Awakening Tzav 5783: Torah Mussar Mindfulness, 24th Sitting

The Institute for Holiness: Kehilat Mussar Mindfulness Live Streaming

Welcome to The Institute for Holiness: Kehilat Mussar's weekly public offering to study Torah together from the lens of Mussar Mindfulness.

We engage in a teaching and then in a guided mindfulness meditation practice.
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Transcript

Welcome,

Baruchim Habaim,

To Awakening,

Torah,

Musar,

Mindfulness.

If you're just joining us now,

Please allow yourself to settle and arrive.

I am Rabbi Chassio Uriel Steinbauer,

Founder and director of Kehillat Musar,

HaMachon LeKedusha,

The Institute for Holiness,

Musar,

Mindfulness.

Delighted to have you here on Sunday,

April 2nd,

2023,

Which is Yud Aleph,

The 11th of the month of the Hebrew month of Nisan.

And we meet regularly,

B'ezrat Hashem,

With this public offering on Sundays at 1230 Eastern Standard Time,

930 Pacific Standard Time,

And 730 PM Israeli time.

So welcome.

Delighted to have you.

So as you might be aware,

If you're a regular with us,

Either joining us on Zoom from our website at kehillatmusar.

Com or live stream on our YouTube channel,

Please subscribe.

Or you can also find us on LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter,

Where we are live streaming.

And basically what we do is that we get together and we look at yesterday's Torah portion,

The Hebrew Bible.

We are in the book of Vayikra,

Known in English as Leviticus.

And yesterday we are in the second parasha of Vayikra,

Known as Savv.

And it is our 24th sitting together of this Hebrew year of Tov Shem Pei Gimel,

5783,

The Hebrew year.

And yesterday was April 1st and Yud of Nisan,

The 10th of Nisan,

When we entered the parasha of Savv.

So hopefully you had a chance during the week to read the parasha,

Become familiar with it.

It is a short one,

Short and sweet.

Feels very much a continuation,

Obviously,

Of the parasha before that opens Vayikra,

Called Vayikra,

Where we're essentially getting in a Torah Kohanim,

This kind of teachings and the mitzvot,

The commandments for the Kohanim,

The priests to run the Mishkan in the desert for our ancestors.

And so this essentially was what we're getting.

We're getting a continuation of that.

So before we jump into a summary of it and to see what we're going to focus on,

What God and our ancestors want us to learn from this Torah portion to apply to our practice of Musa mindfulness and to our lives today,

We always begin with our covenant,

Our intention for today's practice.

So if you have vision,

Eyesight,

And you're watching on video,

I'm going to begin to share a screen.

For those of you who either don't have vision or who are listening on audio,

On podcast,

Then you will hear me read these and summarize them.

So we see this act that we're doing together,

Taking refuge in this vaad,

Sanga,

Kehila,

In this community together,

As we're doing this as a radical act of self-care.

And we're doing this so that we can strengthen our own souls in order to be of benefit to others in the future.

And we're also doing this to strengthen our relationship to others so that we can be a better conduit of God's good to others when they need us.

And notice I said a better conduit,

Not the best.

We're not looking for perfection,

Nor do we believe in such a thing.

We're all on this path towards holiness.

It's part of our path to really fully see and accept that we are human and will make mistakes and even sin.

And to do teshuvah,

To do repentance,

To return to the path over and over again.

Sometimes it feels like we do that daily or even sometimes in one day.

So we take refuge in community and in the path,

The potential of the path and the practice to strengthen us because we can't do this alone,

Nor should we.

And our final covenant,

Which is related to our threefold practice of caring for the self,

Others,

And then God,

Is that we're doing this to strengthen our relationship with the divine.

This is something we need to do to really turn to and begin to develop that betachon,

That trust,

And that amunah,

That faith,

So that we can be a better conduit of God's good to others when they need us.

So may we merit fulfilling these kavanot,

These intentions today.

I'm going to stop sharing screen now for those of you watching,

And we are going to delve into a summary of this parasha together,

A very short one.

So what happens here?

Okay,

So essentially what we find is Moshe Rabbeinu,

Also known as Moses in English,

A great prophet and just ancestor,

You know,

A great forefather.

He really is what I would call a Kohane,

Co-creator with God.

He is a priest maker,

But not by himself,

Obviously.

He does this in concert with Aharon,

Who will become the high priest,

His brother,

And with God.

Okay,

So again,

That threefold.

And he really learns and teaches Aharon,

The future high priest,

What to do to start offering kavanot,

The offerings,

The sacrifices that we discussed in last week's parasha.

And so this takes up the majority of this portion,

Which runs in Vayikra and Leviticus,

Chapter six,

Verse one,

Pesach Aleph,

Through chapter eight,

Verse 36.

And what I want to,

Before I focus on what I think is important here,

We just want to really summarize the Kohane would essentially find out about their tasks in this parasha,

The priest.

They learn how to prepare each korban,

Each sacrifice offering.

They hear about their benefits for the work that they do,

That they get to be fed and receive certain things like eating,

Eating parts of some of the kavanot,

Keeping the hides of animals.

And this is essentially,

In some ways,

It's how they get paid for their work.

Obviously,

There's a greater type of pay going on here,

But this is what you see happening here,

Which is common in other traditions,

Temples also,

Of how to compensate the priests for their service,

For the avodah.

So next,

What happens is a ritual,

Essentially a tekkes,

To integrate the mishkan,

To inaugurate,

Excuse me,

Inaugurate the mishkan,

The sanctuary for God.

And it is called miluim,

Okay?

And that means inauguration.

And you could kind of think of it as a grand opening of the temple,

Essentially.

It lasts for seven days.

They must be isolated and remain in the inner parts of the sanctuary during this time.

And as you all know,

In Bereshit,

In the first book of the Torah,

In Genesis,

It took seven days for the full creation.

On the last day,

On the seventh day,

God rested.

Similarly,

We have traditions,

For instance,

When,

For instance,

If someone is tameh,

Depending on how they're impure,

Say it's a woman in her menstruation,

There's usually a seven-day period of isolation,

A process in which one can go through what is needed in order to become pure.

And you find this in other kind of impurities and traditions in Judaism.

So it makes sense that it's here.

And it's also significant that in the end,

They'll come out on the eighth day,

Was when the brit milah happens,

Right?

The covenant of the circumcision between baby males and Hashem.

So part of this inauguration,

Right,

Is getting the mizbeach,

The altar ready for the sacrifices for the korbanot.

And part of this is getting the actual koanim ready for,

The priests ready for their roles.

Now you could imagine,

As exciting as this might be,

It also can be very overwhelming.

I could imagine that some of the priests felt,

I'm never going to memorize all this.

I'm going to get it wrong.

And I'm sure they did make mistakes along the way.

When you are expected to perform so precisely exactly what you must do,

And you probably did not have written scroll put up on the luach on the wall for you to refer to.

This is an oral tradition.

That is one in which you really have to inaugurate yourself even more than seven days to learn through repetition and experiential education in order for it to become embodied and at one with oneself.

And that takes time,

Like any spiritual discipline,

Like our practice with our mindfulness.

We must do the practice daily.

We must take on focusing on a certain midah,

Soul trait,

And doing the kleshbon hanefesh journal and sitting on our mindfulness meditation and engaging and our Kabbalah practices out in the real world in order to grow where we need to.

So what I want to focus on today,

It's actually a really beautiful thing that emerges in this Torah portion.

So if you're following along in the text,

You want to go to Leviticus chapter 6 verses 5-6.

So it goes on to say,

Just going to enlarge this for me.

And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning,

Right?

It should not be extinguished without going out.

And the priest here must burn wood upon it every single morning.

And arrange the ola,

The burnt offering sacrifice on it,

And the burning of the fat of the wholeness,

Peace offering sacrifice on it,

Essentially.

A repetition almost essentially of the first verse,

Meaning always fire,

Always fire shall be kept burning on the altar.

Do not put it out.

Okay,

So immediately you should be like,

Wow,

What's going on here?

First of all,

That's a job,

Right?

That's a job of someone who has to be really mindful.

And maybe even a group of people,

Like a sanga,

Like a vad,

Who are really supporting each other.

So you know,

There were several koanim really paying attention to this,

Having a lot of awareness.

What's happening with the fire?

Does it need more wood?

What needs to be cleaned up?

What needs to maintain this to keep it?

And this is their avodah,

This is their service.

And you should immediately,

What comes up for us,

Like thinking of our ancestors,

First,

We immediately get the association of Moshe,

Before the burning bush that was not consumed,

Where he encountered the divine fire,

Fire that is constantly burning,

Constantly there,

Right?

And then you should immediately associate when God and God's mercy takes our ancestors out of the institution of slavery,

Out of Egypt,

There is an amud ha'esh,

A constant pillar of fire that is there,

That is lit up to guide our ancestors,

To make them feel safe and warm,

That it's a constant presence of the divine,

And it's associated with the fire,

Right?

That the human being feels the strength,

The awe,

The yira,

Which is both awe and fear in one,

In fire,

Right?

And the association with the divine,

Right?

So immediately that should come to association,

Okay?

We have this amud ha'esh that is essentially,

I wouldn't want to call it burning out,

But I would call it a transition.

We're removing away from the amud ha'esh to this tamid,

This service in the mizberg,

Which will have the fire always.

So it's a transition from one that travels with the camp,

Through this amud ha'esh to one that now is done through our kohanim,

Our priests,

The ancestors who will maintain this fire as part of their service on behalf of everyone,

Bringing God's good to everyone,

Feeling that warmth,

Knowing that fire is always burning,

That is always there.

And this really serves,

Immediately we should start asking,

What are you noticing,

Right?

What is the big idea here?

Maybe more than one.

Why is it so important for this fire on the mizberg to stay burning?

So a few weeks ago in Tetzaveh,

We talked about the word tamid,

Meaning always,

Right?

And its connection also to the ner tamid,

Right?

Which is this continuous flame that was part of the menorah in the temple,

The beautiful branched golden candelabrum,

Right?

And the daily sacrifices known as korban tamid,

Right?

A constant,

Continuous sacrifice that is happening daily,

Even two times a day,

Right?

So now we see tamid again in connection to the fire on the mizberg.

And it's something that is meant to be regular,

Perhaps permanent,

And it's meant to reflect for us,

What is it about serving God in the mishkan that actually might even reflect for us today in our daily practice of Musa and mindfulness?

Something really deep here.

So I think there are two elements.

And please send in your ideas also,

Share with us,

Always.

So I think the first is this concept that we are to be serving God at all hours,

All the time.

If you even look at our central prayer,

The shema,

We say that we shall serve God with all your heart,

With all your soul,

Which gets translated differently.

It could be with all your resources,

All your might.

I would even venture here to say,

Means with all your service,

With all your insight,

With all your mindfulness,

That you are coming forward.

And even when you sleep,

Your sleep is like a mitzvah in and of itself to heal yourself,

So that you can be of service when you are up and awake and as healthy as possible.

So it's this like constant serving of God at all hours.

Now,

What do we mean by service of God,

Right?

We obviously don't have the korban nodes and even our ancestors serve God in other ways,

Besides the korban nodes.

So as we know in Musar mindfulness practice,

It is very key to understand that our service is one in which we're caring for the other,

That we are bearing the burden with the other,

And that is how we serve God.

And so it's a very strong key element that when we are considering how are we serving God in all hours,

That this is part of our framework and what our path is essentially.

The second key element,

Which I think is very important,

Which ties into the dharma,

The teachings of impermanence,

Which is this tamid and not just this tamid on the mizbeach,

But the korban tamid,

The continuous sacrifice and the ner tamid,

This continuous candelabrum,

These fire of the menorah constantly burning and then the amud haish that we had prior,

All of these are this really strong need for it's an attachment,

Attachment of our ancestors and even of ourselves for the need for something constant,

For something consistent,

For something perhaps even unchanging,

An element of that.

And that is reflected through our ritual act of this continuing burning the fire.

God is that element for us where we want that which is unchanging,

That which is always there.

And this of course rubs against our practice of mindfulness in the dharma,

Which believes fully in impermanence and that everything is changing.

But it also recognizes how much the human being,

What it calls one of the hindrances,

Has this attachment and desire,

A form of kind of clinging to permanence,

To that which is unchanging.

And I think you see this here and this ritual here of keeping the fire constantly burning.

It's like relying on it as if the sun will rise and the sun will go down.

And it's to recognize perhaps the vulnerability of the human being but not to see this as a weakness.

This is where we might challenge our ideas of mindfulness and the dharma.

I don't think it's a weakness or maybe it doesn't even need to function as a hindrance.

If we could just recognize that there's a need there,

There's a desire there,

There's an attachment.

And as long as that attachment is not causing us harm or suffering or others,

I think we can just honor that and at least sit with that in our practice and instead of trying to deny it and push it away,

Like I have no need for permanence,

I have no need for God,

Unchanging,

I have no need for a ritual that's constantly burning.

But then the opposite extreme is over-identifying,

Right?

Where it's like a really,

Really strong and that attachment has,

Of course,

The issues there.

So I think those two elements are very important and it applies to us in our daily practice,

Right?

Where we want to think of,

You know,

We all have in our,

What I like to call holy mundane,

Right?

And our holy life of daily acts and behavior,

Things that we need to do in our home and in our lives that need to be working all the time,

Right?

We get up in the morning,

We prepare breakfast,

We feed our kids if we have children.

There are things that we're constantly doing daily in and over again to maintain,

To make sure that things keep functioning and operating,

But also to provide that healthy attachment,

Which is very important to our children and our lives,

That there's something consistent,

There's something unchanging,

There's something that will be here that we can count on.

And that's very important to recognize.

And there's a nuance there.

And I think even in Buddhist psychology and in latest research and practices of mindfulness,

At least in Western traditions,

They're really recognizing the space for healthy attachment,

That it's not like classical Buddhism of no attachment at all.

And there shouldn't be because it causes harm and suffering.

Maybe it's for some of us,

Even more of a realistic view or take on it,

That we have to recognize and live and be with the desire.

So with that,

The final thing I will share,

Which I think is important for our practice here,

Is we touched upon last week and discussed the Truma Tradition,

The mitzvah,

The commandment of the Kohanim having to remove the ashes from the daily burnt offering,

The ashes that would come from that,

They must clean that,

They actually have to change their clothing and then remove those ashes and put those ashes into like an ash pile,

A pure place.

And as we learned last week from,

I believe it was Mishnah Yoma,

That the priest used to compete over it and run to be the first to do the mitzvah,

The avodah,

The service,

So much so that someone got injured in the process,

They broke their leg,

They were kind of pushed off the ramp going up,

And so they had to form a lottery in order to kind of contain the desire and the attachment to do the service,

Right?

So what's so important about that is talking about holy mundane,

You know,

People think,

Why would you run to do the ashes?

It was a mitzvah in and of itself,

It wasn't something that had to be done to clean the altar so then you could get to the real task,

So that you could get to the real mitzvah,

The real service.

And we have that in our daily lives all the time.

Let's just think of doing the dishes,

Which we,

Especially we as parents,

But everyone has to do daily all the time,

Day in and day out,

Several times a day.

We cook all our meals at home,

For instance,

So we're having at least three meals at home,

Sometimes more with snacks.

And so by the end of the day,

The dishes are just enormous.

And yes,

We have a dishwasher,

But we still have to rinse them and put them in and some of them we have to clean by hand,

Okay?

And that day in and day out can feel like drudgery.

It can feel unpleasant.

And it's so much so that we begin to see it as almost like a rotten task.

A rotten task that we have to do in order to get to the real business.

What?

Which is like what?

Eating,

Right?

That's our part of our service,

Our abodah.

How so?

We call our tables today,

We call them a mikdash ma'at,

Mishkan ma'at,

Right?

The sense of we've turned our tables into a mini temple,

Mini sanctuary that where we serve and offer to God through our service and our eating and our prayers.

So what's going on here?

If you actually take this on as a practice,

This true marhadish and these ashes,

Where you see the act of doing the dishes as a mitzvah in and of itself,

A commandment,

That you are cleaning them and you want to run to the task and you want to do this so you're beautifying it and you're completing this task and trying to be at one with the moment because there's no other place to be.

We can't live in the past.

We can't live in the future.

It's right here and right now in the dishes.

That is the present moment.

That is where insight is.

That is where our practice is.

That's where the mitzvah,

The commandment is.

It's finishing those dishes and then we can bring them to the table to feed,

To do the next mitzvah,

Right?

And we have to remember that,

That so too often in our lives that we have to bring this mindfulness of the One,

The Almighty,

Right?

And our purpose to serve others,

Even in this mundane holiness,

Even in these acts that sometimes we start to struggle with,

Right?

And want to avoid and go through denial and push away or sometimes even over-identify with,

Right?

But there's something there in the trumah tradition of our ancestors,

The koanim of taking the ashes away that we can learn in our own practice.

So with that,

I invite you into our mindfulness meditation for today.

So please assume the posture that is most comfortable and healthy for you.

You're having any chronic pain,

Any soreness in the back or it's just really to the point where you can't be present because you're having such strong sensations that are unpleasant in the back or other places.

Please stand during the meditation,

Do a walking meditation,

Lie down with your eyes open to remain awake and alert.

For the rest of us,

I encourage you to sit at the edge of your seat,

Which is what I will be doing,

And planting your feet in the ground so that you feel really held and present.

And today I'm going to guide us through a script of joy because when we can awaken to what is our path,

To what is our avodah,

Our service,

Really aligning Torah and dharma and chesed and metta,

This loving kindness,

Being on this path of towards shlemot,

On the path towards holiness,

This is it.

This is this holy mundane,

Right?

Where we can even be present with the dishes,

Knowing that it is right here in this moment we are meant to be and is quite a gift,

Quite a gift.

And with that,

Before we move into our meditation,

I dedicate today's sitting to Aryeh,

Beloved Aryeh,

Beautiful boy,

12 years old,

Who passed away about two weeks ago from brain cancer,

Who is beloved in our community,

Who we've known since he was a baby,

Who taught us so much about wellbeing and joy and the great simcha of being alive and being given another day.

And so this sitting and teaching is in his loving memory and his memory is and will be for a blessing.

So with that,

We begin with three deep cleansing breaths,

Inhalation,

Inviting awareness and presence,

Letting go of any tension in your shoulders and neck,

Allowing yourself to even move a little,

Inhalation,

Inviting that stillness and silence and exhalation,

Letting out any tension.

And finally,

Inhalation,

Allowing in any kavanah,

Any intention that you need for today,

For today's practice,

Inhalation and exhalation.

So good to be present and alive here,

Being given another day to practice and sit together,

Closing your eyes if you feel safe and ready or lowering your gaze.

Now,

Allowing your breath to just fall to its own natural rhythm,

Allowing your hands to rest wherever it's comfortable,

Whether it be on your lap or holding your heart,

Beginning to be really fully present with yourself as if you would be with a best friend,

Looking at your best friend deeply,

Noticing what is here with him or her,

Each beloved wrinkle underneath the eye showing happiness and joy to be with you,

Noticing what is here,

Any strong emotions,

Calling for your love and attention,

Any sensations in the body,

Pulling your attention away from my voice and your breath as your anchor.

For some of us,

It'll be thoughts,

Thoughts pulling us to the past,

To the past,

Ruminating over something or planning for the future,

Allowing yourself to consciously cultivate this well-being and joy together,

Connecting to the goodness in the side and that is around us.

We're not efforting to make something happen.

We can simply just invite like we would a friend,

Well-being and joy.

We're simply inclining our minds and our practice in that direction as we connect with what brings us delight and appreciation,

Appreciation for the holy mundane and letting ourselves relax into it,

Feeling yourself fully grounded and supported by the earth,

Inviting a relaxing body scan,

Moving our awareness through the body,

Inviting each area to soften if there's any tension,

Allowing your face to soften,

Your forehead,

Your eyes,

Your jaw,

Softening down through your neck and your shoulders and your arms,

Continuing down your torso,

Softening your chest and belly,

Down through the pelvic region and hips,

Continue down your legs,

Your thighs,

Your knees,

The lower legs,

Your ankles and feet and your toes,

Breathing in the whole body to relax,

To be at ease.

Allow a half smile to form on your face,

Noticing how this affects your mind,

Taking a few deeper breaths now,

Bringing a calming energy to your body with each in-breath,

Inviting further relaxation as you let go with each out-breath.

Let the breath breathe you without any need to control it or make anything happen.

Simply relax and receive the breath as it moves through you.

From time to time,

You will hear me go silent.

Just know that we are in a moment and that we are in our silent meditation,

Following our breath as the anchor,

And that I will return.

You can trust and let go.

Now bring your mind to something that brings you joy.

What brings you joy?

A feeling of contentment and well-being,

Perhaps being out in nature,

In a forest or by a lake,

Maybe dancing,

Being with your best friend or your spouse,

With a pet,

The grandchild.

Recall a time when you really felt the embodied sense of this well-being.

Just relax and enjoy the memory.

Notice how it feels in the body as you recall this memory.

Notice how it feels in the mind.

Notice how it feels in the heart.

Allow your awareness to rest in the feeling of well-being.

Take a deep breath.

Now bring to mind some blessing in your life.

Someone,

Something you're grateful for,

Grateful to,

Perhaps someone who helps you in that mundane holiness of doing the dishes.

Bring an image to mind of this person,

Being or circumstance,

And allow a simple bow,

Internal or external,

Toda.

Thank you.

Relax into the joyful feeling of hakaratato,

The recognizing of the good,

The awakening to the good and giving thanks as it pervades the whole being,

The body.

Feel that gratitude move down to your toes.

In your daily practice of this meditation this week,

You can bring to mind another blessing and a third one,

Allowing yourself deeper relaxation,

Deeper breath in between each one,

Opening to the fact that you are here and alive in this moment right here and right now and again and again.

Feel the blessing of oxygen of life move through you.

Without needing to make anything happen.

The awareness that this gift from Hashem,

From God of the breath of oxygen,

Sustains us and keeps us alive.

The blood flowing through us and nourishing every cell,

Every sense,

Color,

Sound,

Fragrance,

Taste,

All that we can take in from the world.

All this miraculous body process and gift keeping us alive right here and right now in this present moment.

And no need to beat yourself up or judge if your mind wanders,

If you've gone off,

If you've even dozed off in a bit of slough and torpor.

That just means you're really relaxed.

This happens in the practice.

It's meant to happen.

The mind wanders.

That's its job.

You simply become aware of it and come back to your anchor of my voice and the breath.

As our teacher Joseph Goldstein says,

Simply begin again.

Such a gift to be able to simply begin again.

And that's where we find each stroke of the sponge with the soap on the plate and our holy mundane simply begin again.

What is new in this moment?

What does Hashem God want you to observe in this moment to gain insight into that only you can gain insight to,

That only you can offer to the world in your service.

Aware now of God consciousness itself shining through you.

That lovely blend of yira,

Of awe and fear,

Knowing that we too can pass any moment being aware of the gift of life of another breath.

Let yourself relax and receive the gift of life as it moves through you in this form.

Nothing you need to do.

Let yourself simply enjoy the fact that you are alive and you're alive for a reason.

You are here.

We together taking refuge in community,

Refuge in the path,

Strengthen each other.

As we come towards the end of this meditation,

Allow yourself slowly to open to your surroundings.

Taking in all the goodness inside around you with appreciation and joy.

Allow this.

If you have your eyes shut to slowly open to allow the light to come in.

Allow yourself an inner bow.

Joining us back on the sacred zoom screen or live streaming.

If you're watching by video or listening by audio,

Welcome back from the meditation.

Thank you for your practice.

Thank you for showing up in a consistency and strengthening this community and our weekly public offering.

Join us in Musar mindfulness groups to practice and learn together.

In addition to our weekly sitting,

Reach out,

Fill out our form of interest from the website,

How you would like to learn and practice together.

Delighted to have you.

As we head towards the Chag,

The festival of freedom,

Of liberation,

Of Pesach,

Of passing over,

Of Passover.

May you take this practice daily of really allowing this joy to fully infiltrate and become at one with you in order to be fully present in the mundane holiness of ridding ourselves of the chamet of that which is too puffed up and takes up so much room that is unnecessary.

Allowing in the simplicity of being here,

Right here in this present moment,

In the here and now with that flat matza,

That bread,

Right?

That hasn't arisen,

Hasn't fermented.

Allow yourself to be fully present for that mundane holiness of cleaning and preparing your home,

Which I know can be so challenging for so many people.

And ask how you can be of service to others.

For those that might be too difficult to clean themselves or that might need help with an errand here and there,

How can you be aware of those who are also trying to leave their own Egypt,

Their narrow space,

In order for all of us to be at one on Wednesday evening at sundown when we leave Egypt and enter into sacred community,

Sacred holiness together on this path.

So I will be with you.

I will be praying and thinking of all of you.

Looking forward to meeting on the other side next Sunday.

For those of you who want to know what to study next,

It is the Torah portion after Sal.

Give me one second.

It is Shemini,

The eighth day.

Of course,

We should have known that,

Right?

Didn't I say the eighth day was coming,

Like the great Nila?

That they're going to emerge and come out of that sacred seven days of isolation,

Of preparing for their roles.

All right,

Blessed ones.

I wish you Chag Hasher Sameach,

A really happy,

Wonderful Passover with family and friends.

And look forward to next Sunday together at our regular time.

Take care of yourselves.