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