(ח) קַ֣ח אֶת־הַמַּטֶּ֗ה וְהַקְהֵ֤ל אֶת־הָעֵדָה֙ אַתָּה֙ וְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתֶּ֧ם אֶל־הַסֶּ֛לַע לְעֵינֵיהֶ֖ם וְנָתַ֣ן מֵימָ֑יו וְהוֹצֵאתָ֨ לָהֶ֥ם מַ֙יִם֙ מִן־הַסֶּ֔לַע וְהִשְׁקִיתָ֥ אֶת־הָעֵדָ֖ה וְאֶת־בְּעִירָֽם׃
(8) “You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes speak to the rock to yield its water. Thus you shall produce water for them from the rock and offer drink for the congregation and their beasts.”
(יז) וַיָּ֥רׇץ הָעֶ֖בֶד לִקְרָאתָ֑הּ וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הַגְמִיאִ֥ינִי נָ֛א מְעַט־מַ֖יִם מִכַּדֵּֽךְ׃ (יח) וַתֹּ֖אמֶר שְׁתֵ֣ה אֲדֹנִ֑י וַתְּמַהֵ֗ר וַתֹּ֧רֶד כַּדָּ֛הּ עַל־יָדָ֖הּ וַתַּשְׁקֵֽהוּ׃ (יט) וַתְּכַ֖ל לְהַשְׁקֹת֑וֹ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר גַּ֤ם לִגְמַלֶּ֙יךָ֙ אֶשְׁאָ֔ב עַ֥ד אִם־כִּלּ֖וּ לִשְׁתֹּֽת׃
(17) The servant ran toward her and said, “Please, let me sip a little water from your jar.” (18) “Drink, my lord,” she said, and she quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and let him drink. (19) When she had let him drink his fill, she said, “I will also draw for your camels, until they finish drinking.”
"The result is that instead of initiating the people into their own spiritual resources, instead of acting with Aaron, the man of peace, Moses acts alone, he speaks alone as old chagrins overwhelm him. He then performs the old, banal miracle that he remembers so well from the past; the rod, which long been withdrawn from circulation, is now used not only on the rock but first--symbolically--against the people. In his exasperation, he strikes the people with his words....
... if the miracle of the rod has suddenly come to seem hackneyed, the alternative state of dynamic self-awareness, of being drawn by words toward a place of faith and holiness, could have been evoked only by words of a certain kind. Ha'amek Davar describes the desired words as soft, by contrast with the angry, rejecting words with which Moses in fact addresses them." Aviva Zornberg
... if the miracle of the rod has suddenly come to seem hackneyed, the alternative state of dynamic self-awareness, of being drawn by words toward a place of faith and holiness, could have been evoked only by words of a certain kind. Ha'amek Davar describes the desired words as soft, by contrast with the angry, rejecting words with which Moses in fact addresses them." Aviva Zornberg
"...on the other side of almost dying, everything dropped into my heart. From that point on, my head has served my heart. And thirdly, before my cancer journey, I was a driven young artist. But on the other side, I had lost my drive. It was very disorienting. I thought I’d lost my creative gift. But in time, I realized that I was now drawn to things, not driven. This has led to a much deeper freedom and joy in my creative life..." Interview with Mark Nepo on the Metta Hour podcast
Ali v’er ehnu-lah
Rise up, Oh Well,
Chant Her up. (Bamidbar 21:17)
Chant composed by Rabbi Shefa Gold: https://www.rabbishefagold.com/rise-up/
Rise up, Oh Well,
Chant Her up. (Bamidbar 21:17)
Chant composed by Rabbi Shefa Gold: https://www.rabbishefagold.com/rise-up/
(כו) וְנָתַתִּ֤י לָכֶם֙ לֵ֣ב חָדָ֔שׁ וְר֥וּחַ חֲדָשָׁ֖ה אֶתֵּ֣ן בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם וַהֲסִ֨רֹתִ֜י אֶת־לֵ֤ב הָאֶ֙בֶן֙ מִבְּשַׂרְכֶ֔ם וְנָתַתִּ֥י לָכֶ֖ם לֵ֥ב בָּשָֽׂר׃
(26) And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh;
“We are not the survival of the fittest. We are the survival of the nurtured.”
— Louis Cozolino (psychologist and neuroscience researcher)
— Louis Cozolino (psychologist and neuroscience researcher)
With That Moon Language
Admit something: Everyone you see, you say to
them, “Love me.”
Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise
someone would call the cops.
Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us
to connect.
Why not become the one who lives with a full
moon in each eye that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language, what every other
eye in this world is dying to hear?
– poem by Hafiz
Admit something: Everyone you see, you say to
them, “Love me.”
Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise
someone would call the cops.
Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us
to connect.
Why not become the one who lives with a full
moon in each eye that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language, what every other
eye in this world is dying to hear?
– poem by Hafiz
The Thing Is
BY ELLEN BASS
to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you down like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.
Poem copyright ©2002 Ellen Bass, "The Thing Is," from Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, (Grayson Books, 2017). Poem reprinted by permission of Ellen Bass and the publisher.
BY ELLEN BASS
to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you down like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.
Poem copyright ©2002 Ellen Bass, "The Thing Is," from Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, (Grayson Books, 2017). Poem reprinted by permission of Ellen Bass and the publisher.