FINAL RE:VERB FOR THIS CYCLE
RE:VERB FIFTY / V'ZOT HABRACHA / KISS
A weekly torah takeaway by Amichai Lau-Lavie
Featuring a personal note from Amichai
A year-long Jerusalem Journey, action by action, verb by verb. Each week I pluck a verb from the Torah portion and set it reverberating both with its context and with my own. Let's make this a conversation, and talk our walk.
KISS
I ended Yom Kippur with a private kiss. Semi private. With my back to the congregation at the City Winery, our fantastic venue for the High Holiday services in Tribeca, at the back of the stage, I leaned in and kissed the top of the wooden wine barrel that served as our makeshift ark. I hadn’t planned to kiss it, merely went over to close the tiny doors, right after the Tekia Gedola – the big blowing of the shofars and just before the wave of joy swept us as we ended a powerful day together. The kissing, a familiar gesture of approach to holy objects – just happened, came, perfectly, to my lips. I started the day, 11 hours earlier, with kissing the corners of my talit, as I wrapped myself with sacred silk and stepped up to the microphone to begin the morning service. Kissing the ark at the end of it all became my private way to mark the end of a charged day, and to take off my talit, my role. I kissed the Holy Ark with gratitude and a full heart and big smile and a face wet with tears. Then came hugs and kisses with the friends who were with me on stage to lead these worship ecstasies, and then many more cheeks, many also wet with tears, and more kisses with the hundreds who attended. Then a glass of brisk Riesling from the Winery’s finest to break the fast. A verse from the Song of Songs popped into my head as I drank the first sip: “Kiss me on the mouth, for your love is better than wine.”
A lot of sacred kissing happens in Jewish life. Kissing the mezuzah when one enters or exits a room; Kissing a holy book should it fall to the ground; kissing the fringes on the talit; Kissing a prayer book or a Bible when one is done reading; Kissing the Torah scrolls when they parade through the community; Kissing the exact spot in the Torah scroll as each new chanting begins and ends. Kissing, through the air, when the chanting is complete and the open Torah scroll is raised and revealed. Then there’s just all the kissing that happens when people meet – social kissing - equally, and differently, sacred.
Kissing is the last thing that Moses does before he dies and ends the Torah. It is, in fact, the action that kills him: He kisses God, on the mouth. The air got sucked out of Moses’ lungs and mouth into the mouth and being of the Creator and with that he was gone – evaporated, with no corpse or grave to mark where once a prophet lived.
The peaceful kiss of death is how Jewish tradition depicts the death of its mortal creator. The tradition is based on one obscure expression that appears several times in the Torah and makes its last appearance at the very end of the book. ‘God’s Mouth’ is often translated as ‘God’s Word’, but the Hebrew expression undeniably enables both translations and has thus yielded many possible interesting interpretations. Next week, during Simchat Torah - the Celebration of Torah holiday, the final Torah portion will be chanted, followed by the first few lines of Genesis, in celebration of the perpetual continuity of our story. The final Torah portion is V’zot Habracha - 'This is the Blessing,' and its last eight verses begin with the kiss, and describe the death, and are supposedly not written by Moses anymore:
"So Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD." (D’varim 34:5, JPS)
Some translations replace ‘according to the word of the Lord’ with ‘at the command of God.’
But some of the Aramaic translations, and the bolder among the ancient sages preferred to read ‘Al PI ADONAI’ not as commands but rather as the source of command itself:
“Thereupon God kissed Moses and took away his soul with a kiss of the mouth, and God, if one might say so, wept as it is written in the Psalms, ‘Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?'" (Midrash D'varim Rabba)
Goodbye Moses, and goodbye to a full cycle of your Torah, a complete heroic journey from birth to death and all the wandering and trials in between. I always get sad when this verse is read, and the ones that follow – the death of the hero, the end of the story, the end of a year. It doesn’t matter that I know that this story will pick up again in just a week, and that another full re-run is upon us – when Moses dies each fall, something within dies as well. And when Moses kisses God again, something within is kissed also. The Torah is like this eternally recycled spiral, contracting and expanding, like breath. Is that how our lives are lived? These spirals of our living and loving and leaving?
The death of Moses is another opportunity for us to pause and stand facing our own mortality, our hopes, fears, the promised lands we are marching towards, the doors we will never open again.
The death of Moses, his last kiss, becomes signposts, mythic reminders of all the goodbyes of our lives. Several dear friends lost loved ones this past week, just before and right after Yom Kippur. Does one kiss a tombstone? A photograph? We look to the old rituals and these simple human ones, for comfort, for physical affirmation of that is still present, when the physical love is gone. Something remains, as elusive as a the memory of a kiss. May those memories be blessings.
And so, also: Goodbye, RE:VERB, for now anyway. Kissing is verb #50, last one, closing a year of 50 gates into the Torah, a year of verbs and reverberations and revelations. It has been quite a journey. I started it in Jerusalem with ‘hope’ and will end again in Jerusalem, next week, with ‘kiss’. In between, many inspiring conversations happened, many questions, many words, some kisses. Now it’s time for that bittersweet kiss of goodbye.
I imagine holding an open, beautifully bound book, pages empty just a year ago, and then gently closing it, kissing its cover, and putting it down on the shelf. Its siblings will follow one day, hopefully.
But not just now. Many - and I am so grateful for each one - have written me notes, replies, suggestions and questions during this year of reverbing and many request that this blog continues. I am honored and flattered and eager to continue – but need some time out from the responsibility of regular blogging in order to focus on some of my urgent and very exciting tasks and responsibilities at Storahtelling. Occasional musings are assured, more consistent format, perhaps monthly, is also in the works.
Before we kiss goodbye – a request, an invitation, and a gift:
Request: Is this the first blog entry of this series that you are now reading? The fifth? Tenth? Here since ‘Hope’? Please take a minute to share any feedback at all – even just a ‘hey, read some of it, cool’ note. Feedback means a lot to me and will be really appreciated. Got suggestions or requests or ideas for next blogging topic, theme, style or format? Want to help make it happen? I’d love to talk about it. Can you help to get RE:VERB online as its own easily searched webpage? Talk to me!
amichai@storahtelling.org is the best way to reach me with any of the above.
Invitation: Join me in making the stories and secrets of Torah accessible and exciting to many more people of all ages and faiths, worldwide -RE:VERB style. In the following months I am building Storahtelling’s new training programs for clergy, artists, early childhood educators and other community leaders. One of our goals is to enable ample opportunity in our communities for inclusive, creative, free or affordable forms of Jewish culture and education – much like this blog. I invite you to join me in making this vision manifest and change the way we tell and celebrate our sacred stories in generations to come.
Got time? Got talent? Got a Wallet? Your honoring my vision and joining me in any way you can to make change happen will be truly appreciated. No amount insignificant. All love matters.
Investments in Storahtelling, tax deductible clickable here: I support Storah
Gift: Behold, a poem: 50 verbs; Footsteps in the Sands of Sinai, 50 invitations to more sacred living, one action at a time.
Sealed with a kiss
Amichai
Sealed with a kiss
HOPE (like water), GET OUT, LOOK UP.
RUBBERNECK, FALL (in love).
SCREAM,
DREAM,
SHUT, SIT, SHAVE, WEEP.
BURY.
SPEAK UP, DELIVER, BLESS.
ARM, CHOOSE, READ.
SANCTIFY
DRESS
REVEL
GATHER
CALL
SCRUB
OPEN
HUSH.
COUNT: LOVE
CURSE: REMEMBER
GUARD, HEAR
DESIRE, DESCRIBE.
CRITICIZE!
SING, SIN.
LEAD, TRAVEL, BELIEVE
WRITE.
THANK.
DEMOLISH/FORGIVE/BURY
TRANSLATE.
WITNESS
PRAY
ENTER
KISS.
I ended Yom Kippur with a private kiss. Semi private. With my back to the congregation at the City Winery, our fantastic venue for the High Holiday services in Tribeca, at the back of the stage, I leaned in and kissed the top of the wooden wine barrel that served as our makeshift ark. I hadn’t planned to kiss it, merely went over to close the tiny doors, right after the Tekia Gedola – the big blowing of the shofars and just before the wave of joy swept us as we ended a powerful day together. The kissing, a familiar gesture of approach to holy objects – just happened, came, perfectly, to my lips. I started the day, 11 hours earlier, with kissing the corners of my talit, as I wrapped myself with sacred silk and stepped up to the microphone to begin the morning service. Kissing the ark at the end of it all became my private way to mark the end of a charged day, and to take off my talit, my role. I kissed the Holy Ark with gratitude and a full heart and big smile and a face wet with tears. Then came hugs and kisses with the friends who were with me on stage to lead these worship ecstasies, and then many more cheeks, many also wet with tears, and more kisses with the hundreds who attended. Then a glass of brisk Riesling from the Winery’s finest to break the fast. A verse from the Song of Songs popped into my head as I drank the first sip: “Kiss me on the mouth, for your love is better than wine.”A lot of sacred kissing happens in Jewish life. Kissing the mezuzah when one enters or exits a room; Kissing a holy book should it fall to the ground; kissing the fringes on the talit; Kissing a prayer book or a Bible when one is done reading; Kissing the Torah scrolls when they parade through the community; Kissing the exact spot in the Torah scroll as each new chanting begins and ends. Kissing, through the air, when the chanting is complete and the open Torah scroll is raised and revealed. Then there’s just all the kissing that happens when people meet – social kissing - equally, and differently, sacred.
Kissing is the last thing that Moses does before he dies and ends the Torah. It is, in fact, the action that kills him: He kisses God, on the mouth. The air got sucked out of Moses’ lungs and mouth into the mouth and being of the Creator and with that he was gone – evaporated, with no corpse or grave to mark where once a prophet lived.
The peaceful kiss of death is how Jewish tradition depicts the death of its mortal creator. The tradition is based on one obscure expression that appears several times in the Torah and makes its last appearance at the very end of the book. ‘God’s Mouth’ is often translated as ‘God’s Word’, but the Hebrew expression undeniably enables both translations and has thus yielded many possible interesting interpretations. Next week, during Simchat Torah - the Celebration of Torah holiday, the final Torah portion will be chanted, followed by the first few lines of Genesis, in celebration of the perpetual continuity of our story. The final Torah portion is V’zot Habracha - 'This is the Blessing,' and its last eight verses begin with the kiss, and describe the death, and are supposedly not written by Moses anymore:
"So Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD." (D’varim 34:5, JPS)
Some translations replace ‘according to the word of the Lord’ with ‘at the command of God.’
But some of the Aramaic translations, and the bolder among the ancient sages preferred to read ‘Al PI ADONAI’ not as commands but rather as the source of command itself:
“Thereupon God kissed Moses and took away his soul with a kiss of the mouth, and God, if one might say so, wept as it is written in the Psalms, ‘Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?'" (Midrash D'varim Rabba)
Goodbye Moses, and goodbye to a full cycle of your Torah, a complete heroic journey from birth to death and all the wandering and trials in between. I always get sad when this verse is read, and the ones that follow – the death of the hero, the end of the story, the end of a year. It doesn’t matter that I know that this story will pick up again in just a week, and that another full re-run is upon us – when Moses dies each fall, something within dies as well. And when Moses kisses God again, something within is kissed also. The Torah is like this eternally recycled spiral, contracting and expanding, like breath. Is that how our lives are lived? These spirals of our living and loving and leaving?
The death of Moses is another opportunity for us to pause and stand facing our own mortality, our hopes, fears, the promised lands we are marching towards, the doors we will never open again.
The death of Moses, his last kiss, becomes signposts, mythic reminders of all the goodbyes of our lives. Several dear friends lost loved ones this past week, just before and right after Yom Kippur. Does one kiss a tombstone? A photograph? We look to the old rituals and these simple human ones, for comfort, for physical affirmation of that is still present, when the physical love is gone. Something remains, as elusive as a the memory of a kiss. May those memories be blessings.
And so, also: Goodbye, RE:VERB, for now anyway. Kissing is verb #50, last one, closing a year of 50 gates into the Torah, a year of verbs and reverberations and revelations. It has been quite a journey. I started it in Jerusalem with ‘hope’ and will end again in Jerusalem, next week, with ‘kiss’. In between, many inspiring conversations happened, many questions, many words, some kisses. Now it’s time for that bittersweet kiss of goodbye.
I imagine holding an open, beautifully bound book, pages empty just a year ago, and then gently closing it, kissing its cover, and putting it down on the shelf. Its siblings will follow one day, hopefully.
But not just now. Many - and I am so grateful for each one - have written me notes, replies, suggestions and questions during this year of reverbing and many request that this blog continues. I am honored and flattered and eager to continue – but need some time out from the responsibility of regular blogging in order to focus on some of my urgent and very exciting tasks and responsibilities at Storahtelling. Occasional musings are assured, more consistent format, perhaps monthly, is also in the works.
Before we kiss goodbye – a request, an invitation, and a gift:
Request: Is this the first blog entry of this series that you are now reading? The fifth? Tenth? Here since ‘Hope’? Please take a minute to share any feedback at all – even just a ‘hey, read some of it, cool’ note. Feedback means a lot to me and will be really appreciated. Got suggestions or requests or ideas for next blogging topic, theme, style or format? Want to help make it happen? I’d love to talk about it. Can you help to get RE:VERB online as its own easily searched webpage? Talk to me!
amichai@storahtelling.org is the best way to reach me with any of the above.
Invitation: Join me in making the stories and secrets of Torah accessible and exciting to many more people of all ages and faiths, worldwide -RE:VERB style. In the following months I am building Storahtelling’s new training programs for clergy, artists, early childhood educators and other community leaders. One of our goals is to enable ample opportunity in our communities for inclusive, creative, free or affordable forms of Jewish culture and education – much like this blog. I invite you to join me in making this vision manifest and change the way we tell and celebrate our sacred stories in generations to come.
Got time? Got talent? Got a Wallet? Your honoring my vision and joining me in any way you can to make change happen will be truly appreciated. No amount insignificant. All love matters.
Investments in Storahtelling, tax deductible clickable here: I support Storah
Gift: Behold, a poem: 50 verbs; Footsteps in the Sands of Sinai, 50 invitations to more sacred living, one action at a time.
Sealed with a kiss
Amichai
Sealed with a kiss
HOPE (like water), GET OUT, LOOK UP.
RUBBERNECK, FALL (in love).
SCREAM,
DREAM,
SHUT, SIT, SHAVE, WEEP.
BURY.
SPEAK UP, DELIVER, BLESS.
ARM, CHOOSE, READ.
SANCTIFY
DRESS
REVEL
GATHER
CALL
SCRUB
OPEN
HUSH.
COUNT: LOVE
CURSE: REMEMBER
GUARD, HEAR
DESIRE, DESCRIBE.
CRITICIZE!
SING, SIN.
LEAD, TRAVEL, BELIEVE
WRITE.
THANK.
DEMOLISH/FORGIVE/BURY
TRANSLATE.
WITNESS
PRAY
ENTER
KISS.
Posts
Moving and inspiring, as always, Amichai. Thank you for being my teacher and my friend.
ReplyDeleteBeen reading since the beginning - the poem is beautiful - thank you for all 50 gifts.
ReplyDeleteI will miss your weekly emails......I read most of them on Friday evenings just before Shabbat set in....that was my way of getting onto the "right" highway for the Shabbat.and staying connected...in the mode with so much to think about.....you have always inspired me...follow your dreams and keep on your highway! Susan
ReplyDeleteBeen following since the first week - inspired by some, used many for teaching, enjoyed all. Thank you - shana tova!
ReplyDeleteJust started reading you blog this summer. Loved your wonderful twists and insights on the old familiar themes. Lots of luck as you spend more time on your many other pursuits. Will keep an eye out for your next blog, whenever it appears.
ReplyDeleteI have been reading since the beginning and will miss spending time learning with you every week. Thank you for such an inspirational journey.
ReplyDeleteI've been a follower of your VERB journey all year, home and home again. I've been moved, inspired, educated and very appreciative. Can't wait to see what is next.
ReplyDeleteRead many, not all. Loved everything I read. Thought the technique was brilliant and the insights inspirational. Kol haKavod.
ReplyDeleteI never followed a weekly blog like I did yours. So often you were speaking directly to me at that moment in my life. I hope you take a well-deserved but brief break and return soon to continue to enlighten and teach. Shana Tovah and Todah Rabah.
ReplyDeleteALL I CAN SAY IS WOW!!
ReplyDeleteThis has been a really excellent journey and a new way to learn Storah weekly, from you. .Your magic way of teaching through such beautiful stories and weaving your personal day to day life experiences into "The Story" (our Torah) is really remarkable and inspiring.
KOL HAKAVOD.
Rosana Berdichevsky
Amichai
ReplyDeleteKeep it up - good to hear from you and a lovely concept - wishing you a fabulous new year and continue to have nourishing and inspired journies to inspire others..
Marcus
I'm feeling a little sad and wistful that the blog is coming to an end for now, but excited for all the amazing things that will unfold this year. I have learned much in the past 50 weeks from your journeys. Thank you for thinking and feeling, writing and sharing it with us.
ReplyDelete-Caryn
the night and day of worship and exploration with you was so very good for me, Amichai. thank you so much - and please keep me in the loop. physical distance is a tiny bit of thread in the midst of such great sharing. your presence and vision is an amazing boon to my ongoing conversation with Judaism and where I fit into the tradition to which I've been born. I truly appreciate what you're doing and the love with which you're doing it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your Torah insights! I looked forward every week to reading your postings-- the way you connected the text to our lives. That is what I look for most often in a drash-- the connection to the present and the self-reflection that follows.
ReplyDeleteI have read every one of your blogs and have been touched by your insight, humor, intellect and relevancy! I do so appreciate that you share your amazing gift with all of us!! Yasher Koach and I look forward to continuing to learn and be inspired by you.
ReplyDeleteJOAN HERSCH
I have been an avid follower of your weekly blog postings from your very first verb. I enjoyed the weekly weave of deep insights back and forth from very personal life happenings to the text and back again. Yasher Koach! I will miss your weekly gifts arriving in my email. Yasher Koach! Jeff Lasday
ReplyDeleteThe last breath is drawn from Moshe, breathed into Adam v'Chava, and away we go againfor another year of old stories with wonderful new twists and turns. Zot Simchat haTorah! Chag sameach.
ReplyDeleteI read most of these throughout the year and greatly enjoyed them. Thank you for a meaningful and memorable series!
ReplyDelete