Being able to share our gifts with others, religious fanaticism, and much more.
“The purpose of religious teachings is that you shall live by them, not be sacrificed on their altar.”
The reflection on these chapters is part of the broader 929 project where you read a chapter-a-day (weekends excluded – so only 5 chapters per week) of the Tanakh/Hebrew Bible.
We are working our way towards February 2, 2022 – when we will have read the whole Hebrew Bible by then! Ahhh!
Where do you hope to be in your spiritual journey by then?
This section covers Leviticus 6-10, the torah portions of Tzav and Shemini. In this episode I talk about the proper way to bring our gifts into this world, the importance of sharing, letting your actions speak for themselves, holiday time consumerism, and martyrdom.
As a sociology and religion major that took one art history class I am also totally qualified to talk about renaissance art – and so I did in this episode. I chat about Bernini’s “Ecstasy of St Teresa”. In the sculpture, there is an undertone of the lethality of loving God so much that you want to enter into the next world already. While the primary subtext of the sculpture is about sexuality and how a passion for God by mystics parallels passion between people, unlike Nadav and Avihu who are consumed by their passion, St Teresa is not actually pierced by the arrow through her heart – she simply feels as though she has been pierced.
“How much is enough to actually be content? Is it necessary to receive everything on our wishlist this holiday season?” – Reb Misha Clebaner
The link to the source sheet online can be found here.
“What are your thoughts on any of the questions or reflections posed in the PDF? Comment below!”
Header image photo credit: Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–1652). Photo: Livioandronico2013 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42052274.
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Thanks again and looking forward to being on this journey with you!
Rabbi Misha Clebaner 