Some Words of Torah
By: Ariel Vegosen
Sheva Fellow 2007 and BCI Alum 2000
You might not know it, but we are in the days of friendship. We have already passed through the days of drama into love into awe and now into friendship. This might not be on your Jewish calendar and you might not have known by following the moon, but here in our Sheva world it is clear, we are in the days of friendship.
So what does that mean? It means that here at the Brandeis Bardin Institute we are opening our hearts and welcoming in guests from all across the country. We are also digging deep in the soil, reaching into ourselves and experiencing what life is like in a community connected to nature. And best of all everything we are doing is experiential. So sometimes we understand and do and sometimes we do before we understand. Every day we challenge ourselves to grow stronger in our community connections, our understanding of self, and our oneness with this beautiful desert.
This isn’t always easy. Creating and nurturing friendships and community is like growing a garden. It is not merely enough to water the newly planted trees. I believe we also have to sit with them and watch how they change and love them through the frost, through the bugs and into their blossoming. As we have to love each other through our frustrations and our disagreements into a new opening, like the lotus flower.
I think people have many layers like the agave plant. I truly believe that whatever we see in the other and are disturbed by, a little bit of that is in us too. For example on Purim we are encouraged to get so drunk that we no longer recognize the difference between Haman and Mordechai. Thinking outside of the box, we can look at this as instead of being drunk off of wine and alcohol, we can imagine ourselves drunk off of love. What if we got so drunk off of love that we couldn’t tell the difference between George Bush and Emma’s Revolution? What if we got so drunk off of love that we couldn’t tell the difference between our so called enemy and ourselves? What if we loved what we considered the other, instead of reacting with anger and frustration? What would the world look like then?
What if we believed that there is enough love in this world for all of us. That out beyond ideas of right and wrong there is a field and we can all meet each other there. What if we challenged ourselves to push past jealousy, aggression, rage, disappointment, judgment into a new form of love and light. A love that is expansive.
We can choose how we want to live in this world. The energy felt here at BBI is real and it is expansive. This is not just an isolated place. We can take what we learned from being here and spread our wings and love out onto the world. We have the infinite power to put our beautiful dreams into reality and to manifest this world into a better more peaceful loving place.
I have learned in this week of friendship, that my love is expansive, that my heart is open and that the more that I give the more of me there is.
The best way to express what the week of friendship is all about is through this simple joyous story:
My best friend and holy goddess soul sister Rae and I got engaged (numerous times and we will have numerous weddings because our celebration, our love, our ritual is infinite). I gave her a ring on New Years. She called me up before coming to visit me here at Sheva. She said, “I don’t want you to be upset, but I gave the engagement ring to our friend who is in need of some love and support.” And I thought, what could be better. I want our love to shine out to everyone and to multiple like the stars above and to spread out like the waves of the ocean.
I think we all have the ability to love big and be loved big. That to me is what the week of friendship is all about. It doesn’t mean we won’t face challenges or conflicts or hard times, it means that through it all we are committed to loving. I invite you to join me in this commitment of love:
To love ourselves, our families, our friends, our communities, our neighbors, the strangers around us, those that we call the other. To bring light into the deepest darkness. To come from a place of love and joy and to push ourselves to come from that place even when we are angry. To shine ourselves out there to the world, leaving behind fear and opening our hearts to hope.
So instead of shouting out curses, may our mouths be turned like Billam’s and may we bless those around us and be blessed ourselves. May we see the oneness of Mordechai and Haman, the oneness of ourselves and those we think we can’t get along with, the oneness of the hawk and the crow, the serpent and the human, the plants and the potato bug, the owl and the mouse…
In love, light, happiness, and shinning out joy…Ariel Vegosen.
With inspirational thanks to the 13th Century Sufi poet of love Rumi, rainbow songs, all those that have come out to visit me, the Sheva Fellows, the friends and mentors near and far supporting me, readers like you, and of course the Torah.
By: Ariel Vegosen
Sheva Fellow 2007 and BCI Alum 2000
You might not know it, but we are in the days of friendship. We have already passed through the days of drama into love into awe and now into friendship. This might not be on your Jewish calendar and you might not have known by following the moon, but here in our Sheva world it is clear, we are in the days of friendship.
So what does that mean? It means that here at the Brandeis Bardin Institute we are opening our hearts and welcoming in guests from all across the country. We are also digging deep in the soil, reaching into ourselves and experiencing what life is like in a community connected to nature. And best of all everything we are doing is experiential. So sometimes we understand and do and sometimes we do before we understand. Every day we challenge ourselves to grow stronger in our community connections, our understanding of self, and our oneness with this beautiful desert.
This isn’t always easy. Creating and nurturing friendships and community is like growing a garden. It is not merely enough to water the newly planted trees. I believe we also have to sit with them and watch how they change and love them through the frost, through the bugs and into their blossoming. As we have to love each other through our frustrations and our disagreements into a new opening, like the lotus flower.
I think people have many layers like the agave plant. I truly believe that whatever we see in the other and are disturbed by, a little bit of that is in us too. For example on Purim we are encouraged to get so drunk that we no longer recognize the difference between Haman and Mordechai. Thinking outside of the box, we can look at this as instead of being drunk off of wine and alcohol, we can imagine ourselves drunk off of love. What if we got so drunk off of love that we couldn’t tell the difference between George Bush and Emma’s Revolution? What if we got so drunk off of love that we couldn’t tell the difference between our so called enemy and ourselves? What if we loved what we considered the other, instead of reacting with anger and frustration? What would the world look like then?
What if we believed that there is enough love in this world for all of us. That out beyond ideas of right and wrong there is a field and we can all meet each other there. What if we challenged ourselves to push past jealousy, aggression, rage, disappointment, judgment into a new form of love and light. A love that is expansive.
We can choose how we want to live in this world. The energy felt here at BBI is real and it is expansive. This is not just an isolated place. We can take what we learned from being here and spread our wings and love out onto the world. We have the infinite power to put our beautiful dreams into reality and to manifest this world into a better more peaceful loving place.
I have learned in this week of friendship, that my love is expansive, that my heart is open and that the more that I give the more of me there is.
The best way to express what the week of friendship is all about is through this simple joyous story:
My best friend and holy goddess soul sister Rae and I got engaged (numerous times and we will have numerous weddings because our celebration, our love, our ritual is infinite). I gave her a ring on New Years. She called me up before coming to visit me here at Sheva. She said, “I don’t want you to be upset, but I gave the engagement ring to our friend who is in need of some love and support.” And I thought, what could be better. I want our love to shine out to everyone and to multiple like the stars above and to spread out like the waves of the ocean.
I think we all have the ability to love big and be loved big. That to me is what the week of friendship is all about. It doesn’t mean we won’t face challenges or conflicts or hard times, it means that through it all we are committed to loving. I invite you to join me in this commitment of love:
To love ourselves, our families, our friends, our communities, our neighbors, the strangers around us, those that we call the other. To bring light into the deepest darkness. To come from a place of love and joy and to push ourselves to come from that place even when we are angry. To shine ourselves out there to the world, leaving behind fear and opening our hearts to hope.
So instead of shouting out curses, may our mouths be turned like Billam’s and may we bless those around us and be blessed ourselves. May we see the oneness of Mordechai and Haman, the oneness of ourselves and those we think we can’t get along with, the oneness of the hawk and the crow, the serpent and the human, the plants and the potato bug, the owl and the mouse…
In love, light, happiness, and shinning out joy…Ariel Vegosen.
With inspirational thanks to the 13th Century Sufi poet of love Rumi, rainbow songs, all those that have come out to visit me, the Sheva Fellows, the friends and mentors near and far supporting me, readers like you, and of course the Torah.
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