A Message from Rabbi Maurice (Nov, 2004)

"Rabbi Kaplan used to say that if you want to discover the truth of a statement about G-d, you must invert it. He would state, 'The Torah of G-d is flawless, restoring the soul (Psalm 19:1)' should be read ‘whatever restores the soul is the Torah of G-d.' "

- Mel Scult, biographer of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, z"l

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Holy Inversions

Ever since I learned this technique, I have been inverting verses of our sacred texts, seeking the sparks that emerge from reading this way.For example, at the end of the paragraphs we read following the Shema, we come to a place where we sing, "The Eternal One, Our G-d, is Truth." I often invert this, thinking to myself, "Whatever is Truth is the Eternal One, Our G-d."

The invitation to invert verses from the Bible or the Siddur reminds me of another reading technique I sometimes use when studying or davenning. I'll read a passage and ask myself, "Who or what in the world is living out the truth of this passage in my lifetime?" I often find myself thinking about this when we get to the part of the Friday night service where we sing "Mi Chamocha." We sing about the sea splitting open and the Hebrew slaves passing through to freedom on dry ground. I often ask myself, "When has the 'sea split' in my lifetime?" For me, the image is Nelson Mandela coming out of prison. Bam! The sea splits. The world is different. Nobody thought it would happen. Suddenly, freedom is not only possible, it's imminent.

I realize that this column is reaching people at an anxious time. As you read this, in all likelihood we are either in the midst of an intensely divisive election, or facing its aftermath. Either way, the nation is full of conflict, full of resentments, contempt, and fear. Political opponents have become full-blown cultural enemies. My hope in these times is that we can all focus on enduring truths, that we can continue to work for tikkun olam in a way that – little by little – will lead to the sea splitting, if not now, then in the future. As the verse from Psalms says, "The stone rejected by the builders has become this place's founding stone." The surprising bursts of truth in the universe are often the result of years of work by many people. And wherever we find many people working diligently for truth, we find the presence of G-d.

Rabbi Maurice