A “Rebbe”, a bona fide spiritual genius, looked at life with a third eye and saw reflected in his holy soul, streams of different energies swirling around the biblical texts.
These texts, in addition to the elementary purpose of communicating a G-dly way of being in the world through mitzvot, also serve as a gateway to streams of higher spiritual consciousness that these people, were submerged in, we by reading those teachings, get to “HACK" into those sacred currents .
The opening verse of this weeks Torah portion “VeAta tetzaveh“ (“And you shall command”) is referring to G-D instructing Moses to teach the Jewish people the the specific laws regarding the construction of the Tabernacle.
The late 19th century Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, also known as the “Sefat Emet”, shares a breathtakingly beautiful idea; He rereads the text by focusing only on those two words “VeAta Tetzaveh” (“You shall command“), and elucidates; VeAta – And You, Tetzaveh – is a commandment (a mitzvah). G-d is not merely instructing Moses to teach the Jewish people how to build a tabernacle but advising Moses to tell the Jewish People, that each and every one of them is a mitzvah!
In this mystical interpretation of the verse, there is no longer just a Human performing G-D’s will, nor G-D simply commanding the human; there is only deep mystical oneness between G-D and his people.
I personally find this a highly effective medtiation during prayer, a time when we have a perfect opportunity to close our eyes, and not only perform the mitzvah, but in the spirit of the Holy Sefat Emet’s idea, be a mitzvah .
One of the best prayers to put this meditation to use is at the beginning of the Amidah prayer -the silent prayer, widely considered the prayer with the most intense concentration of spiritual energy .
The men of the great assembly who composed the Amidah , aware of the spiritual harvest waiting to be reaped here daily, took into consideration that people are preoccupied with the turbulence of life and easily distracted , they therefore composed the one line prayer before the Amidah begins, “My L-rd open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise”
These words are their way of gently coaxing us into a different spiritual space where suddenly we are not alone; rather we are collaborating with G-d.
The wide chasm between the divine and us disappears, and a sacred duet is sounded between G-D and his people. We are not simply praying, rather we Become Prayer.
We find this same idea in Psalms, when King David writes “V’Ani Tefilati “ (“as for me my prayer), here too the text can be reread as V’Ani -and I , Tephilati – have become prayer.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yossi
Random musings and reflections, jewish, spiritual, and otherwise...
Friday, February 11, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The hol(istic)y Ark
In reading the portion in Shul today , I had the following Question that I posed to all .
Why did the ark , have to be made of wood , yet covered with Gold ?
If it’s the luxury that we want , then let it be pure gold like the Menorah , if on the other hand we re aiming for the simple, unadorned look ,and not for a pleasing aesthetic, then it should have remained just wood with no covering .
One approach that I threw out there was as follows , the wood represents the ordinary areas of our lives , our routines , Job,school ,family .
Gold on the other hand represents spiritual enlightenment , and transcendence .
The message of placing the Torah , which contains our creed for living ,in a wooden box inlaid with gold , is that Torah is meant to facilitate fusion in the disparate regions of our human experience .
Judaism is unique in it s emphasis on living a more holistic life .
The message is clear ,our faith , i.e. our “Gold “ our sacredness flows over the way we are ordinary in the world and gently cascades over “The wood places ”(the forest of our lives) that we inhabit , transforming simple and routine acts , into moments of sublime devotion .
Shavua Tov
Yossi
Why did the ark , have to be made of wood , yet covered with Gold ?
If it’s the luxury that we want , then let it be pure gold like the Menorah , if on the other hand we re aiming for the simple, unadorned look ,and not for a pleasing aesthetic, then it should have remained just wood with no covering .
One approach that I threw out there was as follows , the wood represents the ordinary areas of our lives , our routines , Job,school ,family .
Gold on the other hand represents spiritual enlightenment , and transcendence .
The message of placing the Torah , which contains our creed for living ,in a wooden box inlaid with gold , is that Torah is meant to facilitate fusion in the disparate regions of our human experience .
Judaism is unique in it s emphasis on living a more holistic life .
The message is clear ,our faith , i.e. our “Gold “ our sacredness flows over the way we are ordinary in the world and gently cascades over “The wood places ”(the forest of our lives) that we inhabit , transforming simple and routine acts , into moments of sublime devotion .
Shavua Tov
Yossi
Friday, January 28, 2011
Shabbat Shalom
This Tuesday morning, during “Ten minutes of Torah” a weekly program at the Chabad Community Shul , an interesting question surfaced about the juxtaposition of last week’s Torah portion Yitro ,and this week’s Mishpatim.
First a little background. One of the more mystical principles of Judaism is with regard to the interpretations of Torah. It’s fairly common knowledge that the Torah has a built in elaborate system of Hermeneutical principles which were employed by the sages throughout the ages of the Mishnah and Talmud , to interpret, or unpack that which is implicit in the written Torah.
The essence of the development of all the halachik principles that form the backbone of Jewish life today, revolved/s around the meticulous adherence to those principals
So for example, a one liner in the Torah that states “You shall bind as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes” would be too cryptic as a stand alone statement, what are they made of? What’s in them? Who wears them? And when are they worn?
Enter the sages of the Mishna and the Talmud, which came in and worked their magic, through the careful application of these interpretive divine formulas, combined with the translucent Holiness of the sages, the Halachah of Teffillin was born, and eventually recorded in what is now known as the Shulchan Aruch, The code of Jewish Law.
This same procedure happened for all the Mitzvot of the Torah.
What is less common knowledge however is that in addition to the notion that every word, and syllable in the written torah is pregnant with meaning, and the sages in their mystical journeys, were like sacred archeologist’s; mining every letter for the hidden treasures buried within, was another,spiritually daring notion ,that even within the sequence of torah portions, are embedded deep G-dly truths, waiting to be lovingly extracted.
A prime example of this, is in the aforementioned sequence of the ending of Yitro and the beginning of Mishpatim.
The portion of Yitro, with its description of the Giving of the Ten Commandments at the foot of Sinai is arguably among the most sublime portions of the Torah, the interface of the divine and the human, the nexus of mankind and G-d.
Mishpatim is the polar opposite, a collection of ordinary laws pertaining to the seemingly mundane and dreary aspects of life.
The truth is that the proximity of these two extremes is intentional. The message here seems quite clear. The breakthrough of Sinai meant that the human realm and the sacred realms resolved their core incompatibility. This enabled the registering of the divine even in the most prosaic dimensions of life.
The achievement of nirvana then from a Jewish perspective lies not in the heights of the spiritual mountains we scale, rather in the sacred manner in which we conduct our daily life.
If we hear in the Mishpatim routine an echo of the thunderous holiness of Yitro, then in that moment we are indeed transported back to the foot of the mountain , and have found the secret to “Living a Meaningful life “
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yossi
First a little background. One of the more mystical principles of Judaism is with regard to the interpretations of Torah. It’s fairly common knowledge that the Torah has a built in elaborate system of Hermeneutical principles which were employed by the sages throughout the ages of the Mishnah and Talmud , to interpret, or unpack that which is implicit in the written Torah.
The essence of the development of all the halachik principles that form the backbone of Jewish life today, revolved/s around the meticulous adherence to those principals
So for example, a one liner in the Torah that states “You shall bind as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes” would be too cryptic as a stand alone statement, what are they made of? What’s in them? Who wears them? And when are they worn?
Enter the sages of the Mishna and the Talmud, which came in and worked their magic, through the careful application of these interpretive divine formulas, combined with the translucent Holiness of the sages, the Halachah of Teffillin was born, and eventually recorded in what is now known as the Shulchan Aruch, The code of Jewish Law.
This same procedure happened for all the Mitzvot of the Torah.
What is less common knowledge however is that in addition to the notion that every word, and syllable in the written torah is pregnant with meaning, and the sages in their mystical journeys, were like sacred archeologist’s; mining every letter for the hidden treasures buried within, was another,spiritually daring notion ,that even within the sequence of torah portions, are embedded deep G-dly truths, waiting to be lovingly extracted.
A prime example of this, is in the aforementioned sequence of the ending of Yitro and the beginning of Mishpatim.
The portion of Yitro, with its description of the Giving of the Ten Commandments at the foot of Sinai is arguably among the most sublime portions of the Torah, the interface of the divine and the human, the nexus of mankind and G-d.
Mishpatim is the polar opposite, a collection of ordinary laws pertaining to the seemingly mundane and dreary aspects of life.
The truth is that the proximity of these two extremes is intentional. The message here seems quite clear. The breakthrough of Sinai meant that the human realm and the sacred realms resolved their core incompatibility. This enabled the registering of the divine even in the most prosaic dimensions of life.
The achievement of nirvana then from a Jewish perspective lies not in the heights of the spiritual mountains we scale, rather in the sacred manner in which we conduct our daily life.
If we hear in the Mishpatim routine an echo of the thunderous holiness of Yitro, then in that moment we are indeed transported back to the foot of the mountain , and have found the secret to “Living a Meaningful life “
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yossi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)