From the Teachings of Yitro

Selections from Names/Shemot in Yitro, Ex. 18.1-20.23

Yitro hears all. With loving respect Moses prostrates before him

A fountain of blessings is God, says Yitro, who is freeing you

Draw up from within yourself the capable one 

Humbled before the vastness, who loves straight-forwardness

Let this, your nobility, govern you through all seasons of life

In three days God’s coming to meet you (Start counting now)

Sanctify yourselves by washing your garments (your actions)

Men and women stay apart three days (Build vitality)

Set boundaries about the mount

By respecting one another’s boundaries, thus we ascend

Morning of the third day -- look at the mountain

It’s altogether billowing smoke as if from a great furnace

Bolts of thunder tearing open the heavens

Lightning flashing all about and fire coming down

The mountain is trembling. God’s descending in fire

Everything’s shaking (and so are we, can’t move, can’t talk)

The sound’s getting louder (enter its center into the silence and hear)

I am the Lord your God who brings you out of bondage

Out of the straits, out of narrow-mindedness

I am God. I show thousands of generations of mercy

Take my names and use them wisely (names made of power letters)

The seventh day celebrate the oneness

Bring honor to your parents (and teachers with an honorable life)

Don’t kill off anyone (with put-downs, including yourself)

And don’t adulterate (the purity in you)

Don’t steal (When we steal, we steal from ourselves)

And no false witnessing

Say what you’ve experienced, no more, no less

Don’t covet anything that someone else has

For that stops your own estate from manifesting

Make an earthen altar (Make an altar of this earth)

Selections from the Torah Gita 

Fire on the Mountain

Selections from Shemot/Names in Mishpatim Ex. 21.1-24.18

Early in the morning set an altar at the foot of the mountain

Rise early to pray and meditate

Listen to my prophets, follow their words. My name is in them

Take on my teachings and you’re invincible

Be responsible and impeccable with one another

Be very considerate of pregnant women

Don’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk (Don’t hurt or eat animals)

Don’t bow and worship other gods nor become fascinated

Don’t honor or chase after fame, power, sex or wealth

An eye for an eye (karma, we get what we give)

Let all slaves go free (See your bondage and walk away)

Honor your parents (with an honorable life)

Don’t oppress foreigners; you know how it feels to be one

Don’t take bribes for they blind one of clear perception

Don’t lend your voice falsely to the majority or the influential

Nor always favor the poor in dispute (always stand for justice)

If someone’s donkey (body) is fallen down from burden

Even if it’s an adversary, don’t refrain from raising him up

Don’t come before God empty-handed. Give the best you got

Don’t offer any sacrifices to me with leavening (with pride) 

Offer burnt offering (our suffering and self-discipline)

This is uplifting. And offer our selves -- our life and blood

Don’t leave the fat of the offering lying uneaten

What God gives you accept immediately -- without question

In this way you re-enter the Covenant

God sends an angel before us to guard us along the way

And to bring us to the place (makom) made ready for us

The appearance of the glory of God is like a devouring fire

On a mountaintop as seen by those looking for reality