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.
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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.”
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The extent of one's Emunah depends on the purity of one's imaginative faculties.
~Rebbe Nathan of Nemirov
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.
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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?
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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!!!!!
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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"?
There are two answers which I have traditionally heard.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It seems to me that this is the notion of "center" to which Rabbi Isaac Lurianic was most directly referring to.
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