Crossing the Sea

Leaving Egypt,
Crossing the sea,
Our ancestors trembled in awe
And sang with gratitude and deep faith.

A moment later they were seized by fear,
Overwhelmed with doubt,
And they cried, longing for what had been.
The Infinite Presence responded by giving them Shabbat.
Six days you shall work and on the seventh day you shall stop,
You shall rest, you shall be. (Exodus 16:23)
 
Stopping will help you rediscover the sacred connection between you and all that is.
Pausing will help you listen and discern which way to go.
Our ancestors sang of faith and courage, victorious arrival.
And they stumbled in bitterness, doubt and fear.
Again and again they searched for the faith and trust
That would help them find their way
Through the passages of the unknown.

 And this is the journey we inherit:
We leave the narrow places again and again.
We travel through raging seas and momentous fears
And arrive at new moments.
Possibilities emerge, joy rises.
And then challenges reappear and so does the terror.
Stop, pause,
Reach for each other, the Mystery calls.
Stop, pause,
And reach for me.
Your strength and my song
Will open the way into the expanse. (Exodus 15:2)

Listen to the recordings from this week's Torah Study and from today's Morning Meditation Sit.

-- Rabbi Yael Levy