This morning, and also on Yom Kippur, we read the words “Lo vashamayim hi. This thing is not in heaven.”
This thing that
God commands us to do—
this thing,
this high-holy
responsibility to be God’s partners in creation,
this beautiful,
challenging, ambiguous work of transforming ourselves and transforming our broken
world—
this thing is not
in heaven.
Lo vashamayim hi is the message
of the High Holidays.
It’s the Torah’s
way of saying “Yes we can.”
Yes, life is a
challenge, and yes, we choose to accept it, and yes, it is going to be hard,
and yes, we can do it.
[…]
For one moment in
his long, painful life, our forefather Isaac embodies the spirit of lo vashamayim hi.
Isaac, the quiet
one.
Isaac, the
troubled one.
Isaac, lost in
his thoughts, disconnected from the world around him.
But one day: “vayeitzei Yitzhak lasuach basadeh / Isaac
went out into the field.”
Out there in
nature, the Rabbis say, Isaac established the tradition of davvening Minhah.
And while he’s
out there in the nature, something blossoms in Isaac.
He opens his
eyes—seeing the world, as if for the first time, in all its unfolding glory.
He talks, for the first time, to
God.
He falls, for the first time, in
love.
He finds, for the first time, a bit
of comfort from his otherwise traumatic, overwhelming biography.
For one moment in
out in nature, eyes wide open, Isaac’s experience of the world is transformed
from one of loneliness and doubt to one of companionship and hope.
Out there in
nature, Isaac opens up his heart and says, “Yes, my life has been a challenge,
and yes, I choose to accept it, and yes, it’s going to be hard, and yes — I — can
— do it!”
Lo vashamayim hi! This thing is not
in heaven!
Life — is a
challenge.
And our ability
to meet that challenge — is not in heaven.
It’s with Isaac.
It’s in nature.
It’s in our
nature.
It’s outside in
the field.
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