Taking Experiences Personally

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Mindfullness

 

Dear Rabbi Jacobson,

A friend and I are studying your book “A Spiritual Guide to The Counting of the Omer” which we are finding to be tremendously powerful, thank you!

On day 41 you mention “bond with . . . experiences” and we found it difficult to understand. Would you mind to explain what you mean by ‘bonding with an experience’? 

Thank you kindly,

[name redacted]

Dear [name redacted],

Thank you for your feedback about the book, I am happy to hear that you and your friend are finding it helpful.

In response to your question; bonding is an act of becoming intimately connected.

Every event in our lives can be experienced either superficially or intimately. Divine providence dictates that in truth nothing is circumstantial, and every event in our lives is a deliberately calculated opportunity to increase our connection to G-d. When we live life with this perspective, every event is something that we can bond with, forming a meaningful and intimate personal connection with each opportunity to become united with G-d.
Picture a farbrengen (Chassidic fraternal gathering) for example. When we gather together in a show of love and unity, it is a deeply personal experience, and we bond with the event as we do with the people with whom we are sharing company. A breathtaking sunrise, a spectacular sunset, the birth of a child, are all events with an inherent awe-inspiring power that is almost tangible, and we are naturally drawn to take such events personally, bonding with them and making them an intimate part of our lives.

While many — probably most — of the events in our lives do not lend themselves to being taken so personally so easily, each and every one is a deliberate element in our individual purpose and in the collective purpose of the universe. When we keep this in mind, we can bond with everything that happens in our lives, because it is all quite personal.

I hope this helps clarify things.

Blessings and best wishes,

Simon Jacobson

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