Inspiring Change by Michael Berg

Nissan, considered the head of all months, is derived from the Hebrew word nes, made up of the letters Nun and Samech, and has two definitions: “miracle” and “to elevate.” The kabbalists teach that Nissan, in addition to being a powerful opening for miracles to come into our lives, is the month of elevation, the month in which all redemptions and elevations are rooted.

One of the exciting things when we study is coming to a newer, deeper understanding of a secret that we have studied before. That is one of the opportunities we have on this Shabbat of Ki Tisa.

There is a beautiful story in the Prophets, in Samuel I, Shmuel Alef.

“This is the Day that the Creator made, we will be joyful and happy in it.” - Psalms 118:24

On this Shabbat, we read two sections from the Torah - the actual portion of Tetzave, and an additional section from the portion of Ki Tetze (the sixth portion in the Book of Deuteronomy) known as Zachor. The word zachor means “to remember,” and this additional reading tells the story of the defeat of the Israelites at the hands of the nation of Amalek; a defeat that represents a fall in consciousness manifesting as doubt.

As always, there are a lot of lessons in this portion, but there is one thing I want to touch on before we go into the teaching, one consciousness that is important for us to have during this Shabbat. The name of the portion, Terumah, literally means “to elevate;” however, the kabbalists tell us that it is referring also to the secret of teshuvah, often translated as “repentance,” but actually referring to transformation.

While last week’s portion was the Revelation at Sinai, this week’s portion is a discussion of what would seem to be very unspiritual, mundane laws. The Creator tells Moses, “These are the laws that you should put in front of them.” The first thing that is spoken about is regarding a person’s purchase of a slave. From the literal side, we know that thousands of years ago slavery was common.

This week we are coming to another important Shabbat, the Revelation at Sinai, the Aseret Hadibrot, translated as the Ten Utterances, but perhaps known better as the Ten Commandments. The Zohar explains that what happens on this Shabbat – then and now - is that the totality of the Light of the Creator is revealed, and therefore, Death removed from this world… which we know that the Israelites then lost when they fell at the Golden Calf.

We come to a very important Shabbat, the Shabbat of the 72 Names of God. The amount of writings by kabbalists offering exciting revelations about this portion is overwhelming.