Wisdom on parshas Noach from the Lubavitcher Rebbe:
According to the Torah, the world was created by G-d using the Name "Elokim". The Name used in reference to Noach, however, is the ineffable name of G-d that cannot be pronounced.
Elokim, has the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew word for "nature," and represents a level of holiness that is limited. Whereas G-d's ineffable name (yud - hey - vav - hey) represents a level above all limitations.
We learn from this that the world, as it was created without man's contribution, has the potential for only a limited revelation of G-dliness. It is solely through the service of man that the higher, infinite and unlimited revelation of G-dliness is achieved.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
In the Beginning of wisdom
I love autumn, I love waking up before the sun and feeling the cold seep through the windows (please check back with me in a month and a half when I’ll be cursing out the rain, sleet and snow that follows here in the great white north) autumn brings with it the annual cycle of holidays and a lost month of September. It was truly a crazy month and now I’m sitting and reflecting as I tend to do asking myself what did I learn? How did I grow? I’m not sure I have clear answers to anything most of the time. But these holidays and the way they are arranged do give a person the chance to spend time reflecting on themselves and on the year that was.
This is what I learned: I’ve grown a lot. Last year I had trouble following the services. If I got lost in the prayers I’d have to wait for a Kaddish or ask someone next to me where we were in order to get back on track. This year I could find my way back fairly quickly, I was even the one keeping many of those around me at the right spot. This is largely to do my command of Hebrew getting much, much better. I still have a long way to go on it but I’m getting there. Sometimes it’s hard to see but I realized this month that I can read fairly well even if I get nervous when reading out loud or for a crowd. That goes along with this observation: I’ve become more confident in my observance. I’ve learned when it’s okay to tell people to get off my back and when I need to accept a push or a prod. It hasn’t been easy. I still fight with my Rabbis and with my old friends and family seemingly about everything. There are still misunderstandings and tensions because I’ve made the choice to move from my old secular existence in the pursuit of an observant life. But it has its rewards as well.
Like experiencing for the second time the rapture that goes with making it through Yom Kippur, the ecstasy of the Neliah service at the end of the day when we trust that our prayers and confessions have been heard and accepted. I also built my first sukkah and was delighted to get to invite my neighbors to dwell in it with me (even if we did get rained out). Finally last week the final farewell for this holiday season came with Simchat Torah and with it the adventure of finding a new minyan, and the experience of feeling really connected with a new group of people. Getting to dance with the Torah with less inhibitions then I did last year and praying that next year I’ll truly be able to lose myself in the experience and dance like David HaMelach did before the ark as it was brought to Jerusalem without inhibition.
To top it all off I was called for the third aliyah to the Torah on Shabbat and I went up there with confidence and lead the minyan. That was the moment when it really hit me. For the last year I’d been struggling with taking a leadership role in my new community. In most situations I’m very vocal and assertive when I want to be but while starting the process of teshuva I’d become more reserved. Much of it had to do with feeling like a stranger in a foreign land wanting to feel at home but knowing that I was not. I used to dread being called up to the Torah so nervous and afraid of messing up the blessings that accompany it. But the other day I stepped up and just did it. It was a wonderful feeling and very affirming to feel with certainty in that moment that I do belong. That the work I’ve put in despite my knowledge that I can do more and do it better is paying off. It’s a blessing one I hope I can remember each and everyday of this new year.
Leading an observant Jewish lifestyle (as I now can safely say I do) has given me a greater appreciation for the sacredness of time. That I can’t just throw it away and that I should always be using it to get better. Taking so much time off this month, especially at the beginning of a hectic school / work time has had an even greater impact. For now we, the Jewish people decend to Egypt like our ancestors of old, as we will soon read about in the Torah. Not until Pesach will we again block off so much time for the sacred, for that which is eternal. May we all be blessed this year to learn and grow and look back at ourselves next year at this time and appreciate how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go. L’Shalom.
This is what I learned: I’ve grown a lot. Last year I had trouble following the services. If I got lost in the prayers I’d have to wait for a Kaddish or ask someone next to me where we were in order to get back on track. This year I could find my way back fairly quickly, I was even the one keeping many of those around me at the right spot. This is largely to do my command of Hebrew getting much, much better. I still have a long way to go on it but I’m getting there. Sometimes it’s hard to see but I realized this month that I can read fairly well even if I get nervous when reading out loud or for a crowd. That goes along with this observation: I’ve become more confident in my observance. I’ve learned when it’s okay to tell people to get off my back and when I need to accept a push or a prod. It hasn’t been easy. I still fight with my Rabbis and with my old friends and family seemingly about everything. There are still misunderstandings and tensions because I’ve made the choice to move from my old secular existence in the pursuit of an observant life. But it has its rewards as well.
Like experiencing for the second time the rapture that goes with making it through Yom Kippur, the ecstasy of the Neliah service at the end of the day when we trust that our prayers and confessions have been heard and accepted. I also built my first sukkah and was delighted to get to invite my neighbors to dwell in it with me (even if we did get rained out). Finally last week the final farewell for this holiday season came with Simchat Torah and with it the adventure of finding a new minyan, and the experience of feeling really connected with a new group of people. Getting to dance with the Torah with less inhibitions then I did last year and praying that next year I’ll truly be able to lose myself in the experience and dance like David HaMelach did before the ark as it was brought to Jerusalem without inhibition.
To top it all off I was called for the third aliyah to the Torah on Shabbat and I went up there with confidence and lead the minyan. That was the moment when it really hit me. For the last year I’d been struggling with taking a leadership role in my new community. In most situations I’m very vocal and assertive when I want to be but while starting the process of teshuva I’d become more reserved. Much of it had to do with feeling like a stranger in a foreign land wanting to feel at home but knowing that I was not. I used to dread being called up to the Torah so nervous and afraid of messing up the blessings that accompany it. But the other day I stepped up and just did it. It was a wonderful feeling and very affirming to feel with certainty in that moment that I do belong. That the work I’ve put in despite my knowledge that I can do more and do it better is paying off. It’s a blessing one I hope I can remember each and everyday of this new year.
Leading an observant Jewish lifestyle (as I now can safely say I do) has given me a greater appreciation for the sacredness of time. That I can’t just throw it away and that I should always be using it to get better. Taking so much time off this month, especially at the beginning of a hectic school / work time has had an even greater impact. For now we, the Jewish people decend to Egypt like our ancestors of old, as we will soon read about in the Torah. Not until Pesach will we again block off so much time for the sacred, for that which is eternal. May we all be blessed this year to learn and grow and look back at ourselves next year at this time and appreciate how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go. L’Shalom.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Bereshit
"Just as your hand, held before your eyes, can hide the tallest mountains - so this earthly life can keep you from seeing the vast radiance that fills the universe" – Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav
Ladies and gentlemen I hope you enjoyed the ride, had an AWEsome run of holidays and after all that we're back at where we began. I know I'm sure enjoying the ride...
Ladies and gentlemen I hope you enjoyed the ride, had an AWEsome run of holidays and after all that we're back at where we began. I know I'm sure enjoying the ride...
Monday, September 27, 2010
The Sukkah and the Lulav
If the observance of Sukkah during the festival of Sukkos frees us from the bonds with which we tie ourselves to worldly possessions as the basis of our life and the anchor of our hopes, if it teaches us humility despite our material wealth and trust in God even without it, then the observance of Lulav causes us to rise to things higher–simcha, rejoicing before God in all that He has bestowed upon us.
The Sukkah negates material possessions as ultimate value; the Lulav links us again with our dependance upon our goods and chattels.
The Sukkah teaches us not to appraise too highly our worldly goods; the Lulav to value them at their true worth.
The Sukkah raises above our property to God alone; the Lulav teaches us to be imbued with the spirit of God and even to exalt our possessions as God-given.
The Sukkah prevents us from becoming too Earthly; the Lulav reminds us not to soar too high above the Earthly.
The Sukkah protects us from becoming debased by our wealth; the Lulav teaches us to cherish our possessions and dedicate them to sacred purposes as the gift of God.
The lesson of the Sukkah is that the acquisition of goods is not the sole aim of life; the Lulav teaches us to apprehend goods as instruments for our way of life before God; and so it brings us simcha, joy in living before God, in a life of godliness. For if life is understood thus, it makes no difference whether you attain much or little; the assessment of your life lies in whether you have lived it dutifully - with your much or your little. From this wells up the eternally joyful fountain of life sublime in the service of God, of simcha before God, of that happiness which rejoices him who possesses much or little as the gift of God by which he can fulfill the will of God on earth – the happiness of living in the presence of God, your God; a happiness which is as eternal as life itself and as God who is its source.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb p.132
The Sukkah negates material possessions as ultimate value; the Lulav links us again with our dependance upon our goods and chattels.
The Sukkah teaches us not to appraise too highly our worldly goods; the Lulav to value them at their true worth.
The Sukkah raises above our property to God alone; the Lulav teaches us to be imbued with the spirit of God and even to exalt our possessions as God-given.
The Sukkah prevents us from becoming too Earthly; the Lulav reminds us not to soar too high above the Earthly.
The Sukkah protects us from becoming debased by our wealth; the Lulav teaches us to cherish our possessions and dedicate them to sacred purposes as the gift of God.
The lesson of the Sukkah is that the acquisition of goods is not the sole aim of life; the Lulav teaches us to apprehend goods as instruments for our way of life before God; and so it brings us simcha, joy in living before God, in a life of godliness. For if life is understood thus, it makes no difference whether you attain much or little; the assessment of your life lies in whether you have lived it dutifully - with your much or your little. From this wells up the eternally joyful fountain of life sublime in the service of God, of simcha before God, of that happiness which rejoices him who possesses much or little as the gift of God by which he can fulfill the will of God on earth – the happiness of living in the presence of God, your God; a happiness which is as eternal as life itself and as God who is its source.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb p.132
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Israel and the Saudis
War makes interesting bed fellows of us all. I say this because this morning I was reading about the United States impending $60 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia which Israel was implicitly endorsed. What would once have seemed a fantasy is now a reality. Israel is supportive of helping arm a country which is has no formal diplomatic ties to and we have Iran to thank for that. How strange would it be if the rising threat of a nuclear Iran, of a new Persian empire is what it takes to unite Israel and a significant portion of the Arab world together? It’s just a thought and it seems like a crazy one but sometimes that is exactly what people need to come together. The threat of a terrible enemy to make them realize that in the face of that, they’re differences can be overcome and dealt with. I don’t know if anything will come out of this but it’s certainly a fascinating development.
Pearls of wisdom from the Jewish Buddhist
Thought these were not only funny, but also fairly true, Enjoy.
Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
Drink tea and nourish life; with the first sip, joy; with the second sip, satisfaction; with the third sip, peace; with the fourth, a Danish.
Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems. What would you talk about?
There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy. Vey.
Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.
The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish.
The Torah says, Love your neighbor as yourself. The Buddha says, There is no self. So, maybe we're off the hook
Monday, September 6, 2010
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