet them? How do we how do we go up on the balls of our feet, and gather them into a minion and turn them into an army of goodness and kindness? All those angels.

00:09:55:17 - 00:10:13:02
Unknown
So we'll we'll do a little bit of learning around that later, but take all of that into I have that rabbi. I have to know such powerful, unending love that we are surrounded by all those angels, even the ones we're not quite sure what to do with. Even the ones we know are they love. Really? Is this love?

00:10:13:02 - 00:10:30:15
Unknown
Is this an expression of love? And the question is, how do we how do we do what? Omer Adam said, like, how do we say this to is for my benefit? Well, I'm not being a doormat, you know? All right.

00:10:30:17 - 00:10:46:15
Unknown
So we'll do the chant version of this for have. And so from your end of the computer, and I can stay muted, because it'll get messy, but feel free to do the back and forth with me.

00:10:46:17 - 00:11:04:14
Unknown
And I, I'm curious. Like, what's the hardest to feel like? It's an expression of love. And for your benefit, that's part of life right now. Just the reality. And it's just it is what is happening. But it's not welcome. It's not something you would have chosen.

00:11:04:16 - 00:11:15:06
Unknown
But how can we experience it as a favorable expression of God's all encompassing love goddesses?

00:11:15:08 - 00:11:22:18
Unknown
Over whelming womb of love, Rahim, Rahim, Eleanor.

00:11:22:20 - 00:11:52:13
Unknown
To meditate on that as we go back and forth, have, I have I have, I have

00:11:52:15 - 00:11:56:04
Unknown
I know,

00:11:56:06 - 00:12:16:04
Unknown
Have, Have I have, I have,

00:12:16:06 - 00:12:45:02
Unknown
But, new. Have, I have, I have,

00:12:45:04 - 00:12:54:20
Unknown
But, go home.

00:12:54:22 - 00:13:15:07
Unknown
So, to, I just, both share them. Oh, Israel. The, the the,

00:13:15:08 - 00:13:29:00
Unknown
Who invites us to choose love? Yes. Gather the four corners of our seats. It.

00:13:29:02 - 00:13:38:13
Unknown
Hold them in one hand while we close our eyes. Cover our eyes with these two. See him?

00:13:38:15 - 00:13:52:02
Unknown
All of those different fragments and angels and things that are welcome. And things that are unwelcome. That we hold, that I have, that as one.

00:13:52:04 - 00:13:57:19
Unknown
And as part of the oneness.

00:13:57:20 - 00:14:02:11
Unknown
Shimmer.

00:14:02:13 - 00:14:13:09
Unknown
Yes. Don't.

00:14:13:11 - 00:14:18:15
Unknown
Hello, angel.

00:14:18:17 - 00:14:28:00
Unknown
Don't.

00:14:28:01 - 00:14:32:22
Unknown
Tell him I'm glad.

00:14:32:23 - 00:15:00:05
Unknown
I there I have to, eight I don't I know the whole the whole love shack. How may they have you had very may their share. I know he, I yo my love of the shine and, the the the departed. The shift they will will have to have a come a short term little Talia.

00:15:00:07 - 00:15:27:09
Unknown
The how, you little devil. It's been a nurse. All could have to, Amazo to beat, be he Chavez. Okay. As you might be able to tell, I'm, relying a lot on using other people's music for some of our singing. As I'm about to do in a moment here with, healing prayer for us.

00:15:27:11 - 00:15:52:07
Unknown
And that's because I can't tell right now if what I've got going on in the respiratory system is a cold or this is a call back to last week. If the espresso maker that I got over the winter holiday and my new habit of making, like an espresso every morning, even if it's half caff, is like messing with my voice, and I'm going to be sad if it's the second thing.

00:15:52:07 - 00:16:14:15
Unknown
But it's possible. So I don't know. I have to do a little bit more experimenting. In the meantime, we get to listen to the beautiful Ali Halpert and Anat Hochberg sing. I'm Not Alone. Which is going to be our channeling our healing prayer this morning. And so if there are people that you are thinking about who you don't want to feel alone, you want them to know that you're praying for them.

00:16:14:17 - 00:16:21:01
Unknown
You want to connect with them in this moment. So put their name in the chat or say their name.

00:16:21:03 - 00:16:29:02
Unknown
Trudy's got an opinion about the espresso maker. Thank you.

00:16:29:04 - 00:16:45:23
Unknown
All right. Shayne. So on Meredith, to let everybody in this minyan and everybody in your extended networks and your families. Scott, Joe and Nancy. Okay. And a brand, Jana Schmidt. All right. Lena. Lecture. And so, you know.

00:16:46:01 - 00:16:54:18
Unknown
Oh, Ricky, don't even get me started on the Mushroom Club. That's part of the whole routine, okay? It's like it's all. It's all in the cup.

00:16:54:20 - 00:17:17:04
Unknown
But I don't think it's that because that wasn't bothering me. The only thing that's really changed is the espresso maker. All right. Oh. Thank you, Delia. It's very nice of you to pray for my health and healing. Maybe I have a cold, and maybe I just have a espresso voice. It's just me. Espresso. All right, so, we're gonna be serious now.

00:17:17:09 - 00:17:29:01
Unknown
All right? Let's do all that love, love energy to all these folks. And let me put this up on the screen here. Oh.

00:17:29:03 - 00:18:13:09
Unknown
Here we go. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone, I'm not alone. I forgot for a minute who I belong to. The mama and the wind and rain.

00:18:13:10 - 00:18:55:08
Unknown
The beauty and the bay I'm not alone. For me, the world was created I'm not alone. To dust I will return. I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not I began to form. And I who I belong to the now I'm an earth of the wind and rain.

00:18:55:09 - 00:19:31:01
Unknown
The beauty and the fame. I'm not alone here. For me, the world was created I'm not alone to dust I will, I try not to do I alone are not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm up.

00:19:31:03 - 00:19:47:16
Unknown
I'm.

00:19:47:18 - 00:19:52:20
Unknown
Not.

00:19:52:22 - 00:20:30:02
Unknown
I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone I'm not alone, I'm not alone. I forgot to form. In and out of who I belong to. And I am, I am, I am honoring her beauty and loving. I'm not alone, I love me. The world was created. I'm not alone.

00:20:30:02 - 00:21:07:11
Unknown
And I to dust I will. It's time I forgot another minute. Not who I belong to. Another mama. Earth, the wind and rain. The beauty and the pain I'm not alone. I'm happy for me. The world was created I'm not alone to dust I will. It's mine. You here at Sun Mill for I don't know. Hello? Hey, Novello.

00:21:07:11 - 00:21:40:01
Unknown
Hey. I've gotten over emotional shit to repay that Colonna shame. She's kind of high on me. The Holy One who took care of our ancestors. Take care of all the people on your lists here. And especially people who are living in fear and anxiety about the present and future. May they be accompanied by your presence and by the presence of loving people who channel your presence.

00:21:40:03 - 00:21:47:00
Unknown
May they know that they are not alone. I mean.

00:21:47:01 - 00:22:07:14
Unknown
Yeah, I mentioned this the other night, but, there's an enormous gathering in Minneapolis of clergy. But, I mean, like, I don't know, I don't know on whose, other list I'm on. The on the clergy list serves. I don't know what other professions are all descending on Minneapolis, but the clergy one is, like, sold out. They're like, don't actually, like, at this point.

00:22:07:16 - 00:22:26:01
Unknown
Like we're we're at capacity for the clergy that we can accommodate. And so now, if, I mean, if you want to help send people, there's yeah. There follow up on clergy. Exactly. There's a waiting list, which is incredible. Absolutely incredible because it's about to be like negative ten degrees there. And so now the conversation on the list that I'm on is like up high.

00:22:26:01 - 00:22:48:06
Unknown
I'm coming in from, Tennessee. What should I wear? You know, like, what's the right kind of clothes for Minnesota in the winter? The people are people are really serious. Everything you own, Suzanne. It. Yeah, exactly. I was they said at the Waldorf school when we when we visit in 1st February morning with our, like two and a half year old and it was freezing out and we were like, how do you guys do this?

00:22:48:06 - 00:23:09:12
Unknown
We stepped we stood outside with them like while we toured the school because it was just it happened to be recess. And the teacher just very lovingly looked at Henry and I said, well, we don't believe there's bad weather, only bad clothes. We were like, okay, okay. Anyway, refresh them to everybody on your lists here. All right.

00:23:09:14 - 00:23:32:01
Unknown
Do a quick pivot. Do a quick pivot to actually look at a little bit of Torah here. Unless anybody else has any observations, thoughts, comments thus far. I'll show you the beginning of this week's Torah portion, which happens to be the anniversary of my Bat mitzvah.

00:23:32:03 - 00:24:09:09
Unknown
32 years ago this weekend. Yeah. So, this was the kind of enigmatic line that I mentioned before, but, you know, I'm there, I don't I I'm a shab. Al paro kiani, party athlete. Both that live out of dab lemon tea. Oh don't I a let Alia back here bow. So God says to Moses, this is a terrible translation already even this first line, Go to Pharaoh.

00:24:09:10 - 00:24:28:14
Unknown
No, it does not. There's a different word for bow. It says come. Bow is come, come this way. Come toward me. Love is go. That's not what it says. It says, bow el Paro, come towards Pharaoh. Because I had hardened his heart in the hearts of his courtiers, that I may display my signs and wonders among them.

00:24:28:16 - 00:24:52:22
Unknown
And so the whole conversation in the in the commentary over here on the right is like this precise question. What does it go get Eric. Excuse me. Come. This is mean. Come. Come to Pharaoh. So. All right, Rabbi, a gold is the particular teacher who I think goes directly into this. You know, some of the psychology.

00:24:52:22 - 00:25:13:22
Unknown
I mean, there are a lot of great Hasidic teachers who do the same. But I feel like she just puts it succinctly and, and goes right there. So I think we've talked about her book before, our Torah journeys. We'll be holding it up here. Torah journeys. But you can find all of the pieces of the book online.

00:25:13:22 - 00:25:43:06
Unknown
So, so she has a blessing, and then she has a challenge, like the spiritual challenge. And so we're just going to look at that. So the blessing I'm just going to read this out loud here. The blessing of bow is our freedom. We finally take that first step out of the narrow spaces of meets rhyme and become conscious journeys touched by the dream of awakening.

00:25:43:08 - 00:26:08:21
Unknown
Freedom in our tradition is not merely freedom from freedom from oppression, servitude, suffering. It's freedom to freedom to be in direct relationship with God our liberator. Being in that relationship means serving the one, the whole, the Holy. Our freedom depends on this servitude. So now I'm just going to pause for a minute and say, sometimes people are bothered by this idea.

00:26:09:03 - 00:26:27:06
Unknown
It's like, wait a second. We came out of serving Pharaoh just to serve God. That doesn't seem fair or like, wait a second, we're like, still in a relationship of servitude. But it's like Bob Dylan said, you know, everybody's got to serve somebody. So the question is, what are you who are you serving? Like, what is I mean, Martin Luther King, right?

00:26:27:06 - 00:26:54:21
Unknown
He's like, we can all be a hero because we can all serve, you know, like the whole obsession with self care. Of course we should take care of ourselves. But for what purpose? How can we be of service? Okay, so that's got to be an invitation. That's like the the goal of humanity. All right. At the beginning of the portion, going back into the text, God speaks to Moses, the prophet within us and says, Bo, come on in.

00:26:54:23 - 00:27:19:12
Unknown
I'm waiting for you inside the heart of Pharaoh, the heart of Pharaoh. Guess where it is. It's inside you. It's in the place that has grown heavy with the weight of life's experience. It's the place that has hardened its outer shell cynical, its inner layers made of fear and unhealed grief. Through this heart of Pharaoh, you must come if you are to know me.

00:27:19:14 - 00:27:23:22
Unknown
And if you are to find freedom.

00:27:24:00 - 00:27:40:23
Unknown
I can't wait to discuss this with you later, but I want to, like, get through this before we do, there's a story about some jealous angels who are asked to hide the spark of the divine in the world. Let's put it atop the highest mountain. Offers one. No, it says another. The human being is very ambitious. You will definitely find it there.

00:27:41:01 - 00:28:06:02
Unknown
Okay, let's bury it in the deeper sea. Now, that won't work either. The human is very resourceful. She will find it there, too. And after a moment's thought, the wisest angel says, I know. Put it inside the human heart. They will never look there. And so the spark of God is hidden in the heart of Pharaoh, where we are kept out by the heaviness that has accumulated, the hardness that we meant for our protection.

00:28:06:04 - 00:28:30:13
Unknown
Call back to, you know, where we've talked about, internal family systems in the past, right? Like a calcification, a hardening, an armor that we built up for good reason at some previous point in our lives is now the barrier between us and, you know, the expansive experience of God and liberation. Sometimes that spark will speak to us from within and say, hey, bow, come on in.

00:28:30:15 - 00:28:51:22
Unknown
I have been waiting for you for so very long. When we come through the heart of Pharaoh and enter into those depths within, the blessing we receive is freedom and protection from the angel of death, whose only realm is the surface of things. We are called into consciousness during a little shimmering. This is in the text, a night of watching, a night of vigilance.

00:28:52:00 - 00:29:38:17
Unknown
We're blessed with a ritual, celebration and renewal so that we can be blessed so that we can re-experience the miracle of freedom with a feast of unleavened bread. Matzo represents our essential self before it is leavened with ego. So again, for folks who are into ifs and you know, that sort of idea of their being an essential core that is essentially good and kind and generous and creative and, you know, loving and you know that, like underneath the defensiveness, the fear, the anxiety, the, you know, addiction, like all of the reactions to which come from a very understandable place in all of our lives for all of the things we've been through.

00:29:38:20 - 00:30:09:19
Unknown
But inside of that is this sort of like pulsating, radiating core of God consciousness of love that's just waiting to be liberated. And so what they're saying is that's what the matzo actually represents. I know it's crunchy. I know it's constipated, but actually, like, that's what the matzo represents before it's leavened, you know, with ego. Okay, I want to I recognizing that it's 832 I want to pause so we can say Kaddish at home.

00:30:09:19 - 00:30:29:14
Unknown
Mourners. Kaddish for the learning we have done. But then I want to come back to what the spiritual challenge is here. So that we can so that we can talk about it. And, you know, take this as a kind of, marching orders for the week. I'll stop the share for a moment and pivoting again, I feel like that's what minyan is.

00:30:29:14 - 00:30:57:10
Unknown
Just a little series of pivots. Before we go into Kaddish. Chateau mourner, Scottish. I want to welcome Andy Jacobs to our minyan. And, Andy, do you want to let us know? Kind of like where you are and what is happening in your life that has brought you into this minyan? Yeah. Thank. Thank you. So my dad, Dick Jacobs, died, a week ago Sunday at, at 95.

00:30:57:12 - 00:31:30:21
Unknown
And, honestly, it surprised us all because he was vital and sharp and funny and and he was still working for his clients the day he died. Still funny and kind. And I was thinking about him as you were just talking, because when dad had an uncanny ability to see the good in people and to respect them, and, you know, his life was one of bringing, legitimately bringing kindness to the world.

00:31:30:21 - 00:32:03:06
Unknown
It was an active thing. He was just an unusual man. And so, you know, we're so grateful for, you know, for what he gave us and feeling very lucky and, and struggling that the kid. Yeah. You want to say his name and his Hebrew name, if you know it. Yeah. Ruffle Lee. That's my dad's name. And, dad, attended an Orthodox show.

00:32:03:08 - 00:32:28:22
Unknown
He loved con and, you know, he was, this incredibly liberal feminist who loved the traditions of Judaism. And so, and I remember, you know, I was 16, his mom died, and she was also this just wonderful source of light in people's lives. And, dad, you know, dad went to minyan every day for the 11 months.

00:32:28:22 - 00:32:52:05
Unknown
And he said, I'm doing this for me. This is my mother wouldn't there's not an obligation. This is something that I do to celebrate and remember. And so, you know, and he did it on his terms. And, you know, I think I'm honoring him, in, in that same way. And I know my, my three brothers are doing the same.

00:32:52:07 - 00:33:17:05
Unknown
Well, yeah. He's different. Olivera. May his memory be a great blessing for you, for your brothers, for your mom, for your whole New Haven community. I mean, it sounds like he just the the ripples of his kindness and going out of his way for people in ways that were creative, legal, you know, resourceful, had many.

00:33:17:07 - 00:33:44:20
Unknown
But, you know, the ripples go beyond the individuals whose names, you know, because that affects. Right, etc.. I thank you, and I will share that on a days notice, more than 500 people came, showed up for my dad's funeral, and everyone had a story of a kindness of a difference he made. And so it was really it was quite humbling and not surprising, which was kind of a kind of a crazy thing for us all.

00:33:44:20 - 00:34:04:01
Unknown
So amazing. You all are going to get, an email for those of you who are builders in the community, who I think are most of you, you'll get an email soon describing, you know, some of his life. And you know what he did, how he made those impacts with just a little, little window into it.

00:34:04:01 - 00:34:29:16
Unknown
Anyway, thank you for giving us just, a little bit of a sense of who was, and in this minion, you are, you don't know, you know who's who yet, but you're surrounded by people who have also lost fathers in the past year, as it turns out, or or longer than that. But, you know, who came into this meant fathers, mothers, people who they love very much.

00:34:29:21 - 00:35:00:23
Unknown
So, for all of the people whose names have been mentioned here, and there are many Dave Sufi and Marcia Pepper, Rabbi Roy, Walter, Tom, John Boyd, Ken Brett, Doctor Rivka Taub, Barry Kos, Andrew Clark, Roberta Lieb, Theresa Hart and Herb Weintraub, and Alex Haley and anybody else are you thinking about this morning? May all of their memories be blessings.

00:35:01:01 - 00:35:08:14
Unknown
Is there anybody who would like to lead us and got us?

00:35:08:16 - 00:35:30:21
Unknown
I can do it. Thanks. To Canal. We get asked to me, Rabbi. I mean, am I different here? TV? I'm a breakdown of your mission. Okay? To beat Israel by a gala? This might carry the same route. A man.

00:35:30:23 - 00:35:56:01
Unknown
On the ground level. I hear you people ask Timothy about RV it Roman, Vietnam. Say it had RV at Halevy. At Hillel. Schmid could have shared recently a whole villa in Colby, Derbyshire at Too smart to have an amateur dam. Iran. Myanmar. The imu a man to man. Hey, I'm a rabbi means my, became a millennial.

00:35:56:01 - 00:36:24:07
Unknown
They'll call you for asking Imam a station LMB. Mahmoud who? Yeah. I Elena. Yeah, I'll tell you. So how are you gonna say to them? I mean, I mean, man, this is my last Wednesday minyan. That I'll be saying Kaddish for my dad. It's been a whole year. Monday is my Hebrew calendar. It now is the year.

00:36:24:09 - 00:36:50:10
Unknown
Month. Wow. I was just remembering Melanie. The Shiva in Hyde Park. What did we sing? We sang some secular song that was, like, so meaningful. Sound of silence. Sound of silence. That's what it was. And it was a very unique Shiva for that reason. And it was great. I just remember you forgot to tell everyone to open their eyes after the Sharma.

00:36:50:12 - 00:37:15:11
Unknown
That's right. And it was like a minion full of not Jewish people. And so they were just trying to be respectful at like four minutes later, I was like, oh guys, yeah, you don't have to keep your eyes closed. You can open your sorry. Anyway, hey, All right. Okay, well, I want I want to go back to the challenge in Rabbi Sheffer.

00:37:15:11 - 00:37:29:04
Unknown
God's exploration of bow. But any, any comments about what we saw so far? Oh.

00:37:29:06 - 00:37:35:01
Unknown
Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. No, nothing.

00:37:35:02 - 00:38:01:01
Unknown
I feel like the idea in here feels very radical. Somebody was asking about the question of, like, wait a second, what's internal family systems, what's ifs? What are these people talking about? And this minyan is sort of like, it's like, like a mystery novel that you like. It unfolds over the course of weeks and weeks and years, and, you know, there are callbacks to previous chapters, and if you miss them, then, you know, it's a you can catch up, but you got to ask somebody who was there when that thing happened.

00:38:01:01 - 00:38:33:22
Unknown
So yes, it's true. Like we've had we've had a lot of conversations about things that I feel like have expanded all of our sense of heart and human psychology, with a couple of reference points that are common reference points for a lot of folks in the room. One of them is internal family systems. And so for those of us who have kind of been on that journey, and, and we've talked about it before, this idea that like, there's, you know, you've heard of family systems where it's like, okay, well, you know, if mom is always like this and dad, you know, sort of responds to that, and then you've got kids

00:38:33:22 - 00:38:51:13
Unknown
who are responding to these things. And so then everybody's in a system kind of reacting and responding in all the directions. And you know, so and so if something changes in the system, then other pieces of the system find themselves like, adjusting and accommodating. And that can be like actually just very disruptive, just family systems and then internal family systems.

00:38:51:13 - 00:39:11:20
Unknown
It's like, yeah, actually all of that is happening inside of us. All the time. And we start with like this, you know, kind of beautiful, you know, sacred core that's generous and kind of all the things. And then like, life happens to us and we're reacting and responding and protecting and, you know, and and all of those things make sense, you know, as they develop.

00:39:11:20 - 00:39:27:10
Unknown
But then the truth is, once they're no longer needed or they're out of context, they can get in the way, they can get in the way, that can be a problem. They can get in the way of relationships. They can get in the way of a relationship with the divine. I feel like all of that is good groundwork for when you read this.

00:39:27:10 - 00:39:49:06
Unknown
It doesn't. When you read Schaeffer saying that bow, come on in. Is God saying, come in to the parts of yourself that are Pharaoh, come in to the hard parts. Come in to the parts that are distancing you. We don't read that and are like, oh my God, how radical. We're like, yeah, obviously Pharaoh is part of the internal family systems protection mechanism.

00:39:49:07 - 00:40:21:09
Unknown
Any connection to generational trauma? Susan? Isn't everything. All right, I'm gonna I'm going to go into this spiritual challenge here. We can look at this and then and then discuss. And I feel like, oh, wait, nope, that's not what you want to look at. And for Keith, as you're editing this minion, honestly, you might just like, I'm going to leave it on here, but you might just fade this out and whoever is listening later know that you are welcome to join us for these discussions.

00:40:21:11 - 00:40:47:15
Unknown
You know, in minion, and not all of them will be replayed in their entirety on the podcast. And we love you all. All right. So here we go. Is there anybody who wants to read this? The spiritual challenge. Sure. I will. The world is forever calling us. To the surface, it's drama, seduction, humor and entertaining dilemmas.

00:40:47:17 - 00:41:13:22
Unknown
Constantly bombarded with stimulation, we begin to rely on that stimulation to keep us from boredom and dreaded emptiness of the spiritual challenge of bold lies in the cultivation of a rich inner life. The obstacles to interests and gaps are represented by the heart of Pharaoh, the obstruction through which we must pass our way to freedom. And boy, personally, I can totally relate to that.

00:41:13:23 - 00:41:48:22
Unknown
You know, we've all like. I mean, it's like I'm like, have 15 seconds, like with nothing to occupy myself. I'm like, oh, I wonder if there's something interesting happening on my phone. Yeah. You know, it's like we just, I think that's a real problem today. God, you know what? And do you know when this book was published, when she wrote that about, you know, our propensity to entertain ourselves at all costs, 2006 before the invention of the smartphone.

00:41:49:00 - 00:42:13:00
Unknown
Right. Like, don't you? What were we doing back in 2006 that, you know, was the, you know, a constant search for stimulation to fill us and, you know, not let us, God forbid, be bored. What were we doing back then? I don't remember, I guess we were all just so spiritually enlightened. So, Well, that's probably not. No, I mean, the point she's she's naming that tendency.

00:42:13:00 - 00:42:49:23
Unknown
We all have. It's just now we we put that tendency into the phone. But like, back in 2006, we were doing something else. The point is, yeah, we were I don't know, I love I love that you guys are. We were daydreaming as we near daydreaming and to be bored. That's sort of her point. But she's naming that even before we had phones, we sought out something to protect us from the feeling of boredom, something to, you know, get like, basically anything to get in the way of actually experiencing, the openness that might lead us to a relationship with God and whatever that was, was Pharaoh.

00:42:50:01 - 00:43:09:17
Unknown
Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. In Yiddish, there's a saying, if you say I'm bored. Yeah. The mother would say to the child, sugar and cup and Van Gogh, hit your head in the an on the wall. Right. Exactly. In other words, find something to do. We're not going to tell you what to do, but go hit your head. So I used to tell that to my sort of.

00:43:09:19 - 00:43:27:21
Unknown
She'd say, I'm bored as it go. Hit your head against grandma. That's so silly. We wouldn't do that. We wouldn't hit us. But it was a saying, go find something to do. I'm not going to to help you find it, but you go find it. Exactly, exactly. You know what I say to my kids when they say I'm bored now?

00:43:28:01 - 00:43:54:14
Unknown
I go, oh, oh, no, it's not. It's never heard. Let's do a funeral for your attention span. That's died. The tiniest violin in the world is playing a sad song, and they think that's hilarious. And then, you know, and then they're like, go find something to do. But, it's that's my version of go hit your head against the wall.

00:43:54:14 - 00:44:23:02
Unknown
Like, go be a kid anyway. Okay, Eric, thank you for taking us on that attentional tangent. All right, well, you go on. Yeah. Board. Lucky you, I love that. Oh, sure. How do we address the weight of our burdens? How do we acknowledge the hard shell of the self-image that has become too small? There are moments when the burden is lifted and the hard surface opens, and the heart of freedom is revealed, and its glory.

00:44:23:04 - 00:44:39:14
Unknown
Even as those moments fade, I lift them up with my awareness and my gratefulness. I keep the memory of that inner vastness and hold it as witness against a world that pretends to reflect the whole truth.

00:44:39:16 - 00:45:11:05
Unknown
One of the keys to freedom lies in Moses insistence that the whole of the people must be freed together. When Pharaoh offers freedom as the feminine and child parts are left behind in bondage, Moses refuses, for he understands that to be free is to be whole and integrated. When Pharaoh offers freedom to the people as they leave their animal selves behind again, Moses refuses, knowing that without the acknowledgment of all aspects of ourselves, we cannot serve God.

00:45:11:07 - 00:45:26:22
Unknown
The challenge before us is to accept and honor all parts of the self as the prerequisite to freedom and answering the call of God. We are led into the path of healing and wholeness.

00:45:27:00 - 00:45:55:12
Unknown
Okay, thoughts, comments, reactions I see Prudie has a reaction, so I'm actually kind of interested to hear what it is, say more. Well, to me she's, she's part of the tradition. I might be wrong because I just tangentially introduced her thinking, but she seems to me to be part of the tradition of self-care, for the purpose of self-actualization, for the purpose of self-actualization.

00:45:55:12 - 00:46:34:13
Unknown
I liked what you said earlier. A point about self-care is to be able to serve. And I'm that in this, you know, we're healing and wholeness. Great. But so what? But what then? Maybe. All right, anybody got a response? I think that's a great question. I think did jump in. I think like what I hear in this, I think about, kind of this discernment where, like a lot of my, day to day practice is like showing up in relationship to, caring for my mom.

00:46:34:13 - 00:46:56:11
Unknown
My aunt, and I feel like I'm presented with, like, a wall of, kind of, like, chaotic need, like, oh, my God, this is, you know, like, the house is falling apart and I'm hungry, and I'm this and I'm that and kind of like a squawking for attention and it's. And I feel like behind it is a kind of, like there's a pain behind it, there's a suffering behind it.

00:46:56:13 - 00:47:22:13
Unknown
And, when in myself, I start responding to the distractions themselves and serving the distractions, I feel like a slave. I feel like I'm in the path of the servitude, and it feels like kind of a razor's edge, watching, walking and finding, like meeting the cries of suffering and addressing those more at the root feels like that's serving God.

00:47:22:15 - 00:47:54:20
Unknown
And I feel like when I'm like looking at my when I feel the spaciousness within myself and when I feel the, like the place in my heart that is really tending to, the deeper place of suffering when I'm seeing more clearly then I'm in service of God. And when, feeling like I'm uncomfortable with their discomfort and I need to take care of these things so that I, you know, just to get things, then that's kind of like the more of, like a trauma response or like a habit.

00:47:54:20 - 00:48:23:02
Unknown
And and then I feel in a deeper way, like I'm in, like I'm treating myself like a slave and abandoning myself. So I feel like that kind of, I hear, like, that place of discernment, in terms of like, who are you serving? And the healing is like, what's needed to, like, be in service to what's what's highest.

00:48:23:04 - 00:48:46:19
Unknown
Thank you. Lexi. It's such a practice I mean what you just described and I think that's where she goes next I should say is guidance for practice which we can look at in a second. But I just think like probably we can all relate to what you just described Lexi. This sort of like.

00:48:46:21 - 00:49:16:13
Unknown
The, the. Like the presence of mind and the and the presence that it takes to know in a moment how to respond to something that is like, you know, sort of a chaotic, emotional, anxious need of somebody else's, and to be able to have the self-awareness and self-control patients breathe in, you know, like the, you know, sort of that the Viktor Frankl.

00:49:16:13 - 00:49:40:07
Unknown
Right. Like, you know, the and we have the choice of how to respond to every stimulus. And in that choice is the freedom, like how we respond to every stimulus. Is that freedom? And and, I mean, it's such a temptation to, you know, like, you know, tamp down fix because like, it's just the easier thing to do.

00:49:40:10 - 00:50:02:20
Unknown
And it's like playing whac-a-mole and yeah, you become sort of enslaved to this process of, you know, just like fixing and fixing and fixing and fixing and, yeah, like the practice of breathing and creating enough space to be able to see what is the deeper need there. And how can I be serving that? I you just articulated that so beautifully.

00:50:02:22 - 00:50:13:18
Unknown
And it's and it is it is an ongoing practice, right? It's not something that happens once and then you've got it. It is just something that.

00:50:13:20 - 00:50:44:02
Unknown
Every single day we just have to do and keep working on and we won't get it right. And then we try again. I don't know pretty. How does how does that strike you? I really like what you said, Lexi, because I made me think of how I managed to turn a service into slavery in my limited and maybe this kind of awareness would have helped with that.

00:50:44:04 - 00:50:48:16
Unknown
Thank you for that.

00:50:48:18 - 00:50:54:16
Unknown
Anybody else have any responses to what you've seen here?

00:50:54:18 - 00:51:20:02
Unknown
I could say something. Sure. I'm using my phone so I don't know how to work all of this. I'm responding to the whole concept of like the polarization that's happening in our country and the hard shell, the phrase phrases like the hard shell of a self image that has become too small. So because of our need to be defensive, like I'm right and you're wrong and nothing you think or do could possibly be right.

00:51:20:04 - 00:51:46:14
Unknown
And, and when we let that hard shell of our self image soften like we can, so if we're not coming from this place of these burdens of I'm not worthy and we don't need to prove that we are worthy, we can soften and let go and feel and then feel some compassion towards the perpetrators. The Pharaohs.

00:51:46:16 - 00:52:05:11
Unknown
And then there's a sense, I think, in which more for me or I can say, and I can be like that, too. I can, I can be like Pharaoh. I have a part that needs to prove other people wrong. And then that's where the freedom comes in.

00:52:05:13 - 00:52:14:11
Unknown
So that's that's the best words I can share right now.

00:52:14:13 - 00:52:18:21
Unknown
To be concise. Yeah. Thank you.

00:52:18:23 - 00:52:47:09
Unknown
All right, well, let me let me at least show you here. What, what her advice is for practicing softening the heart. Music, meditation. Set aside some time alone to come through the Pharaoh heart within you. And dwell for a time in this space with him. Choose a piece of music of great beauty that you believe may have the power to lighten the heaviness of your heart and soften its hard surfaces, she said.

00:52:47:09 - 00:53:14:14
Unknown
Beethoven's Seventh Symphony works for me. Make sure that you will be undistracted and very comfortable. Before you begin. Light a candle and dedicate this time to holiness and wholeness. Be aware of the places of cynicism in your heart, or tension in the body, and allow the music to gently penetrate those areas. Be aware of emotions that rise to the surface and allow them to be released.

00:53:14:16 - 00:53:40:23
Unknown
Use the breath to direct the power of the music into places of heaviness and hardness. At the end of the piece, sit in the silence and allow the music to reverberate through your body. Enter through whatever doors have been open and rest inside. When Pharaoh finally lets the people go, and this is now coming back to Torah, he asks for a blessing.

00:53:41:01 - 00:54:01:09
Unknown
Perhaps we will not be entirely free until we can find the blessing in the part of us that is the tyrant, for the part of us that oppresses the spirit and has kept us in slavery, chained to a familiar, constraining habit. Okay, I think I think those of you who said it's not the espresso, it's my cold. I think you're right.

00:54:01:09 - 00:54:25:04
Unknown
I totally still have a cold. Okay, that blessing can only come from self-compassion and self-forgiveness. Compose a blessing with which to bless the Pharaoh within. As you move from slavery to freedom. So I'm going to drop this little I'm going to drop this little commentary in the chat here for people who might want to go back and look at it.

00:54:25:06 - 00:54:56:03
Unknown
Rabbi, you've been in rooms with thousands of people in the last few days. I can close proximity. Not wrong. Billions of people, millions, millions. I mean, there were like a million people at the mayor's breakfast and at the rainbow push thing, like a like an actual million. Yeah. It's true. I'm actually kind of astounded that given the number of people I've been in proximity to over the last week, I'm not sicker.

00:54:56:05 - 00:55:26:22
Unknown
So actually, this is great. Yeah, literally a million, like a million, like, literally. Yeah. Yeah. Including all of our I have parts. Definitely a million. Yeah. Everybody internal parts in that for sure. That's. Yes. Okay. All right. Wearing a mask works. It's true, it's true. Yeah. Well, any other little comments or things to connect over before we.

00:55:27:00 - 00:55:41:08
Unknown
You know, parts of the four to the four wins. Oh you go for anybody who's in Chicago I want to say it's going to be so cold on Friday, but we're still planning on having Shabbat, so I hope you'll come.

00:55:41:10 - 00:56:08:08
Unknown
Welcome to the menu. Normally, as you can see, it's a good place. Each day is a little different. And, but it's a great place to come. Say Kaddish. Yeah. How long are you going to be in wherever sunny place, wearing your shades on that hat and leaving tomorrow? Then back to the gold. Well, it's been it's been nice to see you enjoying the warmth.

00:56:08:10 - 00:56:27:04
Unknown
Yeah. It's been nice being here. Swam with some turtles yesterday. The one that we're in the saloon area to, where do we go? So, to to.

00:56:27:06 - 00:56:52:02
Unknown
Somewhere that's a magical place down there. To the source. Oh, is that where you are? Yeah. Swimming. To which in like that. Yeah. Which was like a cave on. Where? Where is it? Where is he? I'm in Mexico. Yeah. We were we started off in Islam. Okay. Which is outside I came to, and now we're down to where we.

00:56:52:04 - 00:57:17:07
Unknown
So, yeah, I went to a Victoria studio. That was pretty cool, Maybe that's where we should do a mission trip. You know, like Israel Palestine. It's really hard to get together. Maybe we should just do this trip to Islamabad as, like, you're like, say no to would be the way to go. Yes, exactly. All right, anybody who wants to start that committee, you let me know.

00:57:17:09 - 00:57:43:16
Unknown
It'd be a lot cheaper. I know this is what I'm saying. It's like all the, you know, all the, the things that are working against us for that trip would be working for us for this trip. It's not anywhere. All right. These boots are a treat at the kind of work, I suppose. I think it's better than Nolan saying Ruby Union Institute in this in this weather, anyway.

00:57:43:17 - 00:58:11:10
Unknown
But, Yeah. Fair enough. All right, well, good to be with everybody. And, you know, hopefully. See you Friday for those in town and for those not oh, next Wednesday I'm actually going to be speaking of, Mexico. I'll be in Israel. So, I but I'll see you and I might be flying the following Wednesday back, so it's just a wink.

00:58:11:12 - 00:58:38:08
Unknown
It's just a weird. It's the Hartman, the Hartman program. Yeah. Which should be beautiful and meaningful. But. Yeah. So I'll talk to Rabbi Stephen about, you know, jumping in, and you guys all did great while he was gone. And Miriam and Noah, who else led? Well, he was gone over the past week. You two, anybody can't remember?

00:58:38:10 - 00:59:02:15
Unknown
What was he? What was his trip to Israel? He he was the rabbi and sort of spiritual support on a honeymoon. Israel trip, for a bunch of Chicago, mostly interfaith couples. They got married and then went there were, you know, I don't I don't know what the requirements are for, you know, level of commitment and the relationship, but, mostly married couples.

00:59:02:15 - 00:59:20:08
Unknown
Yes. I think I mean, it's called honeymoon. It does not. Again, nobody would spend their actual honeymoon traveling on a bus in the Middle East for ten days. That's not a honeymoon, but it's called honeymoon Israel. It's more like just an opportunity for couples to wait. What's. What am I here? What am I listening to? Is that.

00:59:20:08 - 00:59:49:05
Unknown
Is there, like, what's the rule? So it's it's a, there's just like a, it's it's a cute name for a description of a trip that's about like helping couples have conversations about the role of Judaism in their partnership. And I think the fact that it's in Israel is almost secondary because they were running these trips in Argentina and in Morocco and like other places during the last two years, when nobody wanted to travel to Israel and the State Department said, don't.

00:59:49:07 - 01:00:15:23
Unknown
So they they were continuing to run these trips in other places, which are great. Like I, I ran I was a rabbi on one of these trips a couple of years ago. And like, it's mostly just like going to different sites that have religious significance, sometimes for Jews, sometimes for Christians. I'm like talking about what does it mean to, you know, bring Judaism more consciously, you know, what are what are the ways that couples can do that in a way that feels good to everybody.

01:00:15:23 - 01:00:37:01
Unknown
And so Stephen's a great resource for that. And he said that it was great to do that on this trip for these couples. And he imagines that we will see some of them. You know, now that the trip is over, they'll come back and visit. So it might have been good recruiting for Michigan. Yeah. Anyway, that is a story.

01:00:37:03 - 01:00:58:02
Unknown
All right. Any last thoughts, words, comments, observations, needs exclamations, proclamations, safe travels and feel better. Lizzy. Yeah. Thank you. Trip. Yeah. Thank you. Great to see you, Andy. Really like, And, Yeah. And talk soon, everybody. Lots of love. Bye bye.