Children’s Stories

Notice how in children’s stories the animals, birds, trees, mountains, clouds, sun and moon are often animated. They’re almost human-like. Could this be emerging from a residual memory in our souls of what life was like in the Garden of Eden? I suspect so.

See, the Garden of Eden was a very human friendly place. With the exception of the snake, everything in the Garden conversed pleasantly with Adam and Eve, were well intentioned and showed them a smiling face. So, what changed?

Kabbalah teaches that as a precursor stage to creation there was an event called, “the shattering of the vessels”. God had manifested ten sefirot, ten modes of expression. They were His tools to create the spiritual and physical worlds. Each of these ten sefirot consisted of an inner soul and outer body, called a light and a vessel (i.e. a receptacle for the light). The lights entered the vessels to animate them with life. However, since the vessels were too weakly constructed to handle the light, they shattered into shards. As each shard fell, as if grasping at a life preserver, it grabbed onto a spark of the light, hugging a droplet of life. This way it would not fade out of existence.

Fallen from their original perch, these sparks and shards descended down the levels of reality to become the building blocks of all lower realms - spiritual and physical. However, as the saying goes, “too much baby was thrown out with the bathwater”. When the vessels shattered not only had material designed to form the lower realms fallen, but also sparks and shards which were really meant to remain above, as part of the original ten sefirot, fell along with them. In their fallen state, these particular sparks and shards sowed chaos in the lower realms; not allowing these realms to properly organize, coalesce and form into worlds. 

During the six days of creation, most of these shards and sparks, belonging to the ten sefirot above, were elevated back to their origin. Besides being restored, these ten sefirot were further enhanced. A new inflow of light, from even higher up, descended into the ten sefirot. This fresh flow of light matured them into fuller structures called “partzufim” - literally “faces”. In their matured state they were able to be used by God to channel lights and organize the lower realms into worlds teeming with inhabitants, both spiritual and physical. By the time Adam and Eve were created, only a tiny drop of this elevation remained unfinished. This way God left a tiny corner of creation for Adam and Eve to finish off. He gave them something to do. If done successfully, they would instantly enter into an advanced stage of the messianic era.

However, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit this paradise collapsed. Much of the work to elevate the sparks during the process of creation was undone. What remained of the world was a diminished, physicalized, shadow of its former self. As if in disgust and distrust, the sparks moved further away from Adam and Eve. As if hurt, they no longer readily presented themselves in human friendly form. Thus, a prior necessary stage of elevating the sparks had to be introduced. Humans had to work at first returning the sparks to their human friendly state in order to re-ripen them for the elevation which Adam and Eve were originally supposed to accomplish.

This is why we go to work. During work, we participate in transforming the materials of the planet back into human friendly forms. From that state, a “Mitzvah” can be performed with these items and their sparks can be elevated back to the higher sefirot; as was done to create the world in the original state, which Adam and Eve inhabited. Eventually, when enough of these elevations occur we will enter the messianic era.

As we move forward in time, it’s self-evident that we have become ever more adept at transforming the materials of our planet into improved versions of the human friendly form. In fact, if we consider what we accomplished in the past 70 years with artificial intelligence, we’ve managed to bring almost human-like thinking and behavior out of inorganic materials. Amazing! 

However, the basic principle of this effort is nothing new. Our times are just experiencing a more advanced reiteration of a pattern which has been around ever since the exile from Eden. For thousands of years, we’ve bred select animals and plants, making them ever more human friendly - catering specifically to our needs. Building homes, machinery and other products, to one extent or another, are also examples of age-old transformations of raw nature into human friendly form. The same can be said for food preparation. Ever since Eden we have been engaged in a never ending project of little by little transforming the elements around us into human friendly forms.

There’s another pathway, a higher one, which can increase the human friendliness of the elements which comprise our world. It’s living a life of sincere holiness. There are many stories in the Bible, Midrash, Talmud and about the saintly of later generations which point to how the elements of the world happily cooperated with human beings who were very sincere in their relationship with God. Though this path requires a lot of faith, it’s less abrasive to the environment and is ultimately, more respectful to God. Still, we see that in certain cases, such as circumcision and agricultural work, God Himself asks humans to make changes to nature. Accordingly, the best approach is likely a blended one.

A totally human friendly world, where everything smiles at us and communicates pleasantly with us, seems like quite a while off. However, we’re closer than we’ve ever been since Eden. In the meanwhile, children's stories unconsciously attempt to bring us full circle, by introducing us to this goal at the very formative stages of our education.

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(This mini-essay includes material culled from “Etz Chaim”, “Beit Lechem Yehuda”, “Da’at TeVunot” and “Rebbe Nachman on Why We Work - Earning a Living, Earning a Life” - especially, chapter eight.)

Different Kinds of Succahs

My Uncle just shared with me his thoughts on the argument in Tractate Succah 11b -12a (including Tosafos) between Rabbi Yochanan and Raish Lakish. They argue about the nature of the clouds of glory. Did these clouds ascend from the ground or descend from heaven? 

My Uncle suggested that from a Kabbalistic view the argument can be restated as whether these clouds were a result of an "arousal from below" or an "arousal from above". He suggested that both are true. When human behavior was appropriate, there was an "arousal from below" and no need for one from above. When behavior was inappropriate, then the clouds needed to continue functioning on the basis of an "arousal from above" only.

Then he ended the lesson with that it's good to consider what kind of Succah we're sitting in. Is it one which is from an "arousal from below" or one which is from an "arousal from above" or perhaps some kind of mixture?

Chag Same'ach!

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Holy Music

Holy music is a soothing communication from an highly illuminated future to an aching and yearning present.

~ Based on Breslov teachings

The Kindness of the Saintly

In "Likutei Halachos", Reb Noson teaches that Purim and Hanukkah were instituted by our ancient sages as a means to extend the lights of the Holy Temple into our diaspora homes. (1) (2) It was a great kindness which they extended to all the future generations. This is why when aligning these holidays on the sefirotic structure of man, they relate to the legs (netzach and hod). The legs are the part of the body which reaches downward. So too, these lights reach downward, descending from their high perch in holiness down to our lowly diaspora dwellings.  

Furthermore, he notes that Purim and Hanukkah can occur on weekdays. The Hebrew word for weekdays is "chol", חוֹל. He relates this to the word for someone who's ill "cholah", חולה. These “weekday holidays” are the equivalent of God performing the kindness of visiting the ill, as the diaspora is a kind of spiritual illness. Since we are too spiritually ill to visit the Holy Temple, during these two holidays the lights of the Temple come to visit us. 

I found this Torah teaching very inspiring and truly moving. However, I was left wondering whether there’s an Elul connection here as well. It couldn’t be coincidental that I came across this teaching on the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul. 

On the first of Elul, Moses ascended to receive the second tablets. This second set was a spiritual descent from the first set; meaning, it was intended to bring down the lights to a much lower level. The first tablets were evidently too high for everyone. Its lights needed to be garbed in more layers to give it the insulation to reach further down. Accordingly, Moses did in his own era what our saintly sages who instituted Purim and Hanukkah did in their era. 

The common denominator in all these cases is that for the lights to extend further downward, it helps if the Jewish people show that they want it; whether through returning to God and/or standing up to opposing forces. The Lubavitcher Rebbe taught that in our generation this effort is accomplished by truly wanting the Messiah to arrive. Expressions of such yearnings include studying and speaking about the messianic era.  It’s truly our next level of spiritual growth.

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1. See "Likutei Halachos", “The Laws of Arising in the Morning”, Section 4: 11-16.

2. Diaspora is not only in geography. It’s also in time. As long as the Temple is absent even dwellers of the Holy Land are in some sense still in diaspora.

Maimonides and Philosophy

One may wonder why after the Talmud remarks harshly about Greek philosophy, the Maimonides felt comfortable making a career out of it and also allowed it to influence his world perspective. I certainly wondered about this for years. 

I recently read in a history book that though Islam had inherited the wisdoms of the ancient world, Islamic scholars gave these teachings their own cultural flavor. These wisdoms now resonated with an Islamic cadence, which is purely monotheistic. 

Long before the Maimonides came along, Islamic intellectuals like Al Farabi had already worked out issues of faith versus reason and similar problems; thereby,  aligning Aristotle with religious thought. Therefore,  the "Greek Philosophy" which the Maimonides was exposed to had already been processed and was more faith friendly then it had been in ancient times. Also, when the Abbasid dynasty had the Greek classics translated into Arabic, they directed their efforts only to the topics of science, medicine, mathematics and philosophy. They did not translate literature, poetry and drama. Accordingly, these wisdoms entered Islamic intellectual society in utter absence of much of their original cultural trappings.  

This reminds me of an interesting phenomenon. Shrimp is not kosher for Jews. Yet, salmon whose primary diet (in the wild) is shrimp is kosher. A Jew is forbidden by the Torah from obtaining the energy of a shrimp directly from a shrimp. However, when further processed in the body of a salmon it's alright for a Jew to eat. Similarly, once Islamic intellectual culture had ingested "Greek Philosophy", it really transformed into an Islamic cultural philosophy. 

One may wonder whether what I mentioned above would apply to studying Greek Philosophy in the contemporary setting of a secular university. I would say, "No". In this case the Philosophy is not being processed with a sensitivity to issues of faith in general and monotheism in particular. Possibly it's presented with an even more secular flavor than it had in the Greek original. 

However, it does have another thing going for it. Unlike medieval times, very few people, if any, believe in it. Without underlying belief, it has little or no real influence. Even people serious about it, are usually just studying it as an intellectual exercise and/or to gain historic perspective.

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Currency of Love

Love has a currency. 

 It's called,"Kindness". 

  Spend it generously, 

    but wisely.

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Reflecting Back, Thinking Forward

I have spent years writing on the subject of God’s Oneness/Infinity and our world’s relationship with the spiritual. Much of what I wrote is designed to provide a Jewish mystical answer to some of the difficult questions of existence, the kind of questions people typically call “existential”. My blog is laden with at least ten years worth of such writings: essays, stories and poems. It’s a collection of literary output designed to prompt and possibly guide.

In a soul searching moment, I have decided to begin adding a practical dimension to my writings going forward. However, in response to those who are apt to value the practical at the expense of the intellectual or the artistic, I proclaim that I fully value what I wrote until this point. I am not repenting nor recanting. I am simply layering value upon the already valuable.

Exploring existential and spiritual questions has inherent value for a variety of reasons. Among them includes that such study itself ...

1. bridges at least some small part of the soul/body divide.

2. extends positive vibes out into the universes; introducing positive changes to the course of human destiny.

3. shapes our “life perspective”, to improve our overall approach to life.

I credit Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, whose writings and recorded lectures have evoked in me a consciousness that it’s time to take my writings to a new level. It’s time to write about how these spiritual teachings awaken us to develop a more compassionate society. 

Like Rabbi Sacks, I do not think such teachings can directly affect the arena of politics. Besides, most of us are much more influential in our social sphere than we are in politics. In any event, our society is primarily built upon social units. At best, politics follows behind the advances of society like the trailing edge of a bridal gown. Each of us, in our own ways, participate as builders of society. Our individual stories blend together into everyone else’s to finally become the building blocks of a single sweeping grand story, the story of the society we all share.

So, here starts my new direction:

Nothing in our world, nor even in the highest of spiritual worlds, can be truly One as God is. Nothing emanated or created can retain its individual existence in the naked revelation of God’s Oneness. However, we can openly manifest blessings which flow from His Oneness. True, they are not literally His Oneness. (How can they be?) But, they are "of His Oneness". 

These blessings can reach us individually and collectively. They can improve our spiritual, mental, emotional, biological and financial well being. The way to elicit such blessings is to come close to God. Since physical space does not apply to our relationship with God, this “closeness” is accomplished by becoming as “similar” as possible; meaning, by “imitation” or “alignment”.

We “imitate” God’s Oneness on our level by unifying society to the point where people truly care for and help each other. Since we are composite beings, the state of Oneness is reflected in us as a force which binds us. When we’re “one” we’re bound together. When we’re “multiple” we’re just a jumbled mass, tripping over ourselves and each other. 

The story of the society we build as a reflection of God’s Oneness depends on our attitudes. Our attitudes are arrows which aim our behavior either towards manifesting a society of oneness or separation. A selfless attitude aims us in the direction of binding people together. A selfish one aims us to set people apart. These attitudes are contagious. They influence. Love inspires hearts to love. Self interest weaves sticky webs of self interest.

God encourages us to imitate His Oneness on our level by forming loving bonds of unity within our families, social groups, communities and across society at large. Love’s currency is kindness. Extending kindnesses, extends the “soul glue” which binds. With so much need out there, everyone can do a favor. Everyone can use a favor. 

Selfless acts of kindness can take on several forms. Among them are random acts of kindness, volunteer work or donations to the needy. Helping those in need can travel miles towards one’s own spiritual growth and healing a broken world. It matters not whether it’s with an organization or as an individual. What counts is to re-glue and new-glue the frayed fabric of humanity.

Society typically offers accepted modes of spiritual connection, such as: attending places of worship, engaging in devotional studies and settling into meditation. All of these practices are designed as engines of spiritual growth and healing. However, in tandem with these practices, likely the most powerful engine of spiritual growth across humanity at large is simply to engage in selfless acts of kindness. Such behavior glues us together as a oneness on earth. So, we’re aligned with God’s own Oneness and can manifest abundant flows of blessings in all areas of life.

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