Nasso. Be the Blessing the world Needs.

Just a few days ago, we received the Torah once again. What does that mean?

For the Hasidic master Meor Einayim, the word Torah comes from the root horaah, meaning “to show” or “to teach” (and the etymological root of “to teach” is also “to show”).

It is a horaat derekh—a guide for the path.

Far from being a Law that compels—because, in truth, one can very well live an entire life without observing a single mitzvah of the Torah—Torah as a framework for life is simply a set of instructions meant to guide us on our way.

My path begins with inner work.

I turn inward.I meditate to understand what is happening inside me. To cultivate my midot (qualities of character).

And then I move into action, in the world. An action that I strive to dedicate to ethics and generosity.

Yes, these times are terrible. Yes, I sometimes feel despair.

But I also remember it will not help.

In fact it is the world that is waiting for me to help it. And this is what this Week's parasha is calling me to do.

This may be why rabbi Nachman said "not to despair". Lo le'hitiaesh. Not that we don't get to feel it. But we don't need to act from this place. We can choose something else, as an ethos.

One of the reasons for that is that, my Life is not just about Me. I remember that, from a Kabbalistic perspective, I’m not here just to take the fruits of the world, not even just to grow.

I’m here to help the world become a little better.

That’s the Kabbalistic idea of tikkun atsmi for tikkun olam—repairing oneself in order to repair the world.

To Be the change we want to see in the world.

And that begins with something as surprisingly simple as taking time for oneself—to become a bit more conscious, to open the heart a little more, to more intentionally cultivate the inner life that will then nourish our actions in the world.

That’s why I take time away from the world to meditate, every day. That is why I go on retreat. That’s why I pause from action on Shabbat. And this shabbat, we will read again the Birkat Cohanim. The most beautiful blessing in the world, which is the basis of the Chessed meditation practice we do every Tuesday at MJM . It goes like this: יְבָֽרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָֹ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ:

May Life Source bless you and watch over you. יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָֹ֧ה | פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ: May Life Source shine His face to you and endow you with grace. יִשָּׂ֨א יְהוָֹ֤ה | פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם May Life Source Lift up their Face towars you and place upon you, Peace. As people keep set themselves and each other on Fire, with words, and unfortunately, sometimes, literally, with the Fire of Hatred, can we, you and me, right now, express something different in the world? Yes this is the great calling of Sinai. To stand for what we believe. To embody the other Fire. Not the one that brings about destruction. This one is too easy. This is why we just received the Ten Utterances at Sinai: reminders to be careful about our negative, destructive tendencies. Perhaps this is why we were freed from Egypt: to be free, really from Hatred. Let us choose the Fire of Love, this shabbat, yet again. Let us choose to bless each other. We can still grieve our pains.

We can still fight for what we believe. But we can also keep choosing Love. As Rumi Famously said:

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field.

I’ll meet you there. In a Jewish Perspective, we are invited to meet each other every day.

This is the choice of Love.

This is the calling of the Birkat Cohanim, which we are invited to say every morning as we start our day:

It can be translated very simply as:

Be the Blessing the world Needs. Will you do that with me?