From the Rabbi

Toward the end of the Torah portion Hayyei Sarah, which is read this week in synagogues, we encounter the adult Isaac, who “went out meditating [lasu’ah] in the field towards the evening” (Genesis 24:63).

Rashi, an early medieval commentator, interprets the verb lasu’ah as implying prayer, drawing also from the rabbinic tradition that identifies Isaac with the minhah/afternoon prayer service.

How about Isaac as a biblical paradigm for the individual who engages in meditative, inward prayer?  There is something mysterious about this lone figure, ambling through the desert while the sun is setting, perhaps wrapped in profound thoughts about the secrets of creation, or crying out silently from the depths of his heart.

Such figures reappear, in varied forms, throughout the spiritual history of the Jewish people … like on first Thursdays, somewhere in Old Ottawa East, led by a rabbi and assorted members of this community, who amble, sit, listen and quietly meditate.

Rabbi Liz