Written by: Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman
We have choices. Our lives are a series of choices that have brought us all individually and collectively to this moment. Brukhim Habaim-Welcome to this moment! In our foundational origin story, when Adam and Chava eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the world of conscious choice is set in motion. The story of human agency upon the earth begins. Torah opens with this image of choice and closes five books later with this refrain from Moses: I put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, so that you and your children may live. (Deut. 30:19)
I want to take you back to the moment in the Torah just before the ten commandments are uttered. At this moment the Israelites are gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai. A thick cloud descends upon the mountain. The mountain is quaking, and smoke rises from its core. The people are terrified. And the text states: the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. (Ex. 20:18)
