Firmament, Water, and Light

The Zohar states that "God looked into [the letters of] the Torah and created the universe." The Divine act of Creation is referred to by the metaphor of speech, as we say in the beginning of our morning prayers: "Blessed is He who said… and the world came into being." The root אמר, "to say", is an acronym for the first three primary creations: light (אור), water (מים), firmament (רקיע). These represent the three stages in the materialization of the creative seed, as taught by the Arizal:

the spiritual origin of the seed in the mind – light
physical manifestation of seed – water
the beginning of conception in the womb – firmament.
Light, water, and firmament correspond, in turn, to the three categories defined above: light, life (here viewed as concentrated light)- as in the phrase "living waters," and energy (here, as pregnant "light-life"). The firmament (רקיע), which derives from the root רקע, "to stretch", represents all states of positive tension- energy fields- in nature.

After each individual act of creation, God observed that which He had created and saw it to be good. At the end of the sixth day of Creation, "God observed all that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Thus, "before" Creation God looks into the Torah; the act of Creation itself, in each and every "present moment, is by means of Divine word; "after" Creation God observes His reality to be good. As "there is no good other than Torah," seeing Creation to be good is actually relating created reality "back" to its ideal model- Torah. This act is called, in Kabbalah and Chassidut, the process of "clarification." In man's service of God, it corresponds to the positive critique of one's deeds, to assure that they remain in tune with and in the light of the teachings of Torah.

In Kabbalah, "before" Creation is the secret of the right eye and "after" Creation is the secret of the left eye. They are the ultimate origins of light and life, respectively. The right eye gazes at the letters of the primordial, uncreated reality, as engraved in Torah – "reality", still "nothing" in the sea of Infinite Light. The left eye contemplates created reality in relation to its Torah-model, thereby enlivening it from "the source of living waters" of Torah. The Sages interpret God's seeing all to be "very good": " 'good' refers to the angel of life; 'very [good]' refers to the angel of death." Death is here understood to serve both as the "antithesis" necessary for the process of 'clarification' (whose purpose is to infuse reality with life), and even deeper, the necessary, intermediate stage between the initial state of temporal life and the final "resurrected" state of eternal life, to be realized on earth in "the future to come."

The mouth, the secret of creation in the "present" moment, whose "breath" represents the continual emanation of energy-matter, is between the two eyes, as the present is between the past and the future. Regarding the position of the head tefillin, the Torah instructs that their inscribed words be "a memory between your eyes, so that the Torah of God shall be in your mouth." The word "memory" (זכרון) itself, in Hebrew, means "a source of speech" (as in the phrase: בכל מקום אשר אזכיר את שמי אבא אליך וברכתיך, "in that place that I will allow you to speak My Name I will come to you and bless you").

So, too, every Jew, whom the Torah commands to emulate God, should learn to first see the letters of Torah and their secrets in thought (the sight of the "light" of the right eye), then to speak them with his mouth, and finally to "clarify" them as "rectified" deed (the "life" process of the sight of the left eye).

When Cynicism Kills Innocence

B"H.


By Yosef Y. Jacobson

A Tale of Two Birds

As the flood waters recede, Noah opens the window of the ark and sends out the raven, which "kept going and returning until the waters dried from upon the earth (1)." It would seem as if the raven did its job admirably, and the story should have ended right there. Instead, the text describes a drawn-out process in which Noah sends out a dove three times to determine whether the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.

The first time, the dove returns to the ark, as it could not find a place to rest, because the earth is still engulfed in water. The second time the dove returns with a plucked olive leaf, indicating that the water has receded significantly. Seven days later, Noah sends the dove a third time. This time, it does not return any more. At last, the dove encountered a space to dwell. The earth was once again habitable.

Why the need to send two birds, a raven and a dove? And why did he first send out the raven and only afterward the dove?

The raven has a long standing negative reputation. Because of its black plumage, croaking call, and diet of carrion, the raven has long been considered an unkind bird. Psalm (ch. 147) describes G-d's mercy in feeding all creatures, even "the raven's children who call out." Why are the raven's children singled out? Because ravens do not care for their young as do other birds (2), which is one of the reasons that the raven is singled out as a non kosher bird (3).

Modern Western culture has continued this trend. The famous Edgar Allan Poe poem portrays the raven as a grim, spectral presence. One particular flock of ravens has attained notoriety by taking up residence at the Tower of London, site of many gruesome beheadings and royal murders. To this day, the Beefeater guards warn visitors from getting too close, lest the ravens supplement their usual diet of carrion with a tourist's finger or toe.

The dove, on the other extreme, is a symbol of tenderness, loyalty and kindness. The image of the dove bearing an olive branch – originating in this week's Torah portion (4) - resonates in the communal consciousness, even if the peace that it represents seems to flee ever further. The Song of Songs compares time and time again the beautiful bride to the dove. The rabbis praised the dove for its extraordinary singular loyalty to its mate, unique in the animal kingdom (5). Not only is the dove a kosher bird, but it is the one chosen by the Torah to be offered in the Holy Temple as a sacred, divine offering, testifying to its sublime potential.

In Kabbalistic and Chassidic terminology, the raven represents the attribute of gevurah -- aggression, strength and sternness. The dove, in contrast, represents the quality of chesed – kindness, tenderness and empathy (6).

Based on this contrast between the raven and the dove, we can appreciate the deeper rhythms behind the Noah story.

Initially, Noah felt that the proper approach in a post-flood universe must be that of the raven. It must be tough, rough and unkindly. After all, humanity deteriorated because it was spoiled rotten and it thus grew arrogant and depraved (7). Humanity received too much love, too much generosity, and this allowed people to lose their priorities and to forfeit their moral compass. Now, Noah assumed, we must start all over again, with the raven showing the way. The "new world order" must be based on sternness, strength and discipline. Aggression and strict judgment must prevail if we want to ensure that civilization does not revert again to chaos.

This approach of Noah holds true in many of our own lives as well. People who have experienced a "flood," in one form or another, people who have felt the turmoil and pain of life, often feel that the only way to build a new life for themselves is by adopting the perspective and the attitude of the raven. They develop a rough shell, a dense crust, an aggressive disposition. They become tough, strong, and stern. Sometimes they become cynical and suspicious and their hearts shut down. They devour, as they are scared to embrace.

Can we blame them? No. They are afraid to be abused again. They can't endure the pain twice.

But soon Noah discovered that with a raven you can’t rebuild a world. The raven is good to remain in the peripheral; the raven "kept going and returning until the waters dried from upon the earth." The raven is important to give borders to love, and created limits for vulnerability. The raven will hover over the new world, protecting it from a kindness and a love that could turn destructive. But who must to lead the way in settling the new world and rebuilding a shattered civilization? Only the dove. The primary driving force in life must be love, loyalty and compassion.

Each of us has disappointments on life. Some of them are caused by other people; others are caused by G-d. Some people feel that they have been let down by those who were supposed to care for them most. We can understand if they have developed a "raven" attitude in order to protect themselves in the future; even Noah himself did just that. Yet the human soul is capable of much more: of not allowing the pain of life to deprive it from its greatest power – its ability to love.

The Modern Flood

During the past six decades the Jewish people have been attempting to recover from a flood that destroyed a third of our nation. One and a half million children were sent to the gas chambers, but nobody uttered more than a pips.

Understandably, Jewish hearts were swelling with bitterness, mistrust and profound pain. They could have easily turned into "ravens," projecting hatred and cynicism unto their children and grandchildren. But learning from Noah's example, they replaced the raven with the dove. The survivors, for the most part, built families and showered their children with love, confidence, and hope. Sure, many children of survivors suffered (and suffer till today) from the paralyzing silence that pervaded their homes. But we can all testify that most of our parents and grandparents did they best they can to protect and nurture their loved ones and give them an opportunity to celebrate life. Will we, the recipients of that courageous choice, ever be able to thank them adequately?

Only if we, the second, third and fourth generations, continue being guided by the dove, giving love, confidence and hope to the people around us (8).

~~~~~~


Footnotes:
1) Genesis 8:7. 2) Midrash Tanchuma Eikev 3. 3) Leviticus 11:15. Cf. Talmud Sanhedrin 108b about the conversation between Noah and the raven (see Maharal in Gur Aryeh to Parshas Noach about hoe to understand this "conversation.") 4) Genesis 8:11. 5) Midrash Rabah Shir Hashirim. 6) See Sefer Halikutim – Tzemach Tzedek under the entries of "orev" and "yonah." 7) Midrash Rabah Noach. 8) This article is based on the writings of the Chassidis masters. Cf. "The Raven and the Dove," by my brother, Simon Jacobson.

EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS

Wednesday, October 29
Tishrei 30, First Day of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan

EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS

Once upon a time, the Baal Shem Tov sent a group of his students on an important mission to help a needy couple in another town. When they returned, he was not so interested in hearing about their mission as about the minutiae of their trip—what they ate, where the slept, how they traveled, etc.

They didn't understand the relevance of these details, but he insisted on hearing everything. When they related that one morning they sat down near a brook and drank some water there, his face lit up and he said, "That water was waiting from the beginning of time for someone to come and make a blessing over it and drink it."

In Jewish mystical thought, space, time, and matter are understood to be forces of Divine energy—sparks which fell down to earth at the time of creation and which became embedded in all aspects of existence; these sparks must be elevated in holiness for the world to achieve perfection as per the Divine plan. This is why the little things you do in life are sometimes more important than the big things—the journey is sometimes as or more important than the final destination.

When you go to work tomorrow, take a moment to appreciate how you got there. Every second of your trip matters—the people you meet on the way, the cup of coffee you drink while waiting for the bus, the piece of paper you throw in the trashcan—all are changed by your actions.

Quite often the things that are seemingly beyond your control are really opportunities to elevate sparks of Divine energy trapped in the mundane, and by doing so, to spiritualize the material—to bring infinite to the finite.

It's a deeper way of looking at the world. And when you begin looking at life this way, a whole new world will be revealed to you—a G-dly world, an immortal world, the real world.

Ask yourself: Have you ever stopped to think that everything little thing you do matters?
Exercise for the day:

- Write down one final request you have of G-d for the new year.
- Re-read the journal for the past two months.
- Enjoy all that you have accomplished. That matters too.
You have now concluded 60 days of hard — but exhilarating work. Feel proud.

As this rich season comes to a close, know that you have partaken in an extraordinary journey — on a road that has been traveled on for thousands of years.

Yet your journey this year covered a part of the road that has never been tread upon: Your unique journey.

And you have been blessed to reach here. Empowered with all the wealth of the holidays: Rosh Hashana — renewal; Yom Kippur — sanctity; Sukkot — joy; and Simchat Torah — ecstasy.

The next step is yours.

May you be blessed with a healthy, sweet and meaningful year. One filled with joy and happiness for you and your family.

60 days of work — A lifetime of blessings.

EMULATING ABRAHAM

Tuesday, October 28
Tishrei 29

EMULATING ABRAHAM

Some people say that they don't have to keep the Torah and its commandments because it's good enough to be a Jew at heart. They say they love G-d, they meditate on the oneness of the universe a lot, and they are basically good people. The rituals and mandates of Judaism they don't need.

It is true that in most spiritual disciplines other than Judaism, the action is not as important as what is going on beneath the surface. But Judaism says that what is beneath the surface does not truly change unless there is an action above the surface. It's like a contract that is never signed and executed.

Imagine, for example, that you give a brilliant business presentation and your customer heartily responds: "What a wonderful project! I'm in! I'm with you 100% percent." But if he doesn't sign the contract, if he doesn't invest in your project, what do his words ultimately matter? It's nice that he gave you his emotional support but what you want and need is his active support.

The material world is about bottom lines; it is driven by action and it can only be transformed by action—not just any action, but action which spiritualizes the material. This is why it is not enough to be a Jew at heart.

The amazing thing is that through action, it is possible to spiritualize everything in life including your own body—it is possible to actually retard the aging process. The Book of Genesis tells us about Abraham, who lived to 175, that "Abraham aged, and he came into his days." And the Zohar explains that this means that Abraham aged very slowly because he spiritualized every moment. By doing so, his life became eternal.

Today, 4,000 years after he lived, millions of his descendants the world over remember not only his name but also everything he did which is recorded forever in the Torah. That's immortality.

Ask yourself: How much of your life will be remembered by others?
Exercise for the day:
- List three things you did, or plan to do, for which you want to be remembered forever.

DOING WHAT G-D WANTS

Monday, October 27
Tishrei 28

DOING WHAT G-D WANTS

During the time when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the duties of the High Priest were minutely detailed in Torah law. This law mandated the High Priest to do something very strange. On Yom Kippur, when he entered the Holy of Holies—the most important service that he would perform all year—he was obliged to come out immediately if he heard a noise outside. Why? To see if anyone was hurt (even though there were many other priests around who could tend to such things). This was because he could never be so immersed in the Divine experience as to forget about the sanctity of life. He had to constantly remember that he was not there to enjoy the spiritual ecstasy but to do what G-d wants.

This is something we must be forever mindful of as we go about our task in life to spiritualize the material world.

For example, when we give to charity, why do we do it? Some people do it for the tax deduction. Others do it for the plaque and the honors. Still others do it because it makes them feel good. But there is only one good reason to do it: Because G-d said we should, and therefore it is the right thing to do—it makes the world work right. As the engineer of the world, G-d gave us instructions how to make the "machine" of life work at its best.

When we do it because G-d said so, we're essentially connecting to something that is beyond the money and beyond the charity. When we do it because G-d said so, we align our corner of this material world with the cosmic engineer's plan, thereby transforming it into a G-dly place.

If you live a life dedicated to doing what G-d wants, you are guaranteed to bring immortality into your life. Even more than that, you are guaranteed to change everything about you. Because every fiber of your body and every moment of your day is then infused with a new vitality. You are connecting to something that is so much higher than yourself and at the same time uncovering who you really are, and that is a very exciting thing.

Ask yourself: How much of your life is dictated by what G-d wants?
Exercise for the day:

- Name one thing that G-d wants you to do that you don't do.
- Do it.

The Mystical Symbolism of the Seven Laws of Bnei Noach

Excerpt from Kabbalah and Meditation for the Nations

The Nature of the Soul
In order to understand why God gave these seven specific commandments—the Laws of Bnei Noach—to all of humanity, we must first briefly explain how the human soul functions.


The human soul has both a Divine and a physical, or animal aspect. In Hebrew these are referred to as the Divine soul (nefesh Elokit) and the animal soul (nefesh behamit) as defined in the Tanya,1 by the Chassidic Master, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.


All human beings possess a Divine spark. The difference between one human and another lies in the extent to which the spark has entered and plays an active role in his or her psyche. (We use the term “psyche” to refer to both the conscious and the unconscious planes of the soul).


When the spark fully enters the psyche2 it is known as a Divine soul. And so we speak of Jews as possessing a Divine soul. With regard to a non-Jew, the Divine spark hovers above the psyche (not entering it even on the unconscious plane). A righteous gentile (that is, a non-Jew who fulfills the seven Laws of Bnei Noach) is one who senses the presence of the Divine spark and is inspired by it to walk along the path of God fitting for all people as outlined in the Torah.3 On the other hand, a non-Jew who has not yet become a righteous gentile is unaware of the Divine spark hovering above.


To use the language of Chassidut, the Divine spark (or soul) of a Jew is considered an inner light (or pnimi), meaning that it is directly experienced and makes for part of his or her psychological makeup. The righteous gentile’s non-Jew’s spark of Divinity is described as a “closely surrounding light” (or makif karov), meaning that it is psychologically experienced only indirectly. The Divine spark of non-Jews who are not considered righteous gentiles is akin to a “distantly surrounding light” (or makif rachok), meaning, that it plays no conscious role in that person’s experience as a human being.


Even in this third case, due to the refinement of character that results from life’s trials and tribulations, and due to the Divinely ordained meetings between non-Jews and Jews, which introduce the beauty of the Torah to the non-Jew, the “distant” spark may grow “closer” and the “close” spark may even desire to convert to Judaism. It is because of this latent potential innate in every non-Jew that we speak of all non-Jews as possessing a Divine spark. Indeed all of God’s creations are continuously brought into being by means of a Divine spark, but, only a human being, even if born a non-Jew, is able to convert in his present lifetime and become a Jew.


These three levels of influence that the Divine spark can have on us as human beings are alluded to in the beginning of the Torah:


In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.4


In Kabbalah, “the heavens” symbolize the soul and “the earth” symbolizes the body. The Torah continues:


And the earth was chaotic and void, and darkness was on the face of the abyss, and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.


The initial state of the earth (the body together with its animal soul) described by the three adjectives “chaotic,” “void,” and “dark” (which in Kabbalah are identified with the three impure “shells”), corresponds to the initial state of the earthbound non-Jew whose Divine spark is still distant from his psyche. “And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters” refers to state of the righteous gentile whose Divine spark is sensed as hovering above him, close to his psyche. The sages teach us that “the spirit of God” refers here to the spirit of the Messiah who will be sent by God to redeem mankind.5 Thus we may conclude that the coming of the Messiah depends upon raising the spiritual level of the non-Jewish world from “darkness” to “spirit,” encouraging non-Jews to become righteous gentiles.


The next verse in the Torah reads:


And God said: “Let there be light,” and there was light.


This verse describes the reality of the Jewish soul. “Let there be light” refers to the Divine spark as it permeates the unconscious plane of the Jewish psyche. “And there was light” portrays the Divine spark when it permeates the conscious plane of the Jew’s psyche.6


Abraham was the first man to integrate the Divine spark as an essential and non-differential part of his psyche (both on the unconscious and the conscious planes). From his inner light he was able to shine light to all around him. In the words of the prophet: “Abraham began to shine light.”7 This made Abraham into the first Jew.


The level to which the Divine spark is present in the psyche has a strong influence on the nature of a person’s animal soul. First, let us note that the animal soul is itself divided into two distinct facets, an intellectual facet (nefesh sichlit, in Hebrew) and an emotional/behavioral facet. The animal soul of a Jew, due to the inner presence of the Divine soul, is relatively more refined than that of the non-Jew. Its intellectual side possesses a unique Jewish character, or way of thought and reasoning. It is able to grasp abstract and subtle concepts. For this reason Jews are innovative in many secular fields. The passions of its emotional side are directed to things that are permissible according to the law of the Torah.


The physical soul of a righteous gentile resembles that of the Jew in some ways. Consequently, the motivations of the righteous gentile are considered a mixture of good (altruistic) and bad (selfish).8 However, the state of consciousness of the non-Jew that is not yet righteous, i.e., that is not yet bound to God through the universal aspects of the Torah, conceals and blocks the manifestation of truly good (altruistic) motivations and these cannot be actualized in his physical soul.

When the Divine soul of the Jew is revealed, he or she feels an unconditional love toward all of God’s creations, realizing that a spark of God is present in all (with the caveat noted above with regard to the difference between human beings and all other creatures). He or she will love the good in all and reject whatever evil hides, perverts, and corrupts that intrinsic good.
1. Chapters 1 and 2.

2. The spark itself can be likened to a geometrical point, which is dimensionless. After entering the psyche, as the individual develops in his or her commitment to the service of the Divine, the point will expand first to into a line (a one-dimensional figure) and then to an area (a two-dimensional figure). In other words, it becomes more and more real.

3. When a non-Jew becomes so inspired by the spark of Divinity spiritually hovering above that he or she wishes to identify with it in full then that is the true motivation for becoming a convert to Judaism.

4. Genesis 1:1.

5. Yalkut Shimoni Bereisheet, 4. According to most Jewish descriptions of the coming of Messiah, particularly the description of Maimonides, the Messiah will be a living Jew, descended from the house of David. He will become king of Israel, rebuild the Temple, and bring all the Jews back to the Holy Land. He will inspire the entire world to believe in the One God, and usher in an era of all human beings living together in peace and brotherhood.

6. These two stages of integration of the Divine spark are alluded to by the sages in the two sayings: “Israel are cherished for they have been called the sons of the Almighty,” and “Israel are cherished for they were the recipients of the precious vessel [the Torah]” (Avot 3:14).

7. Midrash Shemot Rabah 15:26.

8. See Tanya, end of chapter 1.

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.

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