tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14326332712823550202024-03-13T06:06:43.751-04:00Soul LiteReflections on Jewish Spirituality and Mystical ThoughtChonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.comBlogger633125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-22080436879497205712023-09-03T18:17:00.001-04:002023-09-03T18:17:26.004-04:00Taking a Ride<p> To read a story is to take a ride on somebody else’s imagination. But to write a story is to take a ride on your own imagination. </p><p>Each has its own unique place. At times, imagination can ignite imagination.</p><p>—————O—————</p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-63094504771182588842023-07-16T16:29:00.003-04:002023-07-16T16:36:47.850-04:00New Male/Female Paradigm<p> <i>Absolute Infinity is neither endlessly contracted nor endlessly expanded, neither infinitely small nor infinitely large. Rather it subsumes both tendencies in seamless transcendence.</i></p><p>It’s good that my blog comes with a disclaimer that my views and insights are subject to change as I grow and flow on my life journey. Please don’t expect me to report on every shift in perspective. Firstly, many of them likely occur imperceptibly. Secondly, I don’t always necessarily have the time to write about them. Accordingly, I rely on my general disclaimer to cover me in such situations.</p><p>However, a recent big shift occurred in a noticeable way which I want to briefly share because I want to avoid misunderstandings. For about ten years, I believed that God’s Oneness is the source of the cosmic feminine and His Infinity is the is the source of the cosmic masculine. If you look back on this blog, you will find some literary output expressing this perspective.</p><p>Obviously, when philosophically examined, God’s Oneness and Infinity mean the same thing. However, I believed that within emanated and created reality they expressed themselves in two different ways; the Oneness as contracted, feminine, and the Infinity as expansive, masculine. </p><p>Today, I think of both cosmic feminine and masculine as expressions of latent tendencies within God’s Absolute Infinity itself. The tendency towards inwardness, infinite contraction or smallness, is the source of the cosmic feminine. It’s like the infinity of a point. In contrast, the tendency towards outwardness, infinite expansion, is the source of the cosmic masculine. It is like the infinity of a line.</p><p>Thus, it makes sense that the cosmic feminine expresses herself as a vessel to receive. Forming a vessel and attracting what fills it are tendencies towards inwardness, depth. In contrast, cosmic masculinity is typically expressed by the role of giving. Healthy giving is an act of seeking new territory to fill, an outward expansion</p><p>Since God’s Infinity is Seamlessly One these tendencies do not reveal themselves in God’s Being. However, as with many of His other attributes, they find expression within the confines of emanated and created reality. </p><p>As I am currently working on a book, I do not have the time to write an essay on some of the ramifications of this paradigm. However, I provided the core concepts which can be applied further to explain many phenomena.</p><p> ————-o————</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i><br /></i></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-8250511355704492032023-05-11T08:38:00.005-04:002023-05-11T13:40:03.943-04:00There’s More to Me<p><br /></p><p>There’s more to Me,</p><p>Than the Me I see.</p><p>For I am a roaring Nile,</p><p>Caught up in self denial.</p><p><br /></p><p>Such is the story of a soul,</p><p>A vast and supreme whole,</p><p>Reaching into a tiny hole,</p><p>While pursuing a divine goal.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yet, the Me crunched inside of, </p><p>the hole,</p><p>Pines to know the Me beyond,</p><p>that’s whole.</p><p> </p><p>-——O——-</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-84937167096254716672023-03-26T13:49:00.010-04:002023-03-26T17:16:32.108-04:00The Fruit of Time<div style="direction: ltr;">Unlike what it may seem, </div><div><div style="direction: ltr;">the <b>future vast</b></div><div style="direction: ltr;">is NOT the <u>fruit</u> of </div></div><div style="direction: ltr;"><b>father past</b> </div><div style="direction: ltr;">impregnating </div><div style="direction: ltr;">the <i>present flash.</i></div><div><div style="direction: ltr;"><br /></div><div style="direction: ltr;">Rather, </div></div><div style="direction: ltr;">the “fruit of time” </div><div style="direction: ltr;">is the <i>present flash,</i></div><div style="direction: ltr;">borne of</div><div style="direction: ltr;"><b>father past</b> </div><div style="direction: ltr;">impregnating </div><div style="direction: ltr;"><b>mother,</b></div><div style="direction: ltr;"><b>future vast</b>.</div><div style="direction: ltr;"><br /></div><div style="direction: ltr;">———-O———</div><div><br /></div>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-72358706580235584112022-10-30T16:47:00.004-04:002022-10-30T17:07:00.227-04:00The Saintly Dispute<p><br /></p><p>For over the past two centuries, many in the Jewish world wondered why the Vilna Gaon opposed the Chassidic movement. I do not claim to know for sure. Rebbe Nachman cautions that disputes between Judaism’s great saints are rarely, if ever, about what they appears like to the masses. But I would like to offer the following tentative possibility.</p><p>Based on the stories I heard and the style of each side’s approach to Torah, it seems to me that the Gaon was uniquely sensitive to the soul of time. He was concerned with where the timeline of history and destiny stood at that moment. What may have been paramount to him was not to compromise the flow of this particular stream.</p><p>In contrast, the Baal Shem Tov and his followers were uniquely sensitive to the soul of European Jewry. They were concerned with the suffering and the needs of the people. What may have been paramount on their side was to elevate the material and spiritual state of their flocks, even if such efforts may have led to anachronistic results; such as solving a present day issue by drawing down a spiritual light from the messianic future. </p><p>If this was the case, then each side had important concerns and who am I to take sides? All I can do is resonate with where my soul is genuinely rooted, while admiring the Torah contributions and concerns of the other side as well.</p><p> ————O————</p><p><br /></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-86035336604287404672022-10-09T15:44:00.001-04:002022-10-09T15:47:28.306-04:00You & i<p><br /></p><p>שמע ישראל…</p><p>There’s no outside You,</p><p> There’s no inside You.</p><p> Thus, there’s only You!</p><p><br /></p><p>ברוך שם…</p><p>Fragmentation only exists,</p><p> As an illusion which persists.</p><p><br /></p><p>ואהבתה…</p><p>You and i will never part,</p><p> If i but grasp this in my heart.</p><p>————O———</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-56593191514473395642022-04-24T16:21:00.004-04:002022-04-24T20:22:33.135-04:00Synagogue Speech, Final Evening of Passover 5782<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6060a11a-7fff-5858-25fc-534b48767432" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speech notes:</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><ul style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Torah is filled with anthropomorphic, human like, descriptions of God. We see examples by the splitting of the sea, by Mt. Sinai, by having names, by what the nobles of Israel saw and continued feasting, by the peak experience of Ezekiel's vision where he beheld, “a form like the vision of man”, by God dwelling in a sanctuary … Here, we’re taught that He’s all over and yet there’s a place where He dwells?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to a contemporary biographer of the Maimonides, Professor Joel Kramer, how a formless God is described with such form in our most primary religious text is a theological issue which the Moslems laid at the feet of our Rabbis in their lands. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Therefore it is not surprising to see Torah sages in the Medieval Islamic world such as Rabbainu Bachya ibn Pequda and the Maimonides taking such a question very seriously.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In “Duties of the Heart”, Rabbainu Bachya asked why are texts describing God with form far more prevalent than those which warn against ascribing form to God? He compares it to a merchant who settles in an inn. For the merchant, the innkeeper prepares a human sized meal, which was far smaller than the meal he prepares for the merchant’s donkey. Similarly, for the few of more refined understanding a few statements about God having no form suffices, a merchant’s sized meal. Whereas, the unlearned masses, who then made up a larger proportion of the population, require a lot of food, lots of relatable imagery about God.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In “The Guide for the Perplexed”, the Maimonides often employs the Aramaic translation of Onkolos to demonstrate that these anthropomorphisms are metaphorical and not to be taken literally. For example, where the Torah states that God descended on Mt. Sinai, Onkolos reformulates this as “God revealed Himself on Mt. Sinai”. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why did the Maimonides select Onkolos? I presume that it was because Onkolos predated Islam. With this, the Maimonides was able to demonstrate that we didn’t invent such ideas as an apologetic response to Islam, but rather that they were already inherent to our tradition from beforehand.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The way the Maimonides explains the presence of these anthropomorphisms is that God behaves “as if”. He behaves “as if” He has eyes, ears, nose, mouth, right hand… In other words, He’s formless. But He accomplishes in ways which appear like the work of someone endowed with super human-like faculties.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Similarly, this concept is succinctly mentioned in “Anim Zemiros”, “They allegorize You, but not according to Your reality, and they portray You according to Your deeds.” (see Artscroll Siddur)</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ok. So, we can say of God that any Biblical or Rabbinic description ascribing to Him form is mere metaphor. It solves problems. It gets us out of the very serious problem leveled against us by our Muslim neighbours and saves us from issues of idolatry. However, metaphors can be rather subjective and poetic, having no objective reality. If I were to say that your words are so beautiful that your lips drip with honey, can I bring over a cup and catch the honey? Yet, we find that our tradition seems to ascribe objective reality to what is claimed to be only metaphor. For example, King Solomon constantly repeats that his sanctuary is intended to be a home for God’s name, the Talmud states that at the Pilgrimage Festivals we’re supposed to be seen by God, it seems to matter which name of God Moses employs, man is created in the image of God, Moses turns away from directly facing the Shechinah, etc. These are all real interactions with what’s supposedly only metaphorical. Wait, we don’t have real interactions with Shakespearean metaphors. I can’t please my Wife with a Shakespearean rose. Yet, we seem to have real interactions with God’s metaphors. What’s going on?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before addressing this question I would like to detour to the topic of God’s Oneness. Rabbainu Bachya ibn Pequda masterfully explains this notion in “Duties of the Heart”. When God tells us that He’s One, He means it very truthfully. Everything we encounter which we call “one” is composed of multiple parts. It’s not really “one”, but rather a multiplicity working together in singular cooperation. Accordingly, it’s merely borrowing the term “one”. When God tells us that He’s One, He really means it. He has no parts whatsoever. He’s absolutely devoid of multiplicity. Obviously, a Being without parts has no beginning, middle or end, for they too are parts. Thus, when we say that God is One, by extension we are also saying that He’s Infinite. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without parts, limits, God has no form. Any version of a form requires parts to compose it. With this understanding we can have a deeper appreciation for His formlessness.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of my favorite Tanya teachers, Rabbi Y.Y. Jacobson told me, “Do not confuse who God is with how He’s experienced”.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is God and there are His revelations. While all the anthropomorphisms do not have any reality in God whatsoever, they do have reality in His revelations. Here, in His revelations, there are spiritual equivalents of eyes, ears, hands, nose, names, desires, etc. Here, we can talk of souls as, “a portion of God above”, meaning as emanating from His spiritual light.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the hierarchy of consciousness, we understand that a plant is more alive than a stone, an animal is more alive than a plant and a human is more alive than an animal. However, this hierarchy does not top off with humans, but rather continues upward into the spiritual levels, incorporating among other entities angels, souls and divine forces. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The anthropomorphic descriptions of God exist as forces in the higher spiritual worlds. Since they are higher up on the hierarchy of consciousness, they are actually more alive than we are. For example, “Shaar HaGilgulim” teaches that before every Jewish soul descends into a biological womb it first undergoes a period of pregnancy within the Shechinah. This includes the souls of converts as well. Since the Shechinah has on its level the spiritual equivalent of a giant womb in which all Jewish souls are gestated and nurtured, doesn’t it stand to reason that the Shechinah is far more alive than we are?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I must be clear that just because God’s revelations manifest spiritual forms does not necessarily mean that they are forms that we can grasp or understand. For example, His spiritual eyes are not eyes as we typically understand. We just know that they can cause increased revelations of divine supervision.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With this we can appreciate that while what philosophers like the Maimonides state about God’s attributes is certainly true, if understood correctly beneath this truth lives a much deeper level, one which teaches us that these are no mere poetic metaphors, but rather actual living realities.</span></p></li></ul><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Afterwards: After the speech a couple of friends asked me why I didn’t follow onward to explain the concept that God’s human-like revelations are actually the source of our own human faculties and as their source, more alive and real? For example, God’s revelation of eyes is actually the source of our eyes of flesh and thus, also more alive and real than ours.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I responded that I think the points I already made were much more essential for theological purposes, as they touched on the issue of monotheism amidst imagery. I didn’t want to risk overshadowing those points by overwhelming the audience. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, their point is well taken and serves as a possible candidate for a future speech if given the opportunity.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">————-O————</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p> </p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-25969558658725769112022-04-10T15:18:00.008-04:002022-04-10T15:18:53.232-04:00Repeating Patterns <p><br /></p><p>Nature is filled with repeating patterns on all levels: recycling, male/female attraction, roundness (circles/cycles/spheres), birth/death, layers...just to point out some examples. </p><p>Because of the principle of "as below, so above", these repeating patterns also exist in the spiritual worlds (on those world's own terms).</p><p>The way we get blessed is that blessings flow down to us from the spiritual worlds. Each holiday offers a unique blessing. On Passover it's the freedom from what limits us. </p><p>The blessings have their repeating patterns which they follow too, like a needle on a vinyl record groove. When we perform the rituals of Judaism we are making ourselves a link in these patterns and thereby, becoming a living part of the flow of these blessings. We become part of the cosmic grooving which the lights of blessings flow along.</p><p>What we see from here is that the rituals we will practice on Passover are not mere symbols, the stuff of our subjective psychological experiences. Rather, they are actual tools to bring vitally needed blessings to ourselves, humanity and the whole world.</p><p><br /></p><p>Chag Kosher V'Same'ach! 🫓 🍷😊🍷🫓🍷😊🍷🫓😊👍🏻</p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-11976921873731283022021-12-12T15:41:00.009-05:002021-12-12T17:49:30.110-05:00“If/Then” Coding <p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Judaism teaches that one’s destiny for the year is determined on Rosh Hashanah, sealed on Yom Kippur and still open even more blessings till the eighth day of Hanukkah. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sometimes people wonder whether their holy intentions, good deeds and prayers can change anything after that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My thoughts are as follows. If a computer program can be rigged with a series of <i>if/then</i> statements then certainly the divine plan for our year can be similarly </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">rigged in such a way</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. If humans can do it, then certainly God can too. Thus, I am hopeful that God’s annual plans for us are sufficiently flexible to respond positively to our changes in spiritual direction.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">—————O————-</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-32108154638302915212021-12-05T16:54:00.007-05:002021-12-05T23:25:33.772-05:00Beyond 7<p><b><i>Which classics of art and music will endure once humans see more than seven colors and hear more than seven notes?</i></b></p><p><b><i>Hmmmmm…</i></b></p><p><b><i> ————O————</i></b></p><p><br /></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-85348367600523829692021-11-26T17:21:00.011-05:002021-11-28T16:12:16.735-05:00 Once (Again) Geocentric<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><p class="western"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="western"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: 14pt;">Preface:</span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">What
I write here is my hypothesis, not my conclusion. However, since I
write more fluidly from the voice of certainty than of uncertainty,
please forgive me in advance if the following reads like my
conclusion.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">I
believe that since God looked into the Torah to create the universe,
using the Torah as its blueprint, one can glean knowledge of the
universe from an in depth understanding of the Torah’s mysteries. I do
not necessarily consider myself worthy of discovering these
connections. However, what I am about to present, I did not seek.
Rather, it came to me spontaneously in the midst of study. Therefore,
I leave it to the foremost sages of Kabbalah to determine whether
what I present is correct. If correct, one day scientists (who by
then may be Kabbalists) will confirm it too.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span>One
may ask, why do I write what I cannot be perfectly certain of? I do
so in the spirit of, “It’s not upon you to complete the task.
But, neither are you free to desist from it.”</span></span><span style="color: red;">(1)</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Still,
even while accepting my own reservations, I humbly implore God that what I am
expressing is the truth. I sincerely hope it's the truth.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western"><br />
<br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Chapter
1</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">While
Adam and Eve strolled the Garden of Eden, the universe was not yet
physical. It materialized into its present physical form when they
ate from the forbidden fruit. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(2)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">If
the universe Adam and Eve inhabited was not physical, then what was
it? It was highly spiritual. Interestingly, the realm inhabited by
the snake was not physical either. It too was spiritual, though it
was much closer to being physical, as it was spiritually lower. The
tree of knowledge served as a tenuous link between the two realms by
which the snake could make contact with those who approached the
tree.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">As
a result of eating the forbidden fruit, the two realms mashed and mixed together
into a single realm becoming the physical universe we know of today.
This is how Adam and Eve were "chased out" of the Garden.
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(3)</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">The
world around them simply became physical. It was no longer a
“garden”. Obviously, Adam and Eve no longer looked the same
either. Previously, they were clothed in spiritual light. Now, they
were clothed in skin.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(4)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Although
I have not seen this written anywhere, it's my own understanding that
the reason why mixing the realms made our universe physical is
because Adam and Eve’s realm and the snake’s realm were very incompatible
with each other. Imagine bringing together two dancers trained in
very different styles of dancing to dance with each other. Their
tedious efforts to synchronize their movements will slow them down.
Similarly, the elements of Adam’s realm and the snake’s realm
were so vastly different that they didn’t “dance well together”.
Each slowed down the other. The slower the movement the more concrete
an entity becomes. For example, solid is harder than liquid, gas or
energy because the molecules in solid aren’t moving as freely. As
molecular movement slows down, substances harden, becoming more
concrete.</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><span style="color: red;">(5)</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Since
Adam and Eve were not initially created physically, but rather as
inhabitants of Eden, it logically follows that their experience of
space and time was also very different from our own. In our current
state, we are incapable of understanding what space and time was like
for them. The very same notion in its own way applies to the space
and time in the snake’s realm as well. Their experiences of space
and time there were unique to each of their respective universes.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: 14pt;">Chapter
2</span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">There
was something else very unique about Adam and Eve’s Edenic
dwelling. It literally sat in the very center of the entire creation,
like the hub of a giant wheel.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Jewish
mysticism has a layered view of the universes. According to this view
the universe is conceptually depicted as layers of an onion.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(6)</span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">There
is a large outer sphere encompassing a slightly smaller sphere, which
in turn encompasses an even slightly smaller sphere. This process of
“sphere within the sphere” continues until reaching the center
sphere – which at the time of creation was Adam’s and Eve’s
universe. A two dimensional representation of this would look like a
classical archery target with our universe being the bull’s eye.
Each of these spheres is referred to as a “universe”. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(7)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Naturally,
each universe is inhabited by creatures that match its own spiritual
level. Accordingly, angels inhabit outer universes and animals
inhabit the innermost one. This establishes a spiritual hierarchy of
universes and creatures, a spectrum with those higher up having much
less limitation and those closer to the center beginning to feel the
crunch of limitation. This progression continues until the centermost
universe, where the crunch is most intense. Levels of “freedom
versus limitation” is a clear distinguishing factor between beings
inhabiting universes of different levels.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">The
Eden in which Adam and Eve strolled along was nested like a
glistening pearl in the center of all universes. As the center of all
creation, the attention of all creation was centered on them. Once
they ingested the forbidden fruit, their universe mixed with the
snake’s. Consequently, their universe densified into physical form
and was pulled off center, entering a state of exile. It turned
physical and was dragged off to the side of emanated/created reality.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Sidelined!
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(8)(9)</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Everything
in Kabbalah tends to be a repeating pattern. Following along with the
style of these patterns, it makes sense that if the universe which
contained Eden was sidelined, then Eden itself was sidelined within
its own universe. Like shapes in fractal mathematics, in Kabbalah,
macro and micro levels tend to mirror each other.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">So,
what happened to Eden? Well, it became what we call today planet
earth. Originally, this entity sat in the center of the universe. It
was not a planet, a star, a galaxy or anything else known by today’s
astronomers. After eating the fruit, it degraded into a “planet”, a word which
derives from the Greek word for “wanderer”</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(10),</span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">and it wandered off into a state of exile.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Clearly,
the Torah teaches us that there were astronomical bodies at the time
Adam and Eve inhabited the Garden of Eden. But, nowhere does it say
that the Garden of Eden existed as an entity like the other
astronomical bodies. Only, upon degradation did the Garden of Eden
turn into a planet, a wanderer.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">This
transformation of Eden paralleled Adam and Eve’s own
transformation. They lost something of their original divine radiance
to become more animal-like.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(11)</span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">The
universe’s constellations relate to animal nature. That’s why
they’re called Zodiac, sharing the same Greek root as the word
Zoology. Now, their habitation was tossed into exile, among the wider
field of constellations, wandering among the very energy centers
transmitting vibes of animal nature.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">The
situation was the reverse of the original state. Whereas, once
everything orbited around the original habitation of humanity, now
planet earth was reduced to orbiting some of its previous orbiters and even orbiting an orbiter of an orbiter. Thus, earth now orbits the sun
and the sun is on its own track orbiting something else.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">This
is another symptom of the exile. It reminds me how the true center of
humanity should be an amazing Torah sage. All humanity should orbit
around such a person to receive from his spirituality and wisdom.
Instead in his own generation, the great Maimonides was forced to
orbit around the Grand Vizier al-Qadi al Fadil who himself orbited
around Saladin. Not to disparage these men at all, but if humanity
were in a truly elevated state, it’s the great Torah sage who is
the center of humanity’s attention, not great warriors. He’s
either the Messiah or a Messiah-like figure whom they serve with
warrior-like gusto.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Chapter
3</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto reports that the physical nature of our universe
will remain until the year 8,000 on the Jewish Calendar.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">(12)</span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">
</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">We’re
now in the year 5,782 and we have a tradition that the Messiah is
supposed to arrive at any time before the year 6,000. So, how will a
messianic era occur without the universe sublimating its physical
form and without earth returning to its place in the center?</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">The
answer is that the messianic era occurs in stages. Until the year
8,000 there will be many stages. Each will be a vast improvement over
the previous one. Among these stages is the arrival of the Messiah,
followed later by the resurrection, followed later by a period where
the soul dominates the body, etc. These series of transformations
represent a transformative journey. Human destiny is not a goal,
rather it’s an ever improving journey through time, space and soul.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">At
some stage in the journey, we’ll be back to where Adam and Eve were
when they strolled the Garden of Eden. But even that’s not the
destination, as the journey pleasantly continues on, on and on ...</span></span></span></span></p><p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Chapter 4</span></span></span></span></p><p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">Kabbalah teaches that when a lower universe emerges from a higher universe, the higher universe continues to exist. It does not go away. Like a mother nurturing a child she birthed, the higher universe continues to provide for the lower universe, in the form of spiritual light, life, wisdom, influence and abundance. Therefore, Adam and Eve's universe co-exists with ours, nurturing it, a state which will continue until our universe merges back into the womb of its source universe.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">For centuries, maybe longer, astrologers wondered what is the basis for astrology, by what means does it work. Certainly, the question is stronger post-Copernicus when the geocentric Ptolemaic model of the universe is no longer popular, as astrology seems to fit better with the Ptolemaic model.</span></p><p class="western" style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">It's interesting that the great Torah sages of the past were also invested in the Ptolemaic model. One may dismiss this by quoting Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's essay on Aggadot that our sages often used the sciences of their day as parables to convey mysteries of Torah, but that does not necessarily mean that they endorsed the ideas they quoted. </span><span style="color: red; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">(13)</span></p><p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">However, I would like to suggest the possibility that the Ptolemaic model reflects the universe of Adam and Eve, which still continues to exist on its own level. Somehow either Ptolemy and/or earlier masters intuited this model. There was something more than just celestial calculations at play. The astronomy/astrology he wrote about functions from the level of Adam's and Eve's universe. Then from there, as a mother nurturing her little child, its influence and abundance flows down to our own.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; background: transparent;">----------------O----------------</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p>
<p class="western"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>Endnotes:</u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1)
Avot 2:21</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2)
“<span style="font-weight: normal;">Knowing God’s Plan”, a
translation of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto’s “Da’at TeVunot”,
Feldheim Publishers, 2016, see pages 320, 440 and 441. Also, see the
Ari z”l’s </span>“<span style="font-weight: normal;">Shaar
HaPesukim”, Siman 2, Discourse 3.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">3)
</span>Genesis 3:23</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">4)
“Ben Ish Chai” commenting on the Torah portion of Braishit (first
year).</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">5)
I subsequently received oral confirmation for this idea from a known
Kabbalist. (I just don’t know whether I have permission to
publicize his name.)</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">6)
<span style="font-weight: normal;">A note to those studying Kabbalah:
I am only discussing </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">sefirot
igulim </span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">here – as they
are the chambers which are inhabited by beings.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">7)
</span>“<span style="font-weight: normal;">Sefer Etz Chaim”,
“Shaar Igulim V’Yosher”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">8)
</span>Along with several surrounding universes, affected by
association.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">9)
See Page 3 of Rav Yaakov Akiva Shisha’s diagrams for his commentary
on “Otzrot Chaim”. It’s diagram 1. Also, see its footnote # 8.
Also, see </span></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Rav Shisha’s source, </span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">“Eifah Shelaima” to “Sha’ar HaNikudim”, chapter
3, section 1.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">10)
“The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language”, by
American Heritage Publishing Co, 1969, Page 1002, see entry to define
“Planet”.( Remember that a Torah scroll written in classical
Greek is considered Kosher. Accordingly, this language might be
somewhat reliable for deriving spiritual meanings.)</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">11)
See “Pri Tzadik” of Rebbe Tzodok HaCohen of Lublin on the Holiday
of Tu B’Shvat where he quotes the Midrash which describes Adam’s
anguished cry of being reduced, no longer being nourished exclusively
from trees, but now having to eat what grows from the ground like an
animal.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">12)
“Sefer HaK’lalim, K’lalim Reshonim”, see section 9. In the
Friedlander edition page 254.</span></span></span></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">13) "The Elucidated Maamarei HaRamchal" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Elucidated by Rabbi Abba Tzvi Naiman, a project of the Zichron Yaakov Eliyahu Fund, published in 2014. See pages </span></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">207 and 208.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p><br /></div>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-78698645234770139182021-11-14T15:07:00.008-05:002021-11-14T15:30:02.351-05:00Purity of Imagination<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emunah [faith] is the initial spotting of holiness upon the screen of a purifying imagination. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As purity increases, richer spottings of Ruach HaKodesh [divine inspiration] may follow next, a thick layering of holy intuition.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Further purification may polish the screen, so brilliantly, that it reflects images of Nevuah [prophecy], in the ripeness of time.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">———————O——————</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-54463562326348235622021-11-07T17:12:00.002-05:002021-11-07T17:16:32.410-05:00An Inside Job<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6ede6baf-7fff-7ac0-1112-c7e866e485ca" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6ede6baf-7fff-7ac0-1112-c7e866e485ca" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cozying around a friend’s Shabbat table, I met a fellow guest. She had converted to Judaism and became an ardent follower of Breslov teachings. I asked her, “What’s the difference between what faith meant in your former religion and what it means to you today in Judaism?”</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She responded, “It seems to me that in my former religion, faith was something imposed upon me from the outside. In Judaism, faith [Emunah] seems to come from the inside.”</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #a61c00; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">——-————-O——————-</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p> </p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-25800007387251090482021-10-25T01:06:00.002-04:002021-10-31T23:27:49.243-04:00Imagination<p><span style="color: white; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><i style="background-color: #6fa8dc;">The extent of one's Emunah depends on the purity of one's imaginative faculties.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: white;"><i style="background-color: #6fa8dc;">~Rebbe Nathan of Nemirov</i></span></span></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-89798394980300949572021-10-17T17:40:00.002-04:002021-10-17T17:45:34.227-04:00Torah from Outer Space<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Years ago, I read the following Q&A posed by Rebbe Tzodok HaCohen: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If God created the universe for people to live the Torah, why is the universe so massive, wouldn’t a much smaller universe do for such purposes? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">He answered: One day we’ll learn new mysteries of Torah from what’s discovered in outer space.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">—————O————</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-77299831178637009372021-10-10T17:02:00.005-04:002021-10-14T15:47:20.319-04:00To Coalesce the Seas<p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Zohar’s prediction came true that circa 5,600 on the Jewish calendar the “floodgates from above” and “wellsprings from below” will open up and flood humanity. The flood it referred to is a flood of two types of wisdom. The “floodgates from above” refers to the mystical wisdom, the Kabbalah. The “wellsprings from below” refers to the various secular wisdoms, such as science, medicine and technology. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This flood has produced seas of wisdom which have been growing and growing ever since. There are educational institutions dedicated entirely to mystical wisdom and those dedicated entirely to secular wisdom. Each side seems to be growing in near isolation from the other. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I wonder when a unique institution which will blend the two of them together will be formed. Isn’t it time for the two seas to coalesce into one greater sea, one more potent and glorious than the sum of each alone? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s understandable that a boy and girl require years to grow and develop in isolation from each other. They can’t be introduced at infancy or even in late childhood, as that would be counterproductive. They need time to mature, to become properly polar opposites to each other. But, at some point marriage is truly meant to happen. There needs to be a marriage here between mystical and earthly wisdom. They’ve been in isolation from each other long enough, a state unhealthy to maintain longer than absolutely necessary.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Who's the matchmaker? Which institution wants to take up this historic role, one which will forever ensconce it in the annals of humanity?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Just asking … don’t rush all at once. After all, it’s only the very destiny of the entire human race which is at stake here, a minor concern. Right?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">———————-O——————-</span></p><p><br /></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-60022018205292275462021-09-20T02:44:00.001-04:002021-09-27T20:31:38.197-04:00Sukkah<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-52cfddda-7fff-d349-752d-bcce5ea5f55b"><br></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-b3c529cd-7fff-d3be-0435-b343cb483f0c">Have you ever wondered why was it ok to have a Tabernacle in the desert, outside of the Holy Land? I have wondered for years. Of course, there's the simple answer of that's what God wanted. While true for every Mitzvah, I craved an answer which addresses this one uniquely.</p><p dir="ltr">Recently, my yearning to know was answered by the Zohar in Emor which describes the unique role of the clouds of glory. Apparently, the atmosphere of the desert was spiritually impure, much too impure for a Tabernacle. The clouds of glory surrounded the encampment from all sides, enveloping it in an energy field of holiness and thus, served as a enroute proxy for the Holy Land, allowing the Tabernacle along with all its rituals to function. </p><p dir="ltr">The sukkah is a vessel to receive the clouds of glory. They may be invisible to us, but to the spiritually sensitive eyes of our ancestors (and even their foes) they were highly visible. The sukkah forms an area that even in diaspora carries the holiness which once enveloped our ancestors in the desert. Those tuned in can feel it. It's literally a divine embrace. </p><p dir="ltr">Normative resistances to spiritual elevation are utterly absent in a sukkah. Every act we do in a sukkah is vastly more enveloped in holiness than it would be outside of one. It's an atmosphere reeking with spiritual transparency! If this is true even for seemingly mundane activities, such as eating and sleeping, how much more so for openly holy ones such as meditation, prayer and Torah study! </p><p dir="ltr">Imagine, how much higher you can ascend in meditation while in a sukkah!</p><p dir="ltr">Imagine, how much clearer is the mind to absorb Torah concepts while in a sukkah!</p><p dir="ltr">Imagine, how much easier it is to emote a sincere prayer while in a sukkah!</p><p dir="ltr">Imagine, how kindness flows with an unusual ease while in a sukkah!</p><p dir="ltr">So, let's appreciate the gift of the sukkah and spend as much time as possible in them. Chag Same'ach!!!!!</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">------------------❤----------------</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr"> </p><p dir="ltr"><br><br></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-58637149111986471822021-08-08T21:12:00.001-04:002021-08-08T21:20:46.453-04:00Center Point<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-dc1f940e-7fff-3df2-7e6a-fc1fe1c998f1">Rabbi Isaac Luria explained that the nascent beginnings of created reality occurred in the "center point" of the Infinite Light. But how does Infinity have a "center"?<br></p><p dir="ltr">There are two answers which I have traditionally heard.</p><ol><li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">It means an apparent center. If an observer could have stood on the spot at the moment of the event and looked all around, it would seem like the center of the Infinite Light. </p></li><li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">It does not mean the center of the Infinite Light at all. Rather, it means the future center of the "vacated space" after it has expanded outward ten times. </p></li></ol><p dir="ltr">What's written in works of Torah often has multiple meanings, all simultaneously true. So, while I cherish the two explanations above, I would like to offer a third explanation which I find more personally satisfying. Firstly, it will refer to a real "center", not an apparent one. And secondly, it refers to a "center" actually within the Infinite Light; which fits better with the more straightforward understanding of the Lurianic text. </p><p dir="ltr">The Infinite Light seamlessly contains all which will follow. This includes the notion of "center", which also implies the notion of beginning and end; i.e. the basic features of all which bear limitation. To prepare the groundwork for creation, the first stage was to bring forth this notion of limitation, "center", from its nullified state within the seamlessness of the Infinite Light. Once the basis for limitation has been brought forth, the creation could begin.</p><p dir="ltr">It seems to me that this is the notion of "center" to which Rabbi Isaac Lurianic was most directly referring to. </p><p dir="ltr">-----------------O---------------</p><br><br><br><br>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-23028254528146771902021-05-21T16:44:00.001-04:002021-05-21T16:44:58.597-04:00Consciousness<div><br></div>Somebody asks on Facebook whether God has consciousness.<div><br></div><div>My response:</div><div><br></div><div>This question reminds me of Psalm 94:9, "Does not the One who plants the ear, hear and the One who forms the eye, see?" As an extension, I would say, "Is not the One who gifts consciousness, conscious?"</div><div><br></div><div>---------------O--------------</div>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-47870859885912425952021-05-06T01:51:00.001-04:002021-05-06T01:51:29.522-04:00Personal & Communal Prayers<p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr">Rebbe Nachman taught that it's good for a person to have a non-structured conversation with God on a daily basis for about an hour - a time for personal prayer. I find, for myself, that one of the interesting affects of this practice is that it improves my communal prayer as well.<br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Why? </p>
<p dir="ltr">My soul seems to yearn for both kinds of prayer. And by allowing each it's own outlet, the other has breathing space to flourish on its own unique terms.<br><br>-----------o-----------</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-85730656591337372512021-02-14T23:43:00.002-05:002021-02-14T23:43:40.181-05:00The Main "Shechinah"<p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">God's revelation which fills the world is known as the "Shechinah", from the Hebrew word "Shochen" which alternatively means <i>neighbor</i> or <i>to dwell</i>. The idea is that God, so to speak, <i>dwells</i> in a sacred place. As the Lubavitcher Rebbe pointed out, during his inaugural address (upon accepting his role), the term "Shechinah" is a very relative term. Each level of reality has its own level indwelling divine presence. Even on our lowly earthly level the "Shechinah" is more powerfully present in certain places than others. There's an unequal distribution, leading to certain areas being holier than others. Generally speaking, the higher the level of reality the more intense is the revelation of God's presence, the "Shechinah".</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Yet, during the address, the Rebbe hit his audience with a surprisingly new and astounding concept. He went on to explain that though there are many, many levels of "Shechinah", counterintuitively the highest level of "Shechinah" is destined to dwell in the lowest possible receptacle; namely, on our earthly level, within us and amongst us. He referred to this highest level as the "main Shechinah" and identified it with a yet to be manifest level of the Infinite Light.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Furthermore, he noted that earth-based consciousness shares something in common with God, an absolute sense of independence. In theory, one can look about the physical universe and never realize that it's existence depends on a higher source. Other than God Himself, no entity in all the other levels of reality exist with such a feeling. There are no atheists among the angels, even among the lowest of them. While it is true that the capacity for such a feeling is produced by an illusion, still its existence needs to be sourced somewhere above; following the mystical principle of, "As below, so above". By process of elimination, there is only one available source for this sensation, God Himself. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Diverging from the Rebbe's explanation to introduce a compatible principle I learned from the Ashlag school: In spiritual space, <i>similarity</i> affects closeness and <i>dissimilarity</i> affects distance. All spiritual levels of reality is <i>dissimilar </i>to God in a major way, as they all feel that their existence is dependent on an entity beyond. It's only earthly reality, with a blatant <i>no strings attached</i> sensation and attitude, who share a bond of <i>similarity</i> with God Himself, as expressed in the "Main Shechinah". Though this sensation and it's resulting attitude is the product of an illusion, it's still a manifestation of a truth existing in God Himself.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">How does the highest revelation reaching the lowest receptacle possibly play out in the cosmic system of Lurianic Kabbalah?</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">What I am about to present is likely "too high for me". I will do my best and leave it to the great sages of Jewish mystical thought to determine whether what I present is the truth.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Going back to the cosmic beginnings as described in the work "Etz Chaim", at first there was only Infinite Light. Then the Infinite Light withdrew in uniform fashion, leaving a spherically shaped empty space; whose purpose was to house all subsequent levels of reality, spiritual and physical. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">(Obviously, this description cannot be literal, as it suggests the development of a gap within the Infinite Light, which would undermine the whole notion of infinity. Jewish mystics have wrestled with this problem for centuries. Most have concluded that from the perspective of the Infinite Light, the withdrawal never really happened. Thus, the Infinite Light remains whole without any gaps. However, from the perspective of created beings the withdrawal of the Infinite Light feels real. It's like the relationship between a dream character and a dreamer. From the dream character's perspective, the dreamscape is real. From the dreamer's perspective, it never really even happened. In solving this paradox, the Jewish mystics came up with the original theory of relativity.)</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">After the withdrawal, a lingering trace of Infinite Light remained behind; an afterglow of what once was. There are two ways to view this afterglow. The usual view is that it's just the insignificant leftovers of the Infinite Light. The way one Kabbalist described it to me is to imagine the immense ocean. Within that vastness exists a tiny air bubble. Contained within that tiny air bubble is a slight wisp of moisture. That slight wisp of moisture in relation to the great ocean is a parable to the relationship between the afterglow and the Infinite Light. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">However, the Lubavitch school prefers a different way to view the afterglow. It's a survivor! It survived the withdrawal, indicating that it was much too powerful for the withdrawal to have any affect on it. Thus, it must derive from the highest aspect of the Infinite Light. In effect, the whole process of the withdrawal acts a distillation of the Infinite Light to bring forth the afterglow - a distilled essence!</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Combining the view of the Lubavitch school with the notion that the withdrawal of the Infinite Light repeated another nine times, it might be possible to say that the level of afterglow present in our physical universe is a distillation of a distillation of a distillation... or an afterglow of an afterglow of an afterglow... Here's how.</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Reb Shlomo Antebi taught me that the withdrawal repeated another nine times. As with a trunk of a tree, each expansion outward left a ring in its wake, which delineates the previous outer boundary. However, unlike a tree where the rings are cylindrical, here the rings are entirely spherical; roughly like the layers of an onion. This demonstrates that the previous outer boundaries never entirely disappear (and indeed they play a role later on in the cosmic process serving as channels to guide the lights of the "circular sefirot" in a circular/spherical manner).</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">From the outside, what motivated another nine withdrawals of the Infinite Light or from the inside, nine outward expansions of the afterglow? I cannot say for sure. However, with God's help I tentatively posit is that just like so much else in the cosmic process what first appears on scene requires further refinement to remove what does not entirely belong. Thus, it's possible that the afterglow came mixed in with strains of divine light which did not entirely feel capable of carrying on without a dependency on, a connection with, their origin beyond the outer membrane of the emptied space. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In response, these strains of light pulled away from the center and congregated along the inner wall of the membrane, pushing outward to their source - just like one banging on the wall of a trap hoping that someone outside will respond. In response, the Infinite Light on the outside withdrew again. In the wake of its withdrawal, new kinds of afterglow lights were introduced into the emptied space, which unified with some of the strains who yearned to return back to the Infinite Light; pacifying them. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">However, not every strain was paired off. Accordingly, the processing repeated itself again and again. Each time, some level of internal afterglow was matched up with a newly introduced level of afterglow and thus, pacified. The process that I imagine in my mind at this moment could be even more dynamic than this. It could be that some of what was "introduced and matched" soon lose their state of satisfaction and push outward for something more. Pretty soon what was a single sphere of emptied space, filled with one generic grade of afterglow, expanded into series of ten concentric spheres, each filled with its own unique grade of afterglow. Thus, the afterglow redistributed with only the strain bearing the greatest sense of independence nestled in the center of all the surrounding spheres; for it has not moved from its place to seek connection. Such is the nature of being independent. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Perhaps, there was a limit to how many times the membrane around the empty space could stretch outward. Accordingly, the Infinite Light's efforts to satisfy any further needs for connection required a new approach. Thus, a thin tenuous channel of light was introduced into the empty space. Still, centermost sphere where the afterglow is strongest resisted the inflow of this channel of light. Feeling highly independent, she did not yearn for even a connection flowing downward into her zone. Rather than passively receive it, she actively resisted it by enclosing herself in a protective husk. Who is she holding out for? Whose her true match?</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">She loyally awaits an aspect of the Infinite Light which reflects God's own sense of independence, what the Lubavitcher Rebbe referred to as the Main "Shechinah". It's what she's uniquely a vessel for. When that unique aspect flows down the channel, she opens up. Thus, at that time God's own sense of independence will be manifest down here. </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">What's our contribution to the process? Holy folly! </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">------------O-----------</span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-47468136663254962792021-01-28T17:21:00.005-05:002021-01-28T17:26:49.705-05:00In the Garden<p><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><i>In the Garden of Eden, all food was fruit. One would eat fruit and instantly enlighten with new knowledge. The two acts, eating and learning, parted ways only afterwards.</i></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">~Rebbe Tzodok HaCohen</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-34035517924985029272021-01-27T16:53:00.002-05:002021-01-27T17:29:12.991-05:00י-ה-ו-ה (the "Essential Name") <p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-70032953-7fff-3820-570e-4a273d421bdd"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-70032953-7fff-3820-570e-4a273d421bdd"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The other week's Torah portion begins with God telling Moses, "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with the name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">א-ל ש-די</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> (literally, "Almighty Power"), but by name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> (the "Essential Name") I did not become known to them." (Exodus 6:3)<br /></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> I have a few questions on this:</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> 1) The name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> denotes God as He chooses to act beyond the constraints of nature. Can we truly say that the supernatural miracles which our Patriarchs benefited from were not considered "above nature"?</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> 2) In Judaism the prophetic experience is very tied in with the name </span><span style="font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="font-size: medium;">. To the best of my knowledge, our Patriarchs were second only to Moses in prophecy. How could they not have had encounters with the name </span><span style="font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> when they entered into prophecy?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> 3) It seems likely that what God was relating to Moses was not only for him, but for the entire Israelite nation. How can ordinary Israelites be treated to a spiritual experience which was denied to the Patriarchs, when the Patriarchs were much greater prophets than they were?</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Perhaps, an answer could be that when God addressed Moses, He was not referring to the revelation of the name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> in the higher worlds, as experienced in prophecy. Rather, God was referring to the consistent revelation of His name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">down here on earth. The consistency of this name's earthly revelation did not happen for the Patriarchs, even with occasional miracles. It's a consistency which can only occur through the Torah.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The ability to access God as He acts "down here" by the name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">, began during the period of the Exodus from Egypt, when the Torah began to become a reality in every Israelite's life. Through the Torah, every Israelite was given the ability to access God as He is beyond nature even if His own response ends up clothed within nature.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This has nothing necessarily to do with being "spiritual". The name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> is about having a close relationship with God. It's about love! Often, what's "spiritual" is another version of the natural, which simply plays by a different set of rules and considerations. That kind of "spiritual" was the expertise of Pharaohs' sorcerers. Hence, it's not surprising that Pharaoh did not know God's name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">However, when someone is in a relationship with God and knows that nature is just Him presented differently, then it seems to me that such a person is experiencing the name </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">י-ה-ו-ה</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">. Even within nature, such a person has an active relationship with God's reality beyond nature.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><br /></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">-------------O----------- </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-78303685513502924782021-01-03T06:48:00.071-05:002021-01-18T19:19:24.546-05:00A Golden Mountain and Pearl Castle<p></p><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.17in; margin-top: 0.17in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span>In
the first of thirteen tales authored by Rebbe Nachman of
Breslov, there is an image of a golden mountain and a pearl castle. There, a lost princess awaits discovery by the King's, her father's, viceroy. After </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">a couple of near misses, </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">part of an exhaustive and adventurous search, a wind eventually carries the
viceroy to the place of the golden mountain and pearl castle. There,
Rebbe Nachman assures us that he finds her, though he does not
explain how. My hunch is that he left that part of the story for the
Messiah to fill in.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.17in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span>The
imagery of the story is beautifully explained by successive
generations of Rebbe Nachman’s followers. However, recently there
dawned on me a new interpretation of the golden mountain and pearl
castle; one which uniquely resonates for me and </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span>seems</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span>
entirely consistent with Rebbe Nachman’s teachings.</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.17in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span>The golden mountain might represent </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span><i>Torah</i></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span>
and the pearl castle might represent </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span><i>prayer</i></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span>.
Gold is a precious item which is produced by a process of continual refinement.
It’s melted, melted again and again until reaching a state purity which utterly abandons any trace of impurity. Only then,
is it considered suitably precious. Such is the nature of Torah. It’s
a continuous discussion and debate, a purification process which
abandons any trace of falsehood, to expose God’s truth for humanity.</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.17in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In
contrast, a pearl is created around a speck of impurity. It's creation is stimulated by an oyster protecting
itself from being irritated by the impurity. Despite its exquisite beauty, at the heart
of a pearl lay its impurity; entirely intact. Such is the nature of
prayer. It builds around what irritates a person. Prayer does not
wash or burn away the impurity which stimulated it. Quite the
contrary, prayer incorporates it and builds layer upon layer around it.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.17in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Thus,
the golden mountain and pearl castle, represent the twin forces of
Torah and prayer; the unity of mind and the heart reaching out to God, each in
their own style. </span></span></p><p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.17in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Though the story does not literally say it this way,
I imagine that the pearl castle is perched on top of the golden
mountain, the way the Holy Temple is perched on top of Mount Moriah.
This would place what’s constructed of pearl above what’s solidified of gold, indicating in a
certain sense, a supremacy of prayer over Torah. Perhaps, the
supremacy comes from prayer’s ability to include impurities in a
way which Torah can’t; thus, elevating what’s truly lowly.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.17in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p align="left" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.17in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">--------------------------O------------------------</span></span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p><br /><p></p>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432633271282355020.post-40390757189247088962020-12-08T19:53:00.003-05:002020-12-09T14:05:38.919-05:00"Kiruv" Work<div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><i>It dawned on me that when I learn deeper Torah, I am actually doing "kiruv" work. </i></span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><i>I am doing it on myself!</i></span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">-----------✡🕎✡----------</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Chonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10279879507351594239noreply@blogger.com1