Both Hands

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On the one hand, the Creator did not create the universe to totally flow by the predictable laws of nature. This would leave us with the impression that our world is unconnected and self contained. Such a notion that could open a door for atheism.

On the other hand, He did not create the universe to totally flow by the unfathomable spiritual forces. While the constancy of such open miracles would overwhelm us with His reality, it would leave us with no means to relate to Him. A relationship presupposes communication on a shared level.

To be in a relationship with us, the Creator combined both approaches. Thus, avoiding the downside of each. Mostly the universe flows naturally, to provide us with a means to grasp His ways. Yet, every so often He throws in the unfathomable - to keep us from being lulled away from Him by nature's facade of self containment.

~ paraphrased from "The Knowing Heart" by Rabbi Luzzatto

Opposite Within - a Purim thought

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During the ritualized public reading of the "Book of Esther" on Purim, its customary for the reader to chant several select phrases in the doleful dirge of the "Book of Lamentations", a text read on the 9th of Av. These select phrases are passing reminders of sad events, slipped into a story with very happy overtones. Yet, the “Book of Lamentations” does not reciprocate. On the 9th of Av, there are no verses in the "Book of Lamentations" intoned to the cheerful chant of the "Book of Esther".

Why?

In the Creator’s creation everything has to incorporate something of its opposite in order to endure. There are many examples of this pattern. For instance, male typically contains a drop of female and female typically contains a drop of male. This is why in the yin/yang symbol, the white half has a black dot and the black side has a white dot. Since male/female is a cosmic pattern, throughout creation one finds this pattern of containing an opposite.

Without containing an opposite, dimensionality cannot develop. It’s in the dialogue with an inner opposite that an entity matures. Otherwise, it struggles for an elusive balance upon a single rickety leg of an extreme - a situation which is ultimately untenable.

Based on this pattern, for true tragedy to endure it must contain a drop of it’s own opposite, a drop of happiness and similarly, for true happiness to endure it must contain a drop of tragedy. Since we really want the celebration of Purim to endure, we allow it a touch of tragedy. Hence, we sprinkle the ritualized Purim reading with a few drops of dirge. However, since we do not want the tragedy of the 9th of Av to endure at all, we weaken its structure by excluding it’s opposite. We leave it as an unrealistic extreme - a stick figure with underdeveloped dimensionality. By reducing tragedy’s sustainability, we open a space to swiftly allow in the sweet lights of the Messiah.

Party on! Happy Purim to all :)

Worth It!

A Tidbit from the Zohar on this week's Torah portion:

When God wanted to create man, there were some heavenly politics. The angels asked in protest, "Who is man that you should be mindful of him...?" (Psalms 8:5) What they were saying was that man can be so flawed that he's not worth creating. Thankfully, God did not heed their protests and man was created.

At the beginning of Leviticus the Tabernacle was newly built and God called to Moses, inviting him to enter. The Hebrew word for "And He called" is "Vayikra". The Zohar notes that if you scramble the letters of "Vayikra" a new word appears, "Okir", which means to honor.

In keeping with the protocol not to honor a person to his/her face, when God openly said "Vayikra" to Moses, secretly He communicated "Okir" to the angels. With this he was telling them, "Look at the greatness and holiness of Moses. He ought to be honored. Wasn't man worth creating after all?"

Shabbat Shalom friends

I The Writer

Thank You for this opportunity to spend some time with You. 

A musician has one kind of keyboard and I have another kind, but I am no less an artist. He pierces the heart with beautiful sounds. I pierce the heart with beautiful words. Either way, another has tasted enhanced emotional resonance. 

As he thanks You for his divine gift, I thank You for mine. He the musician. I the writer.

~ O ~

A Session of Thanks

B”H

Dearest Sweet Beloved Divine Parent,

Happy Rosh Chodesh Adar Sheni!

Thank You for a beautiful Shabbat. Thank You for special time with the children. Thank You for Your constant kindness. Thank You for the constant experience of Your kindness. Just getting out of bed and feeling healthy is already an amazing experience of Your kindness. The seemingly simple is not so simple. The older we get, the more we appreciate it. There was a classical musician who composed a musical moment in a piece to represent sunrise in his youth and a second time in old age. The second representation was much grander than the first. Obviously, his appreciation of something that seems like it’s naturally on “automatic pilot” grew with age.

However, I feel that possibly the youth are blind or at least not too sensitive to the constant miracles of existence that comprise “normal life” because You want youth to be youth. You want their attention and focus elsewhere. They are in the stage of building their interests and life passions. They are in a stage where they’re building life skills - including interpersonal skills. Also, such appreciation of simplicity may require some life experience, which develops over the course of time.

So thank You for the seemingly simple things of life. Maybe, I don’t need to have deep cosmic knowledge to offer You thanks. There’s plenty to thank You for with the everyday around me that I see, feel, hear, taste and touch. There’s plenty to thank You for about the people in my life who care for me and love me. There’s plenty to thank You for about the simple physical, emotional and intellectual pleasures I experience. There’s plenty to thank You for over the technology that enhances my life - even for something as simple as indoor plumbing, let alone the internet. There’s plenty to thank You for regarding having a livelihood. There’s plenty to thank You for regarding having children.

I’m sure there’s plenty to thank You for regarding the cosmically higher realms and all they contain. However, I certainly have not exhausted thanking You for the miracles of life right within my perceptive proximity. Please help me thank You more for these and not escape off into the beyond. Ultimately, my interest in Jewish mysticism is about “regular people” learning the mystical knowledge necessary to usher in the messianic era in a state of love, without suffering. It is not an intellectual “ivory tower” quest of the rare Talmudic scholar or the initiate into the mysteries. So my interest in Jewish mysticism should be more on the user friendly side and incorporate a huge dose of daily regular life - just appreciating it more deeply.

Thank You for a session of thanks.

Love and Kisses ...  

  

The Meeting Place

The past several Torah portions (towards the end of Exodus), contain detailed architectural and financial measurements relating to the Tabernacle. Why so much emphasis on measurement?

Because the Tabernacle is where Immeasurable meets measurable.

Shabbat Shalom. :)

Spark in Dark,

Why Get Drunk on Purim? – a Kabbalistic perspective [1]

By Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Bagdad

And King Ahasuerus probed Queen Esther, “Who and where is he who filled his heart with such designs?”

And Esther responded, “This oppressor and enemy, this evil Haman!”

And Haman cringed in terror before the King and Queen.

~ Esther 7:5, 6

Wouldn’t it be more accurate for the verse to read, “This evil oppressor and enemy Haman!” rather than reading, “This oppressor and enemy, this evil Haman!”?

The current reading seems to exclude a “good Haman” [from Queen Esther’s accusation].  Is there such a thing as a “good Haman” and this was an “evil Haman”? Isn’t Haman one person - who’s evil, an oppressor and an enemy?

It appears appropriate to answer this question according to the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria of blessed memory.[2]  Here’s an excerpt in his words: [3]

The Talmud teaches that a person is supposed to get drunk on Purim to the point that he does not know the difference between cursing Haman and blessing Mordecai. [4] The intention of this teaching is that a dark force always contains a holy spark illuminating it and giving it life. This is why we need to say ‘blessed is Haman’ in order to draw the appropriate living light to this holy spark.

This is why the statement needs to be made unintentionally while drunk and unfocused. If one said this intentionally the dark forces [of Haman] will also become illuminated, heaven forefend.

Based on this teaching, it can be understood what our sages related that there were descendants of [Israel’s arch enemies,] Haman, Sennacherib and Sisera, who taught Torah to the masses. [5] This is because within each of these dark forces there had to be a single great spark of holiness. These Jewish sages, who taught Torah publicly, emerged from the holy spark within each of the dark forces.

It comes out that there was a great spark of holiness within the dark forces of Haman and Rabbi Shmuel bar Shilat emerged from the power of that spark, as he was from the descendants of Haman who taught Torah to the masses. It appears to be an allusion to this in the Hebrew letters comprising the name Haman. [In Hebrew Haman is spelled with the letters “Heh”, “Mem” and “Nun”.] When each of the letters were fully spelled out, the filled in letters also spell out “Haman”. This is how: “Heh” is spelled “Heh-Heh”, “Mem” is spelled “Mem-Mem” and “Nun” is spelled “Nun-Vav-Nun”. However, there’s one exception to this pattern of respelling Haman from the filled in letters. There’s an addition of a “Vav” within the full spelling of the “Nun”. This “Vav” alludes to the holy spark within the dark force of Haman. From this spark, emerged Rabbi Shmuel bar Shilat who taught Torah to the masses.

The above seems to properly explain why it was fitting for a saintly person who taught Torah to the masses to have emerged from Haman’s spark of goodness. [The Talmud relates that] the Jews lovingly reaccepted the Torah in the days of Ahasuerus.[6] This resulted from Haman’s decree [- from the holy spark within Haman]. That’s why [generations later] this saintly person taught Torah to the masses.[7]

Based on above teachings, what the following verse alludes to can be understood: “Write this as a record in a scroll and place it in the ears of Joshua that I will certainly erase the memory of Amalek [8] from under the heavens”. [9]

Why doesn’t the verse simply state “I will erase Amalek”, why does the word “memory” need to be used? In accordance with the above, a beautiful explanation emerges: because there has to be inside the impurity of Amalek a good and holy spark, which gives it life. This good spark won’t be erased, heaven forefend. However, when Creator erases the evil, the good portion will be removed and separated out. This way the evil will be entirely nullified and the good portion will continue to exist.

The numerical value of Amalek and “mar”, Hebrew for “bitter”, both equal 240. When you subtract 13 the numerical value for “echad”, Hebrew for “one”, alluding to the portion of holiness and goodness (for goodness is the mystery of oneness, a unified domain), what remains is “zecher”, Hebrew for “memory”. This alludes to the portion of evil in the dark forces, which in the future will be blotted out and nullified. Concerning this the verse states, “I will certainly blot out the memory of Amalek”, with specific emphasis on the word “memory”, which is the evil alone.

Accordingly, Haman sought to destroy, murder and displace. All this was done with the evil portion within him and not with the good portion which was swallowed up within him. For the good portion of Haman aids and loves the Jewish people. It’s only the portion of evil within Haman who's the “This oppressor and enemy…” By responding, “This oppressor and enemy, this evil Haman!”, Esther intended to exclude from her accusation the “good Haman”, the good portion swallowed up within him, which is alluded to by the “Vav” in the filled out spelling of his name. The latter is not the “oppressor and enemy” and did not agree to and plot the destruction of the Jewish people. On the contrary, this portion aids and loves, as from it emerged Rabbi Shmuel bar Shilat who taught Torah to the masses.

From the above, we can understand what the following verses in Psalms are alluding to: “Those who love God hate evil. He guards the souls of His devoted ones. He spares them from the hand of the wicked.”[10] The verse intends to inform us that when one encounters a wicked person, with a huge Haman-like dark force, hate him out of love for God. However, lovers of God, don’t hate the entire person. Only hate the evil part of him. This is why the verse emphasizes “hate evil”, for only the evil you should hate and curse, because God protects the souls of His devoted ones - which are hidden inside the dark forces.

“He spares them from the hand of evil”. This is similar to the language, “The Lord spared the flocks of your father and gave them to me”.[11] For in the future God will separate and divide them out from within the evil of the wicked, where they’re now sunken and blended in. This portion of good within the wicked needs to be blessed in order to draw light towards it, as the Ari z”l taught in his explanation of getting drunk until one does not know…

Therefore, as they proclaim, “Curse Haman, curse the wicked” don’t hate in order to curse entire the person, only the wicked portion within him. For it is impossible that there isn’t a good portion giving him life. This good portion, you need to bless, in order to draw light to it, as our master [12] taught in his explanation on getting drunk until one does not know the difference between cursing Haman and blessing…

This is an expression of “light is sown for the saintly”. However, to accomplish this, the straight-hearted need to celebrate, so that the blessing to the good portion shall be in the midst of celebration and drunkenness, allowing the blessing to emerge from his mouth unintentionally. So this way the flow from the blessing won’t reach the darkness, heaven forefend.

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[1] This is a translation from Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Bagdad’s commentary to the “Book of Esther” called “The Wholesome Power of Redemption”, pages 32 and 33. He was also known as the “Ben Ish Chai” after his most popular work.

[2] Rabbi Isaac Luria, known as the Ari z”l, was the leading figure in the mystical renaissance which occurred in 16th Century Safad, Israel.

[3] See “The Gate of Meditation”, the discourse on Purim, P.109, folio 4.

[4] Megillah 7A

[5] Gittin 57B

[6] Shabbat 88A

[7] Rabbi Yosef Chaim is explaining that the Haman’s good spark is designed to enhance Torah. During the story of Purim it was working behind the scenes to enhance Torah’s acceptance. Generations later, the spark worked openly through the person of Rabbi Shmuel bar Shilat to enhance Torah teachings.

[8] Amalek plays an important role in the story of Purim, as Haman was a descendant of Agog the king of Amalek. This is why he’s referred to as “the Aggagite” (see Esther 3:1). In contrast, Mordecai and Esther are descendants of King Saul. This is why Mordecai is called “a Benjamite”, a member of Saul’s tribe (see Esther 2:5).  By oral tradition, the confrontation between Haman and Mordecai was a replay of the showdown between Saul and Agog in Samuel I, chapter 15.

The Bible explicitly states that this Saul’s battle with Amalek was a continuation of the battle between Joshua and Amalek, following their unprovoked ambush, in the desert, on the Jews who left Egypt.

[9] Exodus 17:14

[10] Psalms 97:10,11

[11] Genesis 31:9

[12] The Ari z”l