Numbers Cycle 7 Massey

 Massey

 The Refuge Cities

This is the message of Massey. Know who you are and know where you’re at. Peace doesn’t come from a compromise of identity, of roots, of passage, of memory, of travels, of ritual, of inheritance, or even of boundaries. Peace comes from an opening of heart and this can only happen when we are rock solid within self.  That’s why the cities of refuge are so amazingly exquisite. They provide us the time space and safety to become maitre de soi-meme, in other words to envision a transformed self, to accept a heightened holiness and therefore to manifest the mitzvoth with greater focus and responsibility.

In other words, if we go off track, if we are born off track, if we are born into a continuum of violent wandering that seems like a status quo, if we are blinded by a world behavior that has become norm, if we can’t see our roots or our God and even forget how we got here…well there’s always the refuge cities. If in a world of desperation, misused millions, club-type hatred, emails that strike, Facebook posts that slap, photos that steal our self-knowledge and our self-esteem…thank God for the refuge cities.

In a world in which  so many liberals can only find their footing  by hanging the Other….in a world in which that noose is once again shoved at Israel, which means at us, at every Jew alive and breathing this second…thank God for the refuge cities.

In a world in which anti-semetism is once again rampant...In a world in which interfaith is sorely misunderstood as apologetics and shame…thank God for the refuge cities.

 Why?

 Those cities...even if designated for the Levites and the accidental murderer... seem to open their gates to include just about everyone these days. As I write this in July 2014, our hands are filled with both Torah and blood, with prayer and war. The latter is seeping into the former ever so slowly. It's not healthy. It's not what we want for ourselves or for our children. It's not what our rabbis ever wanted for us. It's not what God wants. Yet, given this outrageous reality in which we don't have a choice, we are blessed to have these cities. In these cities we can purify ourselves and transform. We all know about purification. Transformation (also) is an obligation.  And we will know it when we are whole once more. Our mentor will have passed on through the boundaries of life and death. Therefore, we can pass through the boundaries within life.

The Sfat Emet defines the refuge cities as the words of the Sh’ma. It’s a beautiful teaching. He says that the six cities are the six words of the Sh’ma. He says that the forty two other cities set aside for the Levites are those in the v'ahavta.  With this vision,  we are empowered to dive into the sanctity and beauty of prayer for safety and self-respect.

And though I love and honor the Sfat Emet and see myself as a mystic to some extent, I must say this. The refuge cities today are the refuge cities. They are what they are. They remain in Israel. They remain Israel. They are necessary to protect and defend on all levels…levels of prayer and levels of  physical reality.

Without both prayer and nation we as Jews lose a piece of self.  With both we transform to a place where we can be leaders of Peace. And the world can be raised-up by that Peace. And we can once again be raised up by the world in an eternal cycle of compassion and community.

May we know who we are and help others to know who they are. May we safeguard the refuge of our very country Israel and support her with prayer,  love and strength.