August 07, 2011
9th of Av is Coming...
I'm never sure how accurate Biblical history is, but according to the Jewish religious calendar, the Second Temple was destroyed on 9 Av (Tuesday, August 9 this year). Rabbi Finley, following the Hasidic tradition, has taught my congregation that the three weeks between the breaching of the Jerusalem walls on 17 Tamuz and the Temple's destruction should be used as a time to focus on ways we bring destruction into our own lives.
He reminds us that we must dis-identify from the currents of consciousness.
Despite the fact that I heard him teaching this lesson yesterday, I managed to forget it completely even before leaving the shul. It is quite difficult to stay above the petty thoughts of the ego mind. The slights we feel, the anxiety to do good, the fear of not accomplishing enough, the anger at the injustice in our own lives and in the world, can really be overwhelming.
Sometime in late May, I made the decision to wear a head covering every day to help remind myself of my duty to have a passion for truth and seek knowledge of The Divine. My spiritual practice seems to work best when I demand time for it. The kippah itself is just another ornament when I miss my morning prayers, or forget my commitment to serve my highest ideals mid-way through another stressful day at the office. There have been times when I thought about taking off the kippah, despairing that I wasn't doing the things that really matter (the prayers, the contemplation, the journaling), but I've kept it on.
Today, I find it more difficult than normal to reconcile my commitment to Judaism with my political beliefs. My uncle forwarded me a video link, which I imagine should make me feel more strongly connected to Israel and the Western Wall. But seeing men carrying machine guns while wrapped in t'fillin makes a mockery of my highest ideals.
I feel discombobulated when I don't lay t'fillin because it connects me to the highest aspirations of my religious community. It binds me to The Divine, with righteousness, with justice, with love, and with compassion. Judaism isn't a nationality. It isn't even an ethnicity. Judaism is a religion that can connect people with their highest ideals. It isn't the only path to your higher self. It isn't the only true wisdom tradition. But it is my wisdom tradition and my heart breaks to know that people conflate politics and religion.
God does not need a bodyguard. The Divine is within us all--Jew, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Wiccan, and atheist alike. And the sad reality is that The Divine is broken, and in mending our own broken-ness, we help heal The Divine. That inner spark is nothing without our own internal work.
So yes, I will use this time to reflect on the ways I cling to my Yetzer HaRa. But I cannot join you in celebrating the apartheid status of Jerusalem. As much as I appreciate the existence of the Western Wall, I long for the day when the al-Aqsa Mosque is treated with the same respect. One day, all people will live in peace and we will recognize that our religions never needed political states to survive. Each human will have the right to self-determination and all of our nation states will be recognized as legitimate entities.
My hope, my prayer, is that one day humanity recognizes the arbitrary nature of borders, strengthens the United Nations, recognizes women must have equal representation in all decision-making bodies, and all people--regardless of gender or nongender--are honored as vital members of humanity.
This is why my wedding will take place at my temple. Not because of a plot of land my family hasn't been near in at least a thousand years, but because through the neo-Hasidic Kabbalistic teachings of Rabbi Finley, I can see the way to being a better person. God willing, everyday I will make progress towards "constant reverence for the abiding presence of The Divine through devotional acts and moral refinement." My focus is on following Rabbi Finley's definition of true piety. The politics--including my fundamental political disagreements with Rabbi Finley--are beside the point.
Posted by cj at August 7, 2011 09:22 PM