Birthday Power: Unlock Your Hidden Potential

July 16th, 2024

The Secret Power of Your Birthday: A Gift From the Cosmos

We all search for resources, for hidden strengths, for those inner powers that empower us to navigate the tumultuous waters of life. Each day brings a new set of challenges, some more demanding than others, and we find ourselves yearning for the tools, the instruments, the inner fortitude to face them head-on. Often, we feel inadequate, lacking the very resources we seek, forgetting that some of life’s most powerful assets lie dormant within us, waiting to be discovered.

You see, we often overlook the treasures within, blind to the vast potential that resides in the depths of our being. It’s like having a powerful tool at our disposal, yet remaining entirely oblivious to its existence. Why? Because we don’t always look inward. We fail to recognize the profound truth that our greatest resources are not found in external acquisitions, but rather, in the untapped wells of our own souls.

Unveiling the Hidden Dimensions of Our Soul

The Kabbalists, those mystical explorers of Jewish thought, describe our faculties as multi-dimensional. There are the revealed faculties – those readily apparent abilities we possess, easily measurable and demonstrably present. Our five senses, for example, are revealed faculties. We can assess the acuity of our vision, the sensitivity of our hearing, the nuances of our sense of smell. These faculties, alongside our intellect, emotional range, and inherent skills, form the tangible, readily observable aspects of ourselves.

However, lurking beneath this surface level lies a deeper stratum, what the Kabbalists term the hidden faculties. These are the unrealized potentials, the dormant strengths, the capabilities yet to be awakened. Imagine an athlete who can run five miles with relative ease. With the right training and conditioning, they discover the capacity to run ten, fifteen, even twenty miles. This hidden strength was always present, waiting for the right catalyst to unlock its potential.

This concept extends beyond the physical realm. Consider a writer who has penned a compelling article. The ability to craft one suggests the potential to write countless more. We all possess such latent talents, abilities lying dormant, waiting for the right moment, the right challenge, the right spark to ignite their flame.

The Kabbalists don’t stop there. They delve deeper, exploring the very essence of our being, what they call the essential faculties – the core, the nucleus, the wellspring from which all our abilities flow. Accessing this dimension requires a different kind of effort, a deeper commitment, a willingness to excavate the very depths of our souls.

This excavation can be likened to the process of extracting oil from olives. You cannot access the rich, nourishing oil without first applying considerable pressure. Similarly, uncovering our essential faculties demands a certain degree of exertion, a willingness to push beyond our comfort zones, to embrace the struggle that ultimately leads to profound self-discovery.

Life, with all its unexpected twists and turns, often provides the necessary pressure. A sudden crisis, a daunting challenge, even healthy competition can ignite these dormant powers. When we rise to the occasion, we surprise ourselves, revealing strengths we never knew we possessed.

The Birthday: A Divine Declaration of Your Significance

This brings us to the often-overlooked power of your birthday. This annual milestone, often relegated to a day of cake and presents, holds a much deeper, more profound significance. Your birthday, you see, is not merely a celebration of your arrival in this world, but a powerful testament to your inherent value, a cosmic affirmation of your unique purpose.

Birth is God saying, “You Matter.”

It is the day when Heaven and Earth conspired to bring forth a soul, your soul, into this world – a soul deemed indispensable to the grand tapestry of existence.

Let me illustrate this profound concept with a story etched deeply in my memory.

Years ago, after the publication of my book, “Toward a Meaningful Life,” I embarked on a multi-city book tour. One of my stops was St. Louis, Missouri. It was a Monday evening, and the Jewish Community Center was filled with people gathered to commemorate the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

After the memorial, I shared my thoughts on finding meaning in life, as scheduled. Later, back in New York, I received a heartfelt letter from a woman who had been in the audience that night.

In her letter, she described herself as a successful executive, outwardly accomplished but inwardly shattered. She shared the harrowing story of a childhood marred by abuse – emotional, psychological, and sexual – that left her soul feeling murdered.

She had achieved material success, but her relationships were strained, intimacy felt impossible, and a deep-seated distrust permeated her life. Despite trying various therapies, nothing seemed to heal the wounds that ran so deep.

“What do people like me do,” she wrote, “people who lose inner control of their lives? They create outer control.”

She went on to explain that her ambition, her drive, her relentless pursuit of success was an attempt to numb the pain, to create a façade of control in a world where she felt utterly powerless.

She had long given up hope, resigning herself to simply breathing in and out, taking each day as it came, often battling suicidal thoughts.

Then, she came across my book. As she leafed through the pages, a single line in the chapter on birth leaped out at her: “Birth is God saying you matter.”

She read it again. And again.

Like a silver bullet piercing through years of accumulated pain, those words struck a chord deep within her soul.

For the first time in her 47 years, a glimmer of hope ignited within her. It was the realization that despite the horrors she had endured, despite the voices that told her she was worthless, she mattered. Not because of her accomplishments, her possessions, or her social standing, but because the Creator of the Universe had brought her into existence.

Her letter, raw and vulnerable, concluded with these powerful words: “Though I have many years to heal, for the first time in my life, I have hope… Thank you for giving me back my life.”

That letter, my friends, has stayed with me ever since. It serves as a poignant reminder that our worth, our significance, is not contingent on external validation. It stems from a much deeper source, a truth woven into the very fabric of our being – the truth that we are each a unique expression of the Divine, placed on this Earth with a purpose.

The woman’s story, as heart-wrenching as it is, beautifully illustrates the transformative power of recognizing our inherent worth. It underscores the idea that our birthdays are not merely personal milestones, but cosmic events. They are a testament to the fact that each of us has a role to play, a song to sing, a light to shine in this world.

Your Birthday: A Yearly Renewal of Purpose

And here’s the truly remarkable thing about birthdays: they are not just a one-time occurrence. Jewish Mysticism teaches that time is not linear but cyclical, more like a spiral than a straight line. Every year, when your birthday arrives, it’s not simply a remembrance of the day you were born. It’s a reactivation, a re-experiencing of that primal energy, that cosmic affirmation that declared your significance to the universe.

Your birthday is a yearly renewal of your contract with creation. It’s a time to reconnect with the purity of that moment when you were deemed essential, when God said, “I need you.”

Think about it: every breath you take, every step you take, every action you undertake, stems from that singular moment when you were born. You were chosen, handpicked to embark on this journey, to make your unique contribution to the world.

This understanding, my friends, is incredibly empowering. It liberates us from the tyranny of seeking external validation, from constantly measuring our worth against the achievements of others. It allows us to tap into the infinite wellspring of potential that resides within each of us.

Your birthday is a reminder that you are an original, not a copy. You were brought into this world with a unique set of gifts, talents, and passions. Embrace them. Nurture them. Let them shine.

Living a Life of Purpose: Embracing Your Unique Mission

So, how do we live a life that honors this incredible gift, this divine declaration of our worth? How do we tap into the secret power of our birthdays?

Here are a few thoughts:

• Recognize Your Inherent Value: Embrace the truth that you matter. Not because of what you do, but because of who you are – a unique expression of the Divine.
• Discover Your Unique Gifts: Spend time reflecting on your passions, your talents, your interests. What brings you joy? What makes you come alive?
• Embrace Your Mission: Believe that you were placed on this Earth with a purpose. Seek it out. Pursue it with passion and commitment.
• Live with Intention: Make choices that align with your values and aspirations. Don’t be afraid to be different, to forge your own path.

Remember, every morning you wake up is a mini-birthday, a fresh opportunity to live with intention, to make choices that reflect your inherent worth and your unique purpose.

To help you further explore the profound significance of your birthday and provide you with practical tools to unlock its hidden power, I’ve created a special Birthday Guide. I’d be delighted to send you a copy as my gift. Simply provide me with your birthday, and I’ll make sure it reaches you.

May we all merit to live lives filled with purpose, meaning, and the unwavering knowledge that we each hold a unique and irreplaceable place in the heart of creation.

For a deeper dive into this topic, I invite you to watch the accompanying video: The Secret Power of Your Birthday.

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Gematria: Understanding Jewish Numerology

July 16th, 2024

The Arts and Science Behind Jewish Numerology

We all know that language, and therefore words, carry power. We see it in the fact that language is the key to communication – the communication of our feelings to one another. From our earliest childhood, we experience the communication of love and, unfortunately, the communication of anger. Words carry power; they carry our expression, intentions, personalities, passions, emotions, and so much more.

Words are made up of letters. Very often, though we use this tool at our disposal all the time – communicating, speaking, crying, singing – in all the different forms of expression of words, whether through speaking or writing, we don’t often pay attention to the precise science and art behind these words.

This is the discussion of numerology, or the Hebrew word Gematria, which comes from the Greek geometria, meaning “geometry.” Essentially, it’s the study of numbers, but Gematria particularly refers to the power and energy that lies in the numbers that correspond to each letter.

Words: Vessels of Energy

Though we use words all the time, and hopefully for good purposes, we must realize that words are energy. As a matter of fact, the word for “words” in Hebrew, which is amira, is made up of ot, meaning “letters”. Every word is made up of letters, and the word ot in Hebrew comes from the word eit, meaning “the morning has arrived,” “has risen,” “the dawn has risen,” “the morning has arrived.” So, ot refers to an arrival, a transmission. It’s a transmission of energy.

Though a letter on its own is hollow – you just have an A, a B, a C, a D – if you combine the letters, let’s say you combine the letters G-O-O-D, it takes on a whole different meaning, more than the sum of its parts. This is because each of the letters has its particular energy, and combining them creates a new energy, a new synergy, you could say, which conveys the feelings that are conveyed when you say the word “good.”

Now, it’s important also to point out that I’m going to be speaking primarily about the Hebrew language because that’s where Gematria really plays a tremendous role. One of the reasons for that is because, according to Jewish mysticism, the Hebrew language is the origin of all languages. There are books that describe how all languages evolved and originated from their original Hebrew. That’s where you have aleph-beit, A-B, and you have the equivalent in not only Latin languages, but also other languages. It all originates from Hebrew.

Hebrew is considered to be the pure language, the language of metaphor, the language that the Divine used to create existence. Thus, the language, the letters, and the words take on a whole different dimension because they convey the power of Creation, the power of the force of creation that lies within each thing that’s named by certain words or a combination of words.

This is why, for example, when we ask for a full name for a blessing, for health, for someone who’s been ill, we look for their Hebrew name and their mother’s Hebrew name. Why the Hebrew name? Because the Hebrew name is seen as the name that channels the Soul’s power into our beings, and therefore that Hebrew name carries a particular power.

Language: The Projection of Energy

Think of it this way: you have a film projector projecting plain white light on a screen. You see nothing; all you see is white light. Now imagine you take a film that has carved out images – in this case, let’s say carved out letters – and then you put that in front of the projector. What will happen? The letters will now be projected – letters of light. So, if you have carved out letters, as I said, G-O-O-D, or we’ll use a Hebrew word, baruch, which is a very classic word which means “to bless,” it’s four Hebrew letters, so you’ll see those letters of light are projected onto the screen.

What’s actually happened here is that the white light, plain, seamless, and shapeless energy without shape and form, is being channeled by the film with the cutout letters. The film and those cutout letters channel the energy, the white light, onto the screen, and therefore you’ll now have letters – letters of light.

This is how we see names and words in general. They’re channeling energy.

Communicating with Heart and Mind

When someone speaks to you – and I’m trying to stay away from superficial talk and gossip and nonsense – let’s talk about something significant. Someone shares with you important words: the words “I love you” or the words “I care about you,” or other words that we use to communicate from our hearts and minds to others.

Those words are particular sentiments, but they carry a white energy; they carry the white, shapeless energy. But they’re being shaped by the letters that we use, which is why words have so much impact and potency. Because the words we use aren’t just about passion (although if you say words without soul, without heart, in a way that shows you don’t care, then they are, as I said, hollow words). But if you combine both together – you combine the passion and the energy of a feeling, the sentiment – if you say it with gusto, with passion, then that passion, like the white light, is channeled through the letters, and in turn, you have an expression that will convey a feeling, sometimes a very strong feeling, an intense feeling.

Good communication, as you see, is not just choosing the right words but also choosing the right inflections and emphasis that the speaker uses in communicating.

When you write, you don’t quite have the same power of communicating passion. That’s why good writers know how to use the right words that trigger emotions; certain words and the way they’re phrased and punctuated convey ideas. An exclamation point, for example, will convey something that’s an exclamation. A question mark focuses on something mysterious, unknown, questionable, or cryptic. And the same with other punctuation marks.

Basically, language is energy in containers. The energy is the white light, and the containers are the particular letters you use to communicate the particular message.

Energy and Containers

Everything in life has those two elements: there’s energy, but the energy needs to be harnessed and channeled. And hence, that’s how we see letters. Letters, essentially, are channelers of light, channelers of energy.

When you think about it, it really becomes, as an aside, an incredible point for understanding the importance of the words we use, the care that we should take. You’ll see intelligent people are very careful about what they say and what they don’t say. Sometimes, you can learn more from someone from what they don’t say than from what they do say. It’s the idea of being measured, knowing when to say it, how to say it, and speaking in a pleasant tone. We are told that the words of the wise are said with a certain pleasantness and a measured tone; they don’t speak in ways that are incoherent or overly passionate or overly extreme. Everything is said in a way… and people who don’t control themselves can go into tantrums, yell, scream, become hysterical, and their words come across in that fashion.

So, words are channels and instruments for us to reach each other. And in doing so, we have, as I said, the energy of the word or the letter.

Letters: Building Blocks of Meaning

Let’s speak about letters, which make up words.

Think of it this way: the letters on a page in a book are like the containers, and the energy is the message. What’s the story? What’s the narrative? What’s the sentiment? What’s the experience being conveyed?

In a world like ours, where we live in a material world, we need both. You cannot just have energy without containers because then we won’t be able to reach each other. If someone just pours out their plain, unfiltered, and shapeless energy, you won’t understand what they’re saying. It’ll just be sound. If, on the other hand, there are only letters and no soul behind it, then it’s just empty words. That’s why we need both. We need those… They say, “Words from the heart enter the heart.” So, it comes from the heart, and the heart is beyond words, but then it’s harnessed and channeled in expression.

You know, sometimes there’s an expression I like to use, that when I try to write and communicate, you’re really trying to express the inexpressible. That’s what it comes down to; you’re trying to express feelings, sentiments, and experiences that are not always easy to quantify in words. Therefore you have to use the right metaphors and analogies. And most importantly, you need to find those words that resonate, that resonate with you and with another. And that resonance is really where you create the connection. But you can only do it through words because if you don’t have the words, you don’t have the channel, you don’t have the bridge… The bridge is a good word here. The bridge to bridge two people. But what are you conveying on this bridge? What are you… What’s traveling across this bridge? Our feelings and sentiments that are sometimes not exactly described and don’t fit into the regular parameters of words. Which is why often one of the ways we communicate is through song. You sometimes can’t communicate through exact prose or particularly rational words or language, so we use a song, a feeling, an expression… You know, people relate to the word “you know.” I think everybody understands what that means even though it doesn’t have any particular meaning in the dictionary. Or a cry or a laugh.

So, the point I’m making here is I’m trying to explain the so-called science behind language, behind linguistics. And the science really is that there’s an energy, and there are containers. So, this introduction is critical to really understanding the mystery of Gematria.

The Mystery of Gematria

So, let’s go over to Gematria now.

If words are energy, if letters are energy, and words are the synergy of several letters coming together… I’ll use the classic, as I said, the Hebrew word baruch. It’s the best example because baruch means “blessing.” “You are blessed.” “You shall be blessed.”

So, the word baruch is made up of four Hebrew letters. If you want to use the word in English, “bless” let’s say, B-L-E-S-S. But as I said, I’m focusing on the Hebrew. But I’ll explain it all obviously in English. So this is an example of using language to explain something that may be beyond some people’s language because everybody knows Hebrew.

So, the word baruch, or “bless,” is made up of letters. And the letters themselves… The B, for example, of “bless” could be a “b” in other words. It could be the “b” of “building.” It could be the “b” of “bricks.” It could be the “b” of “bumblebee” if you wish.

So, that B can be used in many different ways. It’s just a brick; think of a brick in a building. But when that brick, that one letter, combines with another letter, an L, which again is a letter that can be used in many words, and an E, an S, an S, or bet, reish, vav, chaf which can be used in many different combinations… Now, you combine them in this particular order, and you suddenly have a new energy that enters; we call it synergy. It’s more than the sum of the parts. It’s not just a B, an L, and an E, and an S-S; it’s not just a bet, reish, vav, chaf; it is now the meaning “blessing.” “Blessing,” we all know, is much more than just four letters, random letters. Now, the letters, the bricks, have come together and have shaped a message, have shaped a feeling.

Someone says, “I want to bless you.” It’s a lot more than just a bunch of letters; they’re giving you a blessing; they’re giving you a bracha – a blessing.

And the same thing with “I love you” – L-O-V-E. In Hebrew, love is ahava, also four letters. So this, again, conveys much more than just single bricks. These bricks have now turned into a structure, and that structure is the word that conveys a message that’s more than the sum of the parts. But it’s made up of those parts.

So, you have to say those parts all have their energy, then there’s a synergy that enters, what is often called the air in Hebrew in the Kabbalistic language, a type of synergy that hovers and is more than the sum of the letters, which is the word.

Letters, Words, Sentences, Stories

Now, of course, that’s one word. When you combine several words, you create a sentence, and sentences create paragraphs, and paragraphs create chapters, and chapters create books, and books create volumes, and there you have the whole story… the rest is history! The point is that it all begins with these letters. Whether letters of speech or the written word, it’s the same idea; it’s just two different forms of letters. One is coming out of your mouth, and one is being engraved or written on paper or parchment or engraved on a tablet. And what I mean by a tablet, I don’t mean the modern tablet; I mean the tablets that were given at Sinai.

So, once you understand language and letters in that fashion… Now, the interesting thing is if a letter is indeed a channel of energy, then this letter has many… It’s very… It has to be analyzed and dissected. So here, we have several ways we look at letters besides the fact that the letters add up to a word. The letters also have a shape. Every letter has a shape. An aleph, for example, is a diagonal line with a dot on the top right and a dot on the bottom left. A bet is like… a B is like… is three lines with an open left side, like a square without the left side of the square. A gimmel is harder to describe; it’s aligned with it… But each Hebrew letter has its shape. And that shape, indeed, also… as I said before with the film and the projector, the shape of letters is what shapes the energy. Follow that… the shape. So, the shape itself carries and describes that kind of energy. It is…

So, let’s take the word bayit. As a matter of fact, the word bet has another meaning; bet is also “a house.” If you know a little Hebrew, you know that *bayit*… there’s a house and a bet. Actually, it looks like a house. What does a house usually look like? You make three lines, and that’s a house, right? A wall, a wall, and a roof. That’s a bet, an inverted bet. And the same thing with aleph and the same thing with gimmel.

So, besides the fact that the letter itself has… is… makes up the word bayit, the shape of the letter contains the energy of that letter. So now we have the shapes; then, we have the meanings of each letter like I just said. *Bayit*… bet is also “a house.” *Aleph*… we can mean “master.” Aleph, lamed, *mem*… teacher. So, aleph has many of its own meanings. And the same thing, each of the letters has its meaning.

Gematria: The Numerical Value of Letters

What we’re going to focus on here is a third element in each letter, which is its numerical equivalent, which we’ll be calling “numerology.” That’s the Gematria.

So, what’s Gematria? Gematria literally means “the number” that corresponds to the letters of the alphabet, of the Hebrew alphabet. So, we have a system for this; it’s actually quite complex. I’m going to focus on the basics, even though we call this “Gematria for Beginners.” Um… You know, I was wondering whether to use that word. I’ll tell you why. Just as an aside, I remember I was once giving a class, a series of classes, at the Open Center here in the city. It was on Spring Street when I was teaching, then… then they moved somewhere in Midtown. And again, a number of classes there.

One of the classes… The program director called me; she was really good with the titles and so on. She said, “Let’s do a class called ‘Kabbalah for Beginners.’”

So I told her, “I don’t know if that’s a great title. Who wants to be called a beginner?”

So she said to me, “You know they said the same thing about those books like, you know, ‘Accounting for Dummies,’ ‘Computers for Dummies,’ ‘This for Dummies,’ ‘That for Dummies…’” And first, people thought maybe it won’t work; no one wants to be called a dummy. But the tongue-in-cheek element actually… saying it in people’s faces actually did resonate. They said, “You know, no problem. Why don’t you tell me I’m a dumb…? At least you’re not hiding the fact, you know?” It worked! It was a good marketing tool. Then it became a series for idiots, right? Something like “Cooking for Idiots” and “Accounting for Idiots.” I’m not sure if “idiot” and a “dummy” is… but… But two brands! So, we have the “idiot” and the “dummy” brand, okay?

Now, this was all… So I sat there, “I don’t know if it’s a great idea to call it ‘Kabbalah for Beginners.’” She said, “Let’s try.” And we did it, and I want to definitely recall 30-35 people attended. Then the series was very nice, successful. It was recorded. I think we even have it on… uh… We have it available on our site.

Um… then a few months later, she said, “Let’s do another one.”

“Because…?”

So I said, “You know what? Let’s try ‘Advanced Kabbalah.’ We did the beginners; let’s do ‘Advanced Kabbalah.’”

She says, “What are you going to say?”

I said, “I’m going to say the same thing, but let’s call it ‘Advanced Kabbalah.’” We had over 100 people show up.

As I said, you see, I think maybe when it comes to “Cooking for Dummies,” they don’t have a problem. But for Kabbalah, everyone wants the advanced version; they don’t want the beginner’s version.

So, I was thinking about the “Gematria for Beginners.” I said, “Let’s test it as well. We’ll do ‘Gematria for Beginners’ this week, and at some other point, we’ll do ‘Advanced Gematria.’” The truth is, it’s all advanced, to be very honest. And, uh… But I mean, and even for advanced people, you also have to begin with the beginning and begin with the basics. So don’t be deceived by the name. And we didn’t call it “Gematria for Dummies”; we didn’t call it, good… “Gematria for Idiots.” That’s not Meaningful Life Center style!

Hebrew Letters and Their Numerical Values

But “Gematria for Beginners: The Art and Science of Jewish Numerology.” So, the truth is, it is a very complex study, to be honest, because in Gematria itself, as I’ll point out in this discussion, there are probably, I would say, 30 different ways of doing Gematria! How do you like that?

So, I’m going to begin with the most basic way. And that is that in the Hebrew alphabet, there are 22 letters. 22 letters and five… we’ll call… What are they called? Um… vowels. No, not vowels. No. Five letters that have a double letter that you use at the end of a word, which is… So it’s 22 letters, but I’m not going to discuss the other five because they’ll just complicate matters. Let’s stick to the 22.

So, based on what I’ve said, *ot*… and ot is… means… comes from the word “transmission,” channeling, um… directing, guiding light, right? So, based on that, it’s like 22… Think of it as 22 transmissions, each one with its particular personality, its shape, its meaning, and, of course, its number, which is what we’re focusing on.

And the general way it’s structured goes like this: the first 10 letters are 1 to 10. So, you have *aleph*… 1 to 10, with aleph being number one. One, bet is two, gimmel is three, dalet is four, and yud is ten. Then it jumps by tens. So, you have… the next is 10, 20, 30… You don’t go by units any longer; we go by tens. So, you’d… till kuf would be 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100.

I’ll be… Again, I’ll be specific. You know, I’ll spell it out in case somebody wants to start again.

Aleph is one, bet is two, gimmel is three, dalet is four, hey is five, vav is six, zayin is seven, chet is eight, tet is nine, and yud is ten. So we got the first ten letters; we have another 12 to go.

And here’s how it works: the next is kaf. So, um… You understand kaf is 20. Lamed is 30, mem is 40, nun is 50, samech is 60, ayin is 70, pey is 80, tzadik is 90, and kuf is 100.

So now we have 20 letters. Well, 19, I should say. Then we have reish, shin, tav – the last three. And now it jumps to hundreds. So now we went by… We went ten units, then we went ten tens, and now we go from kuf is 100, reish is 200, shin is 300, and tav, the final of the 22 letters, is 400.

Calculating Gematria

So, let’s take any word… Let’s take the word baruch, as I mentioned. So, what would be the Gematria of baruch? The bet is two, the reish is 200, the vav is six, so we have 208, and the kaf is 20. So we have 228.

Take any name. Let’s take a name… um… Give me… Anyone has a Hebrew name here? Tell me your Hebrew name?

[Audience member responds: Adina]

Adina? Yeah, okay. It’s spelled with an aleph at the end, you know, or a hey, probably a hey.

So then we have 10, 15… uh… nun is 50… 65… And the final hey is… 70. So your name is the Gematria number 70. So, 70 has a special meaning relating to your name.

Every letter… I’m sorry, every word, um… has a Gematria based on the combination of the letters.

Now, I’ve just given you one form of Gematria; there are many other ways to do these calculations. But I said that will be more complicated, so let’s just focus on this. We’ll call it the basic Gematria of a word.

Different Methods of Gematria Calculation

Remember, there are other ways that the letters are counted. Sometimes, we count the letters; we don’t skip tens and hundreds, and it goes literally 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 till 22, with tav being 22.

Sometimes, we don’t count zeros, which means that we have… so we can have number one is… aleph is… is one because you take out the zero. Uh… yud would be also one because you take out the two zeros. So, essentially, you would have four times the letter one: *aleph*… um… aleph… I’m sorry, three times. And bet would be 2, 20, and 200. And gimmel would be three… would be gimmel, um… shin, and uh… I’m sorry, gimmel, lamed, and shin.

So, I’m just pointing out there are many other ways to count. Then there’s all kinds of other Gematrias where you add up the letters in a cumulative way. For example, Adina, you would say one, then you’d say one and four is five, but you add… now the five… You count the one again, so you say five and one is six; then you count the yud and the aleph. So it would be six, ten, plus five is fifteen, and you add it up, and it comes out to be a lot more than 70.

So, there are ways, different ways. Sometimes you cube it; sometimes, you even quadruple it. And then sometimes… I call it a “curl.” You… You add the whole word, and then you add one more number for the sum total of all of them.

I don’t want to confuse matters; I just wanted to point out that there are a lot of complex configurations and permutations of these ideas.

Example: The Tetragrammaton

One classic thing that you may be familiar with… this is more Kabbalistic, but I’ll just mention it for the record. The famous Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey, the holiest Name of God… So everyone knows that’s associated with the number 26. Yud is ten, the hey is five – 15 – the vav is six, so that’s 15, 21, plus one more hey, five, makes 26.

But there’s a thing called counting… There’s another form of Gematria called “with the miluim.” So, if you’ve ever heard of the concept of the Shem Havaya, the Shem Adnut, the Shem Sag, the Shem Av, if you haven’t, you can easily skip this; it won’t affect the rest of the discussion here. But these are four different numerical Gematrias, all based on the Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey. And I’ll explain that in a moment because 26 is the basic number of the four letters. But what happens when you write out the four letters… a *yud*… When you write it out, it itself is made up of three letters. So suddenly, the yud becomes 20 because the yud is… four… is ten, the vav is six, and then four – ten and ten, twenty.

Now the question is, how do you write hey? That’s why I asked you the question. You could write hey-aleph; you could write hey-hey; you could write hey-yud. So all these show different permutations of these letters, and they end up respectively to four different ways of combining them. One adds up to 45, one adds up to 52, one adds up to 63, and one adds up to 72. So, you’ll find sometimes in Kabbalistic and Hasidic writings these names…

As I said, um… This is more of a footnote. I just wanted to point out how this affects literally all discussions about words and names and numbers, and so on. And they’re all different types of Gematrias, but let’s get back to the basic because if you master the basic Gematria, it’s much easier to climb to stage two and figure out other forms of numerical configurations.

Gematria and Connections

Another introduction I want to make before I continue is that Gematria also helps people understand the connections between different things. Let’s say your name, Adina, adds up to the number 70. There are other words in Hebrew that add up to the number 70. And they have a relationship because they have the same Gematria.

But the qualification I want to make here is that a lot of people who are probably more of the novices and don’t know the entire science and art of it just go ahead and start comparing different things that are number 70 and say, “Okay, this is number seven, this is number seven, and therefore we can just make a correlation.” That’s not the case. It goes the other way around because two things are connected; that’s why their numbers are going to be connected. Not that you find two things of the same number; you can just stick one wall to the next, as they say. We can’t just stick walls together. You have to understand, firstly, the significance of a name or the meaning of the word; then, you could say that relates to another word.

Because they have… A classic example would be the number… another 70. It happens to be 70 is this expression… Okay, it says, “When wine enters, secrets come out.” As we see, someone drinks wine, they start… They like to say, “A drunk… What’s on their lung is on their tongue.” In this industry… there’s an expression.

But it also has a positive meaning that when you drink wine, the inner… your inner dimension is revealed, just like the grape has concealed within its wine. So… so too… And when you squeeze the grape, that wine is produced. So too, we all have inner secrets, more profound things. And when you drink wine, it brings the secret out.

So, the interesting thing is the Gematria of yayin, which is “wine,” is what… is… is 70. The Gematria of saidot, “secrets,” is also 70 because nun is 50, that’s 70. Sod is four, 70… It’s a different kind of… different words.

So, the words themselves… If you saw yayin here, “wine,” “secret” here, you wouldn’t necessarily connect them. But based on this harmonic statement, you realize they both carry the power of a “secret,” and therefore they have the same number. So, it didn’t begin because they both have the same number; it was because they had a relationship, therefore… is the way the cosmic energies work; that’s why they have the same number.

So, it’s important to realize it’s not the number that makes the connection; it’s the connection that makes the number. That’s a critical piece in understanding what Gematrias are and avoids a lot of mistakes that people make. They start looking around, “Okay, what else is number 70?” And, “Okay, I must have a connection to that.” You see, if I’d say 75th Avenue, that’s the place I have to go shopping. Not necessarily! That’s a little going overboard. Because, at first, you need a connection; then, you need the numerical, uh… equivalent of it.

Okay, so with that said, you suddenly see new, uh… new horizons… and completely new vistas and… and horizons open up when you start looking at the number of words here. Right here… yayin means “wine,” sod means “secret,” but when you look at the Gematria, you suddenly realize that you can learn deep things about wine and secrets by looking at the number. And the same is true across the board with every name, either of a person or an object, or anything in existence. The name carries the energy, as I described in the introduction. And that energy… part of that energy is also the number… miracle… the equivalent… the numerology of that word or name.

Gematria: Not a Predictive Tool

Now, one has to be careful because not everyone’s a master of this. But there are those… There were Kabbalists and mystics who are able to look at someone’s name and somewhat recognize certain patterns and personality that that person has. And we’re not talking here about any prophecy or miracles. It’s simply because the name carries energy, and the name carries energy means it’s your energy. It’s the name that you were given.

We’re told… The Arizal… the writings that… the Arizal was a great mystic who says that when parents give a name to children, it’s like a mini-prophecy. They may not know it, but God puts the right name in their mouths, which is why one of the only areas where you don’t have rabbis and leaders will advise on the name… You’ll never find advice on the name. You’ll see the names in the Bible, for example, Leah gave the names… the parents give their names. Even though you can go to… let’s say, to a sage and say, “What name do you think…?” That sage will always say, “You, as parents, have the prophecy, the mini-prophecy. God will give you the right name to put into… well, the right name that this child needs to have.”

Now, sometimes it’s a name after a grandparent, after a loved one, after someone that you want to remember and, more… memorialize. That’s part of it.

The Power of a Name

But a name is a very powerful force. And we see, even though on one hand, the name, you can say, is only a handle… you can exist without a name. If you lived alone on this Earth, you wouldn’t need a name. You don’t need a name to call yourself. Even though I know some people do speak to themselves, and they say, “What’s the matter with you, Adina?” Right? You know what… you know. Or, “What’s the matter with you…” uh… whoever it may be. But, in essence, we don’t need a name.

On the other hand, a name is critical for us to be able to communicate to each other. And we know that a name also touches the core. A person could be asleep; a person could even be in a faint state, in a comatose state, and you call their name, there’s something that touches them very deeply because the name does associate… as I said before, how the soul channels inside of you.

So therefore, the Gematria, the number that associates with your name, is therefore also very significant. And, um… The second section of Tanya, Chapter 1, the Baal Shem Tov… the Alter Rebbe says that the number… the letters… the number… the numerology of a particular word gives you the number of energies that that word contains.

So, in a sense, when you say the word yayin, 70… um… seven… It’s like 70 energies. And what’s 70? So, you can study, and those that are familiar with the number 70 know it has certain power. 70 is 10 times 7. It’s, uh… the seven faculties times ten, meaning they’re complete… uh… their complete cycle.

Numbers and Their Significance

So, with the number, you can begin to recognize different elements. For

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Kabbalah Secrets: Unveiling the Mystical Teachings

July 16th, 2024

The Unveiling of a Secret: Why is Kabbalah Called Kabbalah?

The word “Kabbalah” often evokes a sense of intrigue, a whisper of hidden knowledge, and a promise of mystical revelation. Perhaps it’s the aura of mystique, the echo of centuries of clandestine study that draws us in. But what is it about Kabbalah that so captivates the human imagination?

Before we can approach the secrets of Kabbalah, we must first understand the nature of secrets themselves. Why are some things hidden? What lies beneath the surface of our understanding, and how do we access it?

The Paradox of Expression: Where Words Fail, Secrets Reside

Consider this: When engaged in casual conversation – about the weather, sports, or even the latest news – words flow effortlessly. Hours can vanish in a torrent of opinions and analyses, leaving us feeling strangely unfulfilled.

Yet, when asked to delve into the depths of our own being – to articulate our deepest fears, joys, and longings – words often fail us. The things that matter most, the experiences that define us, seem to defy expression.

This, my friends, is the paradox of the human experience: The deeper the experience, the fewer tools we possess to express it. The more profound the emotion, the less capable conventional language becomes in conveying its essence.

Think of a moment of breathtaking beauty, a surge of overwhelming love, or the searing pain of grief. Words like “indescribable,” “overwhelming,” or simply “Wow” escape our lips, hinting at a reality that transcends language.

This is because the intensity of such experiences cannot be contained by mere words. It’s like trying to capture a raging fire in a paper cup – the container simply cannot hold the immensity of the element.

The Language of Secrets: Beyond Words, Into Metaphor and Silence

To express the inexpressible, we turn to the language of metaphor. Poetry, music, art – these become the vessels through which we attempt to capture the subtle nuances of our inner world.

When even metaphors prove inadequate, we resort to the profound power of silence. A stunned silence in the face of tragedy speaks volumes more than a torrent of words ever could. A comfortable silence shared between loved ones communicates a depth of understanding that transcends verbal expression.

This silence is not emptiness – it is a fullness, a space where the deepest truths reside.

Just as the head, the smallest part of the human body, houses our most complex faculties and concentrated energy, so too do our deepest secrets reside in the quietest corners of our being.

Kabbalah: Unveiling the Inner Map Through Reception

If we understand that true secrets reside beyond the realm of conventional language, how then do we access them? This is where Kabbalah enters the equation.

While often translated as “secrets,” the word Kabbalah actually means “to receive.” This seemingly simple definition holds the key to unlocking the hidden dimensions of our soul and the universe.

Kabbalah teaches that to access the secret wisdom of existence, we must first cultivate a state of receptivity. This means silencing the noise of our ego, stilling the constant chatter of the mind, and opening ourselves to a higher wisdom.

Just as a radio requires a receiver to tune into specific frequencies, we too must become receptive vessels to access the subtle frequencies of the spiritual realm.

This receptivity begins with humility, with the understanding that we do not create our own truth, but rather receive it from a higher source. This is why the transmission of Kabbalistic wisdom traditionally flowed from teacher to student – a lineage of souls dedicated to preserving and transmitting this sacred knowledge.

The Secret of Shabbat: A Glimpse into Our Soul’s Silence

The concept of Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, offers a powerful example of this principle of receptivity.

For six days, we engage in the world – creating, producing, and expressing ourselves in countless ways. On Shabbat, we cease from this external activity and turn inward, embracing a state of stillness and receptivity.

This doesn’t mean we simply do nothing. Rather, we engage in activities that nourish the soul – prayer, study, spending time with loved ones, and simply appreciating the beauty of creation.

By silencing the noise of our everyday lives, we create space for the still, small voice within to emerge. We connect with the essence of who we truly are, a source of wisdom and beauty that transcends the limitations of our physical existence.

Revealing the Secrets: From Darkness to Dawn

For centuries, the study of Kabbalah was indeed shrouded in secrecy, reserved for a select few deemed ready to approach its wisdom. However, as the world grew increasingly materialistic, as faith waned and spiritual darkness descended, great Kabbalistic masters recognized the urgent need to reveal this inner light.

The analogy of the king and his ailing child perfectly illustrates this principle. Just as the king willingly sacrificed his most precious jewel to save his child, so too did these masters choose to share these profound teachings, even at the risk of them being misunderstood or misused.

Why? Because the potential reward – the awakening of souls and the healing of a broken world – outweighed the risks.

Today, we are witnessing the fulfillment of ancient prophecies – a time when the deepest secrets are being revealed, offering a taste of the Messianic era to come. This doesn’t mean the work is done. We each have a responsibility to approach these teachings with humility, reverence, and a sincere desire to use them for the betterment of ourselves and the world.

Embracing Our Inner Secrets: A Journey of Transformation

Ultimately, Kabbalah is not about accumulating knowledge or unlocking esoteric mysteries. It is about embarking on a journey of personal transformation – a journey that begins in the silence of our soul and ripples outward, informing every aspect of our lives.

It is about recognizing that the most powerful forces in the universe are often the least visible – the atom, the seed, the quiet whisper of intuition that guides us toward our highest potential.

By embracing the wisdom of Kabbalah, by cultivating a state of receptivity and silencing the noise of our ego, we open ourselves to these invisible forces. We connect with the deepest truths of our being, and in doing so, discover the profound interconnectedness of all things.

This, my friends, is the true secret of Kabbalah – a secret waiting to be revealed within each and every one of us.

For a deeper exploration of these ideas, please watch Rabbi Jacobson’s talk on the Secret of Kabbalah.

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Renew Yourself Using Your Inner Mystic

December 26th, 2023

Renewal is inevitable

Renewal is a universal law of creation. Everything is in some phase or state of renewal at all times, and human beings are no exception to this natural law. Looking to the nature of a butterfly — a larva that within its cocoon that rests, grows, gestates, and comes to be a butterfly as we see them, flying on beautifully ornate wings — tells us how renewal works. It also tells us that some phases of this ongoing cycle do not always feel good, even though we can survive and thrive through all its various phases.

No matter what phase of renewal we may be in at any given moment, it is possible to experience more magic and inspiration in your every day, allowing purpose and intention to enter, and for expansion of our potential to occur, setting us free to discover more magic and wisdom residing within our inner mystic. Integrating this magic already within you allows you to more intentionally renew and rise above any circumstance in your life at any time you wish. Every fiber of the universe and its existence is renewed in every moment.

Transcendence of circumstances, by way way of creating a vibrant relationship with your inner mystic, is an incredibly meaningful, accessible practice. When Michelangelo was asked how he sculpted such beautiful images, he explained that he perceived angels trapped in the marble and that as he carved, he set them free. Our physical world, too, traps and conceals the expansive wellspring of energy, wisdom, and magic brewing within us. Are you a person as a human body only, or are you a spirit preoccupied by your material vehicle and life? It is inside where our inner mystic resides.

When we see ourselves as a spirit sent to this world to travel this earthly life, learn, grow, and expand in our potential as we draw from our divinity and our inner mystic, everything changes. Allowing space and quiet to connect to our inner mystic gives the freedom for its magic within us already to emerge, allowing a renewed vitality and energy to define our lives and moments. With mindful intention, it will set your highest, brightest self free and enhance your experiences so that your path becomes more joyful.

Our inner mystic asks:

How is this experience endeavoring to expand my soul? What is it teaching me, where is it directing me? What does my spirit want to feel, express, create, or give today? Now the purposefulness of events appears and we experience much more meaning. Peer inside in curiosity, without expectation or judgment, and a vibrant knowing shows up.

You are a tremendous resource — how much of your potential is not being actualized?

Some keys to allowing yourself to vitalize your connection to your inner mystic are awareness, connection, and fortitude. The more we access this inner mystic, the more magic is free to enter our experiences;

• Remember that it can take time, conditioning, and training, but we can begin.
• Remember the soul (where it begins, the vehicle/body follows).
• Honor our inner spirit and divinity.
• Reduce reactive states by checking in with your soul and inner mystic first.
• Get quiet; get curious.
• Ask: How does my spirit want to feel today?
• Ask: How is this experience working for me, not against me?
• Walking and moving in nature allows this inquiry with ease and removes outer distractions.
• Have patience.
• Remember adventure, free abandonment.

Remember that your brain is like a map and the more you “walk along” certain paths, the more easily you know them and access them. Give yourself time to consistently integrate the time, energy, and permission you need to visit and get to know your own inner mystic better. Soon, it will begin to visit you more easily and you will recognize its voice and guidance.

This is an excerpt from: Can You Change Your Destiny?

Tags: self-help, overcoming fear, self-improvement, Habits
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Listen To The Flames

November 30th, 2023

Tags: Chanukah, light and darkness, inner self, Divine energy, energy
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Are Israel’s Actions Justified?

November 27th, 2023

Digging Two Graves: Retribution and Revenge in the Context of Current Gazan War

Rabbi Simon Jacobson as a guest on Equal Footing with Dov Tuzman to discuss the war in Israel

Tags: israel war gaza end game
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Do We Have an End Game?

November 27th, 2023

Do We Have an End Game?

Rabbi Simon Jacobson as a guest on Equal Footing with Dov Tuzman

Tags: israel war gaza end game
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Jacob’s Ladder – The Rise & Fall of Nations

November 20th, 2023

How to Fortify Yourself Before Facing the Unknown

All the events that happened with the Patriarchs [Abraham, Isaac and Jacob] come to teach us about the future…they were shown what would happen to their descendants
– Ramban Lech Lecho 12:6. Bechayei on this week’s portion 28:12

[Jacob]  dreamed and saw a ladder standing on the ground and its top reached up toward heaven. G-d’s angels were ascending and descending on it (this week’s portion, Genesis 28:12)  – He was shown the future empires that would rule the world
– Midrash Tanchuma beginning of this week’s portion. Pirkei D’rebbi Eliezer ch. 35 (cited in Bechaya and Ramban ibid). See Rambam Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 7:3)

Since October 7th I have been sharing commentary on the historical events of our times. Being trained in Torah study my entire life, I naturally gravitate to the Bible and its commentaries to make sense of this chaos and uncertainty.

One can sense that there is something happening that is unfathomably larger than any one man – or even all of us together – can comprehend. When events reach and affect a critical mass, as the events since October 7th have done, it is simply impossible to predict or even project what will happen. Particularly when the enemy is so obfuscated – cloaked in the shadows of deep-rooted religious beliefs; ideologies that are foreign to many of us; expressed in the twisted arms of terrorism; a war being fought in unfamiliar hills of the Middle East — no one can imagine what, if anything, will come next.

When conventional paradigms don’t work, we have no other choice but to step back and look for a new perspective, and it always helps to stare into history and connect the dots. For me this means delving into the Torah, a document that has been traveling with us for thousands of years.

And in it we do find all the seeds for the characters and players of today. Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, Jacob.

To my own surprise each week as I sit down to study the weekly Torah portion, the Biblical stories all come alive in context of today’s events.

But, as complacency began to creep back into our lives, and we all so want to return to some semblance of normalcy (whatever that means), to the world of “October 6,” I must confess that my own denial began whispering intriguing thoughts in my ear, seducing me into the lull of “what more is there to say? You have already outlined the major players: Abraham, father of nations; Ishmael, father of Arabs/Muslims; Isaac, father of Jews; Esau, father of the West – and their interactions which foretell the events of our times. What more can possibly be said?!”

Yet, I have a self-imposed necessity to look into the Torah portion each week, and there lies the undoing of my complacency: When you read the continuing saga, you just cannot ignore its profound relevance.

And so, my commentary continues.

After Esau’s notorious marriage to Ishmael’s daughter (at the end of last week’s portion), the Torah gets back to Jacob’s journey to Charan, which as you may recall was for two reasons: 1) To escape the wrath of his brother Esau following Jacob’s stealing of his blessings 2) To find a wife for himself.

“Vayeitzei Yaakov m’Beer Sheva vayelech Charono,” Jacob leaves Beersheba and travels toward Charan. In this journey Jacob has his renowned dream where he sees the vision of a “ladder standing on the ground and its top (head) reached up toward heaven. G-d’s angels were ascending and descending on it.”

G-d then promises Jacob,

“I am G-d of Abraham your father and G-d of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land upon which you are lying. Your descendants will be [plentiful] like the dust of the earth. You shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families on earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.”

G-d continues: “I am with you. I will protect you wherever you go and bring you back to this soil. I will not turn aside from you until I have fully kept this promise to you.”

The parsha continues with Jacob going on his way, arriving in Charan, marrying and building his family there – eleven of the twelve tribes. Jacob spends twenty years in Charan, working for his father-in-law Laban as a sheperd, tending to his large flocks. This week’s chapter concludes with Jacob and his family leaving Charan and returning to the land of his fathers, Canaan, only to confront Esau in next week’s Torah portion.

Jacob and Esau represent “two nations” in a perpetual struggle. In cosmic terms they embody the battle between matter and spirit, between your body and soul, between the G-dly and the mundane. In historical terms – the battle between religion and science, between faith and modern (Western) culture, between the religious and the secular. In personal terms – the battle between selfishness and dedication to a higher calling.

The battle between Esau and Jacob lays the ground for all the battles to come in future generations. By understanding this conflict and how it is dealt with, we can learn how we should act when facing our own challenges, our own version of the Jacob/Esau confrontation.

The battle lines between Esau and Jacob are drawn in last week’s portion, when Jacob ‘buys’ the birthright from Esau and then proceeds to ‘steal’ his blessings (in Esau’s words: “first he took my birthright and now he took my blessing”). Esau is furious and wants to kill his brother.

But before a confrontation takes place Jacob is sent away by his parents to Charan to get married. During the twenty years that Jacob is away he is in essence preparing himself for the final and inevitable confrontation with Esau.

Spirit and matter are diametrically opposed to each other. Before you are ready to confront the harsh material world, you must bolster and strengthen yourself by building a home and family, a nurturing oasis – a secure launch pad, if you will, which imbues you with confidence to achieve all your goals. A soaring bird must have a secure nest. A true home is a place where you are completely comfortable. A healthy childhood is the time in your life when you are nurtured and protected. This allows you to build strength and develop resources, defensive and offensive tools to then go out into a difficult adult world and not only not be hurt, but with the power and confidence to transform the material world into a Divine home.

Before Jacob could face Esau, he built his home in Charan. No small feat, mind you. Charan is a corrupt place. “Charan” actually means “wrath of G-d,” signifying the G-dlessness of Charan. Laban is an artist of deceit and deception. Jacob does not have an easy time. Nevertheless he prevails and builds a home, a powerful and nurturing domain.

Jewish mysticism teaches that there are stages in refining yourself and the world. First Jacob begins with the relatively easier task with Laban in Charan, and only then can he approach the more difficult Esau challenge. Jacob’s work in tending to Laban’s flocks of sheep represents the building of the spiritual cosmic order, the structure and building blocks that give us the tools to then enter and transform the material universe and confront the “Esau’s” of our lives.[1]

Thus Jacobs’s journey to Charan in this week’s Torah portion signifies the beginning of each of our journeys into the real world. Following Esau’s attempt to join forces with Ishmael against Isaac and Jacob by marrying Ishmael’s daughter, Jacob escapes to build a home and fortify himself in order to be able to face the Esau battles ahead.

As Jacob leaves Israel (Canaan) to travel to Charan, G-d shows him a vision of angels climbing and descending a ladder. He shows him the rise and fall of nations to come, how they would climb and dominate the world, and then fall  – a similar vision to the one G-d showed his grandfather Abraham[2]. And G-d tells him not to be afraid.

“I am with you. I will protect you wherever you go and bring you back to this soil. I will not turn aside from you until I have fully kept this promise to you.”

By showing Jacob this vision G-d is preparing him – as he prepared Abraham – for what is to come, and is giving him, and all of us, the tools to face these challenges and prevail.

The message for each of us today is clear:

To face the battles of life you must first fortify your inner life. You must build a strong inner core – a home and family that provides you with the security and confidence to handle any force or enemy from without.

As we face enemies – known or unknown, and especially the worst enemy of all, the enemy of fear and uncertainty – we must build inner security, a safe home.

A true home begins in your soul. You must have a place inside of you where you are completely comfortable. Peace at the center – a place where you feel at home with your calling and your purpose. You must make your peace with G-d, peace with your soul – peace with the mission for which you were uniquely chosen and sent to earth.

When you allow G-d in, G-d tells you: “I am with you. I will protect you wherever you go.” No matter the challenge, regardless which enemy or which battle – when you connect to G-d you have the power to overcome and conquer with a buoyant spirit[3] anything and everything.

Jacob’s vision promises us that the nations that dominate the ladder will ultimately fall. When you lack faith and trust in G-d, then you become enslaved and victimized by dominating nations and forces around us.

Prevail will be those that climb the ladder together with G-d. With faith in G-d you can conquer all, and you then climb the ladder and never descend.[4]

Tags: october 7, personal growth, faith vs. reason, Jacob's ladder, personal refinement, Jacob, Life's Challenges, Esau
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We Shudder

November 14th, 2023

As we read in this week’s Torah portion how our patriarch Isaac shuddered a great, very great, shudder (Genesis 27:33) — we are all still shuddering over the latest brutal massacre and the ensuing war in Israel.

After a rather lengthy sleep we have suddenly been jolted back to reality with the latest conflagration in the Middle East.

Is anyone shocked?

We children of the West, born in freedom, have been spoiled by the façade of our many distractions that have allowed us the luxury of denial of the stark battles of good and evil, creating an illusion of false security. The reverie of a peaceful siesta is far more comfortable, but one need not be very intelligent to recognize that the Middle East is a combustion chamber, a fermenting hotbed of noxious toxins always ready to explode.

September 11 and other attacks remind us sporadically from time to time that there are powerful brewing forces that must be reckoned with before we enter an age of true peace, but it is so easy to sink back into our comfortable cushions. Such is the nature of the beast of denial.

Just a bit of history can surely wake you up:

1948–1949: Israeli War of Independence
1951–1955: Retribution operations
1956: Suez War
1967: Six-Day War
1967–1970: War of Attrition
1973: Yom Kippur War
1978: South Lebanon conflict
1982: First Lebanon War
1982–2000: South Lebanon conflict
1987–1993: First Intifada
2000–2005: Second Intifada

And more recently, with a with more detail which we all certainly remember:

August 2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from Gaza.

June 2006: Hamas militants infiltrate an army post near the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip and abduct Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

July 2006: Second Lebanon War, sparked by persistent rocket shelling of Northern Israel by Hezbollah.

2008–2009: Gaza War

Are these coincidences that every Israeli acquiescence is followed by another uprising by its enemies?

In 2006 it was Hezbollah from the north. Six years later, in 2012, it was Hamas from the south.

2014: Yet another Gaza War

Which brings us to today…

October 7, 2023: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. A barrage of thousands of missiles launched at Israel, over 1,400 brutally murdered — more killed than on any day since the Holocaust — and 240 elders, men, women and children taken hostage into Gaza.

Hamas is back in action…

Hamas clearly views the Arab-Israeli conflict as a religious struggle between Islam and Judaism that can only be resolved by the destruction of the State of Israel, and thus opposes any Arab-Israeli peace talks.

If you’re still asleep, here are a few quotes from the Hamas covenant (or charter):

Preface: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” (A quote by Imam Hassan al Banna)

Article 6: “The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned…”

Article 7:”The Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realization of Allah’s promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharqad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.”

Article 11: “The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up.”

Article 13: “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with.”

Article 28: “The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion … It relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups. All these organizations, whether secret or open, work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions… When the Jews conquered the Holy City in 1967, they stood on the threshold of the Aqsa Mosque and proclaimed that “Mohammed is dead, and his descendants are all women.” Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. “May the cowards never sleep.”

Article 32: “After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.”

What to be done?

As in all serious confrontations one needs a short-term plan and a long-term one. Obviously, first and foremost everything possible must be done in the short term to protect innocent lives and never allow Hamas — or any terrorist group — to violate the security of a peace-loving nation ever again. A show of strength is necessary to serve as a deterrent.

We all would wish that this short-term approach would be enough. But the fact remains that even when these immediate fires are quelled (hopefully sooner than later), the region is festering with centuries old toxins, driven by religious passions and often fanatical faith (misguided or not), and the resulting hostility to Israel will not just go away. It is built on a philosophy and unwavering belief system of millions.

Indeed, these battles have been raging for thousands of years, beginning with the hostilities between Ishmael and Isaac, both children of Abraham, and Esau and Jacob, both children of Isaac.

Thus, one thing is for sure: Until we don’t come to honest terms with the brutal truth about the true nature of the conflict – religious and spiritual as opposed to political – we will not know how to fight this war and we will never win it. Fires may be suppressed, but the underlying forces will not be tamed.

It is no surprise therefore that the current outbreak began on Simchas Torah, the conclusion of a month of intense praying and fasting and celebrating.

During the month of Tishrei we traditionally increase in all our commitments, in our Torah study, prayer and charity. Above all, we intensify our love and kindness to each other – counterbalancing the dark forces that surround us, then just as now.

For a few weeks we had armed ourselves with spiritual weapons, and as the enemy came to destroy us we now deploy all the reservoirs we have been accumulating over Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.

Just as we need to fight the physicals war to protect innocent lives, we also need to fight the spiritual war.

As mentioned, first and foremost everything must be done in the immediate to protect the innocent. But in the long term big picture, we must remember that this – as in past battles in Israel, all the way back to the Babylonian and Roman destruction of the Temples – is ultimately a spiritual and religious battle, reflecting the battle of all life.

The true battle of life is not for land, honor or wealth. It is for the dominance of spirit over matter. Our greatest challenge is not political but spiritual. It is about finding purpose and direction.

We thus intensify our efforts in reconnecting with out inner purpose, through our increased study, prayer and charity, thereby creating internal harmony. Above all – we do all we can to battle divisiveness and foster love between each other.

As long as we do not understand the current confrontation – some call it a “clash of civilizations” – we will continue to be its victim, and be putting out fires in a never-ending, slowly bleeding vicious cycle.

The ultimate victor will be not the one with the most powerful weapons. It will be the one with the most powerful spiritual vision.

So while all peace-loving people grieve over the tragic loss of any life, and pray for the return of the hostages and end of all hostilities – we must always remember that even while we are forced to deal with the short-term challenges, there looms a much larger picture.

The universe is at war and has always been at war – the raging battle between materialism and spirituality, between personal gain and higher purpose, between matter and spirit, between evil and good. Center stage of this war – now and throughout history – has always been Israel.

So ladies and gentlemen: It is time to wake up.

Perhaps this is the power of the promise “hineh lo yonum v’lo yishan shomer Yisroel,” “Behold, the protector of Israel does not slumber nor sleep” – even when we may.

Tags: terrorism, purpose, matter and spirit, Islamism, Middle East, purpose of existence
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Bereishit, Israel, Social, Toldot, Torah, Current Events | 1 Comment »

The Protector of Israel Does Not Slumber nor Sleep

November 14th, 2023

We may have been sleeping. But we are no longer. We have been rudely, abruptly and brutally awakened. And now our eyes are wide open.

We have witnessed atrocities like never before and it has awakened a fire inside our body and soul. Where do we go from here? How do we channel the fire?

Fighting the war

Just as we need to fight the physicals war to protect innocent lives, we also need to fight the spiritual war.

On the physical front everything must be done in the immediate to protect Israel and the innocent people. We must fight back and we must defend our people. We must eradicate Hamas and all terrorism.

Simultaneously, we must remember that this war – as in past battles in Israel, all the way back to the Babylonian and Roman destruction of the Temples – is ultimately a spiritual and religious battle, reflecting the battle of all life.

The true battle of life is not for land, honor or wealth. It is for the dominance of spirit over matter. Our greatest challenge is not political but spiritual. It is about finding purpose and direction.

How do we do that?

We thus intensify our efforts in reconnecting with out inner purpose, through our increased study, prayer and charity, thereby creating internal harmony. Above all – we do all we can to battle divisiveness and foster love between each other.

As long as we do not understand the current confrontation – some call it a “clash of civilizations” – we will continue to be its victim, and be putting out fires in a never-ending, slowly bleeding vicious cycle.

The ultimate victor will be not the one with the most powerful weapons. It will be the one with the most powerful spiritual vision.

So while all peace-loving people grieve over the tragic loss of any life, and pray for the end of all hostilities – we must always remember that even while we are forced to deal with the physical challenges, there looms a much larger picture.

The universe is at war and has always been at war – the raging battle between materialism and spirituality, between personal gain and higher purpose, between matter and spirit, between evil and good. Center stage of this war – now and throughout history – has always been Israel.

So ladies and gentlemen: It is time to wake up.

Perhaps this is the power of the promise “hineh lo yonum v’lo yishan shomer Yisroel,” “Behold, the protector of Israel does not slumber nor sleep” – even when we may.

SOULGYM I MASTERCLASS
Live with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Historic Wake-Up Call: Are We Responding?
Wednesday, November 22, 2023 @8:30pm
Live Stream | Podcast

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Tags: wake up call, light and darkness, Israel, war
Posted in Operation Iron Swords, Soul Gym, Antisemitism, Social, Articles, Current Events | 1 Comment »