Mishpatim
What is the rhythm of the spiritual path?
Reflection by Ariel Yisraelah Hendelman, the Or HaLev Team:
"The Torah portion of Mishpatim deals with many laws and details that are no longer applicable to modern life in a literal sense, such as how to treat slaves. It also talks about some laws that are directly relevent: how to celebrate the shalosh regalim, the three pilgrimage festivals, and how to be honest in daily interactions by not taking a bribe.
In the midst of all these laws, we encounter an unexpected passage.
'וַיִּרְא֕וּ אֵ֖ת אֱלֹקֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְתַ֣חַת רַגְלָ֗יו כְּמַעֲשֵׂה֙ לִבְנַ֣ת הַסַּפִּ֔יר וּכְעֶ֥צֶם הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם לָטֹֽהַר'
`And they [Moshe, Aharon and the 70 elders] saw the God of Israel—under whose feet was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like a purifying sky` (Ex 24:10).
In the midst of outlining the minutiae of daily life, we have this ethereal statement, seemingly out of nowhere. The sentence just after it returns us right back to daily reality again, saying that Moshe, Aharon and the elders ate and drank after beholding the Infinite One.
In the words of mindfulness teacher Jack Kornfield, `After the ecstasy, the laundry.` Running and returning, peaks and valleys, this is the rhythm of the spiritual path, the rhythm of being human and engaging in connection with the Divine.
In our meditation practice, it’s so tempting to label sits `good` when we find more quiet spaciousness, and `not so good` when we find our attention more distracted. But, as Rav James once said on an Or HaLev retreat, `every sit is a good sit.`We’re showing up; we’re engaged; we’re trying.
It’s not all sapphire pavement and purifying sky. Some days, it’s a challenge just to get out of bed, or extend a modicum of compassion to ourselves and others. But when we do, how glorious it is. And then the next time we look down and see that glint of sapphire, or look up and see that sheltering yet expansive sky, we know that it is only our truest selves being reflected back to us. And we take that remembering with us as we journey on."