Yitro
What kind of signs are we looking for in our spiritual practice?
Reflection by Carrie Watkins, US Community Manager:
"This week’s parsha witnesses the first recitation of the Ten Commandments, what in Hebrew we call the aseret hadibrot, which literally means `the ten utterances.` This title seems more appropriate, especially when looking at the first one, which is less a command than a statement. `I am Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage` (Ex. 20:2).
The early 19th Century Chasidic Master the Mei HaShiloach, in his commentary on Parshat Yitro, points out the unusual use of the word anochi, אנכי, for the word `I` in this first utterance. Why did God choose anochi, as opposed to the usual ani? In a classic Chassidic use of wordplay, the Mei HaShiloach answers. Anochi is the word ani with the addition of the letter chaf, `כ,` which in Hebrew serves as a prefix that means `like,` or `as if.` This essential detail, says the Mei HaShiloach, serves to remind us that the fullness and reality of God remains beyond our human comprehension. While this utterance might have seemed like a full revelation of the eternal and infinite light that is God, it remains only like a revelation. It’s just a hint.
As seekers, we look for experiences of God in our lives - as feelings of awe or wonder or connection. This `כ` can guide us in our spiritual practice, reminding us to look not for big, dramatic or obvious signs and feelings but for experiences more subtle, more `כ,` more anochi. As it says in Kings I, God was not in the mountain-shattering wind, or the earthquake, or the fire, but, after the fire, `קול דממה דקה,` `a still, small voice` (I Kings 19:13)."