D’varim

THE BIG IDEA

Of the things that are difficult to do, giving feedback and criticism from a place of total love might just be the hardest. 

This week, as we step into the energy field of the 9th of Av, the day we commemorate our failure as a people to sustain our open connection with the Creator via a temple of worship in Jerusalem, we open the book of D’varim, the final book of the Torah. In this book Moses has some ‘things’ to tell the people before they cross into the land. He opens with his own limitations, (that he was unable to lead the people alone, his need to share the responsibility with the 70 elders), he shares the sin of the spies that caused the death of an entire generation of men and a 40 year delay entering the land (also what we are mourning on the 9th of Av), and finally, the  unimaginable military victories over giants as they approach the border of the promised land. 

He admits his humanity and limits, he gives clear warning about bad behavior, and he bolsters the nation to know they will, with G-d’s help, conquer the land. 

As we prepare to drop into the fast of Av, try to keep in mind that it is love that we are mourning. See your own personal limitations and admit them, accept the places you have allowed doubt and the voices of others to interupt your connection to the divine, and know, that at any moment, there can be absolute enduring peace on the land.