Ki Tissa

THE WAR ON DOUBT

In war it is hard for a civilian to feel that they are helping out. You can rush to donate blood and money, you can cook meals and volunteer your time, you can visit the wounded, babysit the children of parents that are soldiers…. There is literally no end to what is needed and what can be done. 

What makes our nation so special is that everyone is part of the battle,  there are no “civilians”.  In a holy nation everyone is needed –  every action and thought can change the balance of things for us all. In the Nation of Israel our acts of kindness are not just nice things to do but they are spiritual fuel that has the power to energize the entire homefront with positive energy and protection. 

Make no mistake -  war is extreme. It wakes us up at the most existential level that exists. It shows us any and every part of ourselves that doubts anything other than A SINGLE UNIFYING FORCE in the Universe that is responsible for everything. 

And while those with faith are equally challenged and inconveinenced by war and its natual stressors  - the fear, and the suffering and the feeling of helplesness doesn’t appear in the same way. 

The fact that this war started on Shabbat Zachor – the shabbat we collectively remember Amalek and the nature of evil that always feeds off doubt and moved through Purim’s time of miracles and fighting Amalek with the King’s permission – should make pretty clear what we need to do now. 

THE BIG IDEA 

Prepare to step into the energy of our spiritual shame - Parshat Ki Tisa - where we see how spiritually stupid we can be. Even after the miracles of the splitting of a Sea and the AWE of getting the 10 commandments - doubt appeared in it’s most extreme and offensive manifestation — dancing around a golden calf as if a material object can be God or new leader - (all while Moses is literally still on the mountain). 

And so, in this epic time, wherever you are in the world - if you are connected to the Nation of Israel --- we all need to wake up and fight the battle happening on every front. 

This Shabbat - practice your complete faith. Find and heal the places that have doubt in the Absolute Oneness – and know deep in yourself - that you are actively removing doubt because that is what is commanded in the Torah we got at Sinai. This year let’s… to heal the impulse and fear that leads to a golden calf.

FOR EXAMPLE:

Trouble with your family? Work on trusting that you have exactly the parents and siblings that the ONE SINGLE UNIFYING FORCE in the Universe assigned for you. Look for the lesson and the growth and the expansion that happens when you trust they are suited exactly for you. 

Trouble with other people? Use this time to battle the doubt that you should be somewhere, or someone, or with someone other than where you are right now. 

Practice your faith as if the existence of our people depend upon it. 

When we win the war of doubt in ourselves, redemption arrives.

Hope to see everyone at the rebuilt beit ha’mikdash.