A blog from inside the tent!!

13:17
When Pharaoh let the people leave, God did not lead them along the Philistine Highway, although it was the shorter route. God's consideration was that if the people encountered armed resistance, they would lose heart and return to Egypt.
13:18
God therefore made the people take a roundabout path, by way of the desert to the Red Sea. The Israelites were well prepared when they left Egypt.
13:19
Moses took Joseph's remains with him. Joseph had bound the Israelites by an oath: 'God will grant you special providence, and you must then bring my remains out of here with you.'
13:20
[The Israelites] moved on from Sukkoth, and they camped in Etham, at the edge of the desert.
13:21
God went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to guide them along the way, and at night in a pillar of fire, illuminating their travel day and night.
13:22
The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire at night never left from in front of the people.


(This is the beginning of this week's Torah reading, parashat Beshalach).


Truly, people, I meant to begin with the TENT! I am so excited to be out here, and just pleasantly surprised that my weakish wireless internet is reaching through all the 100+ year old horsehair plaster walls of my house and getting to the roof. I am here, very comfortable, even a little too warm, I just unzipped my window ;-)


But the Torah reading had such powerful resonance for me that I thought I would include it.


Getting out here is a little like going on a trip. I think that is why I like it so much. So here is what I have with me in the tent: my laptop (obviously), a sleeping bag, pad, and pillow, a thermos of coffee (double obviously), my tallit, my beloved yedid nefesh siddur, three clementines, two dark chocolate squares, and half a corn muffin. I did have the other half of the corn muffin and a swiss cheese sandwich made on my father's AMAZING bread, but I ate them already ;-)


and some books and a pen and notebook. at the present time, a perceptive gift from a friend, Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy; Five Cities of Refuge; and a small three volume Pirke Avot.


Very big alpha waves are emanating from the second floor rear roof of 146 Simpson Road. The Israelites were well-prepared when they left Egypt.


It was not as difficult as I thought for me to get out here. Because it generally involves climbing out a third floor window and ever so slightly dropping down onto a second floor rooftop, I thought I would need assistance after my surgery. I had been warned to guard my new breast, this breast-in-progress, very carefully, and not to push, pull, or lift with my left arm.


It turned out not to be difficult, I think as a result of a yoga class I attended last month with a wonderful teacher named Aly. I basically walked into her class and said, I am having a mastectomy in a month, do you mind if I start learning some yoga with you? And by the way, I am in an extremely fragile state of mind about my body. Aly did not even blink. She taught me yoga with a spirit of compassionate encouragement. As a result, I have plenty of strength in my core and legs, and can climb in and out with very little involvement of my upper body.


But to return to the question of "What am I doing out here?"


Actually, what I quoted above is not the most well-known part of parashat Beshalach. The story that everyone--EVERYONE, thanks to Charlton Heston--knows, is the story of the parting of the Red Sea.


Pharaoh and his army come storming up in their chariots and the Israelites are scared to death. Moses says three things: Do not be afraid. Stand where you are. See G-d's rescue, which will be accomplished for you today.


Lawrence Kushner has a very interesting drash on this in "Five Cities of Refuge." I'll just quote a bit of it, the book itself is worth having.


"The Hasidic master Dov Baer of Mezritch teaches that there is a place, an order of being, called Ayin, Nothingness, through which anyone (or anything) must pass before it can become something new. Just a split second after it is no longer what it was but before it is what it would become. This is a place of great terror. When you enter the Nothingness, there can be no guarantees. All bets are off. You could become anything--or remain nothing, forever . . . .

You want to know what happened at the sea? I'll tell you. The waters didn't literally split. The people all walked into the sea and drowned. Then they all walked up onto the opposite shore, reborn into free men and women. Into the Ayin . . . "

(Kushner and Mamet, Five Cities of Refuge, Schocken Books 2003, pages 56-57. I'm not sure how much like a term paper a blog is supposed to be ;-)


The breeze is rustling the ancient nylon sides of this tent and sunlight is streaming in . . . there are two blue sides, some sunlight; two white sides, more sunlight; and then all of the holes in the roof--cel mai sunlight. I think it is time for me to take a nap.