I hope the holy-day of Fire, Lag B’Omer, was experienced with meaning.
Some of you know that I was up north twice lately. I was with Rabbi David Zaslow’s community in Ashland OR, where Reb Zalman and a Sufi led a shabbaton together! I also was invited to Mt. Shasta CA where I offered the teachings on the 22 Hebrew Letters. In both places, which were very different in character, the Letters were received with great interest. Many feel that there is something in these Letters and are open to receiving their message. This is one of the signs of the paradigm shift; the Letters will be spread and women will teach them.
At the end of Shabbat on the evening of May 26, 2012, we complete the 49 Days of Self Examination and begin the long-awaited holy-days of Shavuot, celebrating Matan Torah, the receiving of Torah.
It is customary to celebrate the event by studying Torah. I wonder about creating and maintaining a sense of celebration when studying.
I liked what Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz says about the voice that was described in the revelation on Mt. Sinai: it was a loud voice that was heard all over, he says, but not only there at a certain time and place, but a voice which constantly sounds itself and is constantly available to us.
I am being reminded that the message of the Letter Vav is that very truth. She is about the availability of a level which provides the experience of connectivity of all things, that leads to the experience of wholeness.
Vav is the preposition letter “and”. Many opening sentences or chapters in the Torah start with a vav: “V’ … “meaning “And … “, “And God said/says to Moses tell children of Israel …” Vav was turned into “the reversing Letter” which means God actually told (past tense) Moses because the story belong to the past.
Today Vav reveals this meaning that Rabbi Steinsaltz speaks about: a voice or vibrations that go on for all times.
Vav at the beginning of a verb in the Torah does not belong to any particular tense; the verbs are ongoing, connecting all tenses, eternally moving in the now. This Letter is about the connectivity of all things in creation. Moses is still talking to Children of Israel, and we are still listening.
Metivta will hold a Leil Shavuot at Leo Baeck Temple, Saturday, May 26, 8 – 11pm. All are welcome. For more information: http://www.metivta.org/Default.asp?page=19