one of the qualities that makes us better than angels is our ability to “walk” spiritually
It seems like everyone is taking a walk these days. It’s the perfect way to get out of the house and breathe some fresh air during this lock-down.
Some of us are finding ways to use our walking itself for some greater good. Captain Tom, age 99, in the UK, decided that he would walk 100 laps around his sizeable garden in celebration of his upcoming 100th birthday. With the help of family, he created a website trying to raise 1000 pounds for Britain’s National Health Service. His cause went viral as people throughout Britain and the world watched his daily walks. The sum raised continued to skyrocket until it surpassed 10 million pounds. Having completed his 100 laps, Captain Tom has committed to keep walking as long as the money keeps pouring in to help the NHS help those affected by the coronavirus.
Of course, we don’t always effect change like that every time we take a walk. Sometimes we find that we ourselves are affected by what we experience on our walk. Barbara Benoit went out for a walk and came upon a small collection of painted stones sitting on the edge of a lawn near the sidewalk with this handwritten note: “Feel free to take one of these stones for you if you want it or for one of your friends. We are all in this together and we will all make it through. Stay healthy and be well,” The stones had words painted on them such as “Let it be,” “Peace,” “Breathe,” “Rest,” “Live your life” and “You’re braver than you think.”
Walking has always been an important discipline for those seeking spirituality. Abraham’s journey begins with walking. God commands him Lech lecha – which means “go” but literally, “Walk!” our ancestors walked for forty years in the desert. In ancient Israel, Jews observed the pilgrimage festivals by traveling to Jerusalem. The very term we use to describe them in our liturgy, aliyat ha-regel, means to ascend (to Jerusalem) by foot.
Walking is one of the most spiritual things that we can do. Walking connects us with the natural world and with our Higher Power. It replenishes our soul. It heightens our attention and awareness. It connects us with our environment. While we walk our subconscious works our problems without our even realizing it. Walking also activates our imaginations and our creative processes. It relaxes us and fills us with calm and peace. It is deeply restorative.
In this week’s Torah portion God encourages us to walk. The second half of our double portion, Behukotai, opens with the words: Im bekhukoyai telekhu. The verse is often translated as “If you follow my commandments.” But that is not accurate. Telekhu comes from the Hebrew word holech meaning to “walk.” A better translation would be “If you walk….” What follows is a list of the rewards we will reap if we walk in Gods laws. In the Torah, those rewards are very literal: an abundance of produce, peace in the land and so forth. The early Chassidic masters suggest that these are metaphors for spiritual rewards (Elimelech of Lizhensk) or the good consequences that result from proper living (the Alter Rebbe of Radomsk).
But as I read the verse this week, it is not the reward given in the Torah that catches my attention. It is the “walking.” What does it mean to walk in God’s commandments? Clearly that metaphor is central to our faith, In Hebrew the word for Jewish law is “halakhah,” literally: “walking,”
It is Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev sees in the use of the verb “walk” a reassuring message regarding our own individual spiritual journeys. He quotes a teaching in the midrash: “One who is shoneh halakhot and studies Torah every day is promised the World to Come.” In the midrash, shoneh halachot is understood by its plain meaning: One who teaches Jewish law.” But Levi Yitzchak relies on the ambiguity of these two words that each in turn have two meanings. He reads them as “one who changes his walkings.” That is, someone who every day walks a different path, because each day that person is journeying to a higher spiritual level than the day before. Day by day his/her soul ascends as s/he deepens his/her understanding and his/her commitment to keeping God’s ways. Such a person merits the World to Come.
Indeed, according to the Kabbalists (both Chassidic and non-chassidic), one of the qualities that makes us better than angels is our ability to “walk” spiritually, for our soul to ascend through the celestial spheres and connect with the highest levels of God’s light and spirit. Angels, in contrast, are described by in the Bible as “standing” (omdim), which kabbalists see as one of their deficits. They cannot raise themselves up. We can.
That is what God wants from us: Not that we keep every single commandment perfectly, but rather that we seek to be ma’alin bakodesh – to ascend in holiness – every single day. God says: “get up and move!” Shake off that spiritual and emotional inertia. Reach higher. Journey higher. Strive to grow in your understanding, to increase your learning and your observance of Jewish practice. Strive to be a better, more loving, more giving, more patient, more forgiving, more compassionate, more just, more pious person every single day. And if in your day’s journey you traveled just a little bit, journeyed just a little higher, let in just a little more of God’s light, rejoice in that. God rejoices in that too.
So, go out tomorrow and every day and take that walk. The real walk through the neighborhood. And the journey, step by step and day by day, to a better you.