By Sara Zebovitz

This week’s parasha is Shmot, the first parasha in the book of Exodus. Shmot tells about half of what we think of as the Passover story in one parasha – all the way from the Jews being enslaved, baby boys being killed, Moses being passed down the river, Moses killing an Egyptian, running away, finding a wife, talking to the burning bush, having his leadership given to him, returning to Egypt, and confronting Pharoah. Woah! A lot to take in all at once.

There are many things I could choose to talk about, here. I could write about Moses’ partially instinctive reaction to injustice. I could talk about God’s description of God’s self as “אהיה אשר אהיה,” “I will be what I will be.” I could philosophize about Moses’ acquired leadership, and what makes him a good (or not so good) leader.

But when I chose to write about Shmot, I had something in mind. In chapter 3, verse 8 (and 18), Israel is referred to as the land flowing with milk and honey. We throw this phrase around a lot, but what does it really mean?

So much of what we think of as “reality” in our lives is in fact our perception. Part of that perception, and part of what makes us so connected to our reality, is that it is spiritual. What we want to see, what we need to see, what we choose to see, and how we react to what we see are very spiritual actions. They are different for each person. They come from our נשמה – our soul or our spirit. Events and ideas touch us each in different ways, and what cuts to our core the most is what is the most significant to us, the most spiritually important.

The way we interpret Torah is very similar. Many of the stories and ideas in the Torah reach us not because they are necessarily an objective reality, but because we interpret them spiritually and connect to them in ways relevant to us.

So, how does the land flowing with milk and honey relate to all this? I have been trying to figure out what this Israel would look like to me. There is no milk and honey literally running through the streets, but what does a metaphoric Israel flowing with milk and honey look like? To me, in that image, I see kindness on the streets, I see people getting along, I see children not knowing about conflict. I hear laughter and conversation in many languages. I feel a revived Jewish culture. I smell hummus and knafe.

As I was reading through commentaries, I came across something incredibly meaningful to me that I feel gets to my נשמה and truly describes how I relate to the “land flowing with milk and honey.” Milk is something that sustains us from birth and is essential to our survival. Honey is sweetness – it makes life worth living. To me, Israel is essential to the survival of the Jewish people, and to the survival of my spirit. Israel is sweet, and its stickiness – the way it pulls me in – helps make my life worth living.