H
_ Spirituality
DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD.
King David,
whose
life was
filled with
heartbreak,
sang poems
of love to
God on his
harp.
David and His Harp by Marc Chagall (1956).
To Tweet Or Not To Tweet?
Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989
Parshat Metzorah: Leviticus 14:1-15:33;
11 Kings 7:3 20.
Need a clean slate?
-
I
f everything is in Torah, then this
week's reading may be the source
for Twitter. In it, gossipers are corn-
pared to birds, which, in the words of
one commentary, "twitter
constantly with chirping
sounds." So there you go.
The gossiper is referred to
as a "metzorah," a combina-
tion of two words, motzi
and rah — "one who brings
out bad" by speaking ill of
others. As a result, the gos-
siper develops skin blotches,
a reminder that another
person's ugliness is only
skin deep; there's beauty
underneath. He is then sent
into isolation "outside the camp" of the
Jewish community.
This was well before the iPod age
— what was the metzorah supposed
to do there, all by himself?
The answer is simple: He was sup-
posed to think about God.
There is a saying, "A Jew is never
alone." Jews have always understood
that everything happens for a reason
as part of our relationship with God.
Our Divine Providence is personal and
intimate. We are never alone.
Thinking about God in this way
leads to spiritual growth. One identi-
fies what needs fixing, understands
the need to fix it, then rolls up the
sleeves and gets to work. "Next time
will be a bit better',' is a fundamental
Jewish ethic.
Thinking about God requires peace
of mind. This was one of the spiritual
charms the shtetl. The shtetl sat by a
river, surrounded by forest, offering a
meditative pace of life.
I once met with the head rabbi of
a yeshivah in a busy Jewish section
of the city. He told that he expects his
students to rise above the
distractions. "As far as I am
concerned," he said, "we are
surrounded by a forest."
The list of great exam-
ples for this outlook spans
44 our history:
Abraham, the father of
Jewish spirituality, started
his quest by wondering
about the meaning of life,
a simple reflection that led
him to God.
King David, whose
life was filled with heartbreak, sang
poems of love to God on his harp. "If I
soar to the heavens:' he wrote, "You are
there! And should I lie in hell, it's also
You!" (Psalms 139:8)
The famous 18th century mys-
tic, the Baal Shem Tov, would walk
through the woods, where the won-
ders of nature helped open his soul to
a mystical experience of the Creator.
His disciple, Rabbi Nachman of
Breslov, encouraged everyone to talk
spontaneously to God throughout the
day, in order to connect the events of
the day back to their Source.
When Adam, the first man, first
opened his eyes, a conscious being in
a new world, the first thing he thought
was, "Why am I here?"
It is a question worth tweeting
about. Pi
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April 7 ' 2011
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