Awakening: Torah Mussar Mindfulness, Mishpatim, 18th Sitting

Welcome to awakening allow yourself to settle and arrive we will begin in one minute.

Welcome to awakening.

Welcome to awakening to our mindfulness,

Our weekly learning and sitting together where we look at the Torah portion I am Robert has your real steinbauer the founder and director of how much on the kadusha,

The Institute for holiness key that moves are.

I'm glad that you've joined us on zoom and live streaming on Facebook on our YouTube channel and LinkedIn and Twitter.

Thank you for arriving to engage in this practice together where we meet weekly.

On Sundays,

But Rata sham God willing at 3pm Eastern Standard Time 10pm Israel time.

We begin with our cover now our intention for today's practice.

I'm going to share screen with you.

For those of you listening on audio we have before us.

Three cover no three intentions we practice the first and last each week together to frame how we want to engage in this practice together.

Number one says,

Before doing acts of caring for the self,

Which this is what we're doing during this half hour to 45 minutes together.

A radical act of self care.

This is something I'm doing to strengthen my own soul.

In order to be of benefit to others in the future.

And number three.

For doing acts to strengthen your relationship with the divine,

Which we're also doing God willing here together.

This is something I am doing to strengthen my relationship with the Creator,

So that I can be a better conduit of God's good to others when they need me.

And last minute of silence just to take in that intention that cover now for today's practice,

Allow yourself to honor what you need to bring to this practice and get out of it.

This week,

We are blessed to come together again with the help of God to engage and looking at the tour portion that we learned and heard chanted and synagogues throughout the world yesterday,

Called me spot team.

It is our practice here at the Institute for holiness to meet on the day after the traditional tour reading and the week that we study the tour portion traditionally,

So that you'll have time to dwell in it.

To last soak up a different format to actually busy yourself sit in it,

Be with it,

Abide in the Torah and the Torah portion each week.

See what you your responses to it what you have to learn from it what the commentators may say what family and friends might say much you might hear all are welcome.

Anyone can engage in the Hebrew Bible in the Torah and learn from this beautiful tradition.

So,

We jump in me spot team now me spot team,

As you know,

Is full of many laws,

Not every law,

Not every aspect of law,

But many laws that dealing with work and money and property and courts.

A full range,

And there.

There's also so much more that's discussed in the in this portion,

Looking at how you treat others,

Particularly those are the most disadvantaged in society to recall how you were treated in Egypt.

This is the message to beneath Israel but it's also on to the Jewish people later throughout the generations to remember that you were a gear,

A foreigner,

And a foreign land,

And what that experience is like.

And therefore you should be kind towards others we will will will delve into that.

There's some obviously so much more beautiful tax on if your enemy animal falls into a pit or is lost that you are to help them that you can't bear a grudge and not beautiful beautiful laws utterances suggestions that can actually be dealt with in a court of law.

They have to come from the moral compass within someone's own conscious,

And in particular,

You won't want to hurt your relationship with the divine.

This is a concern for beneath Israel the children of Israel and even today as a religious conscious person involved in daily practice that you want to be in alignment with what God wants of you and align your God,

Your will to God's a.

In particular,

It's your own divine source that you want to be living out your values what sometimes I call Torah values.

So,

Um,

We also learn about the sheet I hear the year release of when we should not work the land,

Many,

Many beautiful balls and ideas and a concepts in here and we obviously can't touch on them all.

So I'm going to focus briefly on two areas that for this year really speak to me.

Okay,

And I hope that they do the same to you.

So I want to start off saying this is known as the Book of Covenant okay the laws the safer hubris.

And basically,

The most major important thing that you need to realize or accept or face about this safer hubris is,

Is its source that is a divine source.

Okay.

In particular,

And the social rules and moral imperatives ethical injunctions civil and criminal laws the cultic prescriptions that are involved in here.

They're all equally conceived to be expressions of divine will this is coming from beautiful GPS the Jewish publication society on page 117 in their book on Exodus,

And that this body of legislation,

It can't strictly be called a law,

A law code,

Because it's not comprehensive in scope and is silent in some major areas of legal practice,

Such as inheritance transfer property commerce and marriage.

So it's a GPS is understanding that the gaps must be filled by oral transmission in the in the culture,

And that basically we can understand that actually what is being dealt with in the Torah must be regarded as sometimes as innovations and amendments to existing practice.

And so we'll keep that in mind as we move through this.

And the two areas I want to focus on is just realizing to hold first is,

Can this be enforced by a judicial court,

Or is this something that the human being must self enforce,

Are we going back to it and not back in as an as a bad thing to go back but back to this yet that this you would die and I am I am excuse me,

Am this sense of knowing God,

And that being knowing God as a moral compass to know what's right and wrong and to act through justice and that which is upright and full of integrity.

And it seems that we are addressing that area here of where we're going to focus for today.

So,

I want to begin first with the case of the slaves.

And if you were like my childhood self and probably my own children today.

You immediately should have that child voice cry out to you and say slave slave loss.

Why are we even dealing with slaves.

We just left slavery.

We shouldn't have any slaves.

We shouldn't even have to be dealing with this.

Why are there slaves.

Right.

So that's our own moral compass that's our own voice of justice of you just left slavery and you're going to have slaves and you're going to have to have laws that actually protect and deal with the slave.

Okay,

So now that we've had our reaction and our attachment and our version.

We can come to accept.

We are dealing with an ancient Middle Eastern Asian society that is entrenched in slavery.

And simply because of people is taken out of slavery,

There will be times and moments in which someone must enslave oneself.

It's a very different form of slavery than we know about from the kidnapping and Atlantic slave trade.

And sometimes one is enslaved for stealing for an act that they might do sometimes they will go in some form of slavery for not having that which to pay for something that they owe for a short period of time,

There's a time limit.

So it's a different form of slavery than we may know or be popular.

But in this case,

We have a case.

Let me,

Let me touch upon it in the Torah for you.

You have this case where you have a slave,

And it's a Hebrew slave it's in one of the,

The children of Israel.

Okay.

And this is in chapter 21,

And dealing with starting with verse number two,

And that he serves you for six years and then the seventh year he shall be set free without liability,

And then gets into if he's married or not,

And if he can leave with the wife or if the wife and the children were something that are owned and controlled or by the master and the master's property.

So how can we have this case is the slave declares I'm fond of my master and him.

And my wife and my children and I don't want to go free.

And then the slave shall be the master forever.

Okay,

So,

And the commentators have much to say about this but the key things you must know is that you have the range of from,

For instance rush bomb the lovely grandson of Rashi the famous rabbinic commentator from France.

He says that the piercings simply so that everyone will know that he's a slave he's an avid,

That's it.

And so,

But I love Rashi and Rashi quotes and midrash Rashi comes to say the piercing is a punishment.

And for what it can be a punishment for choosing to remain a slave.

And then Harsi night God specified that all of many Israel are servants of God,

And not to human beings.

So the whole in this slaves here is punishment for choosing to use one's ear to obey a human master rather than God.

I want to even extend this,

This is might be a punishment.

For the public humiliation of coming to the court to have to do this for the master,

Because the master shouldn't be enslaving someone forever.

And in particular the master shouldn't be leaving a slave with nothing to leave with so part of the reason why we think a slave would choose to stay with the master other than obviously wanting to stay with one's wife and children is this sense that they will have to go out with nothing,

No property or money or anything and this is where this is where this this rule of law and how we treat people will evolve over time but for right now.

If you're going to send someone out,

They don't want to go out in poverty with nothing.

And then of course the people will be like we're only going to be obedient and fulfill what you want if you provide the food and water so it's a cycle reactivity.

So,

Same thing here that the master is going to set up a situation or live among a society of been a Israel the children Israel who attempt to send out a slave with nothing.

And that's going to enforce a cycle and the system of dependency,

Where someone will choose to remain in slavery rather than face those circumstances and that's a responsibility on the owner and the society in general.

So,

We want to hold that reminds that I,

You know,

I never saw it or thought of it as a punishment before.

And it's beautiful Thank you Rashi for that reading.

So,

We are going to move on to the next segment so that you hold in mind,

Which is strong which many people discuss and talk about which is that.

What else do I want to share with you before we move on,

Give me one second.

Oh,

I just want to say about the the laws of slavery.

Okay,

Because there's actually 10 laws,

10 laws regulating the institution of slavery here.

And you know you have other ear ancient near Eastern traditions,

Like the Hammurabi code that deals with slavery but they always deal with slavery last in their codes,

And here it is first right in your face.

Why do you think that's the case.

So,

JPS posits on page 180 the priority is given to the subject by the Torah has a historical truth has a historical explanation.

And that is,

And having recently experienced liberation from slavery.

The Israelis is enjoying to be especially sensitive to the conditions of the slave.

And yet what I just brought up is a loophole is a something missing that will have to be developed.

Later on,

And obviously the arc is long and it takes time but we abolish slavery at least in this society.

There's still much work to do apparently there are still many countries where it does still exist.

And it's an evil institution I don't need to say more about it,

But let's,

Let's learn from what we can from the Torah,

To move on.

So,

Now I'm moving to in which wants to follow along here on chapter 22 through 23 but in particular,

I'm chapter 22 verses 26 where we're jumping in to a,

To the concern for the disadvantage,

The disadvantaged of society.

Okay.

And there are four social groups that are especially seen as vulnerable and vulnerable to exploitation and to other things,

And this,

This is these,

These four are given God's special concern.

And therefore they should be our special concern.

So,

If they're the stranger.

The gear.

Okay.

The widow,

The orphan and the poor.

Okay,

So here there's a huge sensitivity to their condition,

Not simply out of human humanitarian considerations.

Okay.

And,

But because it's it's a divine imperative,

God cares.

And now,

Helping our moral compass are knowing and remembering.

And now,

Say the new Shma are doing.

And then listening then obeying then learning.

We too,

Must hold these in special consideration.

Okay,

Then this is not something that can easily be enforced in a judicial court this is about human conscious okay consciousness.

Okay.

This instance of insensitivity is considered sinful.

The violation of a commandment that expresses God's will.

And it's,

It's,

It's all these laws concerning these people are addressed both in the plural and singular,

Which is of importance is a striking feature of the Hebrew legal formation of who the audience is,

There's no one who gets outside of this.

And in it recognizes that both the individual and society are equally responsible and accountable for the terms of this relationship.

Okay,

So,

Um,

It's,

You know,

JPS posits for us and basically says that on page 137 that social evil is thus a sin against humanity and God is this going back to this vigilante this knowing this fear of God,

Having this moral compass living with integrity and knowing that this,

If you treat these people poorly.

This is wrong.

Right.

And so,

Why is this given such importance who are we,

What did we just come out of what are the children of Israel just experienced for hundreds of years and then were brought out of slavery,

Right,

Worst institution in society possible.

And so,

This empathetic regard for the disadvantage and society.

It should,

It's something that God wants and and maybe even come out more organically out of us this.

It's something that is stimulated by our own historical experience so that's the first thing that they carry with them even when we talk about internet intergenerational trauma.

Well there's also intergenerational survival skills that which is beautiful and positive that enable the people to survive and and move and and produce,

Not just people but be out in society and developing.

So,

We have him here that this historical experience of slavery,

And how we're treated informs us and and and strengthens our empathetic muscle or should right.

And this finding that God's concern arises out of God's essential nature and this is what we're starting to emulate this emulating the divine source and God and it's intolerant of injustice and has compassionate qualities and look who God selects who,

You know,

Out of all the patriarchs and in particular Moshe,

But it's the people that don't tolerate injustice.

Okay.

And moving that into a rule of law and moving into something that a people can develop and practice and support and celebrate,

Not just individual vigilantes.

Okay,

So that's a beautiful thing to keep in mind.

And,

Okay.

The key thing I want to point out is that this concern for the disadvantage comes immediately after being told not to worship other gods.

And this ties into the good,

That it is of knowing God and fearing God,

And only one God.

If you don't have that yet that knowing.

Then you're not going to have the moral compass according to this reading and understanding of the text.

And therefore you're going to violate how you treat those who are most vulnerable,

There is an intimate connection.

So,

There's like a moral corruption.

And that's how it gets played out,

And how human relations are to one another.

And without this knowing,

And therefore even remembering,

Which in the Zion Hofreich which is an embodied remembering it's one that pushes us to social action.

It's a,

It's a mindfulness it's an embodied remembering of the experience that this can only turn towards our imperative to become a holy people which gets addressed in chapter 22 verse 30,

The usual be holy people to me this is,

This is where this holiness code is starting to develop from the vigilante to this.

This rule of law to even something even higher and more developed holiness to shot.

So,

That basically there's an intimate connection to our relationship with God and knowing God,

And how we also treat one another.

And this is what we witness in mission today.

That is what I want to cover for our text.

I want to read one line from the Torah.

That is very well actually two verses two or three.

We are in.

We are in chapter 22 verse.

I'll start with 19 to make the connection for you.

I read this part in English and maybe share some of the Hebrew,

Whoever sacrifices to any deity other than God alone must be condemned to death.

So there we see,

Knowing God fearing God,

Not being involved with other there.

20.

Do not hurt the feelings of foreigner or press him for you were foreigners in Egypt.

There's the ideal,

And then there's the real.

We practice daily to develop and reach towards our higher best selves towards the ideal.

We always hold out in society that we want,

We expect.

There's a huge quiet hidden expectation that those who have been oppressed,

We expect them to know better and therefore not treat someone else that way because of what they've been through.

I think it's a projection that we want them to be that way to be their higher selves to know better,

But we often know that people's often will act out in that trauma that was done to them to others.

So again,

We have the ideal and the real but this is beautiful line here you can't hurt the foreigner because you were a foreigner.

21.

Do not mistreat a widow or an orphan,

If you mistreat them they will cry out to me I will hear their cry I will display my anger,

Kill you by the sword so that your wives will be widows,

And your children orphans.

This is not about a judicial court,

This is about human consciousness human and developing and holding and supporting this moral compass.

Okay,

That that fear of God and hear this threats,

This fear and threat of violence so that you will behave and not mistreat the widow and the orphan.

If we have the yada as witness from our beloved ancestors are patriarch matriarchs and all the way through to Moshe.

We don't need these threats.

We have it.

This is a gift to every soul,

Each and every soul,

Each and every one holy soul we're all created in the image of God.

We all have that moral compass.

Sometimes,

As we learn and moose our mindfulness that it gets blocked with obstacles with trauma with whatever happens in our lives,

So we can't.

It gets clouded cloudy.

And we can sometimes know that moral compass.

So it takes the practice it takes refuge in this community.

In this practice together refuge and God in the Dharma also in Torah refuge in the wisdom of the Buddha refuge with our teachers and our community,

So that we can continue to strengthen this moral compass to be in community and Kehila and a vibe and the Sangha together to do this holy work that we're on this lifelong path towards holiness to kadusha.

We're going to move now into our seated meditation.

As I always say every session.

If you are someone who lives with pain chronic pain,

Or just having a flare today,

Where it's so deeply uncomfortable for you to sit,

Don't sit,

Take care of yourself,

Stand up to walking meditation as I guide you lie down,

If you need to keeping your eyes open so that you may remain awake and alert.

For those of us who can sit,

Come to an upright position,

Please.

You want your spine strong centered and alert.

Not West Point stiff as john cabot's in says our wonderful teacher.

Allow your hands to either rest in your lap in a meditation position on your thighs for some people they love to hold their hearts,

Whatever works for you.

Shut your eyes if you feel safe,

Otherwise bring them to a lower gaze.

And we will begin with three deep cleansing breath in breath out breath I am arriving in breath a gift from God.

Out breath.

I am settling in breath and I am planting your feet so that you will be held by the earth,

You are between heaven and earth.

I want you to be able to settle and arrive to the present moments of my voice.

Or you may use the sounds around you,

Whatever assists you to remain here and now in the felt sense of the body.

Let's begin with a brief body scan.

This time begin with your toes.

You may allow a smile to come on your face as you awaken to the good that you have toes.

You may move them.

Allow the roots of the earth to travel through your veins,

Your nerves up your feet,

Up your calves,

Through your thighs,

Noticing what is here for you.

Any sensations in the body calling for your loving attention to your hips,

Your sit bones,

Your lower back and your pelvis,

To your stomach,

Up your back and to your chest,

To the area underneath your arms,

Down to your elbows,

To your hands and your fingers,

You may move your fingers around.

Do you have some thoughts in the past that are pulling you away?

Something you want to reminisce about?

Perhaps you're planning for the future.

The minute you become awake to this with no judgment,

This is just with a non-judgmental kindness and awareness,

You bring yourself back to the present moment to your anchor.

We move back up the arms to our shoulders,

Shoulder blades,

The collarbone,

The neck,

The throat,

To your jaw,

Your tongue,

Your cheeks,

Even behind your eyes,

Your forehead.

What is your experience right here,

Right now?

If something is unpleasant for you,

You may kindly label it as such unpleasant,

Knowing that you can trust in this practice and trust in God that this too shall pass,

That every emotion,

Every sensation,

Every thought is an impulse,

That the face is here and then gone.

You may take refuge in knowing that all of us are sitting here and breathing the same breath together,

Caring and supporting one another,

That there are many others sitting out here right now in this space who may be in deep discomfort in that which is unpleasant too.

For others,

You may be in a neutral space.

For some of us,

There might be something deeply pleasant going on,

To note it,

To allow it.

Coming to nurture yourself.

Ask yourself what is the most vulnerable part of me right now?

What is the felt sense of it in the body?

Have I been struggling with attachment or aversion today,

Yesterday,

The past week?

Can I bring self compassion?

What does the most vulnerable part of me need right here,

Right now,

You may gently ask yourself.

Perhaps it needs love.

Perhaps it needs wisdom.

Perhaps it just needs to be held,

And that you be with it.

Let me move into practice of silent meditation for the next four or so minutes.

For those of you new to meditation practice,

Attempt to stay in the present moment with your anchor,

Without struggling or forcing.

If you notice that you have gone off,

Simply begin again in the words of our teacher Joseph Goldstein.

Just bring yourself back to your breath or to your anchor whatever it may be.

Mindful of whatever arises,

Seeing if you can be with it.

Coming to non identification through a nurturing loving curiosity.

I'm here all with the beginner mind the I don't know.

And I'm still here to jump in and practice to attempt to be the best higher version of myself and service of others,

And God.

We move into silence.

We move into stillness.

We move into silence.

We move into silence.

We move into silence.

We move into silence.

The sounds of the bells we know that our meditation has come to end for now.

When you feel ready gently and kindly open your eyes to join us back in this sacred space,

Practicing awakening.

This week awakening mishpat team.

Applying our lens of most our mindfulness to learn from the text and apply it to our lives to learn from the meat oats of our ancestors and what is expected of us.

I thank you for your practice.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you to God for enabling this moment.

Today's sitting and teaching.

Sponsored by the Institute,

And honor and memory of two very important people in the lives of the Institute,

In particular to me.

The first is in memory of die.

Tech not who as we know,

Passed away.

May his memory before blessing.

He is a beloved teacher and will remain so and his teachings will pass through all of us.

And is only my wish throughout my lifetime.

I'm given the opportunity God willing to emulate who he was and what he provided to the world.

The second person is not in memory,

But in honor of Lily violent.

Our,

The Institute's extraordinary more than a website designer our visionary for our brand if we want to call it that to assist the Institute for holiness to be its best self to raise itself up to its higher self.

And we sponsor in honor of her she's helped us create the vision of who we are where we need to head as a long term plan and in particular will be launching with her help and God's help our new website on my office yard site on his your music around his Memorial Day of his death,

Which is on Rosh Chodesh and the new moon of the month of the dark coming on tomorrow nights,

It starts.

And the day is February 1 it falls on,

We will be launching the new website at www dot kahilat mussar.

Com.

And so you can know that Lily was part of the mastermind and visionary and support for the Institute for holiness to provide what it can out to the world to bring us our mindfulness to as many people as possible and to build this cohort of practitioners to be refuge and community together.

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So I'm delighted I hope that you are to,

To get the most out of what we can offer and build together.

And I'm so grateful for today's sit Thank you.

We meet the same time as rotation next week.

And Sunday.

3pm Eastern Standard Time.

And that.

What comes after me spot team is truma,

And another beautiful,

I mean they're all beautiful purchase purchase,

But these ones really tap at the heart,

So please join me next week,

Be in touch via email to kick you out most are at gmail.

Com with any comments or questions.

I thank you again so much for your practice and being here.

God bless you.

I look forward to seeing you at the launch on February 1