Monday, October 7, 2013
Shabbat
Lech-Lecha
8 Cheshvan 5774 / Oct. 11 – 12, 2013
Bereshit 12:1 – 17:27
8 Cheshvan 5774 / Oct. 11 – 12, 2013
Bereshit 12:1 – 17:27
God in All
Things
Zvi Bellin, MH Director of Jewish Education and Pastoral Counseling
Zvi Bellin, MH Director of Jewish Education and Pastoral Counseling
What grabbed my
attention in this week’s portion is the use of the word נפש (NEFESH) in three
different places. Let me list the verses and then talk about the meaning of the
word נפש .
In Chapter 12,
verse 5, we read that Abram took all his belongings, including his kinsmen,
with him when he left his father’s house. The verse lists that he took his
wife, Sarai, his nephew, Lot, all of their stuff, and the נפש that they all made. The word נפש here is generally interpreted as slaves and/or people
that signed on to the Monotheistic way of life.
Later in the
chapter, verse 13, Abram and Sarai are on their way to Egypt to escape a
disastrous famine in the Canaan. Abram instructs Sarai to tell the Egyptians
that she is Abram’s sister in order that, “it will go well with me, and my נפש will be saved for your sake.” Abram assumed that if the
Egyptians knew Sarai was his wife, he would be killed so that Pharaoh can have marry
this rare beauty. In this context, נפש, refers to
Abram’s life.
The last use of
נפש that I wish to call attention to is in Chapter 14, verse
21 in which Abram and his warriors vanquished the army of an alliance of kings
who were living in Canaan. These kings were warring against another set of
kings. The vanquished kings made the mistake of taking Lot, Abram’s nephew,
captive – and nobody messes with Abram’s family. Thus, Abram helped the one set
of kings (who among them was the King of Sodom) defeat the other group of
kings. After all the fighting, the spoils of war belonged to Abram – after all,
he lead the charge of victory. The King of Sodom approached Abram and asked him
for his נפש back. This is traditionally interpreted as wanting back
his people that were originally captured by the enemy. Abram obliges and
declares that he will not take anything that originally belonged to the King of
Sodom.
Though נפש is used here as meaning people or life, there is another
mystical meaning. In Jewish thought there are at least 5 levels of soul. The
“lowest” of which is called נפש . This level of soul refers to the
base physical desires that are present in all living beings – for example, the
need for sex and hunger.
I believe that
the use of the word נפש in this part of Abraham’s journey is teaching us about
the unique revelation that he lived his life disseminating: Even the most
base, physical experiences of the human being stem from the highest spiritual
connection. In my understanding of Judaism, believing in one God means that
there can be as much holiness in going to the bathroom as there is in fasting
on Yom Kippur!
In the first
verse, when Abram takes his נפש with him, it can be a reference to him “taking” the
understanding of how intimately the physical and spiritual are connected. After
he goes to Egypt (in Hebrew מצרים (Mitrayim), literally the Place of Constriction) to
escape the famine. Here Abram needs help to hold on to his insight and it is
Sarai who saves the unique revelation of oneness. And in the third verse, the
King of Sodom, asks for his נפש to be returned. Perhaps he is not ready for that level of
Divine integration. It is a scary thought to believe that God is in our shit.
Abram does not resist King Sodom’s request to return his נפש, because Abram
does not need others to think like him in order to feel justified.
To sum things
up, I think this is what we can learn from our Grand Papa Abraham:
1. As Lauryn Hill said, “Everything is
Everything!” Or, everything in this reality is a gateway to spiritual
connectedness, even the un-pleasantries that we rather deny.
2. We do not have to push ourselves to
believe in anything new. We do have to live in a way that protects our
revelations and perspectives, though.
3. Differing beliefs and understandings do
not mean that you are wrong. There are multiple levels and comforts when
thinking about God in the world.
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