Levels

Us above,

  Shared soul,

    Same goal.

Us below,

  Different souls,

    Different goals.

——O——

A Prayer for Words

 As my pen is filled with ink,

  Please fill my heart with words;

Words to pray, to write, to speak,

  Words to make plans, to heal, to inspire.

At times, I feel like my heart,

  Is a pen so desperately dry.

The page is blank, yearning for words,

  Yet my heart fails to satisfy her.

Please fill my heart’s inkwell,

  Let his words open hearts and heavens

——————O——————

“Isru Chag”

 A brief thought:

The day after a Jewish Holiday is called “Isru Chag”, which literally means to “bind the Holiday”. 

Aside from the technical reason for the name, which has to do with the Temple service, it dawned on me that perhaps there can also be another, more personal meaning, for the name. During the Holidays we stretch ourselves to attain that unique Holiday consciousness. When the Holiday concludes, we need to go back to our normative lives. There can be, and ought to be, a gap between these two states of consciousness. But it’s not the way of Judaism to allow such a gap to remain.

So on this day, we “bind” the consciousness of the Holiday to our normative lives. We download the light of Holiday consciousness into the vessels of our normative lives, infusing our normative lives with that wonderful expansiveness which only a Holiday can provide. We literally “bind the Holiday”.

To what? To our normative lives! 

Taking a Ride

 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. 

Each has its own unique place. At times, imagination can ignite imagination.

—————O—————

New Male/Female Paradigm

 Absolute Infinity is neither endlessly contracted nor endlessly expanded, neither infinitely small nor infinitely large. Rather it subsumes both tendencies in seamless transcendence.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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

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. 

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.

               ————-o————

There’s More to Me

There’s more to Me,

Than the Me I see.

For I am a roaring Nile,

Caught up in self denial.

Such is the story of a soul,

A vast and supreme whole,

Reaching into a tiny hole,

While pursuing a divine goal.

Yet, the Me crunched inside of, 

the hole,

Pines to know the Me beyond,

that’s whole.

 

-——O——-

The Fruit of Time

Unlike what it may seem, 

the future vast

is NOT the fruit of 

father past 

impregnating 

the present flash.

Rather, 

the “fruit of time” 

is the present flash,

borne of

father past 

impregnating 

mother,

future vast.

———-O———

The Saintly Dispute

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.

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.

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. 

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.

   ————O————

You & i

שמע ישראל…

There’s no outside You,

  There’s no inside You.

 Thus, there’s only You!

ברוך שם…

Fragmentation only exists,

  As an illusion which persists.

ואהבתה…

You and i will never part,

  If i but grasp this in my heart.

————O———

Synagogue Speech, Final Evening of Passover 5782

Speech notes:

• 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?

• 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. 

• 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.

• 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.

• 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”. 

• 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.

• 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.

• 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)

• 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?

• 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. 

• 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.

• One of my favorite Tanya teachers, Rabbi Y.Y. Jacobson told me, “Do not confuse who God is with how He’s experienced”.

• 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.

• 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. 

• 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?

• 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.

• 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.

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.

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. 

However, their point is well taken and serves as a possible candidate for a future speech if given the opportunity.

————-O————

 

Repeating Patterns

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. 

Because of the principle of "as below, so above", these repeating patterns also exist in the spiritual worlds (on those world's own terms).

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. 

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.

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.

Chag Kosher V'Same'ach! 🫓 🍷😊🍷🫓🍷😊🍷🫓😊👍🏻

“If/Then” Coding

 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. 

Sometimes people wonder whether their holy intentions, good deeds and prayers can change anything after that.

My thoughts are as follows. If a computer program can be rigged with a series of if/then statements then certainly the divine plan for our year can be similarly rigged in such a way. 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.

—————O————-

Beyond 7

Which classics of art and music will endure once humans see more than seven colors and hear more than seven notes?

Hmmmmm…

     ————O————

Once (Again) Geocentric

Preface:

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.

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.

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.”(1)

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.

Chapter 1

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. (2)

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.

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. (3) 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. (4)

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. (5)

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.

Chapter 2

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.

Jewish mysticism has a layered view of the universes. According to this view the universe is conceptually depicted as layers of an onion. (6)  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”. (7)

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.

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. Sidelined! (8)(9)

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.

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” (10), and it wandered off into a state of exile.

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.

This transformation of Eden paralleled Adam and Eve’s own transformation. They lost something of their original divine radiance to become more animal-like. (11) 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.

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.

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.

Chapter 3

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto reports that the physical nature of our universe will remain until the year 8,000 on the Jewish Calendar. (12) 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?

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.

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 ...

Chapter 4

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.

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.

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. (13)

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.

----------------O----------------

Endnotes:

1) Avot 2:21

2) “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 “Shaar HaPesukim”, Siman 2, Discourse 3.

3) Genesis 3:23

4) “Ben Ish Chai” commenting on the Torah portion of Braishit (first year).

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.)

6) A note to those studying Kabbalah: I am only discussing sefirot igulim here – as they are the chambers which are inhabited by beings.

7) “Sefer Etz Chaim”, “Shaar Igulim V’Yosher”

8) Along with several surrounding universes, affected by association.

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 Rav Shisha’s source, “Eifah Shelaima” to “Sha’ar HaNikudim”, chapter 3, section 1.

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.)

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.

12) “Sefer HaK’lalim, K’lalim Reshonim”, see section 9. In the Friedlander edition page 254.

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 207 and 208.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Purity of Imagination

Emunah [faith] is the initial spotting of holiness upon the screen of a purifying imagination. 

As purity increases, richer spottings of Ruach HaKodesh [divine inspiration] may follow next, a thick layering of holy intuition.

Further purification may polish the screen, so brilliantly, that it reflects images of Nevuah [prophecy], in the ripeness of time.

———————O——————

An Inside Job

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?”

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.”

——-————-O——————-

 

Imagination

The extent of one's Emunah depends on the purity of one's imaginative faculties.

~Rebbe Nathan of Nemirov

Torah from Outer Space

Years ago, I read the following Q&A posed by Rebbe Tzodok HaCohen: 

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? 

He answered: One day we’ll learn new mysteries of Torah from what’s discovered in outer space.

—————O————

To Coalesce the Seas

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. 

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. 

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? 

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.

Who's the matchmaker? Which institution wants to take up this historic role, one which will forever ensconce it in the annals of humanity?

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?

———————-O——————-

Sukkah

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.

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. 

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. 

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!  

Imagine, how much higher you can ascend in meditation while in a sukkah!

Imagine, how much clearer is the mind to absorb Torah concepts while in a sukkah!

Imagine, how much easier it is to emote a sincere prayer while in a sukkah!

Imagine, how kindness flows with an unusual  ease while in a sukkah!

So, let's appreciate the gift of the sukkah and spend as much time as possible in them. Chag Same'ach!!!!!

------------------❤----------------