Mirrors of Desire and Wounded Healers? Part Three: Marc Gafni

Later, in a great epilogue to the story, the myth depicts Moses in the desert building the tabernacle. The tabernacle is essentially the first temple, replete with the ark, cherubs and holy of holies. Everyone is to bring his or her own special contribution towards the building of the temple. The women bring the mirrors of desire which they has used to arouse their partners. Moses is furious! Why are the women bringing sex toys for the building of the temple?!

A divine voice intervenes: “Moses, these Mirrors you would reject — take them and build the tabernacle with them”.

In this myth Moses plays the moralist who is afraid of the subversive power of the sexual. He sees families ruined, loyalties betrayed and lives unhinged. This Moses voice has an important place in the texts of our lives.

We need to take it seriously – establish appropriate boundaries, be sensitive to the complex dynamics of power and vulnerability and choose partners with care and wisdom. In all these categories I have made mistakes. So have almost all of my fellow teachers in both Jewish and General teaching circles. And the teachers who did not make these mistakes made others ethical mistakes, often of a far more serious nature. We are all wounded healers. It is from our healed wound that our greatest teaching of heart wells up. And what else is there to teach if not heart! We have learned, sometimes in the most painful of ways.

Ultimately, however, the divine voice must triumph over the Moses voice. The temple where God dwells is the home of Eros. It is the temple with sexually intertwined cherubs at its epicenter. It invites us to embrace the sexual as our spiritual guide — modeling for us the erotic in every area of our lives.

marc gafni
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