Friday, May 4, 2007

The Breathing Torah




Some Words of Torah
By: Ariel Vegosen
Sheva Fellow 2007 and BCI Alum 2000

I have always loved the idea of carrying in one pocket a piece of paper that says “the world was created for me” and another that says “I am nothing but dust.” It reminds me that the universe is divine, always moving in mysterious ways that match up perfectly and just when you think life is ironic and makes no sense, it turns out it was all planned.

Some things in the Torah are painful and difficult to understand, like why an all-knowing, merciful loving G-d would send ten plagues to the Egyptians in order to free us from slavery. Wasn’t there another more peaceful way? Couldn’t G-d - this all powerful being - non-violently end slavery? Wouldn’t that have been a better example? Just think, maybe then we wouldn’t have check points and curfews in the holy land.

I also struggle with the Torah concept of “Tumah” and “Taharah,” meaning impurity and purity. I don’t understand why in last weeks Torah portion it is stated that a woman on her period is considered “Tumah,” as in impure. Or why it says a man shall not lay with another man the same why he lies with a woman. Perhaps its not that I don’t understand these words so much as I don’t understand people’s interpretation of these words. And since G-d is all knowing, when writing this book G-d must have thought, people are really going to mess this up and create a world of hatred. As humans we have the power to read these purity laws and create a homophobic, sexist world and right now it seems to me that is what has happened. People are using this passage as part of religion to say that being anything other than straight is wrong. Also, people use this passage to exclude women from certain rituals when she is bleeding.

I have different interpretations for both:

Of course if a man lies with another man, that’s different from when a man lies with a woman. Different is not wrong, different can be beautiful and great. And anyway this portion doesn’t even mention women being with women. So my interpretation is when you are with someone that experience should be unique and beautiful to that moment. Homosexual love is acceptable and beautiful and should be acted on in a different way from straight love. And should be honored for its differences. As in the world should recognize and embrace queer culture and not expect it to look like straight culture.

My interpretation of a woman being Tumah on her period or after child birth is that there are secret special rituals for us women and because often times our stories have been written out of the Torah, we need to dig deeper and discover what these ancient rituals are. Women are not unclean or impure, we are Tumah. Which to me means the world should honor the gift of life and strength given to us and not put fear into our hearts around who we are. There are enough stories out there to convince a woman that periods are gross or disturbing, we need more stories that embrace our blood and our power. I know that an all knowing G-d would not create a world of fear, homophobia, and sexism. What would be the point of that? How would that be good?

The G-d I believe in, left the Torah to us for our interpretation. As it is said, “it is not in heaven” but here on earth we must decide. And for whatever reason people have interpreted this beautiful book in hurtful ways. I choose otherwise and I am encouraging you to do the same. To step out of the box, take a closer look, a closer read, and decide for yourself your own interpretation.

For example, why is it that Aaron’s sons have to pay the price of death for getting too close to G-d? I realize they did not follow the proper ritual laid out, but is death really a fair reaction to such a trespassing? Perhaps another way to look at their death is that it symbolizes transformation. The Torah spends a lot of time going over the sacrifice rituals and describing purity and impurity in people. It is ironic that Aaron’s sons died for doing a ritual to get closer to G-d, when today ritual is lacking in so many people’s lives, yet people long to be closer to G-d. I’d like to imagine that it is a great idea to practice ancient rituals and create new ones in an effort to get closer to G-d, myself, my friends, my family, my community, humankind, and all of nature. The symbolism of their death could be a transformation away from the slaughtering of animals and away from this idea that only certain people, the priests can do rituals. I think with the temple gone, we have the unique ability to create our own rituals with our own meanings.

This world was created, the Torah was written and now we get to create for ourselves how we want it to be. We get to decide our emotions, how we structure society, how our lives play out. We have power, infinite power to create whatever we want and need. Some times I see people getting stuck. They believe they have to work a certain job, stay in a town they don’t love, stick with a partner that doesn’t suit them, the list goes on and on…when really all we have to do is break the chains we have created around ourselves to be free. The only limitations that exist are the ones that we create. I, along with you, have the power to choose. All of our dreams can be destiny. And when you shine your light out into this world and when you believe, the universe responds accordingly, after all it was created for you. And when you forget to be humble and you get too greedy the universe reminds you that you are nothing but dust.

If someone asked me to convert them standing on one foot as was asked of Hillel. I would say you get to choose how you want to live your life. You are in control of your emotions and your destiny. It might appear that society has already been created, but you have the power to change it. Torah is constantly being interpreted to match whatever the reader wants to read. May you find peace, love, happiness, kindness, compassion, and do onto others as they want done to them. May you live your life well and may you decide what well means to you. The world is open to interpretation; choose your path and your blessings. I hope you enjoy.

And if you don’t, that’s your choice.

Much love and many blessings, shinning soul light on this desert world and out into the universe… Ariel Vegosen

29 comments:

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A very interesting article! I happened upon it "by chance" while doing a google search.
I do not have much Torah knowledge. What I am about to share with you is my personal understanding and should not be taken as the Truth of the Torah.

To answer the question of why G-d chose to use plagues to free the Jews:
If you'll notice, each plague mirrors one of the 10 Statements of Creation, although backwards. For example, #1 in Creation is, "In The Beginning", while #10 in the plagues was The FIRST Born. #2 in Creation was "Let There Be Light", while #9 in the plagues was Darkness.
It was not so much that G-d was picking harsh ways to get rid of the Egyptians, it was that He was going through their evilness level by level, just as He Created Good level by level. Each plague lasted 3 months, giving the Egyptians a fair chance to free the Jews. He began with Blood, which harmed the Egyptians economically, as they were forced to buy water from the Jews, but not physically. This is after Moses had a verbal discussion with Pharoa to free the Jews. The reason for not just making the Egyptians free the Jews without meetings and then plagues, is because everyone is entitled to free will. The same question can be asked, "Why does G-d not just do X?", the answer being, A)There is a plan, B)We all have free will.

To answer question number 2:
Tumah and Tahara are very deep concepts. It is, in a way, positive and negative energy. The Orthodox world believes that everything physical is actually a projection, or a mirror image, of the spiritual. Meaning, when something, or someone, becomes "impure", it is because something "negative" happened in their spiritual realm. Now, we must understand that "negative" is the opposite of positive, but not necessarily bad. Meaning, if you have the potential to do good, and do not do it, you may have not done evil, you just did not do good, which is negative. We strive to do good. So, when a woman becomes "impure", it is because she had the potential of a child, the potential of life, within her womb, and since her egg was not fertilized (which is not necessarily her fault- it takes two to tango), she has a lost potential. This is Tumah. Woman are on a higher spiritual level then men (it was in their merit we were saved from Egypt, it is in their merit we were not killed after the Golden Calf, it is in their merit the miracle of Purim and Channuka happened), and are therefor the only ones able to carry this great potential. Having to become Tumah (or Tamei) once a month for not having used potential is actually due to the great privilege of having that potential to begin with. Men are simply unable to even hold the potential. So why does a woman become Tamei after birth? She just used her potential! Because death is an absence of potential, and thus it brings Tumah. Every child that is born, is dead for a split second before coming to life. The baby in the womb was just living in a liquidy state and now has to breath air, so for a split second, while the baby's entire system switches, everything stops, and the baby is dead. The mother becomes Tamei because of her encounter with death.

As for Homosexuality: There is no way to answer this in a blog comment. I can, however, offer you the very NON-PC version, and perhaps you can read between the lines enough to realize it is not a proclamation of gays being evil.
The Torah does not forbid people from being gay, it just does not allow physical interaction. The reason is as follows: There is a natural order to this world. Men and women are not the same. Men hold the greatest potential in this world, but need woman to let it out. A man holds a seed, only a woman can fertilize it. A man is like a block of wood, a woman is the one who can properly shape him. When two men are together, they are unable to properly bring out their potential. Now, say two men can bring out each other's potential, what about then? Men have the potential to have children. Without women, the potential is lost. And yes, having children is a foundational part of the Torah. So what about adopting children? On a sociological level, there are many problems with this, but in theory it should work. On a spiritual level, the point is not as much the physical raising of the child, but the spiritual power to CREATE the child. So, what the Torah forbids, is the physical action of homosexuality, which will undoubtedly result in the loss of potential and result in the unfulfillment of bringing on the next generation. The Torah does not forbid the DESIRE, because that would be impossible. Since there is such a desire, the Torah forbids the act. The reason why it does not mention women, is because a) they are far better at controlling sexual desires and may not need to be commanded to do so. b) they are not losing potential in the same way.

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