LEADING A HOLY LIFE
Sunday, October 26
Tishrei 27
All this week the Torah portion being read is Bereishit—the opening of the Book of Genesis—which begins with the famous words: "In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth."
In other words, this sentence states that G-d created both spirit and matter, which clearly means that G-d is neither spirit nor matter. This also means that the assumption most people make that they have a choice of leading either a materialistic life or a spiritual life is false. There is a third choice: a G-dly life—a holy life—which is another thing altogether.
G-dliness—or holiness—is not the same as spirituality. Spirituality can lead to holiness, but in itself it is not holiness.
Unless spirituality is a path to holiness, it can be as ego-centric as materialism. There are spiritual people who are quite arrogant—they see themselves as superior to everyone who's not as spiritual as they. Holiness, on the other hand, demands humility.
Another distinction between spirituality and holiness is action. Spirituality can take the shape of being a completely meditative experience, apart from the material world. Holiness means that you take on yourself the task of living in the material world in order to transform it.
A story that aptly illustrates this point is told about two Chassidim: a father and son who were absorbed in studying Torah. Suddenly, a baby (the son's child who was sleeping in the next room) fell out of its crib and started crying. The son was concentrating so hard, he didn't hear it. The father heard and went to tend to the baby. When he returned, he said, "If you don't hear the desperate crying of a child, what value is there to your Torah study? Torah study is meant to refine you, to teach you how to help another person, to hear the cry of one in need!"
Ask yourself: What kind of life are you leading: a materialistic life, a spiritual life, or a G-dly life?
Exercise for the day:
- Describe how you need to change your life to make it G-dly.
- Identify one G-dly act you can do today and do it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tishrei 27
All this week the Torah portion being read is Bereishit—the opening of the Book of Genesis—which begins with the famous words: "In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth."
In other words, this sentence states that G-d created both spirit and matter, which clearly means that G-d is neither spirit nor matter. This also means that the assumption most people make that they have a choice of leading either a materialistic life or a spiritual life is false. There is a third choice: a G-dly life—a holy life—which is another thing altogether.
G-dliness—or holiness—is not the same as spirituality. Spirituality can lead to holiness, but in itself it is not holiness.
Unless spirituality is a path to holiness, it can be as ego-centric as materialism. There are spiritual people who are quite arrogant—they see themselves as superior to everyone who's not as spiritual as they. Holiness, on the other hand, demands humility.
Another distinction between spirituality and holiness is action. Spirituality can take the shape of being a completely meditative experience, apart from the material world. Holiness means that you take on yourself the task of living in the material world in order to transform it.
A story that aptly illustrates this point is told about two Chassidim: a father and son who were absorbed in studying Torah. Suddenly, a baby (the son's child who was sleeping in the next room) fell out of its crib and started crying. The son was concentrating so hard, he didn't hear it. The father heard and went to tend to the baby. When he returned, he said, "If you don't hear the desperate crying of a child, what value is there to your Torah study? Torah study is meant to refine you, to teach you how to help another person, to hear the cry of one in need!"
Ask yourself: What kind of life are you leading: a materialistic life, a spiritual life, or a G-dly life?
Exercise for the day:
- Describe how you need to change your life to make it G-dly.
- Identify one G-dly act you can do today and do it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
posted by kurtiskabbalah at 3:55:00 PM
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