Parshat Naso 5784

good evening everyone thank you very much for coming together to immerse ourselves in this wonderful Rich body of wisdom and to immerse ourselves in one another's presence as well which is an additional source of wisdom we are in parat naso which is in the Book of Numbers it begins in chapter 4 with verse 21 it is the longest Torah portion that we have so we're going to begin rather quickly to move through the English translation of it read it in its entirety I will share with you the opening verses and then we'll offer others have an opportunity to read as well and then I'll share with you bless you focus study bless you focus study about it and then we'll have our Collective and collaborative conversation about it if you want to unmute at this time and together we can have an opportunity to share a blessing giving thanks for this moment [Music] thank you God for the opportunity to immerse ourselves in words deeds and relationships of Torah let me share with you some of the opening verses of our Torah portion and then I'll invite others to have an opportunity to read as well God spoke to Moses take a sentence of the gershonites also by their ancestral house and by by their Clans record them from the age of 30 years up to the age of 50 all who are subject to service in the performance of tasks for the tent of meeting these are the duties of the ganite Clans as to labor and porterage they shall carry the cloths of the Tabernacle the tent of meeting with its covering the covering of dolphin skin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting the hangings of the enclosure the screen at the entrance of the Gate of the enclosure that surrounds their Tabernacle the cords thereof and the Altar and all their service equipment and all their accessories and they shall perform the service all the duties of the gershonites all their PD and all their service shall be performed on orders from Aaron and his sons you shall make them responsible for attending to all their porterage those are the duties of the Gite Clans for the tenent of meeting they shall attend to them under the direction of itamar son of Aaron the priest and Aaron would you like to read a little bit starting at verse 29 uh yes thank you as for the maror rights you shall record them by the clans of their ancestral house you shall record them from the age of 30 years up to the age of 50 all who are subject to service and the performance of the duties for the tent of meeting these are the uh portrait tasks in connection with the various duties of the tent of meeting the planks the bars the posts and the sockets of the Tabernacle post around the enclosure in their sockets pegs and cords all these Furnishings in their servs you shall this by name the objects that are their service no that are their portd tasks those are the duties of the Marite Clans pertaining to the various duties of the tent of meeting under the direction of itamar son of Aaron the priest thank you so much and Jerry do you want to continue there at verse 34 thank you um so Moses Aaron and The Chieftains of the community recorded the co cides is that I pronouncing that correctly CIT y by the clans of their ancestral house from the age of 30 years up to the age of 50 all who were subject to service for work relating to the tent of Meeting those recorded by their Clans came to 2,750 that was the enrollment of the co coite plans all those who performed duties relating to the tent of meeting whom Moses and Aaron recorded at the command of the Lord through Moses the gersan nightes who were recorded by the clans of their ancestral house from the age of 30 years up to the age of 50 all were subject to service for work relating to the tent of meeting those recorded by the clans of their ancestral house came to 2,630 that was the enrollment of the ganite PLS all those performing duties relating to the 10 of meeting whom Moses and Aaron recorded at the command of the Lord thank you so much Richard do you want to read at verse 42 yes thank you the enrollment of the Clans are the clans of their ancestral house from the age of 30 years up to the age of 50 all who are subject to service for work relating to the tent of Meeting those recorded by their Clans came to 3,200 that was the enrollment of the Marite glans which Moses and Aaron's recorded at the command of the Lord through Moses all the Levites who Moses Aaron and the chieftain of Israel recorded by the clans of their ancestral houses from the age of 30 years up to the age of 50 all who are subject to duties of service and porterage relating to the tend of Meeting those recorded came to 8,580 each one was given responsibility for his service and porterage at the command of the Lord through Moses and each was recorded as the Lord had command Mo thank you and June would you like to pick up there at the very start of chapter 5 thanks rabbi the Lord spoke to Moses saying instruct the Israelites to remove from Camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge and anyone defiled by a corpse remove male and female alike put them outside the camp so that they do not defile the camp of those in whose midst I dwell the Israelites did so putting them outside the camp as the Lord had spoken to Moses so the Israelites did the Lord Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the Israelites when a man or woman commits any wrong toward a fellow man thus Breaking Faith with the Lord and that person realizes his guilt he shall confess the wrong that he has done he shall make restitution in the principal amount and add one5 to it giving it to him whom he has wronged if the man has no Kinsmen to whom restitution can be made the amount repaid shall go to the Lord for the priest in addition to the the ram of expiation with which experation is made on his behalf so too any gift among the sacred donations that the Israelites offer shall be the priests and each shall retain his sacred donations each priest shall keep what is given to him thank you so much let me invite Jim if you'd like to continue There verse 11 thank you Rabbi God spoke to Moses saying speak to the Israelite people and say to them if any man's wife has gone astray and broken Faith with him in that a man has had carnal relations with her unbeknown to her husband and she keeps sa secret the fact that she has defiled herself without being forced and there is no witness against her but a fit of jealousy comes over him and he brought up about the wife and who has defiled herself or if a fit of jealousy comes over one and he is rough up about his wife although she has not defiled herself The man shall bring his wife to the priest and he shall bring as an offering for her one tenth of an OT of barley flour no oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it for it is a meal offering of jealousy a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing thank you Jim Mark lenson you want to read a little bit starting at verse 16 thank you the priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord the priest shall take sacral water sacral water in an earn vessel and taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle the priest shall put it into the water after he has made the woman stand before the Lord the priest shall bear the woman's head and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance which is a meal offering of jealousy and in the priest's hand shall be the water of bitterness that induces the spell the priest shall adure the woman saying to her if no man has lay with you if you do not have if you have not gone astray in defilement while married to your husband be immune to harm from this water of bitterness that your induces the spell but if you have gone astray while married to your husband and have defiled yourself if a man other than your husband has had carnal relations with you there the priest shall administer the curse of adjuration to the woman as the priest goes on to say to the woman may the Lord make you a curse and an imprecation among your people as the Lord causes your thigh to Sag and your belly to distend may this water the induces the spell enter your body causing the belly to desend and the thigh to Sag and the woman shall say amen amen thank you and we're in h chapter 5 and we're now at verse 23 and let me invite Dave would you like to read a little bit starting there chapter 5 verse 23 the priest shall put these uh curses down and writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness he used to make uh the woman drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell so that the spell inducing water may enter into her and bring on bitterness then the priest shall take from the woman's hand the meal offering of jealousy Elevate the meal offering before Adonai and present it on the altar the priest shall scoop out of the meal offering a token part of it and turn it into Smoke On The Altar last he shall make the woman drink the water once he has made her drink the water if she has defiled herself by Breaking Faith with her husband the spell inducing water shall enter into her to bring on bitterness so that her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag and the wife shall become a curse among her people but if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure she shall be unharmed and able to retain seed this is the ritual in cases of jealousy when a woman goes astray while living in her husband's household and defiles herself or when a fit of jealousy comes over the husband and he is brought up over his wife the woman shall be made to stand be before ad ano and the priest shall carry out this ritual with her the man shall be clear of guilt but that woman shall suffer for her guilt thank you Dave and Justin would you like to continue there at the very start of chapter six in the book of numbers thank you Rabbi the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them a man or a woman who seats himself apart by making a Nazarite vow to abstain for the sake of the Lord he shall abstain from new wine and aged wine shall not drink even vinegar made from new wine or aged wine nor how shall he drink anything in which the grapes have been steeped and he shall not eat neither fresh grapes nor dried ones for the entire duration of his abstinence he shall not eat any product of the grape vine from seeds to skins all the days of his vow of abstinence no Raisor shall pass over his head until the completion of the term that he abstains for the sake of the Lord it shall be sacred and he shall allow the growth of the hair of his head to go to grow wild all the days that he abstains for the Lord he shall not come into contact with the dead to his father to his mother to his brother or his sister he shall not defile himself if they die for the crown of his God is upon his head for the entire duration of his absence he is Holy to the Lord if someone in his presence dies unexpectedly or suddenly and causes the Nazarite head to become defiled he shall shave off the hair of his head on the day of his purif ation on the seventh day he shall shave it off and on the eighth day he shall bring two Turtle does or two young pigeons to the Cohen at the entrance to the tent of meeting the Cohen shall prepare one for sin offering and one for a burnt offering and atone on his behalf for sinning by coming into contact with the dead and he shall sanctify his head on that day he shall consecrate to the Lord the period of his abstinence and bring a lamb in its first year as a guilt offering the various days shall be cancelled because his nazarit ship has been defiled thank you so much Justin let me invite Robert if you'd like to continue there at verse 13 of chapter 6 yes thank you and this is the law of the Nazarite when the days of his separation are fulfilled he shall be brought unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation and he shall offer his offering unto the Lord one helam of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering and one you lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering and one ram without blemish for peace offerings and a basket of unleavened bread cakes of fine flour mingled with oil and Wafers of unleavened bread Anointed with oil and their meat offering and their drink offering offerings and the priest shall bring them before the Lord and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering and he shall offer the RAM for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord with the basket of unleavened bread the priest shall offer also his meat offering and his drink offering and the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation and shall take the hair of the head of his separation and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings and the priest shall take the Soden shoulder of the AR RAM and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after the hair of his separation is shaven and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord this is Holy for the priest with a wave breast and heave shoulder and after that the Nazarite May drink wine this is the law of the Nazarite who hath bowed and of his offering unto the Lord for his separation beside that that his hand shall get according to the vow which he vowed so he must do after the law of his separation and the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak unto Aaron and unto his sons saying on this wise he shall bless the children of Israel saying unto them the Lord bless thee and keep Thee the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace and they shall put my name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them thank you Robert and Linda would you let to read a little bit we're at the start of chapter 7 sure Rabbi thank you thank you B Bar Seven and it was that on the day that Moses finished erecting the mishan he anointed it Sanctified it and all its vessels and the Altar and all its vessels and he anointed them and Sanctified them and The Chieftains of Israel the heads of their fathers houses presented their offerings they were the leaders of the tribes they were the ones who were present during the counting they brought their offering before the Lord six covered wagons and 12 oxen a wagon for each two Chieftains and an ox for each one they presented them in front of the Nishan and the Lord spoke to Moses saying take it from them and let them be used in the service of the tent of meeting you shall give them to the Levites in accordance with each man's work so Moshe took the wagons and the cattle and gave them to the Levites he gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of gon according to their work and he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of marari according to their work under the direction of Tamar itamar son of Aaron the priest but the sons of kohat he did not give for incumbent upon them was the work involving the holy objects which they were to carry on their shoulders so the chieftain brought offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed the chieftain presented their offerings in front of the Altar and hasem said to Moshe one Chie in each day one Chie in each day shall present his offering for the dedication of the altar thank brought it's so beautiful that you're reading I'm very grateful and so let me invite Rose now to read a little bit at verse 12 okay verse 12 one who presented his offering on the first day was Amad of the tribe of Judah his offering one Silver Bow weighing 130 shekels and one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flour with oil mixed in for meal offering one Gold Label of 10 shekles filled with incense one Bull of the herd one ram one lamb in its first ear for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for his sacrifice of well-being to oxen by Rams five he gos and five yearling Lambs that was the offering of nashan son of aminadab on the second day Nathaniel son of Zar chief of the of the SAR made his offering he presented as his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary rate both filled with Choice flour with oil mixed in for meal offering one gold Ladle of 10 shekels filled with incense one bowl of the herd one ram one lamb in his first steer for burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for a sacrifice of well-being two ox and five Rams five higos five yearling Lambs that was the offering of Nathaniel's son of Zo on the third day it was the chief of the zebulin ites elab son of hemon his is offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary we both filled with Choice flour with oil mix in for a meal offering one gold Ladle of 10 shekels filled with incense one Bull of the herd one ram one lamb as for steer for burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for his sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five heos five yearling Lambs that was the offering of eliab son of helon thank you so much Rose and Katherine would you like to pick up there at verse 30 thank you Rabbi on the fourth day it was the Chie of the reubenites elizer son of shedar his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flower with oil mixed in for a meal offering one gold Ladle of 10 checkel filled with incense one bowl of the herd one ram and one lamb in his first year for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for his sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five she goat he goats and five yearling Lambs that was the offering of elizer son of shedar on the fifth day it was the chieftain of the Simeon ites schlum son of zurad his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flow with oil mixed in for a meal offering one gold Ladle of 10 shekels filled with incense one Bull of the herd one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for his sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five heig goats and five yearling Lambs that was the offering of Shalom son of zurada on the sixth day it was the chieftain of the gadites elasa son of duel he is offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one Silver Base of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering one gold Ladle of 10 shekels filled with incense one Bull of the herd one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for his sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five heig goats and five yearling Lambs that was the offering of Ellas son of duel thank you so much Margo would you like to do a little reading we're at verse 48 of chapter 7 and if you you'd like to share with us you'll need to [Music] unmute sh okay can you hear me now yes I can hear you okay I I have to apologize to the class I I I at 10 H I was ready to go then my computer went out so we're happy to have you with in any way okay so 42 on the sixth day it we're now on chapter we're in verse 48 on the seventh day oh 48 oh okay on the seventh day on the seventh day it was the chief of the e Prime M mates Elish Hana son of [Music] aood um his offering um what his his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the San by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice uh with Choice flour with oil mixed in uh for a meal offering some gold Ladle um one one gold Ladle uh of of 10 shekels filled with incense one uh bow uh of the of the herd one ram and one lamb in its first year uh for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and one for a sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five five heig goats and the yearing Lambs that was the offering of the of Elish Shana son of you want me to do the E sure thank you should I I'll do the okay on the eighth day it was the chieftain of the manassis uh Galo son of pendor his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flour with oil mixed with oil mixed in for a meal offering at one gold one gold Ladle of two of 10 shackles filled with incense one Bull of the herd one ram one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and S and for um and for the sacrifice and for the sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five he goats five yearling Lambs that was one that was the uh was the offering of Gamel son of uh P pedor thank you so much Margo now we're in verse 60 on the ninth day it was the Chie of the benjaminites abidan son of gideoni his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering one gold lat of 10 shekels filled with incense one Bull of the herd one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for a sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five heig goats and five yearling Lambs that was the offering of abidan son of gidoni on the 10th day it was a Chie of the danites Aizer son of aai his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flour with oil mixed in for the meal offering one gold Ladle of 10 shekels filled with incense one Bull of the herd one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for a sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five heot and five yearling Lambs that was the offering of aiz son of aishi on the 11th day it was the chieftain of the asheritah oan his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flour with oil mixed in for a mu offering one gold L of 10 shekels filled with incense one Bull of the herd one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for his sacrifice of wellbeing two oxen five Rams five heot and five yearling Lambs that was the offering of Pagel son of oan Aaron would you like to read a little bit we're now at verse 78 oh sure on the 12th day it was the chief of the neth Nephites ahira son of Anan his offering one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver Basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight both filled with Choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering one gold Ladle of 10 shekels filled with incense one bowl of the herd one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering one goat for a sin offering and for his sacrifice of well-being two oxen five Rams five heot and five yearly Lambs that was the offering of ahira son of Anan this was the dedication offering for the altar from The Chieftains of Israel upon its being anointed silver bowls 12 silver basins 12 gold ladles 12 silver per Bowl 130 per B 70 total silver of vessels 2400 Sanctuary shekles the 12 gold ladles filled with incense 10 Sanctuary shackel for Ladle total gold of the ladle is 120 total of the herd animals for burnt offerings 12 Bulls of rams 12 of yearly Lambs 12 with their proper meal offerings of goats for sin offerings 12 total of herd animals for sacrifices for well of wellbeing 24 Bulls of ram 60 of heo 60 of yearly lamb 60 that was the dedication offering for the altar after its anointing when Moses went into the into the tent of meeting to speak with him he would hear the voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the pack between the two cheram thus he spoke to him thank you so much if everyone that's uh completing our longest Torah portion lovely lovely so much that uh you all contributed to its vocalization and bringing it out into uh into the air and into our ears if you have a copy of the study sheet I invite you to take it out now I've titled this week's study sheet and all the people saw and we'll explore a little bit why my reading this year that caught my attention and what really caught my attention initially was the opening of this week's Torah portion which gives it its title uh the word naso so there in number one on our study sheet I have the quote from uh Numbers chapter verse 22 um which says that Nas at Ro of the gershonites so it gets translated at least in my addition that word naso as take a census but quite literally naso at ro means lift up the head of the gershonites and that was evocative for me of how we really started off the whole book of numbers if you remember uh there's also a reference an instruction to take a TENS a census of the entire Israelite people and that's what I have also in number one on our study sheet it uh so at Ro of the whole Israelite Community it's from the same verb as naso it means to lift up the head of the whole Israelite community so there is something here about elevation of the head an uplifting as part of counting and recognizing who is there so I'm just kind of curious about what is this notion about up lifting everyone's presence as part of being counted and that same phrase of naso is something that repeats several times within both last week and this week's Torah portion and as uh we have just read through the concluding portion of this week's reading uh we read through these offerings that were brought and here I've summarized in that uh those verses here number two The Chieftains brought the dedication offering for the altar the one who presented his offering on the first day was nashan son of aminadab of the tribe of Judah his offering one silver ball weighing 139 shekels and one silver Basin so forth and so on and what we recognize as we're reading through it is that these offerings uh each tribe is bringing 35 objects and the same precise formula the same precise words the same precise language uh is repeated 12 different times it's the same set of words just repeated 12 times and so because there's a notion that everything that's in Torah is not duplicative there's no redundancy everything is there for a reason and a purpose which by the way is a lesson that the rabbis share about us as well none of us is unnecessary none of us is a mere redundancy none of us is a mere duplication of what already exists that we're all here for a unique reason and a unique purpose so reading all this where these words are just uh seem to be the same words that have already been said and they're repeated 11 times or a total of 12 times the question is well that's that's a lot of ink is being used to say the same thing what why is that and so that's what we're going to explore a a little bit as well and so we have in number three this midrash from midrash Baba it says our rabbis say that although they all presented similar offerings they meant by them to symbolize great events which each one selected in accordance with their own judgment so what the midrash is hinting at is that although on the surface it looks like everyone is doing the same thing each of these tribes had a different association with with the objects that they were bringing that they were actually for each one of them they were perceiving what they were bringing through the lens of their own tribal experience through their own tribal personality their own tribal characteristics so each one may have been bringing the same things but they symbolized different characteristics different events and different experiences for for each of them so this notion about everyone seems to be in concert but at the same time they are uh perceiving that similarity through a a unique and specialized and personalized lens also evokes something about uh what happened at Mount Si and so let me let me share that with you and this is number four also from a midrash and all the people saw that's a reference to being at Sinai and all the people seem to be seeing the same phenomenon now our midash goes on all the people saw the sounds of sounds and the Flames of flames how many sounds were there and how many Flames were there each heard according to their own level of understanding what they were experiencing and this is what it means when it says in Psalm 29 the voices of Adonai in power the voice of Adonai in Majesty this midrash is now saying we had all these people who were present at Mount Si they're all experiencing the same phenomenon but each one who is there is perceiving it uniquely according to their own particular life experiences and something about this this uh exhalation of the Divine voice now becomes an exal a perception of multiple voices are now uh washing across the people and each one is hearing a unique voice if you will so this diffusion uh in into uniqueness for everyone who's there of this common phenomenon is what the rabbis are are describing as the event at at Mount Si and here is a is a lovely book by one of the great rabbis of the 20th century Aden Stein Sals who wrote some beautiful books this one is from his book called The Strife of the spirit in number five and since we're just having concluded um let's see here uh since we we've just uh concluded shot which is all about that moment at Sinai and receiving Torah uh this is a a really timely quote from Adin Stein Soul the receiving of Torah however is not just a capacity to grasp a certain body of knowledge it is an act of breaking the limits of time and of contacting the infinite so Rabbi Stein Sal is say there's not just a download of singular information that is happening it is also a reciprocal act on our part the receivers if you will to break through the limits of time and contact the infinite so this notion that we're receiving a stream of information and our response to it is to not merely receive a a compreh a identifiable set of instructions and words but that it is a an empowering to break through that Singularity to contact the ex the expansive and infinite so with that if you have uh your sheet I invite you to turn it over to look at this uh we're going to review this observation from uh rabers about all these offerings that we've just read about often we tend to see a tension between Conformity and creativity between tradition and Innovation on the one hand we recognize the Bedrock of principles upon which a meaningful existence must rest the time tested truths which transcend cultures and generation on the other we are faced with the powerful drive to create to personalize to grow and soar with our individualized talents and tools even as they relate to the ultimate common denominator of their bond with God they each bring to the experience the richness of their own creative Souls so here Rabbi sherson is giving a an updated articulation of the ancient midrash that for each of these 12 tribes they may have been bringing the same objects the same 35 objects but each for each tribe they meant different things for each tribe and and in that sense they brought their own personal experience of these objects as as the offering that was the true offering their personal investment and identification and uniqueness that's what that was the true offering which is seems to be in the on the surface by by the appearance the same thing that everyone else is bringing so I I I'd like to share our paintings right now so if you flip back on the front we have two paintings one on the left by Camille pizaro and one on the right by Paul seisan uh so Camille pizaro and Paul saan they they met uh I think it was about 1861 cam pizaro was nine years older than seison and at this point they're still pretty young I think uh pizar himself is about 31 when they first meet and so that would make uh seison about 2122 years old um they meet at an art studio where they're studying and and then quickly they become quite quite tight as as friends and they spend about the next 20 years uh spending a lot of time together and among all the Impressionists they were perhaps the most paired together and spent the the most time together and then about 1873 pizaro uh moves to the Village of Ponto which is north of Paris and he invites Sean to come join the two of them spend years together here in ponis and they sit together they stare at the same scene together they paint together they draw together and although they are looking upon the same phenomenons they they have different experiences of of that singular and same phenomenon and they creatively represent them on canvas very differently not only in terms of the content of the images but also in terms of how they place them on canvas the kind of a pallet that they each use the kind of brush stroke that they each use so here the one on the left uh pizaro sunlight on the road pontoise uh his his pallet uh is much more oriented towards playing with with the light uh the the playfulness with the clouds we have here um figures on the road houses are in the background uh and his brush Strokes tend to be a little bit lighter and and um more uh see-through if you will and then on the right we have saisan where he has placed the houses now in the foreground and his brush drugs are and pallet are quite different they're quite darker and his breath Strokes tend to emphasize the the geometry uh the materiality of of what he's perceiving and one can already begin to see Sean's move towards emphasizing the the planes and dimensions that he saw in everything which then he becomes the Forerunner of what gets picked up by by Picasso and Brock as as the cubism uh of existence so here I I put these to side by side as just examples of two people who they loved one another they really did they were very close they spent a lot of time together they would sit together and yet what they saw in the same setting would be different and how they would portray what they saw was very different pizaro with a lighter touch uh said on with kind of a a thicker um more material and and and broader brush stroke so here um we turn back to the back uh this is number seven this a quote by pizaro reflecting back upon the time at ponas with cesan well he became influenced by me at Pontas and and I by him we were always together but each of us unquestionably retain the only thing that counts our own sensation so I share that with you because sometimes uh we can get caught up in the surface appearance uh of the text in this case it looks like wow everyone's just doing the same thing and in my uh commentary this week I I characterize that as Conformity everyone is just doing the the same thing but the midrash points out that underneath that there is a uniqueness a personal experience uh that that is being expressed and that is what Sean and pizaro pizaro andan have done here that they're on the one hand looking at the same uh setting but what they're experiencing is very different and as pizaro himself says what's the most important thing is that we had our own unique sensation of what we were beholding so uh the fact that this Torah portion is hinting at and also perhaps evoking what happened at Mount Si is that it is possible to both have a unique personalized experience of the world around us and still have a shared communal commitment uh to a a mission and to one another that there does not need to be the kind of tension uh between Conformity and creativity between tradition and Innovation that indeed they they there is a way in which they are sympathetically involved one with the other so with that I I see we've already got some hand raised I'd love to know what uh inspired you provoked you uh in the course of our reading uh Katherine why don't you go first and then Rose go ahead Katherine okay thank you um first of all within the parot I was struck in number five about the tale of the jealous husband and how uh the priest is addressing jealousy as much as the sort of defilement you know in a sense um and that in the end whether or not the woman is guilty of of infidelity that there has to be some kind of purification that takes place that uh relieves the husband of the burden of jealousy nice because jealousy in a community is not desirable um at all um and can be as bad as the act itself I think uh almost is suggested here um and um in terms of the paintings I just wanted to make one more observation that pizaro seems sort of committed to showing depth in his uh image whereas seson we have a sense of elevation oh thank you bring us back to the word so thank you elevation nicely done K thank you so much you want to say you want to say any more no that's it great F fantastic let me call upon Rose and Robert Rose yeah there's thank you rebi well there's a lot to unpack in this partial which is I guess why it's the longest I mean you've got uh going on you know you um to a kind of flip over backwards with Katherine was talking about um when we were when you were talking about uh uh pizar and Saison I was comparing and contrasting with the other dynamic duo of art Goan and Van G who kind of got along a little differently shall we say there was intense competition and things like that it's just kind of an interesting contrast um but I wanted uh you know the the thing with the different um uh tribe leaders it's kind of like a college graduation or high school graduation know people getting up on the stage and getting a diploma you know kind of kind of is like that uh Katherine was commenting about the soo [Music] and my interpretation of the story of the SOA is that the the objective was to preserve this marriage and it had to done in one of two ways one is the woman because the man would suspects that she is pregnant that he ain't the baby daddy because no because he probably was not around for a long time he comes back woman doesn't have her period she keeps going hm so this was the way if she was if she wasn't pregnant okay if she wasn't pregnant she doesn't have this thing if she was she was actually given something that was to cause an abortion all this stuff and it says thigh it means genitalia in the Torah so it's really describing an abortion that this pregnancy is going to mess up the marriage they can't stay married and you know was kind of saying stuff happens this scy was probably away for a while stuff happens but it's important to preserve this marriage so this is the choice that the community is making to preserve this marriage that's all I have to thank you Rose thank you and let me call upon uh Robert and then I'll get to Margo yeah Robert well thank you again for a lovely evening and all the insights and Rose I I really appreciated your comment that really was very insightful to me because a marriage is the Bedrock of a family family is what civilizations are built on you can't I mean that is a collective unit that uh you know we build on I I hadn't really thought of it that way at all and I really thank you for that well I have just a few things for me the Torah session had two lessons and I really appreciate all the comments they're so insightful the first right off we have to my mind the concept of purity command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper so anything that's impure uh defiled by the dead it goes on to um man woman commit any sin Etc so these are these are issues of impurity which is the darkness it's always the light in Revelation that's meaningful and that guides us so the first lesson to me was here of Purity and then if I take Purity to it to its Essence it comes to be not Material Purity but purity of heart so that means we become free of self self-aggrandisement self-love you know these are horribly detrimental now after that to my mind comes the lesson of sacrific sacrifice and sacrificial giving you cannot have sacrifice of self Etc and sacrificial giving without a pure heart because if the intention isn't pure it isn't pure it can't be so when I was listening to you about the tribes what occurred to me and as I was reading was the idea that this concept of sacrificial giving by 12 tribes instead of mentioning once 12 times it pointed out no one no one is exempt from this giving of sacrifice sacrificial giving starts with our own self and I remember when I first joined some time ago Margot and some of the others just made me feel so and yourself of course made me feel so welcome you know well they sacrificed of themselves and then the third thing is with regard to this picture you know I want to thank you for your comments because this you know when you were talking about this when you said they see the same thing but they paint them differently what they see looking at the same thing is different to them it pointed out to me when I when I transfer that to what does it mean to me as a human being and to society I think what it means is we're supposed to listen because each one of us views reality from a different perspective if you have 10 poets who are asked to write about love you're going to get 10 different poems and if you have 10 men who and women who fall in love you're G to have 10 different spouses so I love the fact that you just to position them and made your comment because the lesson here is we're supposed to listen and if we listen then we can have consultation which is a process process of Truth seeking where we listen seek for truth what are the principles Etc involved I always enjoy these evenings I always enjoy the fact that you put up with my little comments so so grateful for your presence and for your comments Robert thank you so much and and let me invite Margot would you like to would you like to share margar yes and Robert is always a joy for me to see you um okay throughout the Torah it it it preaches against divination now excuse me drinking a a a bow of water with dirt in it and then your stomach will descend and your thighs will will hang now if that's not divination I don't know what is so that's my comment I think it's a good comment and uh just to reference you know the way this is this is dealt with in the Tet itself uh as Rose was mentioning in the talmud this is all viewed as not really a a a a a procedure directed at the woman it's a procedure directed at the man who who who is suffering from some kind of of jealous fit but she's the one drink it maybe so so the the rabbis will will often really pressure the man are you sure you you want us to do that you sure you want us to go through with this you know and and so there's uh it's really viewed as this is a moment in which the man has to confront uh his own irrationality and what's really really at stake so uh others Richard you want to share anything yes I do yeah uh I really like the 12 U episodes or the 12 prompts to give it your best and that you mention that everybody comes up with what they do but uh my focus there is that it's not that somebody came to it with a pre idea of what they think is good or wonderful but that the they the like a writing class you're giving it you're giving something to a word or a sentence and then you create something out of that and it's not that they come with already an idea of what their values are but the task itself creates just as is doing with these two painters the task creates the work of art that they put forward it brings that out of them they're given a list of here's what's on the menu everybody the best of all the gold and silver and stuff uh no give it your best to find out what you're sacrificing what what is it in there and that as that question that is asked by giving the list or by saying you've got to do something here that creates the the solution of the the tension between con Conformity and creativity and who am I and so that's where the work of art comes from that they bring and put out there that's their Sac that's their so-called sacrifice they're giving themselves to the task nice same way as as you've said so many times before about the uh the work of art is an experience that shared with the reader the viewer shares the experience of seeing what the artist has made manifest and that exchange is where the work art is and so it's not about those basins or the amount of gold it's about what it's done to the psyche of the people because they've been asked to contribute to the well-being of the crowd thank you Rich and anyone else okay all right uh yes June please go ahead unmute and share with us hi I just I really love the paintings and they really got to me and to me one is like the reverse of the other the I think pizaro is more of a dreamlike or a nonmaterial vision and suzan is more of a reality and more material it's it's by the light you can see it's very definite the the forms are very easy to recognize whereas zaros is more of a dream like and how it could be and it's maybe even better than it it is in reality but it's more of a vision and I I just think one is almost the flip like two sides of a coin and I I think that's why they was so perfectly matched as as people because they each saw things that melded into one but a little bit different perspective got to me on these all right I just love these paintings that's lovely Jun and so I'm gonna uh draw us together by kind of picking up on what you just said and and picking up uh what Robert was was uh pointing us towards as well and taking us back to that moment that Sinai which according to our sacred mythology is this moment of Revelation and this moment of Revelation which is perceived in 600,000 different ways that by the number of people that were were there according to this beautiful sacred mythology and the lesson from that is we should turn to one another and say what did you experience what did you hear what's your Insight about what all this is because we it was so refracted that each one of us only got a certain facet of what was happening in that Jewel of a moment and if any one of us is missing from the conversation then we're missing out on on a bit of wisdom so how beautiful to think about the way to live is to be able to sit down with someone and gaze upon uh the world in front of us and one of us paints one way and one of us paints another other way and instead of being frightened by the fact that someone is seeing something different and portraying it painting it it differently rather than feeling threatened by that we're intrigued by that we we see this we we are we're drawn into the mystery of it all and into the mystery of the person who's next to us and and that when we get drawn into that mystery not as something to solve but as something to just dwell Within then we open up portals of possibility for compassion and and love and and greater wisdom so I want to thank each and every one of you uh for for being the artist that you are in uh being able to to share these different ways of things seeing things feeling comfortable to to share those with one another and out of it all we become so much more enriched God bless you all I look forward to our next Gathering thank you so much for being together thank you RBI thank you

Channel: Shulchanpdx

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Id: G-PrNvWQcOE

Length: 66min 2sec (3962 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 14 2024