Vayetzi - Birth of a Nation

#‎Vayetzei‬ The Parsha this week unveils the birth of 11 out of 12 of the Tribal Patriarchs and is primary to understanding the Cycle of Sacred Time which is the Jewish Year. 

The order in which they were born, the spiritual identities of the four mothers who gave them birth, and their unique functions both outwardly in physical reality as well as inwardly in the realm of symbols and archetypes within the individual personality all have their seeds in this Parsha. 

The corresponding Parsha is BaMidbar, in which the positions, directions and functions of the now-mature Tribes are described, and which is the symbolic archetype of the Zodiac itself (the Tribes around the Mishkan (Tabernacle) is the reflection of the heavenly arrangement). 

Study and meditate on this graphic, because it is the map to both your inner and outer reality.

The Most Intense Week of Cheshvan Coming Up!

Detail from my "12 Tribes" Plate

Chodesh Ram Cheshvan 5776 is coming to an end later this week. Everything about this month has been deceptively external - violence, death, treachery and betrayal, shocking events - which distracts us from the deep internal work of this Fixed Water (Establishing Emotion) month. This week, particularly Monday night through Thursday morning, unplug (if you can) from the external noise long enough to hear the sound of your own voice crying in the wilderness of your own heart. What is she saying? 

The deepest message from the root of your own soul wants your conscious mind to hear it, know it, absorb it. 

The flag of the Tribe of Menashe (Cheshvan's Tribe) was a ra'im (a wild ox). It is the horn of this wild ox which is alluded to in Psalms 92:10: "But my horn hast thou exalted like the horn of the wild-ox". 

"Horn" is a metaphor for strength, honor, power, dominion, glory, dignity, prosperity and triumph. In struggle the horn is an symbol of fierceness and the ability to both attack and defend.

Don't be afraid to use your horn to dig DEEP this week. Fiercely defend yourself against toxic distractions, and you will triumph!