Rabbi’s Message: January 21, 2025

This long weekend, as I watched the dark tidings of a Nazi salute on the United States’ national stage, as we witnessed three of the remaining hostages emerge from their pits of despair into the light of their mothers’ embraces, I thought about Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I thought about the challenges Pastor King faced as he witnessed the hatred of his fellow human beings throughout his life; and I thought of the hope that he still cherished, even as he confronted animosity and tragedy. And I wondered how he did it, how he maintained his resilience.

Then, I thought of his quote from his famous “I Have a Dream” speech: “We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” And I thought about what I want that stone of hope to be for myself. Would this stone become heavy in my heart? Or would I use it as a flint, so that it could help light a way in the face of this darkness? 

So, being me, I thought about embodied theology. 

One of the pieces of wisdom that I love from our 6,000+ year old tradition is the idea of b’tzelem Elohim. That you are made in the image of God. You are made of chosen earth and Divine breath. You are made in the image of Elohim - Elohim, the divine plural, the holy multitude and sacred singularity.* That makes you, however you are embodied, special. Yes, you. You are worthy and wonderful, just for being you. 

This embodied theology is my flint of hope: that each of us discovers how to hold that loving divine nature within ourselves. That we are able to embody that holiness more fully with each passing day, and that we have the power to learn how to better honor that sacredness in others. 

And I thought about Pastor King’s advice on how to do that:

“Go out this morning. Love yourself, and that means rational and healthy self-interest. You are commanded to do that. That’s the length of life. Then follow that: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You are commanded to do that. That’s the breadth of life.”

Wishing you a week in which you have the opportunity to go out in the mornings, to bask in the light of Creation, to love yourself fully, and then to love others just the same.

*Rabbi Lauren’s Nerd Corner:

We actually have two full creation stories. But for the moment, let’s focus on a couple of the verses concerning the creation of human beings:

Genesis 1:27 states:

וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם

And God created humankind in the divine image,

creating it in the image of God—

creating them male and female.

Genesis 2:7 says:

וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה

God formed the Human from the soil, blowing into its nostrils the breath of life: the Human became a living being.

This double story - which embraces different perspectives on our understanding of humanity’s creation and purpose - doubles down on a single core principle: you are divinely imagined and divinely made, no matter who you are, no matter your perspective. Each narrative speaks clearly in this regard: you are b’tzelem Elohim, and your life force is holy. However scientifically true or not, it was the choice of those who came before us to preserve this concept and open our holiest of books with this idea: you are sacred and you are tied to Creation. You are made in the image of God, from the breath of God. 

Let’s talk about God in both of these moments. Even when named with the tetragrammaton, in both of these verses, God goes by the divine plural, ,אֱלֹהִ֤ים, Elohim. There are moments when God has a gender throughout our tradition. For example, God as Shechinah, the divine winged, womanly queen that visits us on Shabbat as a deep and profound spiritual connection. Or when we use the image of “Our Father, Our King” during the High Holy Days. But, in my opinion, these are metaphors meant to empower us to wrap our head around what divinity outside of our own bodies could look like. Metaphors are imperfect and imprecise by their nature. For me, it might be easier to consider Elohim - the divine plural - as a spectrum. This is not unusual for our tradition, both when considering God and when considering humans. Indeed, the rabbis understood the human world to possess eight genders. The ancient rabbis' discussions about this are well summarized here. 

Are you interested in nerding out more about biblical theology with Rabbi Lauren? Or are there other Adult Education topics that appeal to your inner nerd? Would you be interested in co-creating Adult Education series with Rabbi Lauren or Rabbi Evon? Please email our administrator Alicia (Alicia@tbytahoe.org) so that we can start the discussion!