Go Out

THE BIG IDEA

This week’s Torah Omens invite us to Go Out of our comfort zone and examine the vulnerabilities of life.

Internalize the lessons learned in The House of Laban. Be on high alert for deception (especially if you are in love), and be aware of the karmic consequences of your actions.

When Jacob was tricked by Laban into marrying sister wives, the unfolding exposed a wound that reverberates through our sisterhoods until this day - take time this weekend to investigate the subtle (and not-so-subtle) jealousies, rivalries and (micro)aggressions that shadow the sisterly relationships in your life. Do your best to investigate the ways personal shame fuels those resentments. 

Pay special attention to your dreams, this week Jacob opens our subconscious channel.

AWARENESS EXERCISES

PART 1:  KARMIC CONSEQUENCES

This weekend is an excellent time to contemplate the unintended karmic consequences of your actions. 

Step 1: Getting honest

Find a place in your life that you cheated or manipulated to get what you want, (and if that is difficult to admit) remember that Jacob, the final solo heir to the Abrahamic Spiritual fortune, acquires his blessing through deception. 

No shame. (But yes consequence.)

Remember that moment and what it was you wanted. It could be the last piece of cake, a new job, or your parent’s approval — whatever it was —  take some time to sense into the outcome and feelings associated with your deception. 

Step 2: Find your feeling(s)

How did your success feel after you achieved it? 

Did you focus on the feeling of success OR were you more consumed by the process by which you achieved it? 

Do your best to label all the emotions that came with your actions and success. 

*Notice if you have trouble identifying a time when you manipulated at all. 

Step 3: Label your feelings

This week shows us a model of a one-off deceiver (Jacob) who then gets deceived (with the wrong bride) and eventually learns to act consciously with his own interest in mind (when it comes to building his wealth). 

Jacob’s journey offers a model of karmic return and rectification - Jacob was once positioned by his mother to deceive, was then deceived by his uncle, and eventually learned to embrace the skill he had to advocate for his own advantage (but not necessarily cheat, steal or lie). 

In contrast to that is his uncle/father-in-law, Grandpa Laban, has deception is built into his life and business - and lives in this deceptive and aggressive way. 

Both Jacob and Laban are both figures in the spiritual text here to teach us something about ourselves, and help us with our spiritual survival in this world.

Take time to label your experience. 

Have you normalized the need for deceptive actions? Laban’s logic.

Are you wracked with guilt over some deception that helped you succeed? Early Jacob

Do you find yourself often and easily taken advantage of? Mid Jacob

Have you learned to advocate for your own rights in every way possible? Late Jacob

PART 2 — The LOVER/BELOVED Exercise. 

Step 1: Which are you?

Find the place in your life you have projected love on someone (perhaps without knowing them completely) 

Are you a Jacob, who immediately and completely falls in love with Rachel at the well?

Jacob’s love is so powerful, he works for 7 years for her hand in marriage, and to him it feels like a day.

AND/OR 

Are you the Rachel, the object of someone’s unwavering affection?

Imagine yourself as a young woman headed down to the well to care for your sheep when you suddenly become the recipient of Jacob’s kindness, love and affection. Imagine your lover working for 7 years in order to literally earn your hand in marriage. 

Step 2: Notice

How does/did your situation play out?

Note the way the romantic love of LOVER/BELOVED plays out in the spiritual text - note the similarities or differences in your own dynamic.

Jacob’s affections made him vulnerable to the deception of his father-in-law and ended up with an extra sister-wife.

Within the marriage Rachel is tortured by her infertility and sister’s jealousy. Already a father, Jacob seems unmoved by Rachel’s struggle with fertility. Before leaving town Rachel steals her father’s idols. Jacob is unaware that his beloved Rachel has a relationship with idols and unwittingly condemns her to death when Laban comes looking for them. 

What lessons do you personally learn about the LOVER/BELOVED dynamic? Other than the sister-wife thing… how do you relate to the spiritual narrative? Please leave comments below. 

PART 3 — The SISTERHOOD WOUND

Sibling rivalry begins with the first siblings, Cain and Abel, and runs through the entire book of Genesis, however, this week is the first and only time the torah shows us a dynamic play out between sisters. 

In the case of the sisters, like in the case of the brothers the jealousy and rivalry is circumstantial. Had their father not tricked Jacob into marrying his beloved Rachel’s older sister Leah, OR if Jacob could have released his desire to marry Rachel after he was tricked and simply accept Leah as his only wife, we might have a different story on our hands. For some reason the spiritual text brings us into the most painful dynamic possible between sisters. 

The older sister, Leah, is hated.  

The younger sister, Rachel, is infertile. 

Take time to empathize with each position. Imagine the pain of each sister looking at the life of the other longingly, and identify those feelings of projection within your own life and sisterly relationships.

This weekend do your best to pray for your sister, whoever she is, however you might feel about her, as if you were her. Sense into her challenges as if they were your own, connect to her most internal pain as if it was yours, and pray with all your might - as if you were praying for yourself. 

May we awaken from the illusion of division, and each be blessed with our own completely fulfilling lives, supportive and supported by each other.