The Efficacy of Prayer

Right now the Jewish people are pleading with Hashem, "Let our boys 
Yakov Naftali Ben Rachel Devorah
Gilad Michael Ben Batgalim and
Eyal Ben Iris Tshura, come home.... but can our prayers really make a difference?? Of course we have been taught to pray in situations of struggle and challenge and its not really a real question... of course prayer helps, but looking in this weeks Torah reading we see an amazing thing.

After Korach and company are destroyed for rebelling against Moshe and Aharon, the entire community of Israel (the survivors ) is outraged by their punishment and come to accuse Moshe and Aharon for causing the death of Hashem's people...this rebellion causes Hashem further anger and He declares that "He will wipe them all out in an instant" and indeed a plague is launched that has deadly effect..... it is at this point that Moshe instructs Aharon to take a fire pan with incense on it  and go and make an atonement for the people...

We read how with his burning fire pan, Aharon makes atonement for the people, 'he stood (literally) between the dead and the living and the epidemic was halted .(17:13)
In the Rashi we read that "Aharon seized the angel of death himself and stopped him, despite himself...".. this is amazing...Rashi continues to explain how they argue, the Angel of death  claiming to be carrying out Hashem's instructions,  which should trump the intensions of Aharon who is acting on behalf of Moshe... but when they return together to confront Moshe who is at the entrance to the Ohel Moed, (the special place where Hashem and Moshe would engage) we see that Aharon and Moshe are indeed victorious in convincing the angel of death, because the plague does in fact get stopped!!
Proof indeed of the efficacy of  human initiative, or prayer!!

Its an amazing story....
Thanks to Rabbi David Fohrman, you can watch his video explanation of this on his website:www.alphabeta.org or go direct to the link for this weeks parsha 
http://www.alephbeta.org/course/lecture/korach-can-we-influence-god

a great quote from Carolyn Myss..

Thanks to my dear friend Janet!

“We are living through a cosmic transformation that is directing us to realize that power originates in our thoughts and energy.  While that has always been the truth, becoming conscious of that truth is equal to becoming partners in the dynamics of creation. We now know that our thoughts are active creative agents. Realizing that one truth will redirect the future of humanity.

And one of the laboratories in which this cosmic drama is being played out is our physical body, our mind, our emotions and our soul.  We are each a cosmic laboratory unto ourselves.  That one truth should make you want to know everything you can about yourself - and certainly everything about the nature of your own consciousness. You now have choice about how to handle illnesses because you know how powerful your choices and attitudes are. 

How can I not teach this message?  Whether I present through health or mysticism or archetypes or history - at the end of the day, I am teaching you about the emerging consciousness in human nature.  How can you not want to learn this message?” Carolyn Myss

My feelings and thoughts exactly!

Moving Forward: The power of Positive Imagination

I came across an amazing distinction between  hopefulness and hopelessness in preparing for my parsha class this week. The source was a video on Shlach by Rabbi David Fohrman, which basically suggests that when we use our  creative imagination to create wonderful and exciting scenarios  about our future, we generate hopefulness, but when we use our power of imagination to look backwards, we will probably land up in a state of hopelessness.

The source for this idea concerns the manner in which the Jewish people responded to being told by the majority of the spies who had gone ahead of the community to scout out the land of Israel, that they felt the whole idea of entering the land of Israel  and dealing with the communities already there was a terrible  idea. In fact they even say, "in our eyes we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes"(13:33), referring to the "giants" that inhabited the land . Their self perception was so negative they even projected it upon how they were seen by others. How did they know how they were seen?  Two righteous spies vehemently disagreed with them, but could not persuade the people that trusting in G-d and moving forward was a valid option. Rabbi Fohrman draws our attention to how backward thinking intensified when the Jews thought  about the challenges that awaited  them in the future.The verses illustrate this in three steps.....1) if only we had died in Egypt, 2) Is it not better for us to return to Egypt? 3) Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt! (14:1-4)

Didn't  the Jewish people remember all the suffering they endured back in Egypt? Even if these complaints and suggestions  were spurred on by the "Erav Rav"(the mixed multitude who joined the Jewish people on their  exit) surely they too were aware the Egypt experience was not a bed of roses for the Jewish people? How could they suggest going back?? What faculty of being could get a people who had suffered for over 400 years in a certain situation to possibly think that  returning to the source of their suffering would be a preferable situation than trying out their luck and moving forward? Backward facing imagination!

Rabbi Fohrman suggests this is the epitome of hopelessness... engaging our imagination to glorify the past. When we use our imagination to glorify the past, we can edit out the bad parts, we can recreate reality in our minds to make it seem that everything about the path not taken was in fact perfect... we can airbrush what had led us to reject that option and only focus on all the imaginary benefits that path could have offered, and then collapse into negative and hopeless feelings.  The rejected choice is a past that is no longer ours, a choice not made or a path not taken; it could be a house not bought , a shidduch not pursued or a business opportunity overlooked.... when we look back and use our vivid imaginations to extrapolate  all the positives of what might have been, all the wonderful and marvelous realities that could have been ours, we do ourselves a great disservice...We would do better to utilize our creative imagination and power of visualization, which are powerful tools, in forward and thus positive thinking!

To utilize our imagination and capacity for  positive visualization  in forward and thus "hopeful" thinking, we need to ground ourselves  in the new reality of what is now, be focused on the present and the future and then be creative to explore all the possibilities that still exist beckoning ahead, this will lead to hopefulness and not hopelessness! Forward thinking, with positive scenarios imagined and visualized will enable us to feel empowered to take on even the most daunting tasks, making the most of that new job, new home, new shidduch opportunity or even a victory fighting giants!

Shabat Shalom!

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!