Mishpatim: Perceiving God
Mishpatim: Perceiving God
Welcome to Shabbat Moment, a text study series with Yael Shy, from our friends at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Every week we share Yael’s Torah text study, mindfulness practice tips, and discussion questions for you to reflect + share with others at your Shabbat table. Subscribe here to get the Shabbat Moment delivered straight to your inbox!
This week’s Torah portion is Mishpatim: Perceiving God.
After Moses delivers the words of law to the Israelites and the Israelites promise “to do, and to hear,” Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders are so spiritually open and aware that they walk a ways up the mountain. Once there, they perceive or see or gaze at God, they eat and drink, and the powerful God energy to which they have opened does not kill them.
Why is it mentioned that God doesn’t kill them? Was feasting at that moment of spiritual awe inappropriate? What were they actually doing, “perceiving God” while eating and drinking?
About the Author
Special thanks to Yael Shy and our friends at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for joining us in creating weekly Shabbat moments for your Friday nights.
Yael Shy is the CEO of Mindfulness Consulting, LLC, where she teaches and consults on mindfulness for universities, corporations, and private clients around the world. She is the author of the award-winning book, What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017), and the founder of Mindful NYU, the largest campus-based mindfulness initiative in the US. Yael is a graduate of the IJS Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Certification.
