I am not a Jew, though I consider myself spiritual. Throughout my life I have really loved learning about other religions. You can find gems of profound wisdom in every religion, but I must tell you that in Jewish literature, I have found some of the most profound ideas that there are! I love some ideas of Judaism. I especially find interesting the mystical Kabbalist ideas. To me, Judaism is “natural”. It has a very natural evolution and sequence of coming to existence and becoming what it is to this very day. That evolution is documented. My first experience reading a Torah is that it is like a story. I have read the Old Testament before, and the difference was that the Torah reads like an Earthy story.
Years ago my community, Albuquerque, out of “nowhere” got “hit” with certain “street problems / issues” such as fentanyl (aka “blues”) and more “forced poverty” than was there before. As people tried to define what was occurring, these poor victims of forced poverty and addiction to the cheap “blues” found ways to survive and the community deemed them “encampments”.
After a while, I decided that I was going to make a personal “community service” effort. The most “dire” streets in Albuquerque, where the crime and homelessness is abundant at times was previously called “The War Zone”. It is on Central between San Mateo and Wyoming, zip code 87108. The city renamed this area to “The International District”. In this zone you can find people “nodding out” doing the “blues” in the open air public, as well as thieves and beggars and prostitutes. There are lots of encampments there. It is a sort of crime zone. I am convinced that it may be an area that documents “wrongs” / “crimes” from other timescales / visibilities / spaces. A latitude / longitude replication / documentation zone? Catch a case, foo!
When I decided to make a personal community service effort I decided that I would go do community service on Central in the War Zone. I felt it was somewhat dangerous, so I had to prepare. I learned many lessons. First of all I started bringing my camera and very quickly learned that people there get paranoid with cameras. I took my bike with a backpack and I brought water and food and essential supplies to give to people. I learned another lesson pretty quickly, do not give them money, give the people there, or offer to give them essential supplies. They are the marginalized of society and could use water and food and hygiene basic supplies. It really does help them. They could use meals there. Make a bunch of sandwiches, if you can afford it and go give them out to the people on the street.
Charity is the greatest Commandment
In doing so, I met people, and I heard their stories, and they are not so different than all of us who function normally in society.
They are normal people whom have had a tragedy to their persons and they are coping with the trauma of that.
I started thinking about the beautiful prayer that the Jews do, as a Commandment, with Tefillin. It is a prayer that reminds them that G-d liberated them out of the bounds of Egypt. You might compare these poor, forced poverty, forced drug addicts to Jews in the bounds of slavery in Egypt in the sense that these people NEED to be liberated from bounds outside of their control.
So I purchased a set of Tefillin and I brought it with me on my community service trips in The War Zone. I am planning on bringing it with me, and sharing my Tefillin with people who might want to learn how Jews pray and might find it a special prayer experience.
This is how I interpret the Tefillin prayer: “Dear G-d, thank you for freeing us from the bounds of slavery. Let this Tefillin prayer be a reminder that you liberated us. Let this Tefillin be bound to me as a sign and reminder.”
I pray G-d liberates all of these people from their dire, vulnerable situations of poverty and addiction.