Miryam's Space

One of my favorite Scenes from ET is when the children hide ET. The grownups are coming to look for him.

Where do they hide him? Among the other toys, in plain sight!

In the Zohar G!d glory Hiding in plain sight, and each word of the Torah can be a doorway to the divine.

What precious gems are hiding in plain sight in our lives? How can they become revealed? Pekudei offers an answer in 3 parts 1. Prepare – make something new 2. Wait 3. Pay attention esp to the familiar!

Pekudei, the Israelites have finally completed the Mishkan. It is the final book of Exodus, a happy ending, The Israelites are free in the wilderness, and having left Sinai have prepared a place  for G!d to dwell among them. They have given of their hearts their best gifts, and prepared a beautiful portable sanctuary. and are now creating the garments for Aaron and his descendants: Let’s listen to one verse chapter 40 verse 14 from this week’s

וְאֶת־בָּנָ֖יו תַּקְרִ֑יב וְהִלְבַּשְׁתָּ֥ אֹתָ֖ם כֻּתֳּנֹֽת׃

Then bring his sons forward, put tunic (K’tonet) on them,

This reference to K’tonet is a hyperlink to Joseph – same word for his coat of many colors. There is a passage in the Zohar say that with the days of our lives, we create a k’tonet pasim –garment like a coat of many colors for our souls. Each day we add colors or rip out threads. At the end of our lives, we have created from our lives the garment of our soul. R’ Abraham Heschel.Know that every deed counts, that every word is power…Above all, remember that you must build your life as if it were a work of art.” ―

It is gorgeous to think that as our bodies, skin and organs fray with age, that we our soul’s garment can grow more full and dazzling. So each day we can prepare.  What gifts are we bringing in our lives to prepare our dwelling place for the Divine in our hearts? 

Part of the preparation is to make space, to create a hollow space in our heart, devoid of ego, a space for love.  What is the difference between the golden calf, and the arc of the tabernacle covered and lined with gold, with the golden kruvim forming an arc above? The answer  occurred to me this week: The calf is solid, the arc and cruvim create a space! A space for G!d

2ndly we must wait. In Pekudei the Israelites must wait until the first of Nisan for the official dedication of the Mishkan, when Moses knows the time is right.  Waiting can be hard, it requires discipline and trust. Waiting: psalm 5:4  Hear my voice oh G!d, at daybreak I shall prepare for You , and I wait. …. I wait Zohar asks – what does this mean? Surely all the people of the world hope and wait for the goodness of the blessed Holy One, even the animals of the field

 How do you keep the trust and know spring will come?  I discovered shoots of daffodil that had been preparing under the snow. A second Heschel quote “Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.”

3^rd, pay attention. If we look for it, there miracles hiding in plain sight – in the daffodil shoots, in the eyes of a friend, in G!d appearing in a misty cloud. No more will there be a dramatic sound and lights show like Sinai. Though awe inspiring it didn’t work to keep G!d in our hearts. It was too powerfully scary. So we made what was familiar, a golden calf, took the easy way out – and fear was the pathway to the dark side. One of my favorite quotes from R’ AJH “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”

Taking G!d with you, it’s how we carry our dreams through the journey of years.  But how can our dreams survive intact through all of our fears? Cut the cloth with love, measure the seams with care, cast jewels of joy on the breastplate and light that flame eternal.