Ellen Solot, cantor, InterPlayer, blessed Mystic Tech friend at Ordinary Ecstasies (do click on ellen’s site!), shared with me…

A Way In online offerings of Rabbi Yael Levy.  I so appreciate stellar teachers in the traditions of my heart. Perhaps you also will appreciate touching wisdom that has carried people through the desert! When we are most in fear, Great Love asks us to breathe and remember whose we are.

Blessed are You, Source of All, who has given us life, raised us up and brought us to this moment.

Our sacred mythology relates that on Shavuot our ancestors stood at the mountain and experienced the Infinite Oneness.  Out of the silence of this sacred encounter, they heard Ten Utterances to live by, ten utterances to help them remember that all life is woven together in an intricate web of harmony and love:

I.  I am, I was, I will be.  I am the unfolding of all that is. I am constant transformation calling you forward to be.

II.  You cannot arrest me in motion.  You cannot grasp or hold onto time.  Do not strive for certainty.  Do not seek permanence.

III.  Do not use a Divine name to make false promises.  Do not use sacred teachings to lift up a destructive path.

IV.  Rest, Stop, Pause. Be.  Honor creation.  Declare your freedom. Rest and allow others to rest as well.

V.  Honor your parents.  Honor your ancestors. Honor those upon whose shoulders you stand.

VI.  Do not murder.

VII. Do not betray.

VIII.  Do not steal.

IX.  Do not use the power of words to hurt or destroy.

X.  Feel the fullness of your life.  Don’t be led astray by comparing yourself to others. Don’t get lost in desiring what others have.  Be content, be fulfilled with what your life brings.    

                                                                           —  Shemot 20:1-14 

May Shavuot reveal to us the presence of the One within all. And may this inspire our love and our commitment to act with grace, honesty and compassion for the well being of all creation.

Rabbi Yael Levy