Grounding, the Mountain and getting ready for Shavuot

Ever since we were new in Torah or very young children if we were lucky enough to be born frum, we have learnt that the Torah was given on Har Sinai because the Mountain of Sinai was both a mountain, signifying some stature, but not a very high one, suggesting the middah( quality) of modesty. What else can we learn about the Mountain that could assist us in receiving the Torah on Shavuot?

The final sfirah ( spiritual energy center/ manifestation) that we focus on before we reach our goal of getting to Har Sinai is Malchus/Royalty ( Seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot = seven different Sfirot) Malchus is hard to define and hard to personalize , how do we refine our aspect of Malchus? One idea to focus in on that offers insight is that Malchus is a reflection of Kesser/the Crown , the highest energy and light that precedes all of Creation. Kesser represents Hashem's vision of what He wants us to be, and Malchus is the reality of who we have become. This idea is connected to the idea of the end being rooted in the beginning, and the beginning being rooted in the end, with Kesser being the beginning or intension and Malchus being the realization of the idea or the end. Kesser is a manifestation  from Hashem, but what  Malchus looks like is up to us.

How does this idea relate to a Mountain?

Each of the sfirot connect to different parts of the body, the sfirah of Malchus is related to our feet, our sacrum, and interestingly, the mouth. Malchus corresponds to the "Root" center , how we stand upon the earth, who we are,  and how we reflect our essence into the world, just like  the way the moon reflects the light of the sun.  Malchus doesn't really have a distinctiveness of its own, it reflects the truth and reality of all that preceded it. The greatness of Malchus is its ability to receive and to just be. 

When we stand upon the earth like a mountain,  feeling our feet connecting to the earth, we can  "ground" our energy . If we take the time to quieten our minds while we do this, perhaps by closing our eyes and becoming conscious of our breathing, we can actually facilitate a lightening and an opening up of our higher selves...just by being still, conscious  and grounded.

When we imagine ourselves as a mountain, grounded and still and ready to receive that which is above  getting ready to be gifted to us, we are in the best position to receive Torah...

So it is really instructive, that the Torah was given on a mountain...those cheder kids knew it all along! 

Surrendering to Blessing.

This week we read Parshas  Bechokotei, which enumerates some wonderful blessings from above and some pretty scary curses and we also continue to count the Omer, focusing on the Sfirah of Hod.
The word sfirah refers to different G-dly energies existent in the world and existent within us. There are 10 sfirot, and during the  7 weeks between Pesach and Shavuot we focus on the seven sfirot connected to our  7 main emotions. *

So how exactly would we translate "Hod"? Hod is related to the hebrew word "Hodaya" which means to acknowledge, the root of the sfirah is connected to acknowledging the greatness of G-d and His Splendor. Hod is usually translated as "Splendor" but it has a lot to do with  "Acknowledgement"  and it is also connected to the capacity to surrender, to acknowledge the opinion or point of view of the other... and then (possibly)... to surrender to it. Hod stands opposite the Sfirah of Netzach, which is often translated as "Victory", but suggests the qualities of persistence, determination and commitment.

Drawing from an explanation of this weeks parsha from Rabbi David Fohrman, ( alphabeta.org), I would like to suggest that the idea of being able to acknowledge Hashem's rule over the physical world is the key to all the blessings mentioned in this week's parsha, while refusing to surrender,  refusing to engage our "Hod" capacity,  or acknowledge the rule of G-d is what leads to all the curses.

Rabbi Fohrman puts forward the idea that just as eating from the tree of knowledge sent Adam and Chava out of the garden of Eden and away from  all the blessings over there, so too, not listening to Hashem, specifically in relation to the Sabbatical (Shmitah)  year is what sends the Jews out of Israel, and into exile and is what underlines all of the curses in this week's  parsha. Rabbi Fohrman illustrates  that all the blessings at the beginning of the parsha mirror, (but in reverse order) the blessings and descriptions of  Gan Eden. At  the end of the portion of all of the curses, the pasukim read..."then the land will appease(G-d's anger on account of ) its sabbatical years.......then the land will lie fallow and bring appeasement (to the Eternal King)  for its (unobserved) sabattical years. (26:34).

It seems that just as at the time of  Pesach we draw attention to the negative  aspects of the ego, eating the flat matzah that indicates humility, and identifying the anti hero, Pharoah,  as  a personification of ego and arrogance, so here too... the Torah is pointing out to us that the path towards blessing is a path of acknowledging G-d rule over us and  submitting to his dominion. The Ishbitz teaches in parshas Behar, that the laws of Shmittah, (the Sabattical year), Ribbis (not taking interest).. and Yovel (The  Jubilee year) are related to the realms of Place, Time and Person,....  and in all realms we should be enabled to understand that we cannot have total dominion or  total ownership .... only Hashem can really claim ownership in those domains in an ultimate sense. So with this understanding, all three of those mitzvoth just mentioned are training us in our capacity to experience Hod and our  capacity to "let go and let G-d" so to speak.

In closing, just a word about punishments and rewards,.... it makes it so much easier to relate to if we think of blessings as consequences of operating with G-dly principles and that the curses, rather than punishments, are the unfortunate consequences of working against or outside of  the G-dly vision...G-d is not a punishing G-d, here He seems to spell out the consequences and effects.. of going with the divine Flow or not. In submitting to His plan, we allow our capacity to surrender come to the fore, in go ing with His flow... we become  splenderous as we  reflect  G-d's own light allowing it to shine within us too!!

Have a splenderous shabbos!

* The Seven Emotions: (Loose translations from the Hebrew) Kindness, Strength, Harmony(balance), Determination,Surrender, Capacity to connect, Mastery.

Finding Balance

This is an amazing time between Pesach and Shavuot...the sages tell us that on the night of the Sedar we have a vision of what our own liberation and redemption looks like, and then we have the seven weeks of counting the "Omer" , counting the days till Shavuot,  so that we can work to make that  vision into a reality. During this time of counting, we are also working on our  7 emotional attributes, each one corresponding to one of the weeks in the countdown... so that by the time we reach Shavuot, we  have refined our emotional faculties and are fitting vessels to receive the light of the Torah and that we may resemble that version of ourselves we were able to visualize Sedar night.

If we look at this beautiful graphic above we see that  the ten faculties of the soul, or the 10 "Sfirot" are divided into three vertical groups, those on the left, those on the right and those in the center. Inspired flashes of insight, kindness and persistence are on the right side of the graphic and are thought of as the masculine attributes; the capacity to integrate our understanding, have  internal strength and focus, and the willingness to surrender are on the left side, the side of the feminine. Going through the middle of the graphic are the qualities representing integration of the parallel attributes on either side...Connection to the world above (Keter), integrated knowledge, balance, or the capacity to create harmony, a capacity to connect and bond  (Yesod) and being able to put all of the above together in a masterful manner (Malchut) are all  the qualities of integration and resolution.

Although all the qualities have intrinsic worth... the greatest blessings come from the points of integration, the resolution of opposites. We are told that when Hashem wants to bless the Jewish people, the best vessel for his blessing is Peace. (Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta taught that peace is the only vessel the Holy One found which could contain Israel's blessing ") Rebbe Nachman asks how we can recognize this peace, and answers that it is the resolution of opposites, the qualities represented by the middle line...

 Heaven, we are told is a combination of fire and water, " Eish" (fire) and "Mayim" (water), thus its name is  "Shamayim" a combination of these two words. Hashem (G-d) is able to hold together two opposite entities and make them one. Heaven or Shamayim is the ultimate unification of opposing entities.

Rebbe Nachman teaches us that Yosef Ha Tzaddik, (Yosef the righteous), was able to bridge opposing ways of being, bringing them into resolution and is  thus identified with absolute peace. We see this, says Rebbe Nachaman from the following; He spoke in a disparaging way about his brothers to his father, which would suggest he was connecting to the side of judgement, yet he sought out their welfare when he went to find them in Shchem ( the side of Chesed-Kindness) .He becomes a ruler over many holding great power, (Gevurah) yet he is nurturing and sustains life ( Chesed). He is appointed as the Viceroy in Egypt,  the word used in hebrew is " Avreich" which combines the aspects of being a father, ( Av)  and with being young (Reich) another resolution of opposites. Of course he is involved with power and politics and the ways of the world, yet he is absolutely righteous and never sins and is called Yosef the Righteous !

Yosef was attractive to both men and women, in fact both genders found him irresistible.  What was so compelling about Yosef?? He was integrated!!

Like his mother Rachael, he was  very beautiful,  but like his mother, his beauty was  both inner and outer. They were harmonious, their inner selves matching their outer selves, and both aspects were in harmony!! Both of their beauty had  the capacity  to connect others to the beauty of  the harmony of Creation and to the Creator Himself.
Yosef is a wonderful symbol for the integration and balance which we all seek. Although its Yaakov who is associated with the Sfirah of Tiferet (Balance/harmony) , and Yosef is identified with Yesod( Connection/foundation) , we know that Yosef and Yaakov were very close. When the Torah refers to Yaakov, and wants to mention his descendants or accomplishments, ( "Aleh toldos Yaakov: Yosef" ) it mentions Yosef first and foremost...In a certain way Yosef is Yaakov and Yakov sees his full expression in Yosef. The Sfirah of Tiferet holds a place in the center line that feeds down into the Sfirah of Yesod... they both are in different ways, accomplishments of integration and are connected with peace and thus are a source of blessing.


I bless everybody with the capacity to find balance and harmony; integration in balancing the different needs in our relationships, in our marriages ( if we are married) and in our parenting( if we are parents...)in our activities and in all aspects of our beings,   so that we can truly live peaceful, harmonious and happily balanced lives!

Shabat Shalom.

The blaspheming son who tries to penetrate the heavens ......

This blog post is based upon my understanding of a source text from the teaching of the Arizal, quoted in English in the book " Apples from the Orchard" (Translation and commentary by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky).  I understand my comprehension is rudimentary but on the level that I understand, I would love to share....

The Zohar tells us that Cayin (Cain) who killed Hevel( Abel) did so because he was jealous....not about the fact that Hevel's sacrifice to G-d was preferred, but that G-d had given Hevel two twin sisters to marry, whereas he, Cayin only had one wife/sister to marry.... as these were the first people in existence,  populating the world was a higher value than avoiding incest.

This story is significant now because in this weeks Torah reading we read about a man who blasphemes G-d after a quarrel with another man.. ( after taking their quarrel to be judged by Moshe and finding  out that his opponent is in fact correct) ...but the Torah does not go into too many details  about what the quarrel was about. The commentator Rashi tells us that the quarrel was over where the man, who had a Jewish mother and a non Jewish father ( these details are explicit in the Torah verses) could pitch his tent...the man argued that his lineage in terms of his mother was perfect for him to camp in that spot... but he was informed that the real estate was awarded based on who the father was....

What could this story have to do with the story of Cayin and Hevel??

In order to answer this question we need to look at one more story...something that happened when the Jewish people were still in Egypt. One night , the husband of a Jewish woman was called out to do a night shift... while he was out of the house, his Egyption foreman who had ordered him  to go work, slipped into his place.... into his bed, and had relations with his  unsuspecting sleepy wife whose name was Shelomit bas Divri...( which is a hint that she said "Shalom" to too many people and had spoken...(Diber= speech) too much, her name could thus mean "talkative daughter")  ... that is why she had drawn the attention of the foreman in the first place..) When the Jewish man returned home, he found the Egyption , discovered what had happened and the two men got into a deadly battle...this is the battle that Moshe happened to observe, and using the Divine name of G-d he killed the  Egyption.

Here is the juicy part:
According to the Zohar (Kabalistic text) Moshe was a reincarnation of Hevel, The Egyption foreman was a reincarnation of Cayin ( the evil of Cayin was transferred to him) and Shelomit bas Divri was a reincarnation of the second wife of Hevel, over whom Cayin was so jealous. That is why the Egyption desired her so much!When Moses kills the Egyption its a correction , or an avenging of Cayin killing Hevel!

The Zohar tells us that the Jewish man who discovered his wife with the Egyption took a second wife...
all of this is relevant because in our parsha this week the argument that takes place is between the son of Shelomit bat Divri and the Egyption and the son of the second wife the Jewish husband took !

When the son of Shelomit bas Divri blasphemed Hashem, the Zohar tells us his intentions were to exonerate his mother! What does this mean? The Hebrew word for the blasphemy is "Vayikov", this word also means to bore.. like "he bored a hole in the door"... The Zohar tells us that  when his father was killed by Moshe, it was a rectification for the slaying of Hevel... a cosmic fixing releasing great spiritual energy and potential...and as Moshe used the Divine name in this act, the son acquires a unique spiritual power connected to the Divine name.. and in this instance tried to use it.. to  "bore a hole in the name of G-d" so to speak , or  as the Zohar explains, to penetrate through the levels of holiness in the worlds, to reach a place where the distinctions between good and bad are transcended and bring that  undifferentiated energy down into this world.... which is supposed to be a world of distinction and judgement...and somehow flood this world with that divine energy that does not recognize the distinction between right and wrong, between different tribes,( and their respective rights to different parts of land..)  and thus with the illumination of the higher worlds flowing down through this "punctured hole" the scourge  of the immodesty of Shlomit bas Divris would be neutralized! Then he, being the son of that union also would not need to continue to pay the price for that unfortunate happening.... The verse says.."The son of the Yisraelite woman cursed(blasphemed).." but it also could be read " he bore into the Divine Name...."

But we cannot sugarcoat evil.. some things are just bad and wrong, and some things are evil... we may like to turn the world upside down to make something that really was a mistake seem like its ok... but sometimes, wrong is wrong, bad is bad and the judgement just needs to prevail!

The Baby Whisperer

http://youtu.be/L2aFLN-plgM......

A poem from Chaya Lesser.... An amazing Torah Teacher and Poet living in Jerusalem.
link to her reading this is printed above...try to copy and paste...i am not able to get it live...
you can also try  puah.wmv

The poem is about Puah the midwife who resisted Pharoh's instructions to kill all the infant Jewish boys...

Have a wonderful Pesach!!

"Inner-Freedom

Like freedom fighters
who pray with their feet
I protest for inner-peace

though paraplegic in comparison
to prodigious heels 
of powerful men

my prayerful wheels
spin tales of inner-freedom
and entone hymns of mindful treatment 
of children and kin

I commit to calm the din of crying infants 
with the easy clicking of my teeth
I speak for those who do not yet know how to speak

My freedom fighting is not political
that task is for a hardier class 
of jewish girl

for me - the Egyptian fiend 
is personal 

for the Pharoahs I dethrone 
rule the halls of each of our homes

in the inner-alcoves of a private despair
that petrifies the children 
and paralizes the parents
that inprisons our finest hours 
of family commitment and contentment

I prefer to pedal wares 
of wars-well-avoided
where everyone wins
through carefully worded 
apologies and the timely 
airing of grievances 
between friends

for cowering beneath the pyramids 
of needs – my fiends 
are the menacing insecurities of adolescents
and the lethal bickerings of parents
- the noisome whines of needy toddlers
and the all-too-common-household-hollers 
that oppress our most precious commodities
of family

my enemies crouch quietly beneath
the crumbs on the living room carpet
a beast between the sheets 
of a cold-shouldered bedroom
where partners sleep
unconscious 
and deeply out of tune
with the exquisit call 
of their common dreams

I come to loosen the shackled lips
of fathers and mothers
that they may better utter
their astounded praise
at the miracle of a house full 
of filthy shoes, spilled soup
and their children's most innocent mistakes

My task is to counter the 
armor-clad offensive
against love and friendship 
- to incite a protest against 
the enslavement of a trillion 
inner prophets of tranquility
whose gentle-tongued souls 
are daily buried beneath 
straw burdens of poor comunication
and tossed out with the trashed 
afternoons of a mother's 
epic impatience 

I come to play the Moses of relational redemption
in the face of a sink-full of grimy resentments

And so I call forth all fellow 
freedom fighters for inner-transformation 
midwives with wise hands
toting torahs, toting infants, toting pens
all prayer-footed-protesters
come & herald in 
emotional freedom from the pharonic foe
and let us birth our children 
into peaceable homes

for when our houses enshrine tranquility
then outer-world will follow inner-lead

and rock-hard hearts 
will soften grips
and all thats enslaved 
will lithly slip
into the soft of freedom found
and take our shoes your off
to walk around
for our houses are the 
hallowed ground
from which God speaks

So call me Puah, 
who quiets the cries
of children, slaves 
and the Pharoah 
inside"

Letting Go! A primer for Pesach.

Poem to follow....

So we all want to get beyond our limitations, feelings of constriction... Sense of being less than all we can be...but how can we do it? How can we get out of Egypt? It seems to me the first step is believing that we can. There is a great story about a chassid of Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who needed to get to Lublin, but had no papers... He approached his Rebbe, who after meditation and prayer handed him a passport.. which opened for him many doors and borders...but was in fact an empty sheet of paper. The story has an updated version, Reb Shlomo Carlebach met the  nephew of the person to whom it happened, ..another chassid needed to get from Poland to Germany in 1935, and he approached the Munkatcher Rebbe... who also , inspired by the story of Reb Levi Yitzchak, gave him a blank piece of paper...drenched in prayer, hope trust and faith... this passport too opened doors and boundaries and this chassid also went past border control. This Pesach we have a chance to go past our border controls, we can get out of Egypt and the "headquarters" for this transformation  happens at the sedar... "Kol B'Seder" many Israelis say, and it is so true...it all happens at the seder.

Traditionally it is understood that the power or personality most responsible for keeping us in the bondage of Egypt is Pharoh who corresponds to the power of Ego. The prophet Ezekiel describes Pharoh as "the great crocodile who crouches in his river  and proclaims"My river is mine and I made it myself"". Rebbe Nachman teaches that Pharoh, whose name is spelt using the same hebrew letters as the hebrew word for neck.."Oreph"  is connected with the back of the neck. "Mitzraim" the hebrew word for Egypt is related to the idea of  "Meitzar Ha Garon".. the limitations or constrictions of the throat . Rebbe Nachman teaches that Pharoh had three servants , the butler, the baker and the butcher... each one representing  a different level of indulgence in the physical world: ...... food, drink and the passions of emotion.... and  each corresponding to a different part of the neck, the trachea, (wine stewart) the esophagus ( the butler) and the veins ( the butcher) . When these "servants " serve the egoistical goals of  our egos (Pharoh), they trap our speech and consciousness in  chains, (Egypt) ; when our eating, drinking and emotion serve Hashem, our neck serves us and carries the capacity for holy speech up  from our purified hearts to our mouth via our neck..to enable us to connect to the idea of Eretz Yisroel which is connected with prayer, holy speech and a belief in miracles. Through connecting with Hashem via our prayer, and through the power of Emunah (faith) , we can live in a transcendent reality, a reality of Eretz Yisroel which is a reality not bound by the limitations of nature, but operating within a different set of parameters... a world of intension, a world of faith, trust and miracle.Of course as the Rebbes of Lubavitch have taught us, we need to make where-ever we are in the world into a place that has the values of Israel;  a belief in prayer, a belief in the power of holy speech and a belief that the physical world is really a "plastic" reality... it can be changed at any moment... it exists only through the articulations and intent of Hashem... it can change at any moment....  and so can we.

A couple tools for the seder are:

4 Cups of Wine:

At the seder we believe the saying of the sages, "nichnas yayin yozer sod"... the wine enters in, the secrets go out... which secret gets revealed... the secret of who you really are in your liberated self!

Matzah

Matzah and Chometz in hebrew are spelt almost exactly the same.. just the matzah has an open "hei" and the chomeitz has a closed "ches"... all the other letters are shared... the opening for G-d... makes all the difference!

... all the other letters are shared... the opening for G-d... makes all the difference!

It is not so clear who authored the  poem which follows..., either Ernest Holmes or Saphire Rose.... in any event I think its profound and fits into our Pesach theme very wonderfully....

She Let Go

"She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go… She didn’t search the scriptures. She just let go.

She let go of all of the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go. She didn’t journal about it. She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer. She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope. She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go. She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter. She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment. She didn’t call the prayer line. She didn’t utter one word. She just let go.

No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad. It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be. A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore."

Have a wonderful Seder and a great Yom Tov!

Bounded Love

Its not so easy holding back when we get excited about someone new or something new to love....natural instincts may suggest to give it our all... completely invest and really show how absolute and true our passion is.... well , surprise, surprise... that may well not be the best way to go! Healthy boundaries and some distance seem to spell a better success rate....
and somehow this lesson is embodied in this week's Parsha.
In Parsha Shemini we read how on the 8th day the Mishkan or Tabernacle was finally consecrated, fire came down from Heaven and the climax of all of Creation seemed to be achieved. Heaven united with Earth and it seemed that the service of those on Earth was accepted and desired by G-d. In this climactic moment, Nadav and Avihu, two of Aaron's sons, decided to bring a fire offering of burning incense into the Mishkan, which they had not been commanded to bring.... the result.... their souls were consumed by an Heavenly fire that came down from above....and their bodies  needed to be carried out ,not just  out of the Mishkan, but out of the entire camp. Rabbi David Fohrman of Aish.com brings a comparison between the actions of Nadav and Avihu and Adam and Chava in Gan Eden. He illustrates this in a wonderful video presentation* that draws attention to many parallels in the two stories.

The bottom line seems to be this: Show love to Hashem in the way He commanded us to, not in the way we feel like doing, and stay within the parameters He set up.... the reasons He did so have something to do with those healthy boundaries we started this essay with... they serve a purpose....same with our human relationships... consider the needs of those we are attempting to love....not just our overwhelming desire  and need to give....perhaps strange fire, not commanded... is not the best gift after all? Oh, and about Adam and Chava.... maybe they thought they were also giving Hashem the ultimate gift... wanting to be so close to Him, by becoming, as they believed maybe for just a few moments, even more similar to Him...  but this was not the best path to intimacy... because He communicated very specifically... that that was not what He wanted....sometimes, just listening is the greatest act of love there is!

* Link to the video
http://www.aish.com/tp/i/10minuteparsha/Shemini-Why-Did-God-Reject-Nadav-and-Avihu.html

For a much more in depth discussion of this topic, listen in to our audio class:
Part 1: https://soundcloud.com/brachame/shemini-part-1-nadav-and-avihu

and part 2: https://soundcloud.com/brachame/shemini-part-2-loving-without