"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

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A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

The Wheel
Parashat R'eh opens with Moshe telling the people, "See - I set before you blessing and curse.." Traditionally, we take these words to mean: "People of Israel, I am  putting a fundamental choice before you..." And Moshe goes on to remind the people of the covenant with God.

I want to offer another reading, something both Jewish and Buddhist. As you know, on Tuesday evenings, there's a small dedicated circle of meditators that sits in silence for an hour. A few us take turns preparing some brief remarks that serve as some guidance, a framework for the evening's sit. Preparing for last week's session, I consulted a favorite website, Dharma Seed. I listened to a talk given by Sylvia Boorstein, my first Buddhist teacher. She said, "Imagine that you have two jobs. Half of your work hours you spend in Labor & Delivery, and the other half you spend in Hospice." What an intense combination, witnessing up close - over and over again - human beings, in all their vulnerability, stripped of the pretense of social station, entering and exiting this world. The real truth: if we open our eyes and our hearts, we bear witness to all of it -  the long and winding road, the road that leads, both cursed and charmed, the world of experiences that the Buddha called The Ten Thousand Joys and Sorrows. 

Very recently, our community mourned the losses of some very young people along with the loss of an older person. Around the corner, we'll celebrate a bris, and we celebrate a Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat and a Bat Mitzvah next Shabbat. We are a small tight-knit family. For parents who struggle with the tragic reality of burying a child, for our members who tend to the cemetery grounds, for members of the chevra kadisha, the grief is searing and intense. For parents and their families and friends at a bris, for families celebrating a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, the joy is sublime and powerful and humbling. These are the Ten Thousand Joys and Sorrows. The ancient editors of our siddur inserted a brilliant paraphrase of Isaiah into the morning service, right after the Barchu. The blessing reads: Praised are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who Shapes Light and Creates Darkness, who Makes Harmony and Creates All Things. Oseh shalom uvorei et hakol - All Things. As surely as light compliments darkness, the joys and the sorrows make up the fabric of every human life.

When we are pierced by the arrow of suffering we - all too often - wound ourselves a second time when we blame ourselves or other people or God or Fate. It is so very hard to avoid this second arrow. We could (and probably should) work on these personal challenges; there's more than enough work to last a lifetime.

During this short life we are reminded that despite our plans and dreams, we cannot know where the path leads next. But we can be present for each other when grief and sorrow bend our backs, and we can seize the joyous moment and celebrate together whenever we can.

When I read the opening words: "See, I have set before you blessing and curse..." -  I am reminded that we are here to fully witness Life -  all of it. Yes, there important choices before each of us, but beyond the metaphor of Choice there is the opportunity to unwind ourselves from the distracting stories, let go of the stuff that consumes us, and live in the moment, to Be Here Now.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Aaron

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