I’m on my path. Things are very tough. “Why?” I cry out. Why do I have to go through this? “Please, let me skip it this time,” I plead. Can you relate? In my knowing, in my heart, my connecting with the divine, I know there’s no escaping the challenge. I must figure out how to live through each obstacle, or stop, along the way. I will grow from what I’ve already learned to take the next steps on the journey with grace and wisdom. Perhaps the meandering and wandering give me the space necessary to integrate the lessons I have learned. Sometimes we’re on the way together, in community.
This month in Torah, in the Five Books of Moses, and of Miriam, some say, there’s a recap of the Jewish peoples’ sojourn in the wilderness, aptly titled, “Massei,” Journeys. Through Moses, God recounts the 42 stops the Jewish people made on their journey after being redeemed from slavery. Each step and stop along the way prepared us spiritually to be a holy nation of people who embodied and desired tikkun, or repair. Therefore, we needed to review the path we’d taken for the lessons we’d learned.
In the same way the ancient Jewish people took stock, so must we today. Torah means instruction, guidance. The stories within are teachings and lessons, much in the same way the stories of the 42 wilderness stops were to the ancient Jews. To go forth with wisdom and the divinity imbued by the Creator or whomever guides you in your life path, it’s important to take stock and reflect upon your journey as individuals and as part of a community. We all require the time to reflect, process, and integrate what we’ve learned to make us worthy of reaching a promised land.
I know I am not alone in this, as Archbishops, The US born Pope Leo XIV, imams, rabbis, and cantors call for peace. These spiritual leaders desire the safety of people throughout the world, praying and acting for the preservation of human rights for all people impacted by the war.
Ana B'Choach: A mystical prayer
In our Friday night liturgy before Shabbat begins, we invoke a mystical prayer, “Ana B’Choach.” It is related to the 42 stops with each letter a part of God’s mystical name, represented by the places and experiences the Jewish people had in our desert wanderings. “Ana B’Choach Gedulat Y’mincha Tatir Tz’rurah.” “Please, with the strength of your right hand, untie our tangles,” it begins. From the power of the mystical name we ask to be loosened from our tensions, to take a break from the co-creating of our lives and this world. Related to the first words of Torah, “B’reisheet,” in the beginning, in the creating, we take a breath and ponder the stop we are at right now. Wherever we are in our personal journeys, may we be kept safe, blessed, and loved. May we be guided, our prayers be heard, and the secrets we need to know be revealed through time and space.
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Citations:
Ending parsed from Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s (z”l) translation of Ana B’Choach.
Duhan-Kaplan, Rabbi Laura. “Does the Ana Bekoach Prayer Reveal the Secret 42 Letter Name of God? Aug. 8, 2017. https://www.sophiastreet.com/2017/08/08/ana-bekoach-42-letter-name-god/
Levy, Rabbi Yael. Directing the Heart: Weekly Mindfulness Teachings and Practices for the Torah. AWAYIN: Philadelphia, PA, 2019.
Gold, Rabbi Shefa. Torah Journeys: The Inner Path to the Promised Land. Ben Yehuda Press: Teaneck, NJ, 2006.