Shiru Lashem

What is our spiritual energy all about now?Where do we go and what soul savings do we dip into in order to experience something sacred,especially now that we're situated in post Chanukah winter mode.We awaken to darkness,and after a brief daylight hiatus are quickly reengulfed in darkness.The physical lights that we kindle in our homes,must also be accompanied by a spiritual light that needs to be kindled in our souls.The good news is that our faith is replete with multitudes of mitzvah mechanisms that act as switches that turn on those Neshama lights.The challenge for us of course is that when we turn on the lights in our homes we as physical beings can immediately appreciate and utilize that light.We can even adjust it if it seems too bright and dim it to where it's comfortable and beneficial. Benefitting from spiritual light however is far more complex.We know it shines in us somehow in a subconscious way,in our depths,but it seems like the divine awareness that we draw down is far too bright and powerful an energy to actually fit into our human Awareness without the proverbial being "blinded by its light"!What is the dimmer switch in our souls that modulates and conducts that light in us to the point where we are able to experience and even feel it ? In our Jewish spiritual soul language this would be our struggle to have the light of our higher ruach and Neshama filter down in to our lower nefesh,human consciousness.In Kabbalistic terms we see this same struggle played out on a cosmic scale.The Lurianic creation narrative vividly describes what almost seems like the frustratingly unsuccessful G-dly attempt to squeeze the sublime infinite lights of the world of tohu,into the narrow confines of the world of tikkun.One solution might be found in one of our most heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting biblical narratives.Following the dramatic and emotionally taut reuniting of Joseph and the brothers, the family is faced with the question of how to break the news to the elderly patriarch Jacob,in a subtle and gradual enough manner so as not to overload him emotionally and send him into a potentially life threatening Shock.Knowing full well his love for the beautiful singing of his granddaughter, serach the daughter of his son Asher they got her to convey the news in lyrical form,"my uncle yosef is alive he is a ruler in mitsrayim "set to a beautiful tune that she sung for him.Through joy and song she was able to convey a powerful truth in a gentle and loving way.The tunes of our people,wether it be the David Melech Yisroel,or the bim-bam/Shabbat shalom of our little children,the hauntingly beautiful middle eastern Sephardic prayer tunes,the songs of Shlomo Carlebach ,or the soulful nigunnim melodies of the Chassidim and their rebbes,are the conductors through which we can carry our highest most soulful consciousness into our regular human Awareness selves.This is not an abstract idea it's really quite true.We are brimming with a lofty soulfulness that swirls around eagerly just beneath our consciousness waiting for a heartfelt song to bear it upwards into our conscious minds and hearts.The Friday project singing community at the Chabad community Shul is my spiritual energy right now and I know many of you feel the same.Thanks to those of you who have joined in this remarkable journey and look forward to singing and davening together again real soon.Yossi

It's snowing in Jerusalem!

Today is the tenth of tevet,when we recall the day that the siege of jerusalem began,a sad day on the Jewish calendar.Its also Erev Shabbat.It seems strange to be fasting now.Just concluded Mincha afternoon prayes including the special prayer for fast days called  anaynu,which means "answer us ".It's ironic that in the words of that prayer we beseech g-d "al tastir panecha meemeni" don't hide your face from me" and yet in just two hours we will be ushering in the Shabbat,proclaiming the exact opposite penai Shabbat nekabla 

"The face of the holy queen we will receive". Hiddeness followed by redemption and revelation,all experienced in the course of a frigid winter Friday afternoon.Competing spiritual energies gevurah-hiddeness and Chesed-benevolence swirl around us,as we scurry about finalizing our last minute Shabbat preparations!The message of the prophet ISAIAH that we've just read in the Mincha haftorah is jubilant and fills us with hope,"For as the rain or snow drops from heaven and returns not there,but soaks the earth and makes it bring forth vegetation,so is the word that issues from my mouth"

It's amazing to me that it's snowing in Jerusalem as we read this prophecy!Bring on Shabbat,and let the good times roll !:)

Shabbat shalom 

Yossi 

Vayechi -Lchaim!!

The portion of Genesis that is read this week opens with the words vayechi yaakov,and Yaakov lived.The truth is though,just from knowing his “story lines”,it seems more like a Robinson Crusoe,survival narrative than a life story! The ongoing turbulence in his life ranging from the complexity of his marriage(s),his relationship with his parents,hatred from his sibling,the guilt associated with his deception,to Lavans betrayals,and finally the heartbreaking loss of Rachel the love of his life,coupled with the disappearance of Joseph the first child he had with her, must have tested his faith and pushed him to the brink emotionally. Here we are presented with the classic case of a man on the edge,hardly the Siddharta spiritual journey style narrative we might expect from the finale of the first section of our holiest book! The truth is however,that the intentional empahsis on his narrative, juxtaposed as it is to the book of Shemot,which tells his childrens story, poignantly captures the essence of the Jewish experience,and the powerful envelope pushing legacy that jacob left to his children. Yaakov was aware that the seeming hiatus from a life frequently in crisis mode in lush egyptian suburbia,was temporary,and that the dark clouds of his childrens slavery loomed perilously on the horizon.His life is a reminder to them,to be fully aware of the true purpose of life.We are put here in this world not just to survive our difficulties,and then be content that we can exist,but rather to transcend our challenges and still figure out how to lead a life that matters! Jacob did not lead a charmed existence,but he had an amazing life because he raised the family that would become the Jewish people,forever associated with him till today,hence our name still remains” The children of Israel “! So Yaakov did do more than survive. He was teaching us that to be Jewish is to lead a vayechi driven life.In fact the Kabbalistic look at the hebrew spelling of the word chayim,leads us to this same realization.It has two yuds in the middle,which spells the name of G-d!This is a profound teaching.Jacobs prayer for his children of course,is the same as ours for our children,namely that they never feel even one moment of pain or sorrow in their lives.Our stopping at nothing to ensure they they have a happy and safe existence however is not where our role as parents and teachers end,but rather precisely where our most critical role must begin,enroute to instilling in them the value of leading meaningful lives. It significant that after all the years of slavery, instead of Moses leading the jewish people to a lush middle eastern vacation spot,some well earned R and R and some fun in the sun,he leads them instead through the desert to the foot of the mountain to hear the sacred voice from on high pressing them into service,from slavery to the freedom of living a higher G-d centered life,not only a transition from slavery to the comfort of freedom. Lchaim to Health,happiness,prosperity,and the chance to lead meaningful and g-d centered lives! Yossi

The Kabbalah of Havdallah

Was talking to my surfing devotee nephew from Laguna Beach over Shabbat,and he told me about the first time he ever went snowboarding,and how quickly he caught on to it.He said,"whats the big deal dude that thing is actually connected to your feet"!I was scheduled to lead a havdalah service later that night and was asked to do a teaching on its spiritual meaning.This is what I shared.On Shabbat we are gifted with an extra soul Neshama yesayrah,for twenty fours hours we need only to lift up our spiritual antennae to pick up on this higher awareness and frequency thats ours for the taking,perhaps this perk is G-ds way of showing us his appreciation for being part of the frequent daveners and mitzvahs program,as well as a nice way of saying "thanks for staying part of the light unto the nations global initiative,despite all the thousands of years of persecution you've endured.Throughout Shabbat we are surfing, gifted with a higher awareness,therefore our ability to be emotionally "balanced" is sharper allowing us to be fearlessly grounded and present in the moment,without requiring any supplemental connectedness.Once the Shabbat grace is over however,that light ceases to burn for us as brightly and we are responsible to be the architects of our own spiritual destinies, necessitating an active self grounding that relies heavily on our mindset and us connecting ourselves to our spiritual inner core,utilizing the mitzvahs and prayers that we perform during the week as bindings that fasten us tightly to our higher selves,and help us live our real lives,and steer us away from living shallow substitute lives.This is a spiritual path that requires discipline and mindfulness in fostering a weekday homegrown connectedness.Havdalah is where we make this leap,and transition from being recipients of grace from without to being responsible to foster that from within.We ve just read the dramatic and heart wrenching story of Joseph and his interaction with Judah and his younger brother Benjamin.Jewish mysticism helps us understand that these stories are our stories as well.There is a profound teaching in Kabbalah that helps us personalize this story.Joseph hides his precious goblet in the bag of his baby brother Benjamin. According to mysticism the Cup here refers to the higher awareness of Joseph,and the concealment in the the Bag of Benjamin refers to the hiding of the shechina,the divine presence.This cosmic hiddeness came about as a result of the brothers heinous fratricidal act of selling Joseph,as well as Judah's mistreatment of Tamar.This act of hiding was also symbolic of a struggle within Joseph ,his struggling with the pain of the past.Seeing his brothers moved him deeply,yet also brought back a latent,unresolved resentment.His hiding the cup is an almost Freudian symbol of his suppressing his natural feelings of love and choosing to remain immobilized, rooted in his pain and hurt.The turning point is when it says Vayigash Aylav Yehuda.Judah approaches Joseph. What happens here is more than just describing the physical proximity of the two of them.Its Judah in a burst of pure love approaching his brother existentially,and opening his heart wide,he beams true powerful brotherly love.He proclaims," I know I wounded you deeply and I would understand if you can never forgive me again, but please know that I was acting from my lower self,My life was weekday consciousness and I was surfing when I should have been snowboarding,I wasn't functioning with the required sense of balance".The Kabbalah continues to hear his anguish and pain in the next words. Judah says "Bi adoni ,please my master,but the words of his plea,can also be read as follows.Bi adoni ,meaning ; bi,within me now is a newfound sense of ,adona -i! The Hebrew word master can also be read as the name of g-d. He continues,"I've made changes in my life and have chosen to live in my upper light self,at a level of ruach-spirit and even higher to the level of Neshama pulling myself up from living purely from my lowest nefesh consciousness" I've made Havdalah"!. "I realize that one needs to be proactive in pursuing a higher and deeper life experience and I ve done a big teshuvah,feeling more grounded In this improved,more holistic higher version of my self"." He then continues," The damage may be done and I'm painfully aware that certain betrayals run too deeply to fully rehabilitate a healthy sense of trust!I may never fully be redeemed for the physic damage that I've inflicted so many years ago." He acknowledges this," My spiritual transformation may be good for me,but it may not be enough to undo the hurt and heal your pain Joseph, he says,I know I can t turn back the clock,but at the very least I must face this courageously and honorably"." Please give me a shot to reconcile and bring this family back together."!At that point Joseph's resistance finally breaks down and he screams out in a primal existential cry "I AM JOSEPH"! His brother Judah's transformation,lifts him out of his nefesh consciousness up to his place of ruach and Neshama. From that vantage point he transcends all hurt,and risesto an emotional place of innocence and love,and in a final cathartic moment lets go of the excruciating pain,his haunted and damaged self,freed from the tyranny of his victimhood narrative, leaping beyond his haunted self,he too does his havdalah and fastens his psyche to a better and more stable emotional place.Together they both withdrew the goblet out of concealment.Here is something truly amazing.The words of the havdalah are in perfect harmony with this weeks portion.In the havdalah we say "Koss yeshuos essah u veshaym hashem Ekrah""Lift up your cup of salvation and call upon hashems name". The adjustments that they made must be the same adjustment that we make every sat night. The cup of Joseph is our cup as well. We need to choose; do we conceal ,and surrender the light that we might shine,an allow it to remain imprisoned to the darkness of the past? Or instead would we rather be free of our darkness,and stand in our light,courageously raising up the cup of salvation and choosing to live higher, holier,and happier!The picture below is of the Menorah that my dear sister Perel and brother in law,Rabbi Meilech ,the Chabad "lamplighters" -Shluchim in picturesque Laguna Beach put up yearly at the beach there,I think that image really says it all!

With much love and blessings of Shavua Tov

Yossi

Chanukah lights and the Ner Tamid

So we are getting close to the end of Chanukah and preparing to experience the lights in all of their glory,all eight kindled,reflecting the Beit Hillel approach of intensifying in kedushah-sacred energy maalin bakodesh-by lighting additional lights every night,unlike the view of Beit Shammai that we light the full menorah on the first night and decrease every night to where we would only have one lone candle on the last night. One of the most endearing principles in the world of Talmud and the development of jewish law is that even if an opinion of one of the sages is not accepted as Halacha-jewish law,it is still an integral part of Torah “aylu va aylu divrei elokim chaim "Both views are the words of the living G-d”.Its more than merely acknowledging dissenting opinion out of respect,it's the opposite,it's recognizing that everyone of these opinions are indeed g-dly truths that vibrate in differing degrees of intensity throughout many different realms,the one that we accept as Halacha simply pulsates more intensely in our immediate physical realm. In keeping with that principle I would suggest we take a closer look at the opinion of Beit Shammai ,as it certainly is saying something important to us here. Beit Hillel is the hero of Chanukah for pushing for building up to more light in the present(short term).Beit Shammai on the other hand with much less glamour is thinking long term here,giving voice to a common spiritual dilemma. “What do we do when we get the “ninth night blues” ?The menorah was kindled in its entirety yesterday and the next night there is nothing! What can we do to prevent a feeling of existential emptiness in the aftermath of an uplifting spiritual experience? I hear this often from people after they return home from an inspiring trip to Israel,or after a moving high holiday experience. The Bet Shammai School of thought responds to this with some important spiritual coaching.The miracle of Chanukah must continue in us year round.The take home point of even the idea of lighting one candle on the last night, even if we don't actually do that is a confidence booster in our spiritual quest,the knowledge that even without the props and hoopla ,even when we are not all lit up, my mind remembers the steps to the sacred dance of my Neshama.This gives me the motivation to do so on the ninth and tenth night as well,when we are entirely out of the feel good Chanukah light zone. The depth of his position is the secret to leading a stable and fulfilling spiritual existence.His opinion reminds us that the lovely rhythms of daily jewish life provide us with a rich menu of one candle spiritual moments that are ours for the taking,wether its five or ten minutes in the morning wrapped in tallit or teffilin,in solitude with G-d,at peace with our lives and the world,or entering into a mindfulness space by reciting a Bracha-blessing over the food prior to eating,(and no you do not need to be orthodox to recite blessings on food,or wrap teffillin daily)or even carving out a few moments of Torah study during a busy day. So if Bet Hillel seems to be focusing on just the candles of this festival ,Bet Shammai might be looking beyond to the candles of the soul that we must keep burning year round ,the way we can also be the ner tamid (the eternal light in the temple that always remained lit!) Aylu vaylu ,We need both approaches to foster a spiritually rich,yet stable jewish experience,in order to internalize an experience of sacredness elokim ,in a manner that is truly Chaim-alive,and relevant. True we need to stock up on as many “Bet Hillel-Big ticket jewish experiences as we can,including but not limited to birthright trips to Israel, jewish overnight camps,and meaningful Jewish holiday experiences, so that we can hoard them and pull them out Bet Shammai style,on an ordinary day allowing us to be continuously nourished by “one candle-mini jewish moments” for our “years of famine” real time daily lives. With much love and Light Yossi http://www.gotjudaica.com/ProductImages/small/jeii-mnoo2.jpg

The Kabbalah of eight !

In Jewish thought the number seven symbolizes the routine cycles of our lives and the patterns that we follow on a regular basis both good and bad.We base this on the seven day-creation cycle which is built in and ongoing. The number eight on the other hand symbolizes the interrupting of habit and a venturing beyond the shelter of our neat and familiar comfort zones. In the language of Kabbalah Seven refers to the seven emotional powers or Sefirot-pre packaged into the human Soul.All of our routine behavior patterns are fashioned and stem in some form from these seven characteristics. When we talk about reaching for the number eight in Kabbalah this symbolizes reaching one step above the seven emotional soul powers into the higher realms of the contemplative world,the world of Bina,or understanding.This is also why circumcision is performed on the eight day,gifting the newly arrived soul with the future ability to live higher and deeper. This is the miracle of Chanukah as well and the Kabbalistic significance of the eight days. On Chanukah we are in eight day mode,Hasmoneans searching for pure oil-new life paradigms that have been sealed off from us,little high priests discovering new frontiers of experience that have been buried for us! Tonight we might ask ourselves where are the areas of my life where I've become immobilized in seven day syndrome of being? As we light the candle tonight we might imagine fearlessly wrestling ourselves free of those patterns,igniting eight day consciousness,reaching upwards beyond ordinary awareness to imagining and realizing new and better ways of being in the world!

Two Types of Light

Tonight instead of lighting Chanukah candles AND Shabbat candles,why couldnt we just combine them somehow ? The truth is that there is a unique dynamic at play tonight,there are two sets of lights being deployed into the world,each unique and neccesary. The Shabbat candles represent the light that G-d wired into the world for Shabbat from the very begining of creation.As with the electricity that gets pre wired into our homes,all we need to do to benefit is to flick the switch,so too the aura of Shabbat is steady,predicatable,and available to us weekly and the Shabbat candles act as the switch that releases the sacred Shabbat glow into our homes. The Chanukah candles are an entirely different story.They represent the way in which we discover and bring new and original lights into the world.True we are drawing from the same source,but the wiring is new.This represents the spiritual awareness that is borne from the unique sets of circumstances of each of our lives,and the way our personal experiences lead us to a higher consciousness. The Torah is set up this way as well. The written Torah-Scriptures is the light that Hashem wired into the world. Torah She baal Be-The oral Torah on the other hand represents the light that we are able to spinoff of that,and though divinely inspired, still borne entirely from our human endeavors and spiritual creativity,which is what we are reffering to when we say” Torah Lo bashamayim hee, Torah is not developed in heaven. Tonight as we light the Chanukah lights and the Shabbat lights we celebrate both the light that we have been given,and the light we needed to discover on our own. Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanukah Yo

The lights of our spirit

PLEASE TUNE IN TO THESE EIGHT “LI(GH)TE BYTES” FOR EVERY NIGHT OF CHANUKAH Candle number two THE CANDLE OF SPIRIT A story about creation and light. G-d Shares a deep infinite light with the world at the very beginning of creation.After the divine realization that this light was too“intense”,there is a massive energy”recalibration”and Hashem quickly withdraws most of the light and stores it in the celestial warehouse to be enjoyed exclusively in the upper realms by all the metaphysical residents of the heavenly community of angels,souls and the occasional seraph here and there. What of the rest of the light though ? According to our mystical tradition Hashem gathered the remainder of the light and buried it in the Hebrew letters and words of Torah! The war that the Greeks waged on the Jews was not on the culture of Judaism, they actually enjoyed that, but rather it was an assault on the spirit of Judaism,what we might call “YIDDISHKEIT.They said “keep your bagels and lox” and we’ll even incorporate “oy vey” and “kvetch”into our Greek language but forget about G-d and spiritual light” ! The miracle of Chanukah on the books is that we won the war and the oil lasted for eight days.The Kabbalah/inner miracle of Chanukah is much deeper though.The Jewish people proclaiming loud and clear their truth, “we are all about light and discovering the light that was implanted inside of Torah and our heritage,we are not interested in the hellenization of Torah that seeks to pretend that there is no light”, was equally miraculous and significant. When we light our menorahs tonight that is a reflection of OUR desire for a deeper awareness and a light/spirit oriented experience with Torah and Judaism,one that feels real and fosters a sense of true connectedness The renaissance of Jewish life and awareness that we see today,both here on the North Shore and throughout the Jewish world is our modern day Chanukah miracle. As we gather around the menorah tonight, surrounded by the people we love we realize that G-d had yet another hiding place for his light,right inside the upper realms of each and every one of us! Sending out much love and light Yossi

Eight LIght Bytes

PLEASE TUNE IN TO THESE EIGHT “LI(GH)TE BYTES” FOR EVERY NIGHT OF CHANUKAH Candle number one THE CANDLE OF HOPE Sometimes the complexity of our life experience has the effect of smothering the spirit,purity,and tranquility that we all yearn for.As we gather around the Menorah tonight we might ask ourselves the following question. Do I truly believe that my tired soul can still radiate a hopeful light”? Will the areas of my life where I am “stuck” become the place where my light gets buried,or the spot where I give birth to a new and stronger light? Try this tonight. This is a meditation based on a Chassidic teaching on the hebrew word NER,candle.The letter Nun stands for Nefesh the seperate self that is totally identified with the body.The letter Resh stands for RUACH, the level of self that is open to spirit. Before you light the candles close your eyes for a few moments.Try to visualise your soul as the one remaining container of oil left untouched lying submerged beneath the rubble of the greek destruction.Now fast forward to our own lives,to our bodies,our own personal temples,and our neshamas,our own personal pure container of olive oil,the untaintable core of our being.How might the circumstances of our life have led us to a state of seperateness,from being cut off from our own inner Neshama truths? Now try to focus on your breathing. When you breathe out,try to concentrate on releasing the built up toxicity that is strengthened by fear,and supported by the ego. When you breathe in think about reconnecting with and rediscovering your inner soul light,lying sweetly,innocently, buried beneath all the mental chaos,intact though,ready to be lit.Now imagine drawing your highest ruach self,your Shamash into your space of nefesh/awareness.Imagine the Ruach /Shamash/divine consciousness kindling the Nefesh/human consciousness first candle,allowing the oil of our souls to fuel a new light. Sit with that briefly and then open your eyes and recite the blessings,and transfer/beam that inner lighting to your loved ones as you physically light the first candle! The story of Chanukah is the story of our own souls.Please join me over Chanukah on a spiritual journey of rediscover,and celebration as we rekindle our soul lights. With much love Yossi

Our Shul is a Beit Knesset as well

Call me old fashioned but for me a synagogue will alway be called a “Shul” .If I had to go for my second option I would settle for the name" Beit haknesset",translated as house of gathering. The reason to call a synagogue a house of gathering is a reflection on the multi purpose nature of our spiritual homes, they are places where we can gather with our peers,family,and friends,and experience a sense of connectedness to a sacred community,or in Hebrew a Kehilla Kedosha.Part of the chemistry of a successful spiritual society stems from the awareness that our link to one another is not limited strictly to our davening/worshiping together,indeed that is only the beginning point in the building of sacred community.True worship takes us out of our head space and leads us to being in our heart space,lifting us out of narcissism and setting the stage for an empathetic and kind intertwining of other peoples lives into our own. That's why the gathering after davening is actually called a kiddush,it's the Jewish way of upgrading mere social interactions into an experience of holiness,a time where we connect with one another and share in one another's joy and sadnesses,and strengthen and uplift each other. This morning,reading a Torah commentary in the book “Pri Haaretz” from Reb Mendel Vitebsker who was a part of the inner circle of the Maggid of Mezritch,I learnt of a new reason for using the term “bait knesset”to describe a house of prayer. The word Knesset,meaning to gather,is talking about an inner process that transpires in moments of deep prayer. In those moments of spiritual enlightenment all of the different and sometimes competing aspects of our personalities are gathered together,united, coherent,a complete harmonious being stretching upwards toward the divine.Since this is the ultimate experience to look for in a "Shul"we name it as such, thereby creating more openness and readiness for that experience. This week we read about the Noah and the ark. The Kabbalah sees the ark as a metaphor for a safe haven for humanity,amidst the often turbulent waters of the cynicism,rampant materialism,and me first self aggrandizement that our society often finds itself drowning in. Wether you call it a Shul ,synagogue ,shtibel or temple ,it must always be a beit Knesset/ark as well.For both reasons.When we "Knesset" gather together as a unified people even just to be around one another,in simple basic communal graciousness, something surprising happens.The mere act of togetherness and the practicing of kindness suddenly unlocks the closed portals in our soul and facilitates the second more individual experiential "Knesseting of our Neshama/soul ,leading to a rich and deeply rewarding Davening experience.

Simcha soul Joy

This morning Uplifting Hoshana Rabah prayers at "The Chabad communityShul "!

Thanks  to all who came out at 630! You who intuitively know how critical it is to keep these beautiful customs alive and strong,and ensure our Jewish continuity.You are the real unsung heroes of the North Shore community,always leading the way by the example you set with your devotional lives.A morning prayer like this, situated post Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur soul searching, poised to celebrate Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah gives us a moment to reflect on the survival of the Jewish way of life.We must be cutting edge and visionary about our Jewish future,but it simply won't work if we think we can get there by turning our backs on the deep and nourishing wellsprings of the past.A tear slips out of the corner of our collective eyes as we part with our precious Lulav and Etrog,lasting but a brief moment,as we start to let go of the intensity of the past weeks and begin transitioning into intense Simcha mode and  deep soul joy as we dance with and celebrate the gift of Profound Torah  consciousness in our lives

Lulav energy conductor

One of the best examples of practical Kabbalah is the already accepted widespread practice of starting to build a sukkah ,immediately after Yom Kippur post breaking the fast at night.
You would think that Hashem would have a little rachhmones on us (mercy) and give his exhausted spiritual warriors a little pass. After all we ve just fasted and prayed for 24 hours straight!
The Kabbalah perspective here is the antidote to what might best be described as post Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur fatigue syndrome,with a mystical twist.
Here is one way to describe what that might have looked like to the mystics.
According to Kabbalah we all receive a huge lump sum deposit of raw spiritual energy during Rosh Hashanah .That is the basis of all we will draw from ,the well we can drink from the entire upcoming year. The "downside" of that is that right at the beginning all that energy is too powerful. It can be compared to riding a powerful 1500 CC motorcycle minus the throttle and the gears that regulate the flow of horsepower.Those controls are vital to allow us the ability to downshift when we are going to fast around a curve,and vice versa. Or a better example might be trying to plug your cell phone directly in to the electrical generator in your town. Its not gonna go so well for you. The energy needs to be routed first through electrical wires and poles throughout the city ,that then leads into your home circuit box and finally to an outlet inside your room that will provide the right voltage for you to plug in and not get fried.So we have all this energy,and we don't know what do with it ,and slowly it slips away from our grasp.How can we prevent this ?
The Jewish way to process the soul energy we ve been given is through the OUTLETS we call mitzvot.
With this in mind the Kabbalists read the biblical passage in Leviticus about sukkot as a direct response to this highly ironic spiritual crisis,when though physically depleted,we should still at least be at the top of our spiritual game! The answer is, of course we are ,but we need to protect and process that energy. Here is what a mystical reading of this passage (Vayikra (Leviticus ) 23:40) might look like
" you shall TAKE to YOURSELVES the fruit of the haddar tree" ,this is the source for the mitzvah of the Lulav and Etrog.
The Kabbalists knowing that the Hebrew letters of the word Lulav are numerically equivalent to the hebrew letters of the word Chaim (life),see in this an opportunity for a deep emotional teaching/ learning.
TAKE that energy To YOURSELF as soon as Yom Kippur ends so that the soul energy that is swirling AROUND instead of floating away from us starts to flow THROUGH us.
Do this by jumping right into the first mitzvah available to us !SUKKAH BUILDING!

This is also the symbolism of the Jew pointing the Lulav upward toward G-d and pointing the Lulav in all directions,almost as if we are gathering, all the spiritual energy that's been dumped on the outskirts of our psyches,and then bringing the lulav,laden with our harvested new life force inward toward our hearts.
Chag sameach

Rabbi Yossi

Dancing on the Ruins !

Tonight is Tisha B bav, the ninth day of the month of Av, the saddest day of the year for the jewish people,recalling the destruction of our holy Temple,The Bait Hamikdash in the holy city of Jerusalem. An interesting episode in the Talmud. Rabbi Akivah and the sages are walking over the ruins of the temple, the scene of the foxes scurrying over the smoldering rubble overwhelms the sages with sadness and they tear their clothes in mourning, their luminescent faces awash with tears .Rabbi Akivah rends his garment,but then begins to laugh and dance among the destruction ! What a scene, the grieving sages,on one side and the jubilant ecstatic Rabbi Akivah,dancing atop the ruins on the other! Another surprising and delightful tradition,the Messiah is born on Tisha Bav ! How do we process these mixed messages ? The truth is that Tisha Bav encompasses both. This day, we must reflect on our communal history, bitter defeats ,and our frequent oppression, at the same time we must acknowledge our miraculous ability to rebuild, redeem,and rise again outwitting history(Thanks Aaron Lansky!)and standing poised to write the most glorious chapters of our beloved narrative. As modern devotees of Chassidus and practitioners of jewish mysticism,we must also turn inwards with that paradox, and see those same patterns as they play out in our personal lives. On this day,even as we are aware of being surrounded by love and goodness, we also acknowledge the holes in our lives,and we become aware of all the pain in the world. Those place s where we feel destruction in some way,wether its the loss of a loved one, conflict within families, lost opportunities, a sense of vertigo,lack of drive, loss of interest in life, living without passion or faith, struggling with addiction,living with anger and sadness, all potent and destructive in their own way, all blocking our awareness of the latent dormant divine dimension ,lying just beneath the sometimes scorched earth of our inner landscape. In This sense we cry with the sages.However ......in order to unlock the real mystery of this day WE MUST ALSO LAUGH with Rabbi Akivah! We do so in the knowledge that the messiah is born today as well, we must acknowledge the gaping holes,but we don't have to keep falling into them! On this day our inner messiah presides over the groundbreaking ceremony of a new soulfulness, as we remember the forgotten steps of the dances of our lives!!

CHESSED of NETSACH

Feel the flow of the new Sefira energy of Netzach /victory,balanced by a gentle soothing layer of Chessed/kindness,allowing for the thrill of achievement,minus the arrogant gloating of conquest.

Let The search begin !

Let the Searching begin! As the Passover season starts to swing into high gear, I start to recall all kinds of childhood memories. One thing that always struck me as ironic and even a bit cruel, was the timing of Pesach cleaning, right after Purim, the holiday easily associated with the highest Chametz (leaven of all sorts) intake of the year thanks to the endless flow of the Shalach manot gift baskets. Once the process started I felt the presence of an invisible surveillance system suddenly activated in the house, like if you step three feet out of the kitchen with a pretzel there was an electric current that would zap us before we made into the living room. Also the ubiquitous “Shukkle up di hent “, the Yiddish battle cry following every meal, reminding us to brush off any crumbs from our hands and clothing before we left the kitchen. As Pesach got closer the full assault on the chametz began, the search was underway, each of us with our assigned quadrants in the house, the search for the chametz was on, and it never stood a chance, “ chametz if you are there, we will hunt you, track you down, and take you out! As I grew older I realized that the there was a secondary process that kicked in as well, of a more personal existential nature. During those hours of searching, scrubbing, and eliminating the accumulated food remnants that gather in the corners of ones home during the course of a year, inevatebly the intense searching/scrubbing of the home would trigger an accompanying inner searching of the soul. Somehow mysteriously a search for meaning would emerge and still does till this day and we would find ourselves suddenly thinking of all the emotional “chametz” that accumulates in the course of a year in the crevices and cracks of our being, cluttering our psyches with ego/chametz consciousness, and the resultant fear based behavior. As we grow and mature, we gain sudden clarity, and a whole new appreciation for the deep wisdom of our Jewishness, and the spiritual rewards that come in its wake. The sacred rhythm of our Jewish year is loaded with delightful spiritual surprises. There are no short cuts here though. The forms and practices of our parents and grandparents are not quaint outdated anachronistic rituals. They are for us as Jews the transporters that take lead us to the precise places in our complex spiritual lives that we need to be We can’t just parachute into the spiritual searching space, though, it won’t register in a vacuum. The outer searching,ironically points us inward, and carries us with certainty to the high plains of our beings. The key to unlocking our ancient souls, are still the old keys, The locks were never changed, the new keys are shiny, but they are not Neshama compatible. Chamets of all types, wherever you are, whether it s the actual breadcrumbs, pretzel remnants, or the emotional chametz, of ego, sadness, or cynicism, beware! We are onto you and we are coming for you soon :)

Clock change /Soul change,Passover is in the air!

Ok so the clocks are changed, once we clear up that annual morning confusion,and we finally get around to the annoying task of resetting the clock on the oven, another realization sets in.Passover is just around the corner. The changing of the clocks neatly coincides,and actually flows from this past Shabbats heralding the onset of the Hebrew month of Nissan, the month in which Passover is celebrated.In the world of the sefirot of Kabbalah this months energy is often associated with the level of Netsach, the energy that is our souls power to experience victory in the on going quest to live a more soul centered existence.May we all be filled with the right balance of passion and discipline( The combination of the Sefirot of Chessed and Gevurah), to activate Netsach victory mindset.Both the changing of the clocks and the blessing of the new month associated with redemption,act as gentle reminders to follow through on our sacred task of taking back our energy from the outside world. The subtle shift in time is a good alarm that goes off in our brain reminding us of the inner shifting that needs to happen in our lives. Shavua Tov and early Chodesh Tov

Why do we braid the Challah?

What is the symbolism of braiding the challah

A.
One of the answers that has always resonated with me is based on a Kabbalistic explanation for the opening prayers of the Kabbalat Shabbat,Friday evening service. The lead up to the beloved Lecha Dodi prayer consists of six prayers taken from Tehillim,the book of Psalms.
The Kabbalah teaches that each one of those six prayers is an opportunity to mend whatever it is that needs fixing on each of the corresponding days of the week, a chance to bring some measure of mental closure to the unfinished business of a typical week. This practice is not a substitute for taking care of our responsibilities, we can and must resume them with renewed vigor in the coming week,rather Shabbat is a brief period of pausing /cooling off from all the complexities of our lives.This is a Jewish way of saying "the stuff of my life is too integral a part of me to just simply leave behind,but I still need to figure out a way to embrace my life in all its complexity, without allowing it to imprison me emotionally or stunt my spiritual progress.This is the magical spell that Is cast onto the collective Jewish soul, as Shabbat gently flows over us and we are reminded to reclaim the enchantment of our lives.
From this perspective the braiding of the challah symbolizes the weaving of our weekday mentality into a Shabbat state of mind,a sudden BRAIDING of CHOL weekday mindset into a more sublime Shabbat driven consciousness

WE ARE G-D YOUR G-D

Last week Parshat Yitro,we soared upwards,souls floating in the clouds above Sinai,as Torah was transferred into human awareness, getting our collective Jewish consciousness reinstalled,once again,allowing us to re boot our entire spiritual operating system. We heard the Ten Commandments beginning with ANOCHI HASHEM ELOKECHA I am G-d YOUR G-d . Despite the power of last weeks spiritual moment,it was merely the embarking,certainly not the finale of our own personal spiritual odyssey. This week we have descended down to become re grounded in the base-camp of the actual lives we lead. We are reminded that our experience must take place primarily at the foot of the mountain not at its summit. This week we read , "AND these are the laws the Mishpatim " as if to say AND now folks lets roll up our sleeves,and commence the hard spiritual work of Fastening the "high" of Sinai,onto the level stable landscape of our prosaic existence. For us that means clearing a "walkable path through the Sinai Blizzard of G-dly love. Last week G-d drew us up into his world,this week we reciprocate by hosting G-d and welcoming him into our world.The Jewish secret lies in how we walk a human walk,yet still hum a divine melody,calibrating the two truths. How so ? The Mitzvot that we start reading about this week,are ways of being,that encompass the full spectrum of human endeavor,that lead us,by performing them,to our inner truth,and point us toward the G-d that moves within. We echo the divine Anochi with our own human Anochi , It would sound like this. I,Anochi,am (insert your own name),a physical being,finite,sometimes petty,sometimes sad,sometimes hurtful to myself and others,sometimes not able to connect with anything spiritual at all. That however is only one side of me, my lower consciousness if you will. There is another identity in me. I Anochi, (again insert your name,preferably Hebrew this time) am a spiritual being,a container bearing a chunk of G-d within me ,albeit in a human form. At that level we can respond back to G-d,and say,"I too am Hashem Elokecha". When our whole being is laden with Mitzvot,then we are the continuity of the truth sounded at Sinai. Our whole being screams out this week, "it's our turn ",we call out with love and proclaim to the heavenly realms ,and all its hosts ,"We are g-d your G-d". Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yossi

IT'S YOM KIPPUR TOMORROW

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur and Shavuot, Chanukah and Purim, Tomorrow is the Mishna, Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and Chumash. Tomorrow is the Siddur, the Haggadah, and the Psalms from King David. Tomorrow is the first second, and third temple wrapped in one, Tomorrow is Isaiah and Jeremiah, Moses and Miriam, Maimonides and Nachmanides, Rabbi Akivah, and Rav Kook Tomorrow is King Solomon, King David the Baal Shemtov, and the Messiah. Tomorrow is my Rebbe. Tomorow is your Rebbe. Tomorrow is Shalom Aleichem, Mah Nishmah, Gutt Yom tov, Chag Sameach, Shabbat Shalom, and Shana Tovah. Tomorrow is Borscht, latkes, chicken soup ,(MANNA??) Bagels and cream Cheese, (low-fat of course), Tzimmes, lokshen Kugel, Knaidlach, and Challah Tomorrow we celebrate Yiddihskeit, menshlichkeit, nareshkeit, and any other Keits I may have overlooked. Tomorrow we are Schlemiels and Shlumps, Schlimazels and Shmendricks. Tomorrow “I don’t like the way you look, ARE YOU EATING “? Tomorrow we go to the Mikvah. Tomorrow we sing Hava Nagila, Oseh Shalom, The Niggun Of Reb Michel of Zlotchov, and KOL HAOLOM KULO GESHER TZAR MEOD, (the whole world is a very narrow bridge) but its not a big deal since Reb Nachman reminds us that the “IKKAR” (most important thing) is “LO LEPHACHED KLAll”!!! , That we have nothing to fear at all”. Tomorrow Reb Zushe reminds us that the most important thing to remember when we come to heaven is that they WONT ask us why we were not like Abraham or Moses, but they will call us out if were weren’t R Zushe, if we weren’t ourselves. Tomorrow we sit in the sukkah and get soaked, eat herring, have a drop of Schnapps, and say Lchaim. Tomorrow is the most important day on the Jewish calendar Tomorrow is the reason we even have a Jewish calendar. Tomorrow we will read the portion of Yitro. In it we read about G-d giving the Torah to the Jewish people. Everything that transpired from creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel,Noah and Family Ark and all, from Abraham Isaac and Jacob Sarah Rivkah Rachel and Leah, to Joseph and pharaoh, slavery and redemption, sea splitting etc. Was all synchronized to be a lead up to this epic historic moment. As a result, every subsequent meaningful Jewish moment, every statement, all the wisdom, all the ups downs, holidays, sayings, foods, jokes, groups, as well as every great leader, can all be traced to that singular definitive moment, when Heaven met earth and G-d formally drafted us to be ambassadors of Holiness, and enlisted us to be co light Shiners in the greatest spiritual adventure ever known to mankind. What we observe and don't observe, what we believe in or don’t, whether we consider ourselves orthodox reform conservative, or whether we are orthoformative, atheistic, Chassidic, agnostic, Sephardic or Askenazic, affiliated, or not, reconstructionist, deconstructionist, non denomenational, pre or post denominational, neochasidic or otherwise, all of who we are, and how we identify, can be tracked back directly or indirectly to what was conveyed at the Foot of Sinai. When we read about the giving of the Torah tomorrow and we Stand and listen to the Ten Commandments being read, we have all the right ingredients for a powerful Jewish experience, one In which we can close our eyes, open our hearts and souls, to meditate and reflect, and drift to our inner space of gratitude. Why not make a holiday out of this Shabbat? I m not quite sure, perhaps it would compete with Shavuot, the holiday in which Mattan Torah (giving of the Torah) actually happened. Or its because sometimes by making a bigger deal about something, we run the risk of overlooking its key message, and its best to acknowledge it in a more private, inward, low key, heartfelt Kavanah filled fashion. Either way there is an immense energy hovering there and we can leverage it into a deep and moving moment of sacredness and transformation. Tomorrow we will celebrate our Chuppah! Mazal Tov, and Shabbat Shalom

Keeping warm(th)

I was part of the wave of young Rabbi s sent to the USSR in 1989 -90 .It was exciting to be part the post glasnost Jewish renaissance.We were thrust into this situation,with very little training or formal orientation. We were armed with a blessing from the Rebbe,our youthful naïveté and enthusiasm ,and a suitcase filled with the currency of the day, American Dollars, Levi's jeans, and assorted Revlon products,which when produced, magically turned sold out flights,trains,and hotel rooms into available ones! We arrived in Minsk on a wintry Erev Purim and were whisked right from the train to the house of an elderly Russian Jew who had passed away. We were the first rabbi s that many of these people had interacted with,especially the young ones,and the pressure was intense and the expectations seemed unrealistic. After about a week ( yes I know it sound s impossible )I was speaking fairly passable Russian and when I returned back to states I was speaking fluently. In the beginning however it was rough going. So I m sitting in this home with all the bereaved relatives,and these starving hungry souls are looking to me for something.How do you feed a hungry soul ,that s been starving for over seventy years,ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE ! On a whim I just started singing . A song popped out of my soul and went straight to my voice ,totally bypassing my brain " ..Oiphen priperchik Brent a fayerul ,uhn in shtub is hais ....." It's a sweet slightly sad Yiddish lullaby that describes a cold winter night in a village in Russia ,but inside the house it s warm ,there is a small stove providing the HEAT ,but there is a "Rebbele " a wizened elderly teacher of our faith instructing a small little child in the aleph bet , that is providing the WARMTH . Then the most amazing thing happened ,I realized I was not singing alone , an entire room of elderly soviet Jews was singing with me , Tears were flowing down all of our faces .We had established a common language,a common soul,a shared yearning and sense of nostalgia for the spiritual warmth of our faith. At that moment I realized that although that warmth, that YIDDISHE NESHAMA (Jewish Soul )often lies dormant within us,either due to being preoccupied with The fast pace of our lives,a Jewish upbringing utterly devoid of the more spiritual experiential part of Judaism ,or due tragically to the brutal oppression of a Stalinist regime , that warmth is nevertheless always there , lurking just beneath the surface of our consciousness , and there is no better way to raise a submerged sense of soulfulness than with one of the heartfelt melodies of our people. The way to unlock the door to corrupt Russian bureaucracy was a few cartons of revlon and some American dollars The way to unlock the spiritually starved soul of the Russian Jew was with that Yiddish song oiphen priperchik In the past week I ve spent every spare Moments next to my beloved fireplace basking in its warmth,and realized that the discussions of how cold it is outside and wether our heat is working properly,leads us naturally to reflect on coldness and warmth of a more personal spiritual nature . National grid provides the heat, our faith and yiddishkeit supplies us with the warmth Today I can truly say I m grateful for both ! Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yossi