“I know our ancestors had it rough, but honestly, what we’re living through feels almost unreal.”
Do you find yourself feeling this in your heart?
We thought the vulnerability we experienced after the Tree of Life shooting in October 2018 rocked our personal and communal lives enough. But just as we were catching our breath, having instituted levels of security that we couldn’t have imagined needing in this country, the whole world turned upside down due to the COVID pandemic. Communities and individuals sustained devastating losses, and families and communities began to fracture over what some considered a life-saving vaccine and others a deathly “jab.” Polarization increased, and tears in the fabric of our nation, let alone our communities and families, deepened.
Then came the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which caused a devastating rupture for the Jewish people worldwide, leading to such levels of powerlessness and vulnerability. As the war between Israel and Gaza continues, the death tolls and suffering — most immediately for the hostages and Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip — has created fallout throughout Israel and around this world that has only intensified divisions and confusion and most recently led to the death of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky.
Not only all that, but in the months since President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, democracy in the United States has seemed to be trembling. People are afraid to speak out. Some disappear into detention centers, here and abroad.
And I didn’t even mention the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police, and the war Russia launched on Ukraine in February 2022. War, violence, division. More war.
Why name the obvious?
Because we are also traveling through sacred time as we count the Omer and move into the final weeks before the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
Day by day, we journey farther and farther from our experience of slavery in Egypt into a state of liberation, as we head toward revelation — the giving of Torah. The Hebrew word for Egypt, Mitzrayim, shares an etymology with the word for “narrow”/tsar. This journey is not just a geographical journey, but one of spiritual and emotional consciousness as we move from constriction into expansive awareness. And at the penultimate moment before receiving the sacred wisdom/Torah, we are told that our ancestors accessed such altered states of awareness that they could see thunder and hear lightning. Then all was quiet. Nothing moved. Clarity could pour in.
Constriction and expansion. Suffering and revelation. These are two sides of a sacred rhythm that pulse through Jewish time. Perhaps today’s challenges feel more urgent, painful or hopeless, but they are not new.
Fortunately for us, we have the opportunity to let large and small powerful levels of clarity pour in, should we decide.
At so many levels, it feels easier to bemoan our situation, running around trying to put our thumbs in the dam that is about to burst as we feel the water pour in through the cracks, and reactively, frantically hope for a different world.
Oh, those many days ago, on the full moon of Passover, we were reminded: In every generation, each person must see themselves as if they personally left Egypt.
“I just want to imagine myself going through the chaos, suffering and tumult of slavery, and the plagues in Egypt,” our hearts cry. “I don’t want to actually feel this pain, this helplessness, this hopelessness, this confusion, this trappedness! Let it all be a dream. Let me wake up to the simple days before … .”
Before what?
Before the federal government began unraveling? Before the protracted war between Israel and Gaza? The shock and pain go back, trauma before trauma.
So, what can we do?
First, we must recognize that the trauma exists in our “body-mind,” usually as a sense of constriction because we are fighting, fleeing, freezing, fawning (acquiescing) or flopping (going numb). Our hearts know there must be something we can do, but we feel powerless, and thus we limit our power.
Second, we can return to our sacred story, which offers a path of expansion as we turn from serving Pharaoh to serving Being-ness — the Divine presence that transforms and liberates. (The “Tetragrammaton,” the Hebrew name for God that has four letters and is understood to be God’s most personal name, shares the same etymology as the Hebrew verb “to be.” In the yud-hay-vav-hay spelling of it, we can see the Hebrew words, “was,” “is” and “will be.”)
This turning begins with remembrance.
The Shekhinah — the immanent Divine presence — has been in exile since the Temple’s destruction. In our Amidah every day, we ask that the Shekhinah be returned to Tzion, the land. Ah, yes, so many of us have indeed lost touch with the sacred in the land around us. We overlook the miracles: earth, wind, rain, trees, pollinators, worms — even the slugs nibbling our vegetables.
Tzion and the “land” can also refer to our physical body. We, too, so often forget the sacred wisdom of our bodies: wounds that ultimately close, breath that allows for life, sickness that recedes in the face of healing. We take for granted the myriad miracles of life and the vast, intricate interconnection between the trillions of parts within us that allow us to exist.
In remembering our disconnect from and neglect of the wisdom in our bodies, and taking action to reconnect to it, we actually return the Shekhinah from exile.
We do this by noticing our constriction and reclaiming the power to choose expansion over constriction. Life cannot flow where there’s no space. A clogged nose can’t breathe. A soul cluttered with noise, busyness and overwhelm cannot receive Torah.
In our journey from constriction toward expansion, we make space for revelation to guide how we move in expansive awareness; we make space for receiving the unique sacred wisdom that’s waiting to flow through each one of us, shaped by our specific relationships, experiences, dreams and desires.
Judaism offers us spiritual practices — rituals to practice that nourish the soul and spirit and guide us through the turbulence.
Here’s a simple one to try for Shavuot, or at any time that you desire more sacred wisdom/ Torah that is created especially for you.
Practice: Making Space for Torah
- Ask the question:
“What is my next step?”
Ask without demanding an answer. Let it echo gently. - Set a timer for one minute.
- Find a posture that feels open and supported. Lying down is great, but adapt to where you are — sitting at your desk or even driving (if that’s where you finally feel you have the space to do this).
- Take a deep breath. Hold it briefly and then exhale.
- With each subsequent breath:
- Inhale, then hold your breath while you contract or clench part of your body.
- Exhale slowly and simultaneously release the contraction stage by stage. Move from tightness to softness, from constriction to expansion.
- Inhale, then hold your breath while you contract or clench part of your body.
- Add sound.
As you tense, you might grunt, push or make “efforting” sounds.
As you release, try sighing or humming. Let your voice support the shift. - After one minute, reset the timer.
- Ask again: “What is my next step?”
Whisper it slowly. Let silence follow. Notice what arises — a thought, sensation, movement. It may not make sense. That’s OK. - Record it. Jot down any impressions, no matter how small. Be open to subtle, quiet patterns, and guidance through anticipated as well as unexpected formats.
As you play with this practice, consider extending the amount of time you move between embodied constriction and expansion (Steps 1-6), as well as the amount of time you take to receive the Torah that is calling to you (Steps 7-9).
Let this be a practice of making space — in your body, in your heart, in your mind — for the Torah that is uniquely yours. When you allow the Shekhinah to return to your body, your “being” becomes a vessel for Divine presence, and the large and small sacred wisdom that is solely yours, supporting you during these tumultuous times and guiding you on the path that no one else can walk, toward your particular impact. And the world becomes more whole through your one-of-a-kind radiant contribution.
Upcoming Zoom Workshop on Day 2 of Shavuot!
Forbidden Torah: A Shavuot Experience for Accessing Wisdom & Leading with Clarity, Purpose and Soul
Tuesday, June 3, 12:30 – 2 p.m. EDT
To register, email: TheGreatRebalancing@gmail.com
