In this week's Torah portion,
Re'eh,
We are given two paths to choose from,
A blessing and a curse.
We have free will to choose.
If we follow the commandments,
The mitzvot,
We shall be blessed in the land of Israel.
But if we don't,
Then we won't.
There is right and wrong.
And according to what we learn in this Torah portion,
Things such as eating the blood of an animal,
Human sacrifices,
Sexual immorality,
Following false prophets,
And not releasing slaves are just a few of the things that are forbidden and lead to a corrupt society without blessings.
Free will in Judaism is the capacity to choose between different courses of actions,
Words,
Or thoughts,
A choice between right and wrong.
This idea that human beings can exercise their own free will when making moral decisions is key in Judaism.
In Judaism,
We believe that we need not to spare because as low as we might have fallen,
We can always turn around and fix our mistakes.
God is compassionate for giving transgressions and shows patience.
Human beings have the capacity to change.
Change is possible when you have free will,
But the ability to turn yourself around can come only from within you.
Connect our Torah portion.
To help us understand the blessings and the curses,
The Torah portion mentions two mountains,
Griezim,
The mountain of blessing,
And Eivah,
The mountain of the curse.
As Moses commands the people,
Six tribes stood on Griezim and six on Eivah.
The Koanim turned to Griezim and proclaimed,
Blessed is he who keeps,
And then continued to single out each individual commandment the nation is instructed to perform.
And the people answered,
Amen.
Then the Koanim turned to Eivah and proclaimed,
Cursed is he who,
And then begins to enumerate the Torah's prohibitions.
Two mountains of equal elevation and on each mountain an equal number of tribes.
The two mountains reflect an important lesson.
The world is a duality.
On the one side morality,
On the other side evil and sin.
We are also divided between the Yetzertov and the Yetzera,
The instinct for good versus the instinct to do evil.
The good and the beauty of our Griezim within us versus the evil and barren,
Ha'eval.
What can help us when making a choice or deciding how to proceed?
There's a mindful practice that can help us to pause before we react or to make a decision.
It's called the stop practice and can take just a couple minutes.
First,
There is the S from stop,
Which means stop.
Stop what you're doing and put things down for just a minute.
Next there is the T.
Take a breath.
Take a few breaths.
If you'd like to extend this,
You can take a minute to breathe normally and naturally and follow your breath coming in and out through your nose.
Oh,
Observe.
Observe your experience just as it is,
Including thoughts,
Feelings and emotions.
You can reflect about what's on your mind.
You can notice what thoughts that are there and maybe even remember that thoughts are not facts.
Notice any emotions present and how they're being expressed in the body.
Research shows that just naming your emotions can turn the volume down on the fear circuit in the brain and have a calming effect.
So noticing your body sensations.
P proceed.
Proceed by continuing without expectation.
Let your attention now move around you,
Sensing how things are right now.
Rather than react habitually,
You can be curious and open.
Feel free to pause this recording and try this practice right now.
Stop S for stop.
T for take a breath.
O for observe and P for proceed.
This practice can take a minute and a half,
Three minutes,
Five minutes.
Whenever you have time during the day,
Try to make an intention to do this practice.
You can practice stop before making a decision and also just to stop during your day to be more present in what you're doing.
Try getting curious about where there are opportunities in the day for you to just stop.
Waking up in the morning,
Taking a shower before eating a meal,
At a stoplight while you're driving before sitting down at work before turning on your phone.
By taking a moment to stop before we choose,
We create a space before we react or decide and then we can truly exercise our free will and react in ways that are more true to ourselves and healthier for the people around us.
What would it be like in the days or weeks or months ahead if you started stopping more often?
Thanks for listening and please join me in another two weeks.
