I was wondering, why is the miracle at the Red Sea recalled every day in Jewish prayer. Then I pictured myself as a Jew escaping Egypt after God personally intervenes and releases the Jewish people from bondage there. We get out of Egypt and we begin on our journey only to be confronted with the Red Sea. The Red Sea in front of us and the pursuing Egyptian army behind us. Oy! And I don’t even know how to swim!
What’s a Jew to do? Moses says, it’s ok, go into the water, it’s gonna be ok. What? But I can’t swim! It’s ok, just go in, don’t worry.
So this for me is the essence of the story. Of course every Jewish school child knows that God performed a miracle at the Red Sea and the waters parted and the Jews walked safely across. The miracle to me is the faith that it took to JUST TRUST GOD and place one’s entire life in that trust.
When I was growing up, one of the main difficulties I faced was “career selection.” The problem was that in school or later in the “real world”, when choosing a profession I could never find exactly the right fit. I realize now had there been a choice that said “mystic” I would have said “Aha, that’s the one.” But that was never one of the options on a career aptitude test. So what does a little girl who wants to be a mystic (of course doesn’t even know the word yet) do? Eventually she becomes a mother because that is the closest I could find to a profession in which being a mystic could come in handy.
I remember in my twenties, after my own mother died, and being in a state of confusion and sadness, going to see a therapist. It was a few months after she had died and I was (shockingly) still in grief. Karen, “you’re using your mother’s death as a reason not to get on with your own life.” Ok. “So what is it you want to do with your life Karen?” I want to know God. That was my answer. And what was his answer? “So you want to go get a Ph.D. in theology?” Um, no, that’s about as far away from what I was thinking as is watching a porn movie from making love. Well, he sure didn’t get what I meant. I knew what I meant but I didn’t know how to translate it into human-ese.
Somewhere in my education I had heard the phrase “to pray without ceasing”. I don’t remember who said it, but thank you to whoever it was because I’m borrowing it. This “praying without ceasing” is the state of mind that I want, that I crave. How do you do regular life when all you want to do is hang out with God? Well, that’s the challenge, and that’s when I realize that I really am a Jew. Judaism was designed as a way to be in this world and yet be connected to the Source at the same time. For every action we take, there is a prayer or a blessing. Remember in Fiddler on the Roof when the tailor asks for a blessing on the new sewing machine? I think of a time when I had a job after college that was mostly a lot of typing. I remember thinking, “for this I went to college? to be a typist?” After a short while of kvetching I decided well I’ve got to make a living and if they’re willing to give me money for sitting here typing stuff, so what the hey. Once I changed my mind about what I was doing and decided to just be there, the experience completely changed. What annoyed me and pissed me off suddenly became a vehicle for me to experience mindfulness. I was not just the typist, I was the typing! In fact, the ego division fell away and I was just a being in time doing some stuff. Hah! What a simple clue to happiness! I didn’t need a spa or a vacation or some fancy stuff to be happy. I just needed to be fully in the moment at every moment. Man, just think of all the self-help businesses and pharmaceutical companies that would go broke if people just realized that what they are seeking is there within them all along. There’s nothing really out there anyway except what you say it is. Not to say that there is not real suffering. Of course not. There is, because that is part of the fabric of life. But when one lets oneself really be in the moment, whether that is a moment of grief and pain or of ecstasy and bliss, it all passes if you let it go through you.
Speaking of letting it go through you, this brings me to the subject of intestines. What, you may say, does intestines have to do with what I’m talking about?Everything I say. May I explain.
So conventional belief is that thoughts are in the mind which is in the brain. That’s what I was raised to believe and that is what I thought. So if you’re “depressed” you need antidepressants which will alter your brain chemicals to get them to work right. Well what I’ve come to experience is that my thoughts are actually in my gut. And I will tell you why. Why is it we say we have a gut reaction? We don’t say we have a brain reaction, we say a gut reaction. It’s because when we think/feel something it is our gut that is giving us this information. For example, I have a very sensitive gut and when I’m angry or upset the place that I feel it most is in my gut. I have tried a technique that when my stomach is hurting I smile. (You weird girl). No really, try this. When I smile my stomach automatically relaxes. When it relaxes I no longer feel pain. This does not mean that I eschew medications for serious gastrointestinal problems. Of course not, I’m Jewish and second choice to mystic I would have chosen to be a medical doctor if I hadn’t been so distracted. But for everyday stomach discomforts a smile works like magic. And it just makes me feel better too.
So now in true Jewish fashion I have ended up this discussion with a fascination with the digestive system. It is a well-known (hmmm) fact that all Jewish conversations end up talking about shit. I don’t know how this happens but it’s a fact. I may start documenting this to prove this as scientific data. I don’t know how it is that a people that are commanded to be praying without ceasing are also so curious about the end product of digestion (and everything along the way, “so did ya eat yet?”). Maybe because as human animals we need to keep eating to survive and it’s such a large part of every day life that naturally it lends itself to some introspection.
So here’s to being a Jewish mystic mom in 2025. Now let’s eat!
Musings of a Jewish Mom 