The Land Of Milk And Honey

It is possible we may some day finally recognize the universe as an intelligent designed entity and all religion, as we know it, will become a thing of the past.

Within Talmudic study, we learn Moses freed the slaves from Egypt, of which the majority were his Hebrew brethren. God, through Moses’ revelations, had given the Ten Commandments, which instructed humility before the oneness of creation, how to honor this oneness by honoring the laws of civility, and how to adhere to this, always.

Responsible for the well being of this huge flock, which had experienced bondage for generations, Moses wanted to give the Commandments so this sea of humanity would not turn into a rabble, but into a nation who not only obeyed the Law, but understood why there was the Law.

However, this newly freed ocean was intransigent. Upon Moses’ return from Mount Sinai, he found them restless and immersed in idolatry, lascivious behavior and blood lust. In anger and moral outrage, as the messenger of such lofty revelation, he destroyed the Law.

This greater majority, who demonstrated themselves to be so indifferent and corrupt, were doomed to roam aimlessly through the desert, left to their own self-destructive devices, until they finally died out. Save for the very few who wanted civility in their lives, the idea of a new nation predicated upon law and morality would have to wait for forty years.

It wasn’t that God was cruel and hard. God is the static perfection of totality; all that is possible within and beyond comprehension, and in perfect balance. It is only man, left to his own subjectivity, who breeds evil and chaos.

Moses knew he had to lead by example, as the “parent” to these “children.” His revelation of God-given laws to be adhered to, had to be applicable to all. So, beyond giving the Ten Commandments, which are complete and perfect, he knew it was necessary to expand in a more mundane rigid elementary breakdown applicable to every day life. Within these 613 Laws, was a dress code, in order to separate this new nation from the rest of the world. It also created the ability for those of this nation to recognize and watch each other as accountable. The Law was strictly to be adhered to.

The Law was a very harsh and unforgiving way of life. It had to be, for a nation to be formed out of the wilderness.

It was not the strict interpretation of the Law and Tradition for law and tradition’s sake, though it was the only way to first create a civil society out of a naïve undisciplined population. It was, ultimately, to create an environment that would become aware and subsequently pursue, for the rest of consciousness, goodness.

Who was more “perfect” than Moses, God’s messenger of the Law and builder of a nation? But, Moses knew the only perfection was the oneness of the universe, the consciousness we call, God. It wasn’t a single entity with a specific identity. It was everything, and in perfect balance.

By the time of his inevitable passing, Moses still freshly remembered Exodus and how those he had newly freed, fell into moral collapse. He remembered how at Merabah, they were resentful about their life in the desert without water, and how they yearned for the apparent better life they had left in Egypt while in bondage. He knew the glue needed to hold this vast sea of so many different faces, was by the promise of a “Land of Milk and Honey;” Israel.

Yes, it was beyond the Red Sea. Yes, it was beyond the Sinai Peninsula. Yes, it was beyond the reach of this thriving nation for the next several millennia.

The pursuit of his vision, however, was not a physical place, a piece of land. It was not material. It was the verb of a spiritual life. Not being sure whether or not his newly formed nation would understand, let alone sustain itself, he made example of himself.

We read he was not allowed to lead this multitude into the Promised Land. Was it because he had murdered an Egyptian, even though while defending a fellow Hebrew? Was it because of his temper? He did destroy the tablets on which God was said to have written the Ten Commandments. Was it that he didn’t follow God’s instructions at Meribah, and tapped the rock twice with his staff as opposed to speaking to it in order to release water for his thirsty human flock? Did he so overtly disobey God’s wishes? Was it because his leadership was in question? Or was it that he was human and he, simply, died before they had found the “Land of Milk and Honey?”

He wanted to see this “Promised Land” as much as everyone of this newly formed nation, but he not only passed away, his body could not be found. This was subsequently to be considered very strong punishment. He, judging by his previous experiences with his people, was afraid of being turned into a deity and excluded himself from being buried and then memorialized.

Perhaps he did not physically enter this paradise because he was already there spiritually. Being of the flesh and being within the “Godhead” are two clearly different worlds of consciousness. He was not allowed to lead the nation because as a human, they thought they had not collectively arrived there. Spiritually, however, Moses had always been there. It was for them, as individuals of this nation, as well as for all of us, to arrive spiritually on our own, through our own self-determined evolution towards what we call enlightenment. This was Moses’ final lesson to teach to his “children of Israel,” and to all of us, who have tried to uphold the Law through subsequent generations.

During this process of adhering to the letter of the Law, slowly, especially for those who eventually evolved into their full spiritual nature, as Moses thought God had always intended, began to recognize the spirit of the Law.

There was always, and will always, be those who turn their back on the Law and morality, as well as those who go to the other extreme of taking every word literally; regardless when it was written and within what context. Like reading an instruction manual, they never build the vehicle intended, let alone find the “key,” let alone put the key into the ignition, let alone start the vehicle, let alone drive it; as I am certain, as part of the perfection of life, it was intended for all of us.

But it is this very delicate pursuit within the perfection of being Good that seems to elude us all; even the best of us. And yet, this pursuit is what determines the quality of life. Were you good? Did you leave the world a better place from when you entered it? Did you teach your children to be civil and spiritual?

To embody this daily mantra is to live in the “Land of Milk and Honey.” These are not material pursuits.

The dispersion of the Jews from Palestine following the Babylonians’ conquest of the Judean Kingdom in the 6th century B.C.E. and again following the Romans’ destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., subsequently left them thinking of themselves as the Diaspora. Their yearning for the return to their “promised” land and its inevitable statehood, Israel, almost two thousand years later, though the fulfillment of a dream, is still not the paradise Moses inferred.

Jeremiah warned when something spiritual is turned into something material, you first have something that can be taken away. Israel is of the mind, the spiritual pursuit of perfection. If it were not so, then how would a people, in spite of all their trials and tribulations, maintain their cohesiveness for so many thousands of years.

The state of Israel became a material necessity after the attempt to exterminate all Jews from the face of the earth. In Europe, the Nazis succeeded in killing six million, including one and one half million children. If they had succeeded in winning the war and fulfilling their “Final Solution,” ultimately Jews would have become extinct globally. The United States had even turned back a ship with some fourteen hundred Jews who thought they had managed to escape the insanity in Europe. They would all meet their death after their forced return. The hatred of the Jews forced the reality for the need of a physical state where Jews, the Diaspora, were not only welcome, would not only finally have a physically defined homeland, but guaranteed their personal right to defend themselves.

Paradise, the static perfection of the universe, everything that is, is just that, perfect. It is man who is flawed, and as a result, needs to create an intermediary deity, as opposed to just living in balance within the intelligent design that created us and everything around us. Living or inanimate, we are all created from the same atomic soup. Physicists tell us subatomic particles shrink all the way down to strings, which have their own vibration. Natural law is not about greed. Natural selection is survival of the fittest so to guarantee the perpetuation of the species. And yet, man imposes his will on this grand staggeringly intelligent design with devastating results.

Not understanding this perfect balance for what it is, has created the need for constant wars, defiling the planet, destruction of other animal species and the degradation of humans because of race, sex and theological beliefs, as a continuing demonstration of unrelenting cruelty and greed.

Intelligence of design means we must work in tandem, or back away so not to spoil. The rewards are self evident, for we will not only maintain balance, but insure longevity. Spirituality is the effortlessness we will rise to while in balance. This balance is peace of mind, peace of soul, peace of being and peace of the world around us.

We are the single component in this equation that is expendable. The deities we create to ease our minds will not save us if we consistently choose to exist out of balance. As a result of intelligent design, nature will renew herself without us, regardless how long it takes, if we were to exterminate our species through some cataclysmic event. It’s all part of the perfection. It is up to us to decide whether we wish to be a part of it, or not.

9/15/09