MAY, 1999

‘Shalom’ - such a wonderful word! We use it as we come, we use it as we go. And in either case, we are extending greetings of peace. Or, perhaps, acknowledging a state of peace. It is possible, after all, to see the greeting of ‘shalom’ more as a recognition of the internal state that should abide at all times, whether we are coming or going, or not sure which it is that we are doing. For life is a constant process of change, waxing in some ways, waning in others, constant only in not being entirely constant.

 At Sinai immediately prior to the presentation of the decalogue to Israel, god gives the strange instruction to Moshe:

“Go, get thee down, and you shall ascend, you and Aaron with you...” (Exodus, 19; 24). Descending for the purpose of ascending, ascending even as we descend - this is the mysterious opportunity god offers us with the gift of life. As humans, we are always approaching our mortality as we loose the precious moments of life, yet we can also be growing and rising, in spiritual and internal dimensions, with each moment. The only continuum is that of shalom - our internal state of peace and equanimity, in the face of life’s trials and joys. God bids Moses exit the holy presence, only to come back into it. Yet again, another way of phrasing this would be to say that god wishes to have Moses never leave, even when he does. Would that we could be thus in our interactions with other humans, those we love and cherish! staying with them even when they leave us, or we leave them, and leaving them somewhat alone even as we are with them. If we could master this art, we would never suffer the pangs of separation, nor the ‘crowdedness’ of being too closely bonded. Our relationships would remain perfectly poised, at point of encounter and separation as one, individuated even when merged, joined together even when pulled apart.

 May this Shavuot celebration bring to all of us this equanimity of internal spirit, such that we shall always be coming and going, and always in a state of ‘Shalom’, of deep inner peace.

 Blessings of health and joy to all precious friends and members; may you ascend at all times, remaining forever on the mountain of the lord.
 

Rabbi Dr Gavriel Newman