Below is the teaching of Chaplain (soon to be Rabbi) Adam Ruditsky in conjunction with the book Preparing yourself for the High Holidays.
רפואה מן התורה
Show me your
path, O Lord, and lead me on a path because of my ever watchful foes (Ps.
27:11)
In
Leviticus Rabbah 8:1 Rabbi Yose ben Halafta teaches “Making ladders for
people to descend and ascend;” how might we understand that? We can process that teaching to be about
reaching beyond what a person may think they are capable of to embrace a better
way. We talked about the path in another
Elul Thought as a choice, a choice that calls for us to consider right from wrong,
a choice that a person must make in order to raise themselves above their base
nature for a higher level of spirituality.
The above quote form Psalm 27 suggests that a foe, or an enemy, is what
stops us from reaching our desired highs.
I think we need to understand an enemy as what constrains us; a person,
a temptation, need for power, greed, a substance, selfishness, lies - perhaps you can think of other enemies that you may have? The path represents the ways of
“over-coming,” which is the foundation of our victories. We have a ladder to ascend to greater
heights. One of my favorite modern day prophets, Bob Dylan, writes, “may you
build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rug …,” if we have been given a path to rise above I
think we should take it.
Whenever
we get lost in the desert, God helps us to find our way
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