RELATING TO G-D

Friday, September 12
Elul 12
RELATING TO G-D


The Kabbalah suggests that the biggest challenge for us human beings is to maintain our individuality and at the same time have a relationship with G-d.

G-d is an all-encompassing reality, and if we were consciously aware of G-d's reality, we would cease to exist. But we do exist, because G-d concealed His light in order to make space for another entity called us.

And yet transcendence—that is, crossing the line of the reality where G-d is concealed to the reality where G-d is revealed (but we continue to exist nevertheless)—is possible. Heaven and earth can be married, can unite, and we can become one with G-dliness. A defined existence like ours, with physical parameters, can become one with that which is completely undefined.

This can happen because we were created in the image of G-d—we have holiness within us. And we can connect to the G-d within us by getting our selfish selves out of the way so that the holiness can surface.

The only thing that is eternal is a thing that is not driven by its own self, its own fuel. Whatever is driven by its own fuel, though it can be very powerful, is limited. This is why we aim to get past the self in order to connect to the eternal so that we too can become eternal.

And we do so by acting like the holy beings that we are.

We are commanded in the Torah—our guidebook to life and our guidebook to freedom from slavery to the physical aspects of life—to be holy, like G-d. "You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your G-d, am holy." (Leviticus 19:2)

This means being compassionate, because G-d is compassionate. It means being patient, kind, just, loving, creative. When we become holy like G-d, we connect with G-d.

Ask yourself: Do you want to connect to the Divine image within you? Is being holy a goal in your life? How often do your actions approach holiness?
Exercise for the day:
- Consider what it would take for you to connect with the part of you that is holy.
- Do something holy today.




Saturday, September 13
Elul 13

INNER HOLINESS


The essence of each one of us is good and holy because it is a part of G-d. The challenge is to recognize this holy part of ourselves—which resides deep on the inside—and to allow it to shine on the outside.

Even when we recognize our own inner glow, it is hard to actualize it. It's not easy. Because we live in a world that doesn't respect goodness and holiness; it respects wealth, success, and power, the acquisition of which often demands the abandonment of holiness and goodness.

But Torah teaches us that we have the ability to access the inner part of ourselves and actualize it in everyday life, without changing everything about ourselves and our work. We have to learn how to discover our own soul and bring it into the world that we're living in and working in.

Whether you work in the world of music, business or the sciences, whether you are a doctor or a lawyer, whatever sphere you're trained in, your mission is to reveal your soul in that environment. The soul is not meant to replace the body and not meant to replace your life; its mission is to reveal your inner dimension and integrate it into your life in order to elevate it, and to bring out the best in both your body and soul.

If you are on a spiritual journey and it's completely annihilating your life, there's something wrong. A sign of a healthy spiritual path is integration and transformation, not annihilation.

Ask yourself: Are you able to recognize your inner holiness? Is your spiritual path helping you or hindering you? Are you able to balance your spiritual and your social life? Do you live/work in an environment which respects holiness? Are you able to your reveal the things you hold sacred in this environment?
Exercise for the day:
- Choose a simple act of holiness and demonstrate it in an environment which is usually oblivious of holiness. (This simple act could take the form of expressing gratitude, demonstrating patience and graciousness in a stressful situation, saying a blessing when eating, consoling a sick person, or giving charity.)
- Resolve to make this a regular practice throughout Elul.

FOCUSING ON THE DESTINATION

Thursday, September 11
Elul 11


At times when you must let go and you ask someone to push you, you must know where you want to be pushed. You must know your destination.

Rabbi Mendel Futerfas, who spent many years in a Siberian gulag, tells how he learned a great lesson from a tightrope walker who was also imprisoned there.

The rabbi asked the tightrope walker what is the secret to his art. "What does one need to master? Balance? Stamina? Concentration?"

The tightrope walker's answered surprised him: "The secret is always keeping your destination in focus. You have to keep your eyes on at the other end of the rope, and that's how you get there is a straight line, without wavering. But do you know what the hardest part is?"

"When you get to the middle?" the rabbi ventured.

"No," said the tightrope walker. "It's when you make the turn. Because for a fraction of a second, you lose sight of your destination. When you don't have sight of your destination that is when you are most likely to fall."

Life is something like a tightrope. To navigate it successfully you must have your destination in focus. You must know where you are going. When the time comes to make a turn, and for a moment you cannot see where you are headed, you have to have your destination in your mind's eye.

The ultimate destination—the final goal of all human efforts throughout history—is called geulah ("redemption"), when the world will realize its purpose and reach ultimate refinement. The Jewish people have always kept their eyes on this destination; it gave them the power and freedom to forge ahead, despite all difficulties.

Geulah is not a destination you can see by looking in front of you, you can only see it by looking inside you.

Real focus is not physical, it is transcendental. Real focus is your relationship with your Divine mission. If it is well developed, it can guide you past the moments of danger, and keep you moving with confidence even in moments of greatest fear and darkness.

Ask yourself: Do you have a real focus in your life? Do you have a larger goal?
Exercise for the day:
- Identify your personal mission in life. What do you believe is your calling in this world?
- If you have difficulty with this, identify the steps you must take to discover your mission.

SEEING G-D

Tuesday, September 9
Elul 9



Perhaps the most dramatic experience that happens atop Mt. Sinai is when Moses asks to meet G-d face to face: "I beg you, show me your glory." (Exodus 33:18).

G-d responds, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live... I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by, and I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back..."

This exchange is puzzling. How could Moses not have known that one can only come face-to-face with G-d in the next world? And why does the Torah document G-d's rejection of his request?

The answer is that Moses' request was not rejected. In the language of metaphor Moses asked to understand G-d. G-d responded by saying that it is impossible to see His essence in this world, but it is possible to see its reflection. In effect, G-d told Moses, "you'll see My face by not looking."

There are things we see in life by looking directly at them, and there are things we see with our eyes closed. There are things that we hold onto by grasping them, and things that we hold onto by letting go.

Creative people know that when they let go that is when the creativity starts flowing. When they try to control it or force it, it doesn't come—the channels of creativity are blocked. For creativity to emerge requires letting go. The same thing is true of "seeing G-d."

G-d said to Moses, in effect, "You will see Me when you stop looking. You will see Me when you get yourself out of the way."

Ask yourself: How often can you get yourself out of the way to achieve a higher goal? Do you "see" G-d in your life? Have you learned to see by not looking?
Exercise for the day:

- Recall an event in your life when you were able to gain something by letting go.
- Examine the process—how did you get yourself out of the way in order to make it happen?