Haazinu
What can help us water the good seeds within?
Reflection by Or HaLev teacher Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama Weil
"Parashat Haazinu opens on a metaphor:
`May My message drop like rain, My speech flow like the dew`
As Moshe is about to take leave from B’nei Israel, he wants to leave them with a last teaching. In order to illustrate the way he wants his words to enter their consciousness, he uses the imagery of water: rain and dew, as they penetrate the earth softly and consistently, allowing Life tosprout from it.
In his commentary on Parashat Haazinu, the hasidic master the Meor Einayim alludes to this dimension of deep connection to Life Force (Chaiyut) through water:
מה שעורף כמטר לקחי מה שלוקח החיות הוא
`Just as “May my message drop like rain” so too one takes in the Life Force.`
Connecting to the teachings of a Sage is one way we water the seeds of goodness within us, one way that we connect to God, the Source of Life, almost physically.
Just as the earth takes in the rain, we take in wisdom teachings as Life Force to water our souls.
True wisdom makes us more alive.
The question of life and death becomes more acute in the days in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom kippur, especially on Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of Return.
The matter of life and death is not just physical. We can be alive physically and not so connected to Life Force.
During the days of teshuvah, we are invited, more than ever, to connect to the Source of Life (aka ‘God’).
How do we do that?
An important part of the path is our own spiritual practice, our own meditation practice, our own mindfulness practice.
But this alone does not suffice.
We also need instruction. Someone, some words, which help spark the right insights, which show us directions, which remind us the wisdom that is already there `in our mouth and in our heart` (Deut 30:14).
Wisdom teachings are not just an intellectual discipline. They are the water for the soil of our souls.
Just like rain, they are here to help us water the good seeds within.
Just like water, they are here to connect us directly to the Source of Life.
As we are immersed in our own inner work of teshuvah, may we take this time to (re) connect to the teachings and teachers who are to us like rain, so that wisdom can grow from our hearts and connect us to the tree of Life."