The Notzer Hesed explains אל תפרוש מן הציבור - don't separate from the congregation - as advice to those pursuing the path of the righteous. Despite the fact that you are working hard at holiness, (separating yourself from your physical desires, the more mundane natures of the world, and are working to cleave to HaShem) don't cut yourself off from the common people. For as you grow in holiness and awareness you must always recognize that they are on a higher level than you. While you are seeking out how to properly serve HaShem and always just beginning on your journey, they are constantly fulfilling the will of HaShem.
He goes on to say don't ask how this could be possible, (how could you be on such a lofty level where you are working every moment of your life and still recognize other simple folk as spiritually higher than you?) if you do it you will ultimately see that it is possible. But, I think maybe we can ask, how would one do it? He makes it clear that it's kind of a נעשה ונשמע - we will do and then we will understand, but perhaps we can still glean some meaning from his words, even if we aren't on the level where we get to see or understand, even if we have yet to begin this journey.
When a person goes against HaShem's mitzwoth, s/he is said to be the lowest of all creations. All of creation, no matter how mundane, are fulfilling the role for which HaShem created them, whereas this person is going against their assigned task.
You might want to argue that the animals, the insects, the fish, etc were not given free will! How can they get credit for fulfilling HaShem's wishes when they have no independent faculty to decide to stray from it? The most complete answer to this question is a resounding, because HaShem declared it so. But, perhaps we can glimpse at the smallest hint of a solution: There is a halachic principle that a person who fulfills a mitzwah which they are obligated to fulfill is greater than a person who fulfills a mitzwah that they optionally could perform, but were not outright required to perform. (גדול המצווה משאינו מצווה) This is counter-intuitive, one would think that a volunteer deserves more credit than someone who is required to do something? The Torah teaches us the opposite, kol haKavod to the volunteer, but the challenge to do something is much greater when you know you are obligated to do it. Even if you don't want to, you still have to. The volunteer only comes from a place of wanting to.
In the same way, perhaps, since the animals were commanded to act the way they do, and they continue to do so, they merit reward along the lines of those who are required to do so and do so. Even though they have no choice in the matter, they still may not want to do it but they still do it.
Similarly, people who go about their daily business with no awareness of HaShem or even really of their own actions, in a way can be compared to animals. (l'havdil) The question of their free will is almost a moot point. In that sense, they go about there business on the level of animals, in the automatic dance of nature. Therefore, they are always fulfilling the will of HaShem, giving no thought to whether they want to or not, without revolution or rebbellion.
True, the Tzaddik is pursuing HaShem and holiness and upholding HaShem's holy mitzwoth, but who is he to take on this job? If one (has v'shalom) wants to take upon himself this task for personal gain or respect, then one has become lower than the animals, lower too than all the simple folk. If one truly wants to serve HaShem, then he is confronted by his ego in numerous guises, his effort is always bent on eradicating his own self-interests. As long as he has any fleck or stain of self-interest, perhaps he can see himself as truly lower than the animals.
It's important even for us to take away basic lessons from this teaching. How often do we judge others harshly because of selfish reasons? How often can we remove ourselves from our deeply ingrained competitive nature and recognize that what we see as a failure in others is really not a flaw at all? If we were impartial, or better yet, if we were concerned for their well-being and success, wouldn't we be encouraging them and laughing about it a lot of the time?
25.5.08
22.5.08
not sure what it is you're craving?
יש בעולם הזה רצון עצום למשוך ולהאריך תענוג. כידוע תענוג בעולם הזה מתחלף בשניה ולפרקים נמשכת עד כמה דקות ספורות.. ואפילו להנאות יותר לתווך ארוך כל מגמתם של הנהנים הוא להאריך ולהמשיך את ההנאה או התענוג הזה כמה שאפשר. הגבול והאוייב של כל אילו הלוחמים הוא הזמן. הזמן עובר והאש מתלקחת ואוכלת עד שאין מה לאכול. וזה כולו ענין עולם הזה. כל עוד שלא נגמר התיקון כל יום ויום משפיע ועובר לבד. בעת התיקון כל הימים יהיו כאחד נמשכים עד בלי די.לכן קוראים לעולם הבא יום שכולו ארוך ויום שכולו שבת - כולו תענוג בלי סוף. בזה רואים שכל העולם כולו שואף לעולם הבא.
In the world to come, the time when this tikkun (fixing) is complete. All the days will shine simultaneously and there will no longer be passage of time in the same sense as that of this world we are used to. This is why the world to come is called the day that is completely long, and the day that is completely Shabbath. In otherwords, it is an endless day of enjoyment.
We can see from this definition how it is that in searching for ways to elongate and lengthen pleasure and enjoyment, people are really longing for the world to come. When we recognize this it must have a profound effect upon us, bringing us to the truth of what our role is in this world, and how it brings us to the true goal of the next world.
survival basics
Lately I've been thinking a lot about Yaakov Avinu's neder that he made to HaShem before leaving the land of Israel for the first time:
But I wondered why it was that Yaakov Avinu asked for these two things (in addition to being returned to the house of his father) what about other things physical and spiritual? The first answer is that if you have those two, you can survive, and once you can survive you can dedicate the rest of your life to serving HaShem and developing a relationship with Him. But the deeper answer is that our Rabbis teach (As brought down in the Tanya) that in Gan Eden, we are clothed in our mitzwoth and nourished by our Torah. From this we can perhaps see what Yaakov Avinu was really talking about: He asked HaShem to bless him always with Torah study and mitzwoth, spiritual food and clothing. (It should be noted that Torah and mitzwoth are the bare minimum for spiritual survival. Just as food and clothes are the bare minimum for physical survival)
(Perhaps on an even deeper level Yaakov Avinu was hinting to Har Sinai and the Mishkan)
כ וַיִּדַּר יַעֲקֹב, נֶדֶר לֵאמֹר: אִם-יִהְיֶה אֱלֹהִים עִמָּדִי, וּשְׁמָרַנִי בַּדֶּרֶךְ הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ, וְנָתַן-לִי לֶחֶם לֶאֱכֹל, וּבֶגֶד לִלְבֹּשׁ. כא וְשַׁבְתִּי בְשָׁלוֹם, אֶל-בֵּית אָבִי; וְהָיָה יְהוָה לִי, לֵאלֹהִים. כב וְהָאֶבֶן הַזֹּאת, אֲשֶׁר-שַׂמְתִּי מַצֵּבָה--יִהְיֶה, בֵּית אֱלֹהִים; וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר תִּתֶּן-לִי, עַשֵּׂר אֲעַשְּׂרֶנּוּ לָךְ.
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: 'If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then shall the LORD be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.'There's a lot to be said and understood from these seemingly simple words. For me it is comforting to know that until the end of days (according to an informed reading) HaShem is basically responsible for our food and clothing, two things we apparently don't need to worry about.
But I wondered why it was that Yaakov Avinu asked for these two things (in addition to being returned to the house of his father) what about other things physical and spiritual? The first answer is that if you have those two, you can survive, and once you can survive you can dedicate the rest of your life to serving HaShem and developing a relationship with Him. But the deeper answer is that our Rabbis teach (As brought down in the Tanya) that in Gan Eden, we are clothed in our mitzwoth and nourished by our Torah. From this we can perhaps see what Yaakov Avinu was really talking about: He asked HaShem to bless him always with Torah study and mitzwoth, spiritual food and clothing. (It should be noted that Torah and mitzwoth are the bare minimum for spiritual survival. Just as food and clothes are the bare minimum for physical survival)
(Perhaps on an even deeper level Yaakov Avinu was hinting to Har Sinai and the Mishkan)
21.5.08
make way for the healer
b'ezrat HaShem, Master of the world, sole Healer of Yisrael, I endeavor to be mechadesh Torah l'refuat HaRav Mordechai Tzemach ben Mazal Tov (Eliyahu) shlita.
The meaning of serving HaShem out of Bitachon, says the Holy Gaon of Vilna, (in his commentary on Mishlei) is to trust in HaShem without any intellectual crutch.
What exactly is an intellectual crutch? To my limited knowledge it would seem at first that any belief other than Ain od milvado (there is no other) would constitute a rational crutch. To even say HaShem created the world and the system of health and recovery, and naturally I should therefore trust in Him as the Creator of sickness and health, that He can and will heal someone.
At first this would seem like a crutch, the need to go into the reasoning, even a little bit, is a step away from pure bitachon, pure faith and trust. In a way it may seem tainted.
Yet there is a deeper level. Once you understand that HaShem is all that there is, and HaShem created and continues to create existence on every level. Then it can be said that through the understanding that HaShem created also medicine, sickness and health that we are drawing down our awareness of HaShem into these understandings, these relationships as well.
Through drawing HaShem down in this way, we are crowning HaShem in our intellect, in our ego, recognizing that our entire understanding of reality is for the sake of HaShem and our closeness with Him. We are endeavoring to connect with HaShem through our every thought, through our every understanding.
This is the deeper level, but there is first a more basic level. Our yetzer hara, our evil urge, may try to dissuade us in our service of HaShem through bitachon and emunah. he tries to distract us and convince us that what is on the outside is more real and more true than what we know to be on the inside. When we explore what is before our eyes, a sick person,(has v'shalom) a doctor, medicine, and we begin to remind ourselves, "HaShem is the reason behind the sickness," "Hashem is the reason behind the doctor's abilities, knowledge, and success," "HaShem puts life and healing in the medicine, just as he puts life in the food and drink before us, in the air around us." Each reminder, turns the object before us from a vessel for the yetzer hara into a vessel for Holiness.
May it be the will of HaShem that His nation will be healed speedily, may it be the will of HaShem that His words, "I am HaShem, your healer," will ring with certainty and truth in our ears. May it be the will of HaShem in His infinite mercies that we merit to know Him in all of our thoughts, and recognize Him in every element of our world.
כל העולם לא נברא אלא בשבילי - the whole world is created in my way [according to my actions]. Yet we know that HaShem created the whole world for His Honor. It is our job to ensure that the world that our actions create brings Honor to Him and not to us.
May HaShem grant Rav Mordechai Eliyahu long days and years to reveal HaShem's Honor to all of Bnei Yisrael.
אין עוד מלבדו
The meaning of serving HaShem out of Bitachon, says the Holy Gaon of Vilna, (in his commentary on Mishlei) is to trust in HaShem without any intellectual crutch.
What exactly is an intellectual crutch? To my limited knowledge it would seem at first that any belief other than Ain od milvado (there is no other) would constitute a rational crutch. To even say HaShem created the world and the system of health and recovery, and naturally I should therefore trust in Him as the Creator of sickness and health, that He can and will heal someone.
At first this would seem like a crutch, the need to go into the reasoning, even a little bit, is a step away from pure bitachon, pure faith and trust. In a way it may seem tainted.
Yet there is a deeper level. Once you understand that HaShem is all that there is, and HaShem created and continues to create existence on every level. Then it can be said that through the understanding that HaShem created also medicine, sickness and health that we are drawing down our awareness of HaShem into these understandings, these relationships as well.
Through drawing HaShem down in this way, we are crowning HaShem in our intellect, in our ego, recognizing that our entire understanding of reality is for the sake of HaShem and our closeness with Him. We are endeavoring to connect with HaShem through our every thought, through our every understanding.
This is the deeper level, but there is first a more basic level. Our yetzer hara, our evil urge, may try to dissuade us in our service of HaShem through bitachon and emunah. he tries to distract us and convince us that what is on the outside is more real and more true than what we know to be on the inside. When we explore what is before our eyes, a sick person,(has v'shalom) a doctor, medicine, and we begin to remind ourselves, "HaShem is the reason behind the sickness," "Hashem is the reason behind the doctor's abilities, knowledge, and success," "HaShem puts life and healing in the medicine, just as he puts life in the food and drink before us, in the air around us." Each reminder, turns the object before us from a vessel for the yetzer hara into a vessel for Holiness.
May it be the will of HaShem that His nation will be healed speedily, may it be the will of HaShem that His words, "I am HaShem, your healer," will ring with certainty and truth in our ears. May it be the will of HaShem in His infinite mercies that we merit to know Him in all of our thoughts, and recognize Him in every element of our world.
כל העולם לא נברא אלא בשבילי - the whole world is created in my way [according to my actions]. Yet we know that HaShem created the whole world for His Honor. It is our job to ensure that the world that our actions create brings Honor to Him and not to us.
May HaShem grant Rav Mordechai Eliyahu long days and years to reveal HaShem's Honor to all of Bnei Yisrael.
אין עוד מלבדו
laying foundations
It ocurred to me today that I'm drawn to the study of Kabbalah out of the simplicity of it. No one in his right mind would call Kabbalah 'simple,' yet to me it is the closest thing to the equations that describe the spiritual underpinnings of the world. It is a system that gets down to the simplest clearest expression of the deepest forces in the world. Or at least that is what I try to draw out of it.
It is my hope that from this firm basis I will one day be able to sit down and study Tanach and Talmud as it truly can be studied. Currently, when I open a Humash I see infinite possibilities, meanings upon meanings, I'm drowning in too much information. When I open the Talmud the same is true. There's so much content, so much depth in every word. For me, the Kabbalah is a framework, the foundation, and upon it I hope to build everything else.
There is support for such a view in the writings of the Holy Komarna and the Holy Zidichover. How can I question Tzaddikim of their Holy level?
20.5.08
call for salvation
Pray for the refuah shlaimah of Rav Mordechai Tzemach ben Mazal Tov (Eliyahu) - he's in the hospital in serious condition.
On parashath Ki Tetze the Noam Elimelech comments that: When you go to war with your enemy, and HaShem delivers him in your hand -- If HaShem wouldn't deliver him in your hand, you wouldn't be able to defeat him.
HaShem is our only source of salvation, prayers (torah, and mitzwoth) effect more good in this world and the next than anything else possibly could.
May it be HaShem's Will that just like on Purim when everything the evil Haman planned to do to Mordechai befell Haman instead, so to may Rav Mordechai's (Eliyahu) ailments be inflicted on our enemies instead.
On parashath Ki Tetze the Noam Elimelech comments that: When you go to war with your enemy, and HaShem delivers him in your hand -- If HaShem wouldn't deliver him in your hand, you wouldn't be able to defeat him.
HaShem is our only source of salvation, prayers (torah, and mitzwoth) effect more good in this world and the next than anything else possibly could.
May it be HaShem's Will that just like on Purim when everything the evil Haman planned to do to Mordechai befell Haman instead, so to may Rav Mordechai's (Eliyahu) ailments be inflicted on our enemies instead.
19.5.08
honey im home
Bnei Yisrael is described as the bride of HaShem in both Tanachic and Rabbinic literature.
Anyone who wants to hasten the coming of the moshiah should be sure to arrive home when he tells his wife he will arrive, no matter the excuse.
Otherwise, HaShem may take his time in bringing the Geulah, the redemption, and returning to us.
Do we really want to hear a good excuse later on? Or do we just want Him home sooner?
Anyone who wants to hasten the coming of the moshiah should be sure to arrive home when he tells his wife he will arrive, no matter the excuse.
Otherwise, HaShem may take his time in bringing the Geulah, the redemption, and returning to us.
Do we really want to hear a good excuse later on? Or do we just want Him home sooner?
shelters within
In the previous post (see: approaching the end) we mentioned the idea of the nefesh (soul) as an inheritance.
First, a moment of background, we need to understand that we are made up of many levels. Just as the universe bears within it many levels of complexity, man was created as a microcosm of the world, with all of its levels of complexity. And just as in the universe, each level effects all the other levels below and above it, so to in each person, each level is affected by, and in turn affects all the other levels of that person.
We know how many different levels there are that make up the body, how many interdependent systems that were one to fail, the body would cease to function. We bless HaShem each morning and many times throughout the day in acknowledgement of the wonder that is the body. Yet we know that just as the skin is the outermost layer of the body, the body is the outermost layer of the person.
The manifold layers of the soul are broken into five major levels, listed here in ascending order: Nefesh, Ruah, Neshamah, Chayah, Yechidah. Any of the first three can generally be translated as 'soul' though each of the five bears a very different nature. Note that we have a more basic 'animal' soul that animates the body, meaning that none of these five levels of soul is in any way directly observable in this world. The Nefesh, or lowest of the five levels of the soul is so refined that there is no perceivable similarity between the nature of the Nefesh and that of the body. (or even the animal soul) The nefesh is likewise coarse and unrefined in comparison to the Ruah, just as the body is to the Nefesh. This relationship is true for each of the various levels of the soul, until the level of Yechidah is so removed that its relationship to a person is tenuous a best.
When we are created/born, our awareness encompasses only the most tangible realities, the immediate report of the senses. As we grow and develop, we learn to refine our awareness to abstract levels beyond the raw information of our sensations. Reading for example requires us to recognize with our eyes the fine print of letters, to divvy up the words and sentences and to process how the words would sound, what they mean, and project into our minds the ideas of the one who wrote the letters. Reading is a very advanced abstraction, a very subtle understanding of the coarse feedback of the physical world.
In the very same way, we are initially only aware of the most basic and coarse spiritual realities. Only through growth and development can we work to understand and make sense out of what are spiritual senses report. This is a major aspect of the system HaShem created, both the physical and the spiritual. When we start to learn something new, we are immediately rewarded. In the physical world this is through natural opiates in the brain that reward new brain growth. In the spiritual realm this involves an initial glimpse of HaShem's Holy light. Once we have tasted the reward, then we can more easily recognize a particular form of stimulus. (be it physcial or spiritual) The initial sweet taste essentially tunes our awareness to know that there is something out there worth seeking. Every stage of growth works like this.
As we progress and develop spiritually, we are given new tools, new vessels to encourage and enable our further development. Each of these new tools is a new level of soul. There are a very great number of levels within each of the five levels we mentioned. Each new accomplishment is another rung on this ladder of spiritual development. Each new level of soul is a step inward, deeper towards the essence of what we are, a figurative fragment of HaShem.
Now we've returned to hopefully a place of understanding where we may try and take another step and gain a new insight. As we said previously, the Zohar speaks of the soul as our inheritance, a place in which to dwell in the world to come. If we think about it, it makes sense, in a way our soul dwells within in our body. Our bodies are the land for our soul. Similarly each level of our soul plays the part of an inheritance to the level of soul above it. As we refine ourselves further, we move deeper. We enter into new undiscovered lands, or heichalot-halls in the palace of the king, each one closer to the throne room than the last.
When we were perfecting a particular level, like learning to read in the physical world for example, we couldn't enjoy the benefit of this new level, this new tool. Instead we worked hard to gain some basic competence, some grasp of this level. Once we've grasped this level, and we have become proficient in it, then we can enjoy all the potential bound up in this new tool. Reading, again as the example, all manner of books and stories, exploring worlds of knowledge previously hidden behind the patience of others to expound them to us. With each level comes profound freedom and benefit.
Once we have mastered the particular level at which we exist, we begin to sense the depths that lie beyond the medium, the 'art form' of wielding the tool that comes only from a greater wisdom, a deeper understanding. In this very same way, we can see how each new spiritual ascension allows the previous level to transition into the home, the background, the proving ground for the next level.
This is how the Tzaddikim travel from level to level, world to world, always striving for the deeper next further level. In this way even one's soul becomes the inheritance, the land, the homestead of one's desire. The desire to push on, closer and ever closer to HaShem's oneness, until the soul is merely a means to an end, the end being the fulfillment of this sole (no pun intended) desire.
For the rest of us, when we hear "The Promised Land" we think of a place, a plot of land bordering on the plots of land of our extended families, where we bodily live, eat, and sleep in the comfort of HaShem's protection. But, for the Tzaddikim, their soul is The Promised Land where their desire can take comfort, can be fulfilled in HaShem's revelation.
First, a moment of background, we need to understand that we are made up of many levels. Just as the universe bears within it many levels of complexity, man was created as a microcosm of the world, with all of its levels of complexity. And just as in the universe, each level effects all the other levels below and above it, so to in each person, each level is affected by, and in turn affects all the other levels of that person.
We know how many different levels there are that make up the body, how many interdependent systems that were one to fail, the body would cease to function. We bless HaShem each morning and many times throughout the day in acknowledgement of the wonder that is the body. Yet we know that just as the skin is the outermost layer of the body, the body is the outermost layer of the person.
The manifold layers of the soul are broken into five major levels, listed here in ascending order: Nefesh, Ruah, Neshamah, Chayah, Yechidah. Any of the first three can generally be translated as 'soul' though each of the five bears a very different nature. Note that we have a more basic 'animal' soul that animates the body, meaning that none of these five levels of soul is in any way directly observable in this world. The Nefesh, or lowest of the five levels of the soul is so refined that there is no perceivable similarity between the nature of the Nefesh and that of the body. (or even the animal soul) The nefesh is likewise coarse and unrefined in comparison to the Ruah, just as the body is to the Nefesh. This relationship is true for each of the various levels of the soul, until the level of Yechidah is so removed that its relationship to a person is tenuous a best.
When we are created/born, our awareness encompasses only the most tangible realities, the immediate report of the senses. As we grow and develop, we learn to refine our awareness to abstract levels beyond the raw information of our sensations. Reading for example requires us to recognize with our eyes the fine print of letters, to divvy up the words and sentences and to process how the words would sound, what they mean, and project into our minds the ideas of the one who wrote the letters. Reading is a very advanced abstraction, a very subtle understanding of the coarse feedback of the physical world.
In the very same way, we are initially only aware of the most basic and coarse spiritual realities. Only through growth and development can we work to understand and make sense out of what are spiritual senses report. This is a major aspect of the system HaShem created, both the physical and the spiritual. When we start to learn something new, we are immediately rewarded. In the physical world this is through natural opiates in the brain that reward new brain growth. In the spiritual realm this involves an initial glimpse of HaShem's Holy light. Once we have tasted the reward, then we can more easily recognize a particular form of stimulus. (be it physcial or spiritual) The initial sweet taste essentially tunes our awareness to know that there is something out there worth seeking. Every stage of growth works like this.
As we progress and develop spiritually, we are given new tools, new vessels to encourage and enable our further development. Each of these new tools is a new level of soul. There are a very great number of levels within each of the five levels we mentioned. Each new accomplishment is another rung on this ladder of spiritual development. Each new level of soul is a step inward, deeper towards the essence of what we are, a figurative fragment of HaShem.
Now we've returned to hopefully a place of understanding where we may try and take another step and gain a new insight. As we said previously, the Zohar speaks of the soul as our inheritance, a place in which to dwell in the world to come. If we think about it, it makes sense, in a way our soul dwells within in our body. Our bodies are the land for our soul. Similarly each level of our soul plays the part of an inheritance to the level of soul above it. As we refine ourselves further, we move deeper. We enter into new undiscovered lands, or heichalot-halls in the palace of the king, each one closer to the throne room than the last.
When we were perfecting a particular level, like learning to read in the physical world for example, we couldn't enjoy the benefit of this new level, this new tool. Instead we worked hard to gain some basic competence, some grasp of this level. Once we've grasped this level, and we have become proficient in it, then we can enjoy all the potential bound up in this new tool. Reading, again as the example, all manner of books and stories, exploring worlds of knowledge previously hidden behind the patience of others to expound them to us. With each level comes profound freedom and benefit.
Once we have mastered the particular level at which we exist, we begin to sense the depths that lie beyond the medium, the 'art form' of wielding the tool that comes only from a greater wisdom, a deeper understanding. In this very same way, we can see how each new spiritual ascension allows the previous level to transition into the home, the background, the proving ground for the next level.
This is how the Tzaddikim travel from level to level, world to world, always striving for the deeper next further level. In this way even one's soul becomes the inheritance, the land, the homestead of one's desire. The desire to push on, closer and ever closer to HaShem's oneness, until the soul is merely a means to an end, the end being the fulfillment of this sole (no pun intended) desire.
For the rest of us, when we hear "The Promised Land" we think of a place, a plot of land bordering on the plots of land of our extended families, where we bodily live, eat, and sleep in the comfort of HaShem's protection. But, for the Tzaddikim, their soul is The Promised Land where their desire can take comfort, can be fulfilled in HaShem's revelation.
approaching the end
The end of the Torah, the story of the death of Mosheh Rabbeinu always troubles me. We know that the Torah is applicable in every generation, in every time, it is in every sense of the word eternal. The question becomes how will the Torah be applicable even after the dead have arisen in the final ressurrection? Mosheh Rabbeinu will be standing before us, we will all be in Eretz Yisrael, what will those last verses of the Torah mean then?
Right around now you should have stopped to ask, how can we possibly understand the Torah meant for after Techiat HaMeitim (the resurrection), after Moshiah, (messiah) after the Geulah (Redemption)? Of course we can't understand it, but I'm always curious to peek a little bit, perhaps as much as is possible to understand whatever I might, and try and somehow apply that knowledge to now.
Also, if you'd like to accompany me on a short journey into an idea that might be confusing, we know that the revelations of the world to come are far beyond anything else in this world, right? So perhaps by pushing the envelope on the Torah that is available in this world, by reaching to its utmost limits, we might also be pushing the revelations of the next world a little bit further beyond its limits, we can only find out for sure when we get there, b'ezrat HaShem.
For certain, the work we do to understand HaShem's Torah in all of its depth creates the vessels in which we will one day receive the Torah of the world to come, furthermore, who knows the precise limits of the Torah we can understand in this world, only HaShem? If we don't push these limits we might never know just how far our understandings could have gone. In the highest spiritual realms desiring to connect with the unknowable nature of HaShem is described as thrashing your head against an impenetrable wall. (see: smiling through the unbreakable barrier)
Getting back to our question, We can't let every little problem get us down, so this one has been on the backburner, while I've been (thanks HaShem!) busy with the rest of my life, but I never forgot it. This past Shabbath, my grandmother in law asked me a semi-related question which reminded me about a teaching I learned recently, from the Zohar if I'm not mistaken, that the Nefesh is called the inheritance, because it is the Nefesh that we inherit as a dwelling place. (for the higher aspects of our soul) In this context, we can read the final refusal of HaShem to let Mosheh Rabbeinu "enter the land" as a recognition of the fact that man cannot "dwell" within HaShem as he dwells within his own soul and expect to survive. Mosheh Rabbeinu reached the utmost boundary from which all we can do is "look upon" HaShem, and enjoy His radiance.
So, with this understanding, the Torah reached the ultimate completion of man, Mosheh Rabbeinu who comes as close to knowing HaShem as possible, in this world, in any world. To me this brings comfort rather than viewing the Torah as story with a "To be continued..." ending. What is especially nice about this understanding is that it doesn't really deviate from the simple meaning of the words, yet it lends a depth of appreciation that might otherwise have been missing.
I hope (b"h) to go further into the topic of dwelling within one's nefesh, one's soul in a later post, as we did little more than mention it here.
Right around now you should have stopped to ask, how can we possibly understand the Torah meant for after Techiat HaMeitim (the resurrection), after Moshiah, (messiah) after the Geulah (Redemption)? Of course we can't understand it, but I'm always curious to peek a little bit, perhaps as much as is possible to understand whatever I might, and try and somehow apply that knowledge to now.
Also, if you'd like to accompany me on a short journey into an idea that might be confusing, we know that the revelations of the world to come are far beyond anything else in this world, right? So perhaps by pushing the envelope on the Torah that is available in this world, by reaching to its utmost limits, we might also be pushing the revelations of the next world a little bit further beyond its limits, we can only find out for sure when we get there, b'ezrat HaShem.
For certain, the work we do to understand HaShem's Torah in all of its depth creates the vessels in which we will one day receive the Torah of the world to come, furthermore, who knows the precise limits of the Torah we can understand in this world, only HaShem? If we don't push these limits we might never know just how far our understandings could have gone. In the highest spiritual realms desiring to connect with the unknowable nature of HaShem is described as thrashing your head against an impenetrable wall. (see: smiling through the unbreakable barrier)
Getting back to our question, We can't let every little problem get us down, so this one has been on the backburner, while I've been (thanks HaShem!) busy with the rest of my life, but I never forgot it. This past Shabbath, my grandmother in law asked me a semi-related question which reminded me about a teaching I learned recently, from the Zohar if I'm not mistaken, that the Nefesh is called the inheritance, because it is the Nefesh that we inherit as a dwelling place. (for the higher aspects of our soul) In this context, we can read the final refusal of HaShem to let Mosheh Rabbeinu "enter the land" as a recognition of the fact that man cannot "dwell" within HaShem as he dwells within his own soul and expect to survive. Mosheh Rabbeinu reached the utmost boundary from which all we can do is "look upon" HaShem, and enjoy His radiance.
So, with this understanding, the Torah reached the ultimate completion of man, Mosheh Rabbeinu who comes as close to knowing HaShem as possible, in this world, in any world. To me this brings comfort rather than viewing the Torah as story with a "To be continued..." ending. What is especially nice about this understanding is that it doesn't really deviate from the simple meaning of the words, yet it lends a depth of appreciation that might otherwise have been missing.
I hope (b"h) to go further into the topic of dwelling within one's nefesh, one's soul in a later post, as we did little more than mention it here.
15.5.08
no pain no gain
Everybody falls. Shlomo HaMelech in Mishlei tells us that even the Tzaddik falls seven times. The main thing about the Tzaddik is that he gets back up again. In fact, Habbakuk told us how the Tzaddik gets back up again: צדיק באמונתו יחיה - A Tzaddik lives by his Emunah. (his faith in HaShem)
There are many Hassidic discourses regarding this idea, foremost among them The Baal Shem Tov (father of modern Hassidut) who read the passuk slightly differenty. A Tzaddik will instill life through his Emunah. One thing that many of the sources have in common is a fact I've often overlooked, which we'll try to develop a little below.
The general dynamics of the fall and recovery go something like this: In order to attain a new level, HaShem takes away the Tzaddik's current status, and he's left with nothing but a shell of his former level. The Tzaddik, through his Emunah, continues to act and serve HaShem from the little that remains of his previous level, holding out as long as it takes until HaShem grants him a new [and higher] level.
In the past, I've always understood this to mean that the Tzaddik basically holds on, fighting with whatever strength he has, taking advantage of whatever he can in order to tread water (as it were) until HaShem recognizes the Tzaddik's faith and throws him a rope. (so to speak) Recently I noticed the recurring theme (in many of the Hassidic texts) of how the Tzaddik continues to serve HaShem specifically from the shell of his former level. When you emphasize that point, the whole exercise goes from a flailing free-for-all to a focused discipline of sorts. The Tzaddik serves HaShem [davka] from his previous level, focusing all of his energy on the certain knowledge that HaShem can be reached through the particular door that would seem to have been shut. He pursues tirelessly until he succeeds in revealing what HaShem hid from him.
Think for a second of the way a parent teaches a toddler, an example often used in this context. The father takes a step away from the child in order that he will try and take a step towards his father. Then the father takes two steps and so on. For the toddler this experience can be infruriating because all he sees is his father repeatedly abandoning him. It is only the reward and excitement that he receives as feedback when he makes it to his father that fuels him forward. Now take a toddler with the intellect of a twenty-year old. The toddler understands his father is teaching him a lesson, and may even understand that its a worthwhile lesson.
The Tzaddik is like the toddler (lehavdil) who understands and knows it is a lesson, and is striving to learn the lesson. The Tzaddik knows that if a path was open and now it's closed it is only so that he should strengthen the "muscles" of that path until he can open it again. When that path is once again open, when that "skill" is freely available to him, he will pursue HaShem in new ways, always pushing always growing.
This is one difference between the Tzaddik and the rest of us. We don't know we're toddlers. We flail around and get bored, try to pursue other things that have a lower threshold of pleasure. Things that aren't teaching us as much. "No pain no gain," has a lot of really deep truth to it. (Though it can still trip us up when misapplied.)
There are many Hassidic discourses regarding this idea, foremost among them The Baal Shem Tov (father of modern Hassidut) who read the passuk slightly differenty. A Tzaddik will instill life through his Emunah. One thing that many of the sources have in common is a fact I've often overlooked, which we'll try to develop a little below.
The general dynamics of the fall and recovery go something like this: In order to attain a new level, HaShem takes away the Tzaddik's current status, and he's left with nothing but a shell of his former level. The Tzaddik, through his Emunah, continues to act and serve HaShem from the little that remains of his previous level, holding out as long as it takes until HaShem grants him a new [and higher] level.
In the past, I've always understood this to mean that the Tzaddik basically holds on, fighting with whatever strength he has, taking advantage of whatever he can in order to tread water (as it were) until HaShem recognizes the Tzaddik's faith and throws him a rope. (so to speak) Recently I noticed the recurring theme (in many of the Hassidic texts) of how the Tzaddik continues to serve HaShem specifically from the shell of his former level. When you emphasize that point, the whole exercise goes from a flailing free-for-all to a focused discipline of sorts. The Tzaddik serves HaShem [davka] from his previous level, focusing all of his energy on the certain knowledge that HaShem can be reached through the particular door that would seem to have been shut. He pursues tirelessly until he succeeds in revealing what HaShem hid from him.
Think for a second of the way a parent teaches a toddler, an example often used in this context. The father takes a step away from the child in order that he will try and take a step towards his father. Then the father takes two steps and so on. For the toddler this experience can be infruriating because all he sees is his father repeatedly abandoning him. It is only the reward and excitement that he receives as feedback when he makes it to his father that fuels him forward. Now take a toddler with the intellect of a twenty-year old. The toddler understands his father is teaching him a lesson, and may even understand that its a worthwhile lesson.
The Tzaddik is like the toddler (lehavdil) who understands and knows it is a lesson, and is striving to learn the lesson. The Tzaddik knows that if a path was open and now it's closed it is only so that he should strengthen the "muscles" of that path until he can open it again. When that path is once again open, when that "skill" is freely available to him, he will pursue HaShem in new ways, always pushing always growing.
This is one difference between the Tzaddik and the rest of us. We don't know we're toddlers. We flail around and get bored, try to pursue other things that have a lower threshold of pleasure. Things that aren't teaching us as much. "No pain no gain," has a lot of really deep truth to it. (Though it can still trip us up when misapplied.)
redemption twice daily
In Today's Tanya, (י אייר שנה מעוברת I:47) Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi (the original Chabad Rebbe) explains why we read the chapter about Yetziath Mizrayim right after the two Parshioth of Shema Yisrael. (and V'Haya Im Shamo'ah)
A person is commanded to remember leaving mitzrayim as if it happened to him every single day. This leaving of Egypt isn't a physical redemption, but a spiritual one. Each day we wake up, a Godly soul in a physical body. Our bodies, in our current position hide HaShem's reality from our perception, but they cannot hide that reality from our souls. Whenever and wherever we desire to be united with HaShem, immediately the union takes place. Though, our senses aren't refined enough to experience it, our souls revel in it.
Our forefathers had to labor intensively to achieve this union, why is the situation so different for us? When HaShem gave us the Torah on Har Sinai, He gave us Himself within the Torah. Since Har Sinai, whenever we seek HaShem out, and desire His closeness, we are united with Him.
When we acknowledge HaShem's oneness and rulership over us, by reciting the Shemah Yisrael, we perform this union. In this way, every day we are brought out of the exile in Egypt and rejoined with HaShem. This is why, the Baal HaTanya says, we say the third chapter of Shemah along with the first two, even though it is a separate mitzwah, because it is [in terms of the union that takes place] one and the same with acknowledging the unity of HaShem.
A person is commanded to remember leaving mitzrayim as if it happened to him every single day. This leaving of Egypt isn't a physical redemption, but a spiritual one. Each day we wake up, a Godly soul in a physical body. Our bodies, in our current position hide HaShem's reality from our perception, but they cannot hide that reality from our souls. Whenever and wherever we desire to be united with HaShem, immediately the union takes place. Though, our senses aren't refined enough to experience it, our souls revel in it.
Our forefathers had to labor intensively to achieve this union, why is the situation so different for us? When HaShem gave us the Torah on Har Sinai, He gave us Himself within the Torah. Since Har Sinai, whenever we seek HaShem out, and desire His closeness, we are united with Him.
When we acknowledge HaShem's oneness and rulership over us, by reciting the Shemah Yisrael, we perform this union. In this way, every day we are brought out of the exile in Egypt and rejoined with HaShem. This is why, the Baal HaTanya says, we say the third chapter of Shemah along with the first two, even though it is a separate mitzwah, because it is [in terms of the union that takes place] one and the same with acknowledging the unity of HaShem.
enjoy!
On new tefillin, or a new tzitzith tied onto an old garment, we don't say the berachah shehechiyanu. What's the reason? We only say shehechiyanu on things we benefit from, and we weren't given the mitzwoth to benefit from them. (Yalkut Yosef - Hilchoth Tzitzith)
That's a mind-opening statement. A lot of times we will try and convince people to perform mitzwoth because it is actually better for them. Either it leads to a healthier lifestyle, or it gives you a new perspective, or it will benefit you financially. From this halachah we can see a deeper level of mitzwah observance.
This isn't a new idea, it's clear from Pirkei Avoth: Don't serve HaShem like servants expecting a reward, serve Him like servants who expect no reward. (Or in the original: Serve Him like servants who serve in order to not receive a reward.) The Talmud also says it straight to the point: there are no rewards for mitzwoth in this world. (שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא)
Yet, how do we deal with this mindset, don't we enjoy the performance of the mitzwoth a lot, and shouldn't that be encouraged? The answer lies perhaps in Torah learning. We see that by Torah learning, one must always start out from a place of ulterior motives (shelo l'shmah) in order to get to Torah learing for the proper reasons. (l'shmah) Maybe it's the same by the mitzwoth, just no one told us, the reason we start to do the mitzwoth is for all the apparent ancillary benefits, but the reason we keep doing the mitzwoth is in order to serve HaSHem.
We can see this education happening almost automatically: When we discover mitzwoth, or a new mitzwah, we may perform it out of the simple pleasure of doing something new. Once we are already involved in the mitzwoth we arrive at all kinds of obstacles, times when perhaps it would be easier to ignore the mitzwoth or at least put them on hold. Yet, often we don't put them on hold, because when think about it, or even try it, it just doesn't feel right. Suddenly we're performing the mitzwah not because of how much we benefit from its performance, but rather because we feel it is necesary.
HaShem even built this system into the nature of the world. Our pleasure threshold naturally rises. Whatever got us very excited last week, is certainly less exciting now, and the more we are exposed to the exciting stimulus, the less exciting it becomes. We need to pursue new and more extreme forms of excitement. This is a truth of HaShem's creation that finds its expression in so many places, including our brain chemistry.
We might start to do something because it is exciting, but what will keep us doing that thing after the excitement wears off? Only our own discipline and effort.
There has to be a higher level, you are thinking right now. Life isn't just about how robotic and determined we are. There are endless passukim about enjoyment and pleasure. Two come to mind: והתענג על השם - enjoy HaShem (i'm pretty sure coke stole the idea from HaShem) and טעמו ורעו כי טוב השם - taste and see that HaShem is good. I think these two passukim clarify the issue pretty significantly. The mitzwoth aren't to be enjoyed for themselves. Rather, the relationship with HaShem that is brought about through the mitzwoth is what can and should be enjoyed.
If we were to enjoy the mitzwoth themselves then we would be possibly (heaven forbid) treading in the very murky waters of idolatry. What's to stop us from enjoying the mitzwoth for their own sake, thinking it is the mitzwoth that do good for us, and not (heaven forbid) HaShem who is good to us, because we keep His mitzwoth? Unfortunately we see this happening sometimes, when people want to take the mitzwah upon themselves for health or other reasons, but don't want to have anything to do with HaShem.
Still, I wonder about the various cases of Shehechiyanu, that seem to involve mainly a mitzwah. Like lulav or sukkah, or hannukah. In such a case it seems like the time component is the critical part, with HaShem's help we'll revisit this topic with a clearer understanding.
That's a mind-opening statement. A lot of times we will try and convince people to perform mitzwoth because it is actually better for them. Either it leads to a healthier lifestyle, or it gives you a new perspective, or it will benefit you financially. From this halachah we can see a deeper level of mitzwah observance.
This isn't a new idea, it's clear from Pirkei Avoth: Don't serve HaShem like servants expecting a reward, serve Him like servants who expect no reward. (Or in the original: Serve Him like servants who serve in order to not receive a reward.) The Talmud also says it straight to the point: there are no rewards for mitzwoth in this world. (שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא)
Yet, how do we deal with this mindset, don't we enjoy the performance of the mitzwoth a lot, and shouldn't that be encouraged? The answer lies perhaps in Torah learning. We see that by Torah learning, one must always start out from a place of ulterior motives (shelo l'shmah) in order to get to Torah learing for the proper reasons. (l'shmah) Maybe it's the same by the mitzwoth, just no one told us, the reason we start to do the mitzwoth is for all the apparent ancillary benefits, but the reason we keep doing the mitzwoth is in order to serve HaSHem.
We can see this education happening almost automatically: When we discover mitzwoth, or a new mitzwah, we may perform it out of the simple pleasure of doing something new. Once we are already involved in the mitzwoth we arrive at all kinds of obstacles, times when perhaps it would be easier to ignore the mitzwoth or at least put them on hold. Yet, often we don't put them on hold, because when think about it, or even try it, it just doesn't feel right. Suddenly we're performing the mitzwah not because of how much we benefit from its performance, but rather because we feel it is necesary.
HaShem even built this system into the nature of the world. Our pleasure threshold naturally rises. Whatever got us very excited last week, is certainly less exciting now, and the more we are exposed to the exciting stimulus, the less exciting it becomes. We need to pursue new and more extreme forms of excitement. This is a truth of HaShem's creation that finds its expression in so many places, including our brain chemistry.
We might start to do something because it is exciting, but what will keep us doing that thing after the excitement wears off? Only our own discipline and effort.
There has to be a higher level, you are thinking right now. Life isn't just about how robotic and determined we are. There are endless passukim about enjoyment and pleasure. Two come to mind: והתענג על השם - enjoy HaShem (i'm pretty sure coke stole the idea from HaShem) and טעמו ורעו כי טוב השם - taste and see that HaShem is good. I think these two passukim clarify the issue pretty significantly. The mitzwoth aren't to be enjoyed for themselves. Rather, the relationship with HaShem that is brought about through the mitzwoth is what can and should be enjoyed.
If we were to enjoy the mitzwoth themselves then we would be possibly (heaven forbid) treading in the very murky waters of idolatry. What's to stop us from enjoying the mitzwoth for their own sake, thinking it is the mitzwoth that do good for us, and not (heaven forbid) HaShem who is good to us, because we keep His mitzwoth? Unfortunately we see this happening sometimes, when people want to take the mitzwah upon themselves for health or other reasons, but don't want to have anything to do with HaShem.
Still, I wonder about the various cases of Shehechiyanu, that seem to involve mainly a mitzwah. Like lulav or sukkah, or hannukah. In such a case it seems like the time component is the critical part, with HaShem's help we'll revisit this topic with a clearer understanding.
14.5.08
crown of the yud
בזה שיהודי מודה על אמיתו ומכיר בעצמו הוא מיחד יחודים עצומים - בביטוי אני יהודי משייך האני ליהודה ונעשה שילוב אדנות והוי-ה מיחד קב"ה ושכינתיה
When we acknowledge our Judaism, (that there is no me separate from my Jewish identity) turning to HaShem and saying, i'm simply a Jew, we unify the two aspects of HaShem, that He fills the world and that He is its boundary. In so doing, we unite all of creation in recognition of HaShem. This is what it means to be a light unto the nations, an ohr lagoyim. When we fail to recognize who we truly are, (heaven forebid) then we fail in our task. (heaven forebid)
Only through acknowledging our deepest identity can we fulfill our role. Just like the story of Yonah, hiding wont help.
13.5.08
down in the money
HaShem seeming far away lately? The Noam Elimelech (Parashath Re'eh) suggests this might be because you've been spending too much time worrying about money.
Instead he suggests, spend your money on what your soul desires, not what your body desires. Your body naturally desires the fleeting pleasures of this world, whereas your soul cares only about mitzwoth, especially Tzedakah.
Through giving life to your money by spending it towards mitzwoth, you realign your world, and bring yourself closer to HaShem. In this manner you can even reach the level of the greatest Tzaddikim, the Noam Elimelech confides.
something new: something borrowed
In Judaism, a central (if not the central) tenet of our faith is to make other people's needs as important to us, as our own needs. This is perhaps also the most challenging of all the demands placed on a Jew. Fear not, the is a silver lining: The Noam Elimelech explains (Parashath Re'eh) that we can actually use this effect in reverse in order to help us overcome our yetzer hara.
Normally a person is beset by many natural tendencies, or animalistic desires. A Jew is expected to channel and master these desires until he rules them, rather than the default in which they rule him. One trick we have in this near-insurmountable challenge is that we can convince ourselves that our needs are not our own, but are external to us, borrowed perhaps from someone else. Since the yetzer hara (evil urge) encourages us to be selfish and unconcerned with the needs of others, if we convince ourselves that our own needs are "borrowed" from others, then naturally we will disdain them.
This seems very weird and unnatural, not to mention ridiculous, to think of our needs as someone else's needs. But, there is a kernel of truth there, in that these desires for worldly pleasure don't actually originate with the person, but rather with his/her yetzer hara.
Once we have worked on ourselves and have begun to conquer this stage, the Noam Elimelech's advice really starts to pay off. Since our own needs are as devalued as the needs of others, the work to make the needs of others more important, if not as important as our own personal needs becomes a lot easier. Instead of fighting an uphill battle we've now leveled the playing field.
The question, to me, becomes why did the Noam Elimelech choose to bring out this teaching from passukim related to ma'aser and bikkurim. (both of which are offerings brought to HaShem from the blessings He has bestowed upon us.) Perhaps it is because when we recognize that everything we've received is from HaShem, and not ours to begin with, we can apply this lesson not only to the positive things we've recieved but also the negative ones, like the yetzer hara, for example. After all, everything is from HaShem.
What happens in vegas stays in vegas
This common catch phrase of the modern day, "What happens in vegas stays in vegas," has a lot to teach us. I was thinking about it's analog (lehavdil) in Shabbath. About how one might say, and I have a tendency to lean that way, that what happens on Shabbath stays in Shabbath. Meaning Shabbath is completely divorced from the rest of reality and whenever I return there, I've forgotten everything else, it's my safe sanctuary from whatever else might be going on in the world.
But that isn't really what Shabbath is about, and that really isn't the way Shabbath works. In fact, our Shabbath experience is directly impacted by our preparation during the week. Likewise, our week hinges on our experience of the Shabbath that preceded it. In fact, there's a teaching of the Maor Eynayim (see: two is really just one) that explains that if we were to prepare for and keep one Shabbath properly, then all the following Shabbatoth would always work out nicely. This is a result of how much of an effect Shabbath has on the following week, and how much of an effect that week has on the following Shabbath. Once you get the ball rolling, Shabbath just gets better and better.
This is the fundamental difference between a kli, a vessel, in kabbalah, and a klipah, a shell. A kli also means a tool, it contains in order to achieve some end beyond itself. An example might be a reservoir that stores water for an entire city, so that the city can draw off the water little by little as needed. A klipah, a shell or husk, receives but never gives back, it serves no purpose other than to receive. In biology we might describe a kli as a symbiote, while a klipah would represent a parasite.
When the Kabbalah discusses a mosquito it is viewed as the lowest of creations, because "it takes but does not give." The only creature below a mosquito is a human who chooses voluntarily to take and not to give. Otherwise, when a person is generous, choosing to receive from HaShem in order to pass on the goodness to all those in need, a human is the highest of all creations, even higher than the angels.
So, reexamining the motto, "What happens in vegas stays in vegas," we can see that the inherent values of vegas are those of receiving and keeping, without any interest in giving at all. Let's make sure all of our mitzwoth aren't vegas-style mitzwoth. May we learn in order to teach and to do, rather than just to know. May we act in order to reveal HaShem's light in the world rather than to receive reward.
May whatever we do with our lives make profound (as opposed to profane) waves in all our environs.
updated: If we stop to think about this a second more. The motto could be applied nicely to this world. What happens in this world, (olam ha'zeh) stays in this world. Whenever we do anything that has no bearing beyond the immediate now in olam ha'zeh, then that whole action stays in this world [forever.] When we focus our actions on transcending this world, [moving beyond ourselves] then our actions are always outside it, beyond it, and reach to the next world, the world to come, olam ha'ba.
golden doves versus rocks of burden
The Talmud relates a story (Berachot 53b) about Rabba bar bar Hana, who forgot to say birkat hamazon. (grace after meals) He was traveling with a group of people, when he realized that he had eaten during the previous stop in the trip, and had forgotten to bench. Since they had already travelled a fair distance, he didn't think they would wait for him to go back and bench in the place where he had eaten. (which is the preferred way to perform the mitzwah, although one is not required to go back. There's a separate story in the Talmud about a person who went back and was eaten by a lion (?) along the way before he managed to reach the place where he ate.)
Anyways, Rabba bar bar Hana decided he would tell his compatriots that he left behind a golden dove, a prized possession, and they couldn't possibly argue with him, for something so valuable, who wouldn't go back to retrieve it? So, he gave them his newly fabricated excuse, and went back up the trail, while they waited for him. Because of Rabba bar bar Hana's great appreciation of the mitzwah, a miracle occurred and when he went back he found an actual golden dove.
Even though I'm often in favor of the literal meaning of stories in the Talmud and the importance of them, I think there's another lesson we can learn from this story. Whether the golden dove he found was actual or allegorical, I think it teaches us about the reward of performing mitzwoth. It seems to me that from this story we see that HaShem rewards us for each mitzwah in direct accordance with how WE value that mitzwah.
If each morning we don tefillin out of the burden of the obligation, so HaShem relates to our action and rewards us also out of obligation, but it is figuratively a burden for Him too. He doesn't want to, but He has to. Instead when we are excited to put on tefillin and experience the spiritual elevation, the closeness to HaShem that this mitzwah brings us. Then HaShem figuratively is excited to elevate us and bring us close, excited to shower us with blessing.
And, with an idea like this, what better way to execute it than be truly celebrating the Shabbath, looking forward to it all week, preparing for it all week and rejoicing in it all day, every Shabbath? We can bring this understanding, this idea, this teaching down to every single mitzwah, but let's start with Shabbath, because on Shabbath we have the freedom from all the distractions of the week to really focus on the unique mitzwah that is Shabbath.
12.5.08
bowing before the lord
I used to think of the TV as having the redeeming quality that it teaches us about bitul. When you sit opposite the television, it's almost as if you and everything and everyone else around you ceases to exist. I thought, wow, this is great, it's kind of like (lehavdil) the neshamoth in Gan Eden sitting nullified in the light of the Shechinah, blissing out.
Thinking about it a little more recently, there are a number of places (even quoted recently here) that describe the nature of bowing down. The symbolism behind a bow is a gesture of nullifying oneself before someone (or something) else. Within the halachoth of avodah zara there is a prohibition against worshipping avodah zara in the manner in which it is worshipped. There is a second general prohibition forbidding one from bowing down before ANY avodah zara, even if that is not the way in which it is worshipped.
With this new lens I reexamined television and money as well. When we negate ourselves, even a little in the name of television, or the pursuit of money, we tread on dangerous ground. It is not bowing down outright, but it might be more extreme than actually bowing down.. because we are being moser nefesh. We are lessening our self-importance in favor of this thing, be it TV or money.
I know it may sound a little ludicrous, but stop to think that when we lessen our self-importance even the smallest bit in the pursuit of Torah or a mitzwah, it is considered being moser nefesh, giving our lives for Torah and mitzwoth, giving our lives in the name of HaShem. So, when we are giving [of] our lives to be sitting mindless in front of TV or in order to earn more money, we have to examine what it is we are doing. Are we bowing down to some external power, looking to money or TV for immediate gratification [read: salvation]? Or are we pursuing HaShem, making ourselves holy with all that is permitted to us? [קדש את עצמך במותר לך]
5.5.08
celebrating future independence
The Kabbalists describe some of the steps involved in creating spiritual vessels. One of the major components is that at some point the light must be removed from the vessel, this emptying out of the vessel is a crucial step in the formation and completion of the vessel. Only after the vessel is completed can the light, the contents, be returned to the vessel. This is a very abstract understanding of a very vague phenomenon, but we see how it plays out in a number of ways: We learn in the midrash that a child in the womb learns all of Torah, only to forget it when s/he is born, necessitating the re-learning of the Torah from scratch. On it's face this midrash is weird. Why would HaShem be so evil as to teach us something, make us forget it and then learn it again? When we look with the eye of a Kabbalist we can see that this 'forgetting' of Torah is the emptying of the vessel. It is only the learning and consequent forgetting in the womb that completes the vessel that is us. Only after forgetting all of Torah are we able to properly absorb and contain the Torah.
Another midrash offers a similar tale, this time however it is about Mosheh Rabbeinu. On Har Sinai, each day HaShem gave him over the whole Torah, yet each day Mosheh Rabbeinu would forget it all. Each morning they would start anew. Finally on the last day, HaShem gave over to Mosheh Rabbeinu the whole Torah as a gift and only in such a way was he able to receive it. We certainly can't understand the magnitude of HaShem's gift to Mosheh Rabbeinu, but we can see the learning and forgetting that took place as a sort of clarifying Mosheh Rabbeinu as a vessel that was fit to receive the whole Torah. When he came down from the mountain his face was glowing.
I'm sure we all often wonder what's the point of living in Olam HaZeh, only to die and then to be reanimated in Techiath HaMaytim, the resurrection of the dead? In this new light we can see death as the final completion of the body as a vessel to contain Godliness. This is perhaps why even after 120 years of perfect service Mosheh Rabbeinu still needed to go through the process of death.
Perhaps this even touches on Adam HaRishon, why was Man created as one male and female? why then was Chavah taken out of Adam and then returned to him?
This simple abstracted teaching touches on so many different questions on so many different levels, but heeding the words of our Rabbis, a wise person sees what is yet to be born. (Ezehu hacham haroeh et haNolad) There's a story about the Chabad hasidim, on the day the first Chabad Rebbe was imprisoned by the Russian government, the hasidim threw a great celebratory feast. Why, you might ask? Because they were celebrating the certainty that he would be successful and would be released. When we understand this basic idea, that it is only the removal of the light that perfects the vessel, then we can begin to see the beauty and promise in the deepest lack, the most broken heart.
It is for this reason, and with admiration and recognition to those faithful Chabad hasidim, that I propose celebrating this Yom Ha'atzmaut like we never have celebrated it before. Not celebrating the event that happened 60 years in our past, but rather celebrating, in the height of the current darkness, the independence of the Land and People of Yisrael when HaShem (may it be swiftly in our days) returns to us the light which we so sorely lack.
Everything hangs in the balance, and tomorrow we could lose it all. But we know with absolute certainty what will be in the end, a time of celebration and rejoicing beyond compare. And, if we truly know it, why not celebrate now? Why not show HaShem how deep and strong our Emunah is today?
This is the lesson of Hesed b'Tifferet; the kindness HaShem gave us clothed in the Beautiful Torah.
Another midrash offers a similar tale, this time however it is about Mosheh Rabbeinu. On Har Sinai, each day HaShem gave him over the whole Torah, yet each day Mosheh Rabbeinu would forget it all. Each morning they would start anew. Finally on the last day, HaShem gave over to Mosheh Rabbeinu the whole Torah as a gift and only in such a way was he able to receive it. We certainly can't understand the magnitude of HaShem's gift to Mosheh Rabbeinu, but we can see the learning and forgetting that took place as a sort of clarifying Mosheh Rabbeinu as a vessel that was fit to receive the whole Torah. When he came down from the mountain his face was glowing.
I'm sure we all often wonder what's the point of living in Olam HaZeh, only to die and then to be reanimated in Techiath HaMaytim, the resurrection of the dead? In this new light we can see death as the final completion of the body as a vessel to contain Godliness. This is perhaps why even after 120 years of perfect service Mosheh Rabbeinu still needed to go through the process of death.
Perhaps this even touches on Adam HaRishon, why was Man created as one male and female? why then was Chavah taken out of Adam and then returned to him?
This simple abstracted teaching touches on so many different questions on so many different levels, but heeding the words of our Rabbis, a wise person sees what is yet to be born. (Ezehu hacham haroeh et haNolad) There's a story about the Chabad hasidim, on the day the first Chabad Rebbe was imprisoned by the Russian government, the hasidim threw a great celebratory feast. Why, you might ask? Because they were celebrating the certainty that he would be successful and would be released. When we understand this basic idea, that it is only the removal of the light that perfects the vessel, then we can begin to see the beauty and promise in the deepest lack, the most broken heart.
It is for this reason, and with admiration and recognition to those faithful Chabad hasidim, that I propose celebrating this Yom Ha'atzmaut like we never have celebrated it before. Not celebrating the event that happened 60 years in our past, but rather celebrating, in the height of the current darkness, the independence of the Land and People of Yisrael when HaShem (may it be swiftly in our days) returns to us the light which we so sorely lack.
Everything hangs in the balance, and tomorrow we could lose it all. But we know with absolute certainty what will be in the end, a time of celebration and rejoicing beyond compare. And, if we truly know it, why not celebrate now? Why not show HaShem how deep and strong our Emunah is today?
This is the lesson of Hesed b'Tifferet; the kindness HaShem gave us clothed in the Beautiful Torah.
4.5.08
borrowed vessels
There's an idea, sort of a visual, that I've held for some time and it basically illustrates the point of our avodah. It explains why and how our actions in this world directly reflect our reward in the world to come.
Picture this, the sum total of your being is an empty vessel. It's a very crude empty vessel. What's it supposed to hold? Compressed light. Light, infinite light, under unimaginable pressure such that it will be contained within this now-empty vessel. The problem is this: You, the crude vessel, are riddled with imperfections. There's no way you could possibly survive the pressure of being filled. Before we can get to the purpose of the vessel, being filled, containing something, we need to perfect and complete this crude vessel.
That's this life, this world, perfecting the vessel. The world to come is what happens when the vessel is filled, or fulfilled. In our daily lives, with each mitzwah we seek out, we are hunting down those imperfections in the vessel and polishing them with the intense heat of Ahavat HaShem and Yirat Shamayim. Every now and then, the more the vessel is perfected, it is tested with the most minute amounts of light. Filled ever so slightly, so that the stresses on the vessel will reveal even more subtle imperfections. This is life, the revelations of Godliness, and the challenges of our daily toil, all to become a master craftsman, in hebrew that's an אומן, and complete the vessel. (I believe it was the Pri Ha'aretz that points out that Emunah shares the same root as Oman, a craftsman, because Emunah is something we perfect through constant effort.)
Today I came across the Noam Elimelech (Parashath Ekev) who fleshed out and sourced the idea nicely. He said that our Ahavah and Yirah coupled with our mitzwoth are what make the vessel a proper vessel. Then, just as when someone comes to you and asks you to borrow some oil or wine, they bring with them a vessel to carry the oil or wine back, in the very same way, we bring HaShem this vessel, and He fills it with His light and returns the vessel to us. This is the meaning of the verse מה ה' אלוקך שואל מעימך? - What does HaShem your lord [borrow] from you? HaShem 'borrows' the vessel from you, fills it with His light, and returns it.
extra-rational knowledge
I was speaking to my wife Shabbath night when I realised a great illustration of Emunah:
When we hear that HaShem created the world to bestow good upon us, we can know with certainty that the extent of this good is beyond our comprehension, just as HaShem Himself is beyond our comprehension.
Which means the following: Imagine the most enjoyable thing that could possibly happen to you. Don't limit yourself, really push your imagination to the limits on this one. Think. You have an idea in your head? Good. HaShem's good which He is bestowing and will continue to bestow upon us is infinitely greater than the enjoyable idea you have in your head right now.
When we hear that HaShem created the world to bestow good upon us, we can know with certainty that the extent of this good is beyond our comprehension, just as HaShem Himself is beyond our comprehension.
Which means the following: Imagine the most enjoyable thing that could possibly happen to you. Don't limit yourself, really push your imagination to the limits on this one. Think. You have an idea in your head? Good. HaShem's good which He is bestowing and will continue to bestow upon us is infinitely greater than the enjoyable idea you have in your head right now.
The greatest outcome we could possibly imagine isn't even close to what HaShem has in store for us.
That's a really exciting thought when you manage to internalize it.
Of course this can't be the root of Emunah and Bitachon, why? The Vilna Gaon teaches in his commentary on Mishlei (3:6 I believe) that Emunah and Bitachon are not complete as long as you have any rational crutch upon which to support them.
This understanding we just achieved is a rational crutch.
We have to know and expect that HaShem will provide for all our needs, with utmost certainty, and without any heshbonoth, any rationalization.
2.5.08
a time for song
Just a very quick dvar Torah: Chizkiah could have been the moshiach (see here:http://dreamingofmoshiach.blogspot.com/2008/04/rav-chizkia-shlita.html) but he chose to learn Torah rather than sing praises to HaShem.
Of course as Jews we need to do both Torah and Tefillah, but sometimes it's the time for Tefillah and not the time for Torah. So, next time I think, "I'm in the middle of learning, I don't need to sing Shabbath Zemirot," I'll think twice.
Of course as Jews we need to do both Torah and Tefillah, but sometimes it's the time for Tefillah and not the time for Torah. So, next time I think, "I'm in the middle of learning, I don't need to sing Shabbath Zemirot," I'll think twice.
1.5.08
losing yourself in sleep
Reflecting on the Baal HaTanya's words from yesterday (see: say a little do a lot) he explains that we accept upon us the yolk of heaven in kriath shema, and then in the amidah, specifically when we bow down, we receive upon us the yolk of heaven in actuality.
Thinking about the times of day we say the Shema, the Baal HaTanya points out that the bowing down in the Amidah is the essence of actually receiving the yolk of heaven. So what happens when we say the Shema, essentially voicing our desire to accept the yolk of heaven, but then we don't follow through with the Amidah? Namely, when we say Kriath Shema before going to sleep.
If we pay attention to what the Baal HaTanya explained the answer is apparent: The bowing is where the acceptance happens. Bowing is a form of bitul, of belittling and nullifying ourselves before HaShem. What could be more nullifying and belittling than sleep? It is as if we cease to exist altogether.
In fact, one of my favorite midrashim comes to our rescue here. Midrash Rabba on bereishith explains that when HaShem created Adam, the angels couldn't tell Adam appart from HaShem. (Presumably since he was made in the image of HaShem) In the end, HaShem put Adam to sleep which made it clear to the angels that Adam wasn't HaShem, since HaShem never sleeps. Adam was nullified before HaShem via the vehicle of sleep.
So now we can look at the act of going to sleep in an entirely different fashion. Rather than going to sleep because we are exhausted, we can see going to sleep as an act of nullifying ourselves before HaShem. It is a testament to the fact that HaShem runs the world and when we sleep the world continues to exist and function. This is why we say Shema before sleep, to prepare ourselves for the awesome revellation of HaShem that happens in sleep even more than when we are awake and bowing in the Amidah.
If we recall a long time ago, we mentioned Rebbe Nachman's teaching (see: sleep: the answer to every question) brought down in the beginning of Likkutei Halachoth that through sleep we are nullifying ourselves before HaShem and that is why we awaken with new life, refreshed. In that Torah we learn that sleep is one of the biggest tikkunim, a powerful way to fix what we have damaged in the past. [to delve into this a little deeper see: sleep as daat instead of a disconnect]
Perhaps we can even touch the level of dying for Kiddush HaShem (in the name of HaShem) when we go to sleep as an act of bitul before HaShem. After all, chazal teach us that sleep is one sixtieth of death.
Thinking about the times of day we say the Shema, the Baal HaTanya points out that the bowing down in the Amidah is the essence of actually receiving the yolk of heaven. So what happens when we say the Shema, essentially voicing our desire to accept the yolk of heaven, but then we don't follow through with the Amidah? Namely, when we say Kriath Shema before going to sleep.
If we pay attention to what the Baal HaTanya explained the answer is apparent: The bowing is where the acceptance happens. Bowing is a form of bitul, of belittling and nullifying ourselves before HaShem. What could be more nullifying and belittling than sleep? It is as if we cease to exist altogether.
In fact, one of my favorite midrashim comes to our rescue here. Midrash Rabba on bereishith explains that when HaShem created Adam, the angels couldn't tell Adam appart from HaShem. (Presumably since he was made in the image of HaShem) In the end, HaShem put Adam to sleep which made it clear to the angels that Adam wasn't HaShem, since HaShem never sleeps. Adam was nullified before HaShem via the vehicle of sleep.
So now we can look at the act of going to sleep in an entirely different fashion. Rather than going to sleep because we are exhausted, we can see going to sleep as an act of nullifying ourselves before HaShem. It is a testament to the fact that HaShem runs the world and when we sleep the world continues to exist and function. This is why we say Shema before sleep, to prepare ourselves for the awesome revellation of HaShem that happens in sleep even more than when we are awake and bowing in the Amidah.
If we recall a long time ago, we mentioned Rebbe Nachman's teaching (see: sleep: the answer to every question) brought down in the beginning of Likkutei Halachoth that through sleep we are nullifying ourselves before HaShem and that is why we awaken with new life, refreshed. In that Torah we learn that sleep is one of the biggest tikkunim, a powerful way to fix what we have damaged in the past. [to delve into this a little deeper see: sleep as daat instead of a disconnect]
Perhaps we can even touch the level of dying for Kiddush HaShem (in the name of HaShem) when we go to sleep as an act of bitul before HaShem. After all, chazal teach us that sleep is one sixtieth of death.
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