Train Journey

July 28th, 2015

A railway system offers two modes of travel: by express train, or via a local line. The express train takes its passengers swiftly and directly to their destination. The local train, which most passengers use (either because the express train does not stop at their station, or because they cannot tolerate its speed) travels more slowly and makes many stops along the way.

These stops are of two types. There are minor stations, at which the train stops for but a short while to take on passengers. And there are major stations that are of a much lengthier duration, for here not only human passengers are received into the train but also livestock and other cargoes. This is a time-consuming operation, for animals are frightened by the commotion (for good reason—they are on their way to being de-animalized and converted into human nourishment), and the cargo being loaded is heavy and bulky.

Before the train pulls out from the station, it sounds its whistle to notify the passengers who are busy with their bundles (or who have perhaps forgotten that they have a journey to make) that it is time to embark. Once, twice, thrice the whistle blows, and when this, too, is to no avail, the train begins to slowly move, to show that it means business and that this is the last chance to hop on before it picks up speed and leaves the station behind.

The Limitations of Haste

Regarding the ultimate Redemption and the era of universal peace and perfection it will usher in, the prophet prophesies: “I, G-d, will hasten it in its time.”[10] Whereupon the Talmud asks: If the Redemption shall come “in its time,” then, by definition, it has not been hastened; and if it is hastened, it is not “in its time”!

The Talmud explains that the prophet is speaking of two possible routes by which the Redemption may come about. If mankind is in a state of “merit,” it will be hastened; if, however, we are “not meritorious,” the Redemption will come “in its time.”[11]

Chassidic teaching adds that, in a certain sense, a redemption that comes “in its time” is greater than a “hastened” redemption. A hastened redemption is one that is imposed on a still-imperfect world from Above; the nature of reality has not itself changed, but has been overwhelmed by an infusion of divine light. On the other hand, a redemption coming “in its time” means that the world has been transformed from within, at its own pace, by its own internal processes. Thus it is deeper and truer than a “hastened” redemption.

Every person’s reality consists of three basic components. At the core of our being is our “G-dly soul,” the spark of divinity that drives our quest for self-transcendence. This is the “man” in man—that which distinguishes the human being from all other creations.

Enfolding the G-dly soul is an “animal soul,” whose drives and instincts man shares with all other living things. These include the drives for self-preservation, self-propagation and self-fulfillment. In man, these might take on more “civilized” and “sophisticated” forms, but they remain, in essence, animal drives and instincts.

Extrinsic to both the G-dly and animal souls is our physical body and physical environment. This is the third, most material and “lifeless” element of our reality, devoid even of the limited spirituality of the animal soul.

A hastened redemption embraces only the G-dly soul of man, which is by nature receptive to the divine. The other two components—the animal soul and the material world—are only affected from without. They might be “swept along” when the divine spark of the G-dly soul erupts into flame, but they themselves have not truly been redeemed.[12]

The Metaphor

Life is thus comparable to a railway. There are express trains that take the direct route to the end of the line. But these carry only passengers of the highest class. “Small-town” passengers, animals and inanimate cargo are too cumbersome for so speedy a ride.

The local train carries them all: stragglers, animals aspiring to be absorbed by the human, raw materials aspiring toward human utility. There are many stations on this journey, of longer or shorter duration according to need; there are second and third warnings for those lagging behind; there are many types of cars, designed for the particular needs of every type of passenger.

All this makes for a more laborious progress toward the ultimate destination. But while the express train achieves its objective more swiftly and smoothly, its achievements are narrower in scope and shallower in depth than those of the local train.

What is true of the railways of history also applies to our individual journeys. In our quest towards personal redemption, we also have a choice of these two routes. We can strive to stimulate what is highest and most G-dly within us, and assume that everything else will be “swept along.” Or we can take the slower, more laborious route of refining and developing also the “animal” and “inanimate” elements of our personality and world, toward a less speedy, yet more profound redemption.

Based on an address by the Rebbe, Tishrei 26, 5711 (October 7, 1950)[13]

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

Tags: transformation, transcendence, personal refinement, Physicality, soul, journey, time, divine sparks, redemption, animal soul, reality, choice, challenges
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Soul & Mystical, Behalotcha, Bamidbar, Free Choice, Moshiach & Redemption, Spiritual, Torah, Emotions & Psychology | No Comments »

Torah & Geometry

July 28th, 2015

Geometry has the characteristics of an exact science as well as of an applied science. The same is true of our holy Torah (lehavdil ad infinitum). For though the Torah is the wisdom of G-d—the ultimate in truth and exactitude—and “no man can know its worth… and it is hidden from the eyes of all living,”[2] nevertheless, as its name, Torah (from the word hora’ah, “instruction”), implies, its purpose is to instruct our daily lives in this physical and material world. Thus, the difference between these two disciplines (Torah and geometry) can enlighten us as to the fundamental and infinite difference between the Torah, of which it is said “for it is your wisdom and understanding before all nations,”[3] and the wisdom and understanding of the nations and also of the intellect of the “animal soul”[4] of the Jew.[5]

All human sciences, including the “exact sciences,” are founded upon axioms that are wholly unscientific. For science, especially exact science, accepts only proven facts, while the axioms of all sciences, mathematics and geometry included, are not proven in any way, so that a person is free to accept them or reject them. This is most apparent in the science of geometry, which has three different systems, each of which is founded upon a number of axioms, with the axioms of one system being contradictory to the axioms of the others.

In other words, no science can present to a person anything definite, only a series of contingencies. It can only say: if you accept a number of axioms as true, and you accept a particular method of deduction from them, the results will be such and such.

There are two points here: a) It is the person’s prerogative whether to accept the axioms or not. b) Also in the case that he does accept them, there is nothing to compel him to act in a manner that is consistent with the results of the particular method. For all the method says is, “If you act this way, the result will be such and such.” But if the person is willing to accept the adverse consequences, there is nothing that compels him not to act in any way he desires. In other words, science does not instruct life, but only narrates—as a sort of fortune-teller—a sequence of events, maintaining that according to past experience, and based upon certain axioms which we fancy to accept as true, things will unfold in such and such a manner.

Utterly different is our holy Torah. As the wisdom of the Absolute Existence—the Almighty—it is absolute. Its axioms, as well as the rules that dictate the manner in which laws are to be derived from these axioms, are utterly true. And since this is the wisdom of the Creator of the entire world, man included, it is self-understood that these laws obligate a person to act in concurrence with them, and in no other way.

This is one of the points that you, as a scientist, ought to engrave in your mind: there can be no refutation of Torah by science, since the Torah is absolute truth, while science itself attests that it is not absolute, but dependent upon the person’s willful acceptance of certain givens; that the science has full license to establish several contradictory systems, all legitimized by the person’s choice to accept their axioms, as is the case with the three systems in geometry–the Euclidean, Lobachevskian and Riemannian….

Tags: science, Rebbe's letters, Torah, mathematics, absolute truth, axioms, geometry
Posted in Social, Science & Technology | No Comments »

The Cost of Light

July 28th, 2015

And G-d said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel… And I shall cause to emanate from the spirit that is upon you, and place it upon them. And they shall bear the burden of the people together with you…”

Numbers 11:16-17

Was Moses’ prophecy perhaps diminished? No. This is comparable to a burning candle from which many candles are lit, yet its own light is not diminished. So, too, Moses lost nothing that was his…

Midrash Rabbah on verse

On the most basic level, this is the difference between physical and spiritual giving. In physical giving—as when one makes a charitable donation or lends a hand to help a fellow—the giver’s resources are depleted by his gift: he now has less money or energy than before. In spiritual giving, however, there is no loss. For example, if a person teaches his fellow, his own knowledge is not diminished—if anything, it is enhanced.[6]

Upon deeper contemplation, however, it would seem that spiritual giving, too, carries a “price.” If the disciple is of inferior knowledge and mental capability than the teacher, the time and effort expended in teaching him is invariably at the expense of the teacher’s own intellectual development; also, the need for the teacher to “coarsen” and simplify his ideas to fit the disciple’s mind will ultimately detract from the depth and abstraction of his own thoughts. By the same token, dealing with people of lesser moral and spiritual caliber than oneself cannot but affect one’s own spiritual state. The recipients of this “spiritual charity” will be elevated by it, but its giver will be diminished by the relationship, however subtly.

Indeed, we find an example of such spiritual descent in Moses’ bestowal of the leadership upon Joshua. In contrast to the appointment of the seventy elders, where he was told to “emanate” his spirit to them, Moses is here commanded to “Take Joshua, the son of Nun, and lay your hand upon him… and give of your glory upon him”[7]—not only to “lay his hand” on Joshua, but also to give him from his glory. Thus the Midrash comments: “Lay your hand upon him—like one who kindles a candle from a candle; Give of your glory—like one who pours from one vessel into another vessel.”[8]

In other words, there are two kinds of spiritual gifts: a gift that “costs” the giver nothing (“kindling a candle from a candle”), and a gift that involves a removal of something from the giver in order that the recipient should receive something (“pouring from one vessel into another”). While Moses’ appointment of the seventy elders was achieved at no cost to himself, his bestowal of leadership upon Joshua involved both elements of spiritual enrichment: “emanation” and “giving.”

At times we must indeed sacrifice something of ourselves for the benefit of a fellow. But there are also times when we might rise to a height of benevolence that transcends the laws and limitations of give and take. Times when we commit ourselves to our fellow so absolutely, when the gift comes from a place so deep and so true within us, that we only grow from the experience, no matter how much we give of ourselves.

Based on a letter written by the Rebbe in 5726 (1966)[9]

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

Tags: light, self-sacrifice, transcendence, Physicality, charity, spiritual, Moses, giving, leadership, Joshua, sacrifice
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Behalotcha, Bamidbar, Spiritual, Torah, Emotions & Psychology | No Comments »

Mikeitz: Fanning the Flames

July 28th, 2015

Tags: purpose of life, mysticism, inspiration, Jerusalem, miracles, spiritual, happiness, samech vav, Chanukah, Toward a Meaningful Life
Posted in Months & Holidays, Israel, Chanukah, Kislev, Personal Life, Social, Personal Stories, Current Events | No Comments »

Lamps and Lives

July 28th, 2015

And G-d spoke to Moses, saying: … When you raise up the lamps, the seven lamps should give light toward the face of the menorah… And this is the work of the menorah: it was of beaten gold, from its base to its flower it was beaten work…

Numbers 8:1-4

On three different occasions, G-d instructed Moses on the making and the kindling of the menorah (candelabrum) in the Holy Temple. In the 25th chapter of Exodus, a detailed description of the menorah is given as part of G-d’s instructions on the construction of the Sanctuary. In Leviticus 24, G-d commands Moses regarding its daily lighting.[1] Finally, we have the above-quoted verses from Numbers 8, which open the Torah section of Beha’alotecha.

The Beha’alotecha verses specify two laws of the menorah:

a) That all of its lamps should be turned toward its center stem (“the face of the menorah”),

b) That the menorah should not be made piecemeal and its parts welded together; rather, the entire candelabrum—its base, its center stem, its six arms and its decorative forms (22 goblets, eleven globes and nine flowers), standing seventeen tefachim high (about 60 inches) and weighing a fullkikar (approximately 150 pounds)—should be hammered out of a single block of gold.

Both these laws were already stated in the earlier passages detailing the menorah. Their repetition here emphasizes their centrality to the function and significance of menorah.

Origin and Objectives

“The soul of man is a lamp of G-d.”[2] Like the lamp, the function of the soul is to illuminate its surroundings. The soul, “literally a part of G-d Above,”[3] is placed within a material body and world so that it should radiate its light to the darkest reaches of the created reality.

The candelabrum in the Holy Temple had seven lamps, corresponding to the seven primary traits of the human character. Some souls excel in the trait of chessed (love, benevolence), others in the attribute of gevurah (self-discipline, fear of G-d); still others exemplify tiferet (harmony, compassion), netzach (ambition), hod (humility, devotion), yesod (communicativity, connectedness) or malchut (regality, receptiveness). Together we form a seven-branched menorah, radiating seven qualities of light which fill the Temple of G-d and spill out to the world beyond its walls.[4]

This is the deeper significance of the two laws reiterated in the Beha’alotecha verses. The second law emphasizes the singular origin of the diverse community of man. The entire menorah must be hammered out of a single piece of gold, for all seven types of soul derive from a single source. All are equally “literally a part of G-d Above,” in origin and in essence one.

The first law expresses the common objective of the menorah’s lights. All lamps are turned toward “the face of the menorah.” Even after they have branched off into seven distinct lamps, even after they are burning with seven different lights, all are directed toward the same place. All are striving toward the same goal, notwithstanding the differences in the nature and orientation of their quest.

Two Visions of Man

Two great biblical commentators, Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040-1105) and Nachmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270), differ in their characterization of the Beha’alotecha verses.

Rashi refers to these verses as Parashat HaMenorah, i.e., “The Menorah Section.” Nachmanides, on the other hand, sees their primary purpose as instructions on how to light the lamps. In other words, according to Rashi, the raison d’etre of these verses is to reiterate the second law—that the menorah be “hammered work”—a law pertaining to the construction and form of the menorah itself. According to Nachmanides, their main purpose is to relate the first law, which relates to the manner in which the menorah’s lamps should be lit.

The menorah describes the community of souls as originating as a singular entity, which then branches off into seven lamps that are different and distinct yet are all pointed toward a common goal. This general picture can be viewed from two perspectives. One can place the emphasis on the common origin, and see the common focus of the seven lamps as an expression of their intrinsic singularity. Or, one can emphasize the fact that this single menorah has produced seven lamps which, even as they strive toward their common goal, do so each in its own way, each with its own unique and distinct personality.

This is the underlying significance of the difference between Rashi and Nachmanides. Rashi sees life as an exercise in oneness. The diversity of human nature is but a superficial illusion; you need but scratch its surface to find that we’re all basically doing the same thing. This is the message of the menorah: I have a base and I have flowers; I have seven branches; but I am of a single piece.

Nachmanides, on the other hand, sees intrinsic worth and significance in the diversity of human nature. Our differences are not just means to the common end, but central to life’s purpose. Yes, we all derive from one place; yes, we are all striving toward the same goal; but the different ways in which we travel this course are what make the menorah of life, and are themselves of enduring luminary value.

Based on an address by the Rebbe, Shabbat Beha’alotecha, 5730 (June 20, 1970)[5]

Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe by Yanki Tauber

Tags: menorah, body and soul, structure, unity, community, Jewish law, Illumination, human being, Rashi, individuality, characteristics, Holy Temple, commandments, source, matter and spirit, Nachmanides, mission, Moses, diversity, soul
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Soul & Mystical, Behalotcha, Bamidbar, Torah, Emotions & Psychology, Moses | No Comments »

Vayelech: A Year In Perspective

July 28th, 2015

— Samach-Vav Part 2 —

There are times and there are times. Times to address the immediate – the needs and issues of the moment. And times to step back and look at the big picture, to see the forest from the trees.

As we enter a new year (5766) this is the time to look back at the year in perspective. And since no year stands in a vacuum, an effective annual review requires us to also reflect on the general period in time in which we live. We do so in order to make better sense of our lives, correct mistakes and improve our actions as we chart a course ahead. Studying the patterns of the past help us define trends of the future.

These days especially, the ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, are particularly auspicious to define our priorities. These ten days are days of building [in Kabbalsitic language: the building of malchut] – days that define and construct the year ahead. Like a central nervous system this month of Tishrei (same letters as reishit, head) controls the mechanics of the upcoming year.

Highlights of the last 12 months include, working our way backwards:

• Our human vulnerability – as well as the rifts between the poor and the wealthy – was exposed in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and (to a smaller degree) Rita.
• The Middle East remains a bottomless quagmire, with Iraq haunting us daily, but not limited to Iraq.
• The threat of terrorism – able to strike anytime anywhere – hovers over us, whether we think about it or not.
• The Middle East remains a hotbed, with the force of one billion Muslims yet to be reckoned with. We are sitting on a powder keg.
• The identity crisis in Israel has come to the fore with Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, with no peace in sight and no clue of a future strategy.
• Here in the United States, the housing boom continues, technology and medicine and science march boldly ahead, reflecting on our ongoing prosperity, yet oil prices are rising, family life and children remain deeply dysfunctional and the ineptness of our infrastructures are stark reminders of a very fragile and tenuous balance between our increasing outer prosperity and our decreasing inner control.
• The battle around the role of religion and faith in our lives continues to surprisingly accelerate, with no resolve in sight.

Overall a growing tension is developing between our personal happiness and our personal comforts. Are we becoming happier people standard of living gets higher? It appears that the more comfortable our material lives, the more therapy we need.

What is clear from all recent events is that we stand at the transition stage between changing paradigms. Whenever we move from one state to another, many many cracks open up, reflecting the need to adjust and align ourselves to a new reality.

Events and developments in the last few centuries – coined Renaissance, Enlightenment, Emancipation, Democracy, Capitalism, Freedom, Equality, Liberalism, Science – have moved us from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age. Following the first two revolutions, the Agricultural and the Industrial, we have entered the third revolution – called by various names – the Atomic, Nuclear, Computer or Information Revolution (the most poetic perhaps is the one I like most: The Quantum Revolution).

Is this however the end of history? If, as Hegel contends, the “struggle for recognition” (self-esteem and dignity) is the driving force of individuals and nations, and the cause of wars, then it would seem that evolution of the human spirit and history would come to and end with the liberal democratic state, as Francis Fukuyama argued in his book The End of History (1992).

Fundamental to Torah psychology is the confidence that every challenge is preceded by its solution, as every illness is preceded by its cure. This gives us the strength to face any challenge knowing that it can always be conquered.

Samech Vov – whose centennial we celebrate this year (as discussed in last week’s article) – offers us a fresh vision for the future.

Following the opening discourse which we addressed last week, Samech Vov continues with a comprehensive discussion on the nature of human achievement and pleasure. Basically, the Rebbe Rashab explains that all pleasure known to and experienced by man are linear forms of pleasure, distinguished by different quantitative levels that each of us experiences as we climb the ladder of our personal development. All these dimensions of pleasure, even the highest forms, are mortal and limited – and therefore inevitably fragmented (the pleasure of a good wine, for instance, has no relationship with the pleasure of reading a good book). All these pleasures are derived from the “river that flows from Eden and waters the garden.”

The ultimate pleasure however is the one that the “eye has yet to see” (Isaiah 64:3) – an immortal, eternal, unlimited pleasure, that is qualitatively different than any pleasure ever experienced. This level of pleasure – called “Eden” itself – is the essence and source of all pleasure, and is a pleasure that is integrated into all our life experiences, from the mundane to the sacred. This pleasure is accessed through our toil in this universe. Our mitzvot have the power to generate new unprecedented dimensions of pleasure that create a seamless, unifying flow between all aspects of existence.

The ultimate revolution, according to Samech Vov, is the one achieved through our work in building out of the material world a “home” for the sublime.

As long as we do not access this essential level, we remain locked in battle with the forces of progress and the dichotomy of accelerating material pleasures and decelerating psychological and spiritual ones; between an increasing comfort zone and a decreasing level of personal peace of mind.

All pleasures of life are only as powerful as the root of the pleasure. On our own, as we say in the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur prayer,

“man’s origin is dust and his end is unto dust, he earns his bread at the risk of his life, he is likened to a broken potsherd, to withering grass, to a fading flower, to a passing shadow, to a vanishing cloud, to a blowing wind, to scattering dust and to a fleeting dream.”

However, we have been endowed with the gift of being Divine, and accessing the essence and source of all pleasure, which does not break, whither, fade or vanish.

The issues we are facing today go back to the ongoing struggle between matter and spirit that has been with us since the beginning of time – so powerfully captured in Samech Vov. These issues have accumulated over history, and the last few centuries have brought them to the surface in new ways. Modernization of the world, advanced science and technology, exposure of outdated systems and corrupt religious forces – have all contributed to our current predicaments, locally and globally.

However, the struggle has been coming to a head in the last 100 years. Both World Wars, followed by the baby and economic booms, and the information revolution we are currently undergoing, have all set the current stage for a final showdown between the narcissistic forces of materialism and the uniting powers of spirit.

Samech Vov poses for us the following challenge: All the forces in the universe, all the diversity among nations and all the conflicting opinions, can be resolved by recognizing that destiny is in our hands. Our individual moral choices and specific actions in this physical world determine the future course of our lives and the life of the universe.

This challenge is the core of our soul searching work during these Ten Days of Teshuvah/Return between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur – when we attempt to uncover the superimposed elements of our lives and return to the Essence, and – align our daily lives to this Essence.

As Maimonides writes:

“A person must see himself and the world as equally balanced on two ends of the scale—by doing one good deed, he tips the scale and brings himself and the entire world redemption and salvation.  Therefore in the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, more than all year round, it is customary to increase charity and good deeds and the performance of the mitzvot” (Rambam, Laws of Teshuvah 3:4).

Now the question is: Do we have the courage to accept the challenge?

Tags: Middle East, America, teshuvah, Samech Vov, happiness, politics, faith, Maimonides, Rebbe Rashab, Rosh Hashana, Garden of Eden, Yom Kippur
Posted in Tishrei, Rosh Hashanah, Month of Elul, Israel, Yom Kippur, Months & Holidays, Social, The Gulf War 2003, Torah, Government, Science & Technology, Elul, Current Events | No Comments »

The Rebbe on the Six-Day War

July 28th, 2015

The following is a transcript of the Rebbe’s remarks given in a private meeting on Av 5, 5727 (August 12, 1967), shortly after the Six-Day War, as recalled by Rabbi Chaim Gutnick of Melbourne, Australia, and published (in Hebrew) in Kfar Chabad Magazine, issue no. 806:

…Three times in our generation, G-d has granted us an opportunity for the beginning of the Redemption. But these opportunities were missed, and it is the Jewish leadership which is to blame.

The first opportunity was in 1948. You know that I have a particular enthusiasm for Rashi’s commentary on the Torah. Well, Rashi says regarding the waters of the Flood that, at first, G-d brought down “rains of blessing”[6] upon them and waited to see if they would repent; only after they failed to do so did this turn into the very opposite of “rains of blessing,” G-d forbid.[7]

In 1948, G-d sent “rains of blessing.” This was a time when even the Russians supported the Jewish people against the British, who had attempted to annihilate the nation of Israel. This was a time of opportunity. But the Jewish leaders stood by and debated whether or not to make mention of G-d’s name in the “Declaration of Establishment.”[8] Thus the Redemption was put off by fifty years.

The second opportunity was the Sinai Champaign [of 1956]. If the Jewish people would have believed that their salvation would come from G-d rather than from French MIGs and British warplanes, all would have been different.

But never has there been an opportunity such as this one. This was a war won by Torah and mitzvot. There can be no doubt of this. A Jew in Moscow recited Psalms, and a Jew in Buffalo, New York, put on tefillin, and this helped the Jews defeat their enemies in the Land of Israel.

If the Jewish leaders would have utilized the opportunity to rouse the people to the observance of Torah and mitzvot, our situation today would be entirely different. Think about it: a young man in Israel was summoned, handed an Uzi, and told: “Leave your wife and children at home and go to El-Arish to fight.” In every war there are draft-dodgers; here, no Jew, not even one for whom the word “Jew” is nothing more than an appellation, refused to fight. It was a time when the entire people of Israel were in a state of “We shall do and we shall hear.”[9] When this young man fought at El-Arish, his Torah and mitzvot fought for him. The Shechinah (Divine Presence) came down into the trenches to assist the soldier fighting on the borders of the Land of Israel.

If the Jewish leaders would have told that soldier to utilize the reserves of faith and courage that were revealed in him during the war toward a commitment to Torah and mitzvot, with the same “We shall do and we shall hear,” he, and the entire Jewish nation, would have responded, and everything would have been different. But again the leaders were silent, and the great opportunity was lost. They were too timid to tell the Jew the truth: that this is the time for a return to Torah.

The very first chapter of the first section of the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) begins not with Maimonides’ “Thirteen Principles of Faith,” but with the Rama’s ruling that “One should not be intimidated by mockers.” Why? Because when one does not fulfill this rule, one is prevented from fulfilling the entire Shulchan Aruch. Perhaps I speak too sharply, but the Jewish leadership is bankrupt. They avoid me because they know that I will demand of them to speak the truth. Their timidness to speak the truth, contrary to the rule, “One should not be intimidated by mockers,” is holding back the Redemption.

Jews must be told to keep Torah and mitzvot. I initiated the tefillin campaign—this is only the beginning. My hope is that through the mitzvah of tefillin, the Jewish people will be brought closer to other mitzvot—to keep kosher and Shabbat, and ultimately the entire Torah. My aim is that millions of additional hands should become tefillin-wearing hands.

The Jewish people will respond when spoken to about Torah and mitzvot. Not only teenagers—also forty-year-olds, people advanced and established in their lives, are ready to hear the truth, if only their leaders will speak it to them.

We still have not lost the opportunity. It’s still not too late. Now it is August.[10] If we will do our job, if the sheluchim[11] will do their job and tell the world the truth, we can bring the Redemption..

Tags: soldier, Torah, Rabbi Chaim Gutnick, war, Jewish leaders, flood, politics, Rebbe, truth, perspective, Rashi, redemption, enemies, Jew, mitzvot, Divine presence
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Israel, Naso, Bamidbar, Social, Moshiach & Redemption, Torah, Government, Education, Current Events | No Comments »

By the Rivers of Babylon

July 28th, 2015

By Simon Jacobson
March 27, 2003

He named it Babel, because this was the place where G-d confused (balal) the world’s language, and it was from there that G-d dispersed [humanity] over all the face of the earth
– Genesis 11:9

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat and wept,
As we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.
For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing to us of the songs of Zion.”
How can we sing the Lord’s song
On alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget its skill.
May my tongue cling to my palate
If I do not remember you,
If I do not bring to mind Jerusalem
During my greatest joy.
Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom
The day of [the destruction of] Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.”
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
In retribution for what you have inflicted on us…– Psalms 137

Who is this coming from Edom, with sullied garments from Basra? For a day of vengeance is in My heart and the year of my redemption has come – Isaiah 63:1; 4

G-d has a sacrifice in Basra and a great slaughter in the land of Edom – Ibid 34:6

He [G-d] changes the times and the seasons (Daniel 2:21). If you had merited you would have sat in Jerusalem and drank from the waters of the Shiloach [spring], whose waters are clean and sweet; now that you have not merited you were exiled to Babylon and are drinking from the waters of the Euphrates [Peros], whose waters are filthy and smelly – Midrash, Pesichta of Eicha Rabba 19

When they entered the exile in Babylon, they thought that would not survive because G-d had forsaken them… at that moment G-d and His entire entourage joined them in Babylon. Because of the great pain and cries they had at the rivers of Babylon they merited that the Divine Chariot be revealed to Ezekiel the prophet in Babylon. This consoled them and they no longer feared the exile because they knew that G-d did not forsake them – Zohar II 2b. Tzemech Tzedek on Psalm 137

Sandstorms sweep over the Euphrates and paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade drop down into the cold rain and mud in Northern Babylon. As the United States and British Armies (or as they like to call it “the coalition forces”) battle the modern-day Nevuchadnezzar of Iraq, the entire free world is becoming steeped in the mire of the Middle Eastern rivers.

Thinking people are thinking ahead. So what happens after Saddam Hussein is removed from power (hopefully with minimum bloodshed)? Will this victory simply eliminate Arab/Muslin animosity to the United States and the West? Will this end terrorism? And what about Israel – will Iraq’s liberation change the attitude to the Jewish land?

Paul Berman in last week’s cover story of the Sunday NY Times Magazine (“The Philosopher of Islamic Terror”) reminds us that the true war is hardly a military one. Citing one of the philosophical leaders of modern Islamic fundamentalism, Sayyid Qutb, Berman demonstrates that that the battle between the Western world and Islam is primarily an ideological and religious one.

Without tooting the horn of this column, those of you reading this column and the new edition of my book, Toward A Meaningful Life, know that this has been my recurrent theme for the last 18 months: The real war – which is going on now for thousands of years, tracing back to the battles between Ishmael, Isaac, Esau and Jacob – is an ideological one: between matter and spirit, between the Divine and the universe – a war to make our peace with G-d and to discover unity between our natural lives and our Divine mission statement.

I greatly appreciate the e-mails some of you sent me pointing out that Berman’s basic thesis was published in these articles. This is not about taking credit; rather it is about recognizing that the roots of today’s conflicts can only be understood in Biblical context. Frankly, this point has been almost impossible to communicate to most people today. Just witness the hours upon hours of ‘military’ news reports on CNN, MSNBC, FOX and so on. Mention – not even one reference – is made to the true nature of today’s conflicts.

Now is not the time to analyze the reasons for people’s absolute resistance to hearing that the battles today are ideological and religious – about a world-view on life and existence (I will try to elaborate on this in future articles). Suffice it to say that this denial says much about our alienation and disillusionment in religious answers to life’s problems. We have grown accustomed and even spoiled by our prosperity. Resultantly, we have mastered the ‘fast food’ life of the moment, and have lost touch with the eternal. No surprise then that we simply don’t relate to the historical, religious and theological roots of today’s global confrontations.

That’s why it is indeed gratifying to see that mainstream NY Times published Berman’s article, finally giving some credence to seeing the deeper forces at work in the Middle Eastern quagmire. What is equally gratifying is to read the quotes of the Islamic intellectual hero, Sayyid Qutb, and see how some of his ideas, despite some of their fundamental distortions, so closely parallel deeper truths, albeit with false conclusions. Indeed, even his distortions can help illuminate truths that eluded Qutb himself.

As I have written here many times, one of the distinctions of the Messianic age is: clarity (“yisbariru v’yislabnu ha’devorim”). Clarity means recognizing the true nature of things, which includes exposing both what is true and what is false. Lack of clarity is when we can’t see our friends or our enemies. Ideas that snowball good ideas and bad ones just confuse us. Qutb’s writings – both his intelligent thoughts and his blatant distortions and falsehoods – can help us recognize the ultimate truth, just as Marx’s writings – both in their brilliant critique of Capitalism and insight on human nature and their equally brilliant failure – can help us better understand and bring us to discover the true way G-d wants us to live.

Qutb writes, that the confrontation is not about economics, politics or military domination; it is theological. The confrontation is to defend against the active efforts of the “Crusaders” and “Zionists” to annihilate Islam. Islam, Qutb insists, is the true religion that corrected the “distortions” of Judaism and Christianity and balances the secular and the sacred.

Christianity, Qutb writes, created a “hideous schizophrenia” between the physical and the spiritual, between religion and science, between the steely impersonality of modern power and technology and the nature of the human spirit.

Berman doesn’t make the analogy, but some of Qutb’s arguments sound awfully similar to Marx’s concept of alienation, how the Capitalist system reduces the worker to no more than a commodity, thus leading to mans’ alienation (Entausserung) and estrangement (Entfremdung) from his essential self.

Though Qutb may have known something about Christianity he sure knows nothing about Judaism. As profound a thinker he may be, his hatred against Judaism is hardly philosophical. Among other ‘brilliant’ theories, Qutb argues that the Jews acquired a ‘slavish character’ during their Egyptian captivity. This he writes about a people who are still here for thousands of years specifically because they did not allow themselves to bow and be enslaved by any people – including Muhammad. Indeed, The Maharal of Prague writes that the liberation from Egypt imbued the Jewish people with an inherent personality of freedom. Nothing would be able to enslave them ever again. So much for Qutb’s Jewish expertise.

Again, here is not the place to demonstrate Qutb’s ignorance about Judaism. But it is no surprise; after all Qutb the Muslim cannot be worse than Muhammad himself who became a virulent anti-Semite after the Jews rejected him.

What I will say is that, the true balance between the secular and the sacred is only possible if all religions go back to the original teachings of Abraham, father of all nations, as they were consummated at Sinai. Every intelligent person should know that when distortions set into any system, the truest way of discovering the real facts is not by adding new theories, but by tracing back to the original roots that preceded human distortions.

I therefore humbly submit that we go back to the beginning and study Abraham’s teachings, and how he passed them on to his children. We need to understand how Abraham’s son Ishmael had extreme energy (of chesed), which needed to be balanced with discipline (of gevurah). Abraham’s grandson Esau also had powerful energy (of gevurah), which needed to be balanced by kindness (chesed). Jacob then ‘redeemed Abraham’ (Isaiah 29:22), because Jacob – Tiferet – balances these two forces.

This in turn sets the stage for the revelation at Sinai, when Moses receives the Torah (called tiferet) – G-d’s blueprint for life, how to transform the material universe into a Divine home.

At the time the children of Ishmael and Esau rejected the Torah. They were not yet ready. Generations later they would begin to embrace the teachings that trace back to their ancestor, Abraham as formalized at Sinai.

In the centuries that followed Esau and Ishmael’s descendants would go through their growing pains in learning how to balance religious beliefs and daily life. This would not be an easy process; history is witness to the devastation and bloodshed wreaked by this journey. But slowly, slowly, Sinai would seep into the fibers of all people.The process concludes with the refinement of the last two powers, Edom (Esau) and Ishmael, which leads to the Messianic age – a world where there is no more destruction and terror and all children of Abraham serve the One G-d of Abraham in peace and harmony.

Now, Edom and Ishmael are meeting on the banks of Babylon.

By the rivers of Babylon two things are happening at once. Its’ a time to weep – to weep over the losses, the razing, the destruction of Jerusalem – the center of existence where heaven meets earth, the force that balances spirit and matter.

The tears come pouring even more when our captors insist that we sing. It’s not enough that the material world is subjugating us and that we are displaced from our spiritual center, but it also demands of us to go into total denial. “Sing – things are great!” – the world yells at us. “Forget about your past, forget Jerusalem – why don’t you perform a concert for us?!” That’s how powerful the pull of conformity can be.

So step one is to weep and remember. Yes, weeping isn’t about sadness; it’s about remembering. Even as we sit at the rivers of Babylon and drink from the unclean waters of the Euphrates we always remember Zion and the oneness it represents. And this memory is our salvation. Through our tears and our awareness we begin freeing the energy that lays trapped – and has been drawn (like rivers) into Babylon (see Siddur, Ha’oro l’Tikkun Chatzot, 152b).

And through our pain and cries we merit to revelation – and we recognize that G-d and His entourage is with us, sitting at the rivers of Babylon. “[As they were] exiled to Babylon, the Shechina was with them.”

What can we each of us do about this in our personal lives?

Even if we are not personally fighting the physical war on the Euphrates and Tigris, each of us has our own battles by the rivers of Babylon.

Babylon represents confusion [“He named it Babel, because this was the place where G-d confused (balal) the world’s language, and it was from there that G-d dispersed [humanity] over all the face of the earth – Genesis 11:9]. It also refers to the “soiled garments of mundane matters and worldly desires” (Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh ch. 4). The rivers of Babylon refers to the (the rivers) of human reason which is intermingled with lies (Tzemech Tzedek, Psalm 137), the rivers that channel energy and feed the confusion and blind distortions of the material world. Mundane matters and material desires cloud our judgment and don’t allow us to see our soul’s mission.

Our first step in fighting our Babylonian/confusion battles is – awareness: To rise above the confusion of Babylon and recognize that our true home and center is not at these rivers. At times we must also have the courage to weep and remember.

Ironically, confusion itself – the awareness of our confusion – gives us the power to discover clarity. Knowledge of a disease is half its cure.

The Babylon of life reflects our personal and collective confusions, the confusions of history and religion, all the uncertainty and doubts that pervade our lives – the confusion between true and false, good and evil.

As we sit at the rivers of confusion we have before us the unprecedented opportunity to recognize that the distortions that have shaped life as we know it today. We have now an opening – a crack in history – that allows us to see the forces within and the birthing possibilities.

But awareness is just the first step. The most powerful counterforce to confusion is unity. Our mission today is to once and for all figure out how to integrate our lives – what we do and who we are. To fuse your spiritual and material needs – your body and soul, matter and spirit.

Indeed, of all rivers it will be the Euphrates that will part in the near future into seven streams (Isaiah 11:15). This parting represents the unity of opposites on the highest levels – the power to unite heaven and earth, land and water.

At Sinai (which followed the parting of the Red Sea) we were first given this power. Over the centuries nations and religions have been struggling to find the right equilibrium between individuality and responsibility, between personal freedom and G-d’s will. Finally, now, as we sit at the rivers of Babylon, we can and must make our peace with Sinai.

The nations of the world must and will embrace their legacy — to integrate G-d into their lives, teach G-d’s laws to their children and infuse spirituality into all systems. Jews must fulfill their calling of being a “light unto nations,” bringing Sinai and its teachings to all.

Today, as the nations – especially Esau and Ishmael – confront the world and each other, with Israel as usual in the middle, all on the banks of Babylon we have our opportunity.

From amidst the confusion of our times, we must create a new world, a world in which all nations speak one tongue and serve one G-d – unlike Babylon whose tongues were confused in their defiance of G-d.

I would also like to remind Qutb, that indeed, unlike Islam and Christianity, Judaism categorically discourages conversion to Judaism. Every human being is created in the ‘Divine Image,’ and each has his/her destiny in serving G-d. One need not be or become Jewish to have a relationship with G-d.

Our role today is for each of us to discover our Divine mission and calling, and help inspire others to do the same. We have to prepare the world for the time when the entire preoccupation of the all nations will be to know G-d (Maimonides end of Laws of Kings) – a “world filled with Divine knowledge as the waters cover the sea.” The entire world will serve G-d in unity, “I will turn to the peoples a pure tongue that all shall call upon the name of G-d and serve Him with one consent.”

So here we are, at the rivers of Babylon once again. This time, we can part the river and discover the power of one sitting at the rivers of Babylon.

Tags: purpose of life, anti-semitism, Christianity, Gulf War, psalms, Babylon, Islam
Posted in Social, Current Events | No Comments »

In Search of Eden

July 28th, 2015

By Simon Jacobson
April 10, 2003

Writer’s note: Last week’s article discussed how the ancient Euphrates river bears witness to history and helps define the true meaning of the war in Iraq and world events. The article elicited a powerful response from many readers, coupled with some intriguing questions as to the true personality of this dual-natured river. I decided to do some more research and travel further up the Euphrates to explore where it leads us. Here are some of the results of my investigation.

As we quickly approach Passover, the time of our freedom, in the month of redemption and miracles (Nissan), let’s review the latest ‘dots’ accumulating around us. Connecting these dots is the key to understanding the true nature of today’s world-shaking events.

22 days have passed since the war began in Iraq on Shushan Purim night.

6 days remain till Passover.

It was Shushan Purim night when we consummated our triumph over Human’s genocidal decree in ancient Persia. On the same night, 2360 years later, the United States and the coalition forces launched war against Saddam’s tyranny in Iraq, in the same geographic location where Purim originally took place (the Persian empire was centered in what is today modern day Iraq), hopefully as a beginning of ushering in a world where violence will no longer exist.

4 Wednesdays later – next Wednesday night – we will be sitting at the Seder table recreating the liberation 3315 years ago from Egypt, the archetype and root of all the exiles and empires, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman and Ishmaelite.

Egypt – “Mitzraim” in Hebrew (from the root ‘meitzar,’ boundary) – represents all constraints, inhibitions, fears and limitations in our lives, both internal and external, both personal and global.

And now, during this period between the redemption of Purim and the redemption of Passover – we are experiencing the juxtaposition of these two redemptions (‘mismach geulah l’geulah’) right before our very eyes.

As each day passes its amazing the astounding unfolding events are so fittingly happening in these days of miracles and redemption. We are witnessing an unprecedented war. Never before has an army advanced so quickly through so much territory. Many have even called it miraculous that the United States and the coalition forces should have conquered so much territory, so effectively decimated enemy forces and entered Baghdad with such little resistance!

Yet, by no means is this war over. Every thinking person realizes that greater confrontations lie ahead of us – some call it a clash of civilizations. The world still needs serious work to discover global peace. The challenge created by the void left in Iraq and the difficulty of rebuilding of Iraq is just a beginning. We have yet to tackle the fundamental differences between the Muslim and Western worlds. We have yet to address the breeding ground of the seeds of rage in the Muslim world and their deep distrust of the West. Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror is at best the symptoms of much deeper, historical forces at work. In this space I have attempted to define some of these forces (see previous articles).

On the other hand, we are told that the final and complete redemption of the world will take place in this month. In Nissan we were redeemed [from Egypt], and in Nissan we will be redeemed in the future (Rosh Hashana 11b). So though the world is yet to be completely free, redemption is in the air. And the redemption of Passover, following the one of Purim, is a precursor of complete redemption to come.

But what can we do to facilitate the redemption process? For generations upon generations wars have been waged between Ishmael and Esau – between the Arab/Muslim world and the Christian/Western world – with the Jews always sandwiched in between. How much blood has been shed for control of Jerusalem?

Deeply embedded primal forces have splintered nations apart. What will it take to finally bring true peace to this ailing world? How will we ever unite such disparate cultures, overcome so many years of distrust, heal from the deep wounds inflicted on each other?

Yes, we are told that we should not fear, because today’s events in Persia are a really a sign that “the time of your redemption has arrived” (Yalkut Shemoni Isaiah, remez 499), as the Lubavitcher Rebbe (citing the Midrash) dramatically declared 12 years ago during Gulf War I.

But where do we see redemption in these events?

It’s fascinating how the battles today are taking place in the exact region and in the exact time of the year where and when these battles have been fought for thousands of years, and they so parallel the events in ancient Babylon and Persia.

All these astonishing commonalities compel us to connect the dots, which help us understand the true nature of today’s war. Namely: the war is ultimately rooted in the historical split between the sacred and the spiritual – a battle that has been raging since the beginning of time. Abraham taught his children how to balance the two, and ever since, his children and the nations they gave birth to, have been struggling to find a way to integrate – to fuse matter and spirit, the universe and G-d.

So, while it’s true that the uncanny prediction in Midrash and today’s extraordinary ‘coincidences’ expose historical patterns, the question still remains: where do we see redemption in the events of our times, and what is our role in this process?

No doubt that clues abound in the geographical region of Iraq. Ever since the Rebbe cited the Midrash about the ‘king of Persia’ wreaking destruction I always wondered what deeper significance was hidden in this parallel. After all, the Rebbe was not in the habit of just citing prophecies and he was definitely not into sensationalism. Just because today’s ‘king of Persia’ instigates a war doesn’t mean that we just find a corresponding Midrash. Persia is not just incidental. Clearly there is much more here than meets the eye. This Midrash is really a key that helps decipher and expose the patterns that connect the seemingly disparate dots.

When you begin to study the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and other prophets you discover a pattern, that at the end of days G-d will confront Babylon, Persia and the other empires that wreaked so much havoc throughout history. Edom (Esau) and Ishmael will confront each other. The more you read the more you see how the confrontations in the end of days reflect to the tee the battles waged in the beginning of days – in the home of Abraham, and then in all the centuries to follow.

But as we continue to search for clues, where does the search lead us?

Indeed, as I was searching for clues it suddenly struck me that the search is understanding the very nature of the search itself. A unique feature of today’s wars is that the war itself is really more like a search than a war: Never before in history has a war been fought without a clear and defined enemy. Beginning with the attack on the United States on September 11^th (and let us not deny that today’s war would probably not be fought had it not been for that fateful Tuesday morning), the enemy has been hidden from our eyes. Who exactly attacked us? Where are they hiding and where can they be found?

The search and hunt goes on. For close to two years now they have been searching for Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts. Then the search for terrorist cells waiting in hiding. Then came the search for the source of Anthrax found in US mail. Then inspectors were dispatched to search for chemical and biological weapons in Iraq. And now, the search for Saddam Hussein goes on. No doubt, once Saddam Hussein is found there will still much to search for.

We are dealing with an invisible enemy. But paradoxically, once we recognize that what we are looking for is invisible then that recognition in itself begins to make it visible.

So yes, today’s war in Iraq is really more like a search. Ah, but what truly lies behind this search?

Many theories have been posited and many more will surely come. Here is one thought.

As the world searches for whatever it is searching, and as battles wage along the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, let us take a trip. Let us travel up the river and see what we discover.

Indeed, this river trip actually takes us along a journey on the river of history. Last week I wrote about the message of the Euphrates River. This week let us travel further on the river and see what we discover…

Well, as we move further up (or is it down?) the Euphrates we discover something seriously wrong. According to the Torah the Euphrates should lead us to the Garden of Eden. As we read in Genesis (2:10-14): “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became four major rivers [heads]. The name of the first is Pishon… the name of the second is river is Gichon… the name of the third river is the Tigris which flows to the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.” According to the Talmud the river that ‘flowed out of Eden’ is the Euphrates, which waters ‘the garden,’ and then continues and divides into four (Bechorot 55b and in Tosfos).

But today, as we continue to travel on the Euphrates we find that at the city of Al-Qurnah (in southern Iraq) it does join the Tigris River to form the Shatt Al-‘Arab, which flows into the Persian Gulf. The other two rivers are not to be found, and neither is the Garden of Eden!

So, where did Eden disappear? We know that the first human beings, Adam and Eve, were placed in the Garden of Eden. But where exactly is the geographic location on the map of this cradle of civilization?

This precise question is posed in Chassidus. Rabbi Dov Ber (son of the Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi) asks: “The Garden of Eden is a physical place on Earth. Why then don’t we find it on the map? Scientists have wondered where is its location; as much as they searched they cannot find its geographic location”?! [1]

The explanation he offers: The Garden of Eden is an ethereal state of being, which is an intermediary between the physical and the spiritual, between matter and spirit. For example: the taste of an apple, though the taste is within the physical apple, yet it does not occupy tangible space. Before Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge their bodies were also on this ethereal state; once they ate from the tree, they became more ‘materialized’ and therefore could no longer remain in the spiritual state of the garden. The Garden of Eden therefore exists on Earth, yet we (with our material eyes) cannot see it on the map. Just like the vegetative properties in the soil cannot be seen on the map. [2]

Perhaps this can be associated with one of the theories offered by some scientists (including Dr. Juris Zarins, a professor from Southwest Missouri State University) that the location of Eden is now submerged beneath the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Using advances in satellite technology, the hypothesis is that the northern tip of the Persian Gulf (where the Tigris and Euphrates end) had once been a lush, fertile region. This area was located at the junction of four rivers: the Tigris (Chiddekel); the Euphrates; the Karun River in southwestern Iran, which according to this theory is the Biblical Gichon (see also Kesseth HaSofer); and the now-dry riverbed Rimah-Batin (also known as the Wadi Al-Batin), which is the Pishon.

Look at a map and you’ll see that the Karun River joins the Shatt Al-‘Arab at… Basra (yes, Basra, Who is this coming from Edom, with soiled garments from Basra), and they empty into the Persian Gulf altogether.

According to Chassidic thought waters of the sea reflect the ‘hidden worlds,’ and are a more sublime state of being than land. Perhaps one can say that after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, the Garden of Eden became submerged under the waters of the Persian Gulf – a fitting place for the ethereal Garden of Eden. Eden is like a piece of heaven on earth.

For the record there are other theories. Josephus for instance identifies the Gichon and the Pishon as the Nile and the Gangus. There is also a theory that the Garden of Eden is in the mountains of eastern Turkey. [3]

It should also be noted that the Talmud clearly states that the Euphrates could have been altered by man (Berochot 59b. Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 228:2). Additionally, one can argue that the flow of the rivers was altered, even drastically, by the Great Flood.

The only thing that is certain is that we do not know the location of Eden and that the search for Eden goes on.

Yet, it is quite fascinating that the Torah finds it necessary to define in detail the geographical location of the Garden of Eden. And that two of the four rivers flowing out of the Garden Eden are obvious today in the Euphrates and the Tigris. Indeed, the Euphrates is the main river flowing out of Eden to water the garden, and the Euphrates is here with us today.

Why leave us a reminder of the Garden of Eden and remind us of our inadequacies? Either hide it completely or let us have it?

Eden represents the ultimate pleasure of the Divine – the deepest dimensions one can reach, the Essence. As the Talmud tells us (Berochos 34b) that Eden is the level which ‘no eye has ever seen’ and reserved for those that ‘wait’ for G-d  (Isaiah 64:3). Even Adam and Eve were not in Eden; they were in the Garden of Eden, which was watered by the river flowing from Eden. Eden itself is a level that no eye has ever seen.

Yet, we have a river – the Euphrates – that flows from Eden, a relatively narrow river that only gives us a glimpse into Eden, yet a glimpse it is into the Essence of existence (see Hemshech 5666 pp. 10).

This is the true nature of our search in life: We are looking for our essence, we are searching for the essence of existence – we are in search of Eden.

Some people give up hope. They resign themselves to a life of (Thoreau’s) ‘quiet desperation.’ The Euphrates reminds us that there is an Eden somewhere – though we cannot see Eden itself, we can see the river flowing from Eden, bringing us a taste of another reality.

This is the dance of life – a true dance, with all its strange paradoxes. At the same time that we sense a presence from beyond it also eludes us. Just as we try to control it, it disappears.

On one hand we clearly can see the Euphrates and the Tigris. But the other two rivers elude us. The Talmud (Berochos cited above) even says that we must make a blessing when we see these rivers – rivers that are here with us since the beginning of creation. But only the sections of the rivers that were not altered by man. As soon as man touches and alters their flow, they no longer retain the power of Eden. [4]

Perhaps that is why the Talmud and Tosfos (Berochos 54a) mention by name only the two rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, being that these are the only definite rivers today. We are not clear about the location of the other two rivers.

So on one hand, some of the rivers of Gan Eden disappeared, but on the other hand we still have the other two rivers, and primarily the Euphrates – the main river flowing into and watering the garden (from which the other three stem) – is with here us today, as a reminder of our mission to reconnect with Eden.

What is the point of telling us about the Eden and then its loss? The point is to tell us that we have the ability, the power and the responsibility to reconnect with Eden and allow it to resurface into our lives.

But what is our role today – how do we return to Paradise? The Torah tells us this as well, following the description of the rivers flowing from the garden:

When Adam (which includes man and woman) was placed into the Garden of Eden he was also told his mission: “To serve and protect” the garden. “Vayitzav Hashem Elokim al ha’Adam lamoir, me’kol etz ha’gan ochol tochail.” G-d commanded Adam, “you may definitely eat from every tree of the garden. The Talmud explains that these seven phrases are the root of the seven Noachide laws – the universal laws of civilization (Sanhedrin 56a).

War in Iraq today brings our attention to that region in the world. It compels us to realize that the entire human experience began in that area, and that above all, the actual geography of Iraq tells us the story of our own lives, and of the history of nations.

And when you take into account that the current events in Iraq are taking place in this month of Nissan (month of Redemption) the message takes on even more import. Because the events in the Garden of Eden took shape – on one dimension – on the first day of Nissan. [5] Which means that the banishment from the Garden of Eden took place in the early days of this month.

The human race as a whole and each individual in particular is in search of Paradise. Each of us translates that search in our own way. Our search is sometimes healthy and sometimes not so healthy. What we are all searching for is: the Garden of Eden, and more specifically, Eden, the essence itself.

Gan Eden disappeared because we were no longer sublime enough. Perhaps it sunk beneath the water – waiting to emerge. Yet, it did not disappear entirely.

After the sin of the Tree of Knowledge and the banishment from Eden a split took place – a schism between the matter and spirit, between the mundane and the sacred. The door closed between Eden, Gan Eden and our lives – between our higher calling and our daily routines. Yet, the door did not close entirely.

We have a river in our lives that waters our garden and reminds us of truths that come from a greater place. Sometimes we are awake and aware, sometimes not so much. But the river is always there to remind us. Within each of us lies a ‘garden of Eden’ – watered by the river of consciousness – that squanders the boundary between matter and spirit. We also have rivers that flow out of the garden into the mundane aspects of our lives.

Our mission is to use these rivers as channels – to connect us, our material lives, with our Divine calling. We do this by following the universal Divine laws that G-d gave the human race, the entire human race. Every aspect of our lives has to be permeated – via the river channel – with Eden.

By doing so we have the power to reach a place that is even greater than Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They only connected to the river flowing from Eden. We, however, through our efforts and hard work in these difficult times, have the power to reach Eden itself, to see that ‘which no eye has ever seen.’

What we await for now is that in this month of Nissan the Euphrates will split – and allow us to reach into Eden itself. And we can help facilitate the process through our behavior and actions.

So as the search continues in the war in Iraq during these early days of Nissan, the lesson to us is crystal clear.

There are many angles to understand the war in Iraq. But the true war today is driven by the angst of man in search of Eden.

Footnotes:
[1] Shaarei Teshuva 69b. Maamorei Admur HoEmtzoee Vayikra vol. 2 p. 703, and in sources cited in the footnote there. See Ohr HaTorah Bereishis vol. 7, 1163a.

[2] See also Etz Chaim (Arizal) Shaar Tziur HaOlamos ch. 3. Likkutei Torah Shemini Atzeret 84c. Sefer HaMaamorim 5565 vol. 2 p. 560. See Zohar II 150a and in Ohr HaChama. Ramban Shaar HaGomul pp. 295.

[3] The Ramban in Shaar HaGomul (ibid) writes in the name of ‘surveyors’ that the location of Gan Eden is ‘below the equator’ (which has not changed over time), 32 degrees south of Jerusalem (Maamorie Admur HoEmtzoee in note 1). See also Etz Chaim, Shaarei Teshuva and some of the other citations in note 1 and 2. Likkutei Torah Tazria 20a. The reason for this is because Gan Eden is the ‘navel’, the ‘center of the earth’ (Israel is at the center of populated earth) – Etz Chaim ibid. Shaar Haaoras HaMochin ch. 5.  See also Mikdash Melech on Zohar II 184b.In Etz Chaim (ibid ch. 1 and 3) Gan Eden is to the southeast, like the right arm, of Israel.

Interesting note: The Ramban also cites medical books form the early Greeks (and also from a book by Asaf the Jewish doctor) who relate a story that Aspalkinus, a Macedonian thinker, together with 40 men, traveled to a place beyond India, east of Eden, in search of the Tree of Life, which they felt could provide major medical benefits. They wanted to become famous. Instead, they were all killed by the ‘revolving flaming sword’ that stands East of Eden. The Ramban writes that this a ‘true story known and publicized even today.’ And that many people from the land in the East can see the ‘revolving flame’ from afar. This needs to be reconciled with Shaarei Teshuva which states that you can not see the ‘sword’ today.

[4] Halachically speaking, see Eliyahu Rabba and Olat Tomid Orach Chaim 228:2 (cited in Kaf HaChaim), that one shouldn’t recite a blessing if in doubt.

[5] See Rosh Hashana 10b. Sichat Shabbat Parshat Shemini 5736.

HISTORICAL EVENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN THE TIGRIS-EUPHRATES VALLEY REGION – MODERN DAY IRAQ

**************

HISTORICAL EVENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN THE PURIM-PASSOVER
TIME PERIOD

YEAR 357 BCE

~ Adar 13 (this year March 17): Persian King Achashverosh decrees that this day be transformed from a day of genocide to a day of war against all the enemies of the Jewish people who plotted to kill them. Human’s sons are killed together with many other enemies
~ Purim – Adar 14 (March 18): The battles ends and the Achashverosh decrees that this day be transformed to a day of liberation. Haman’s sons are hung together with thousands of others who plotted the genocide
~ Shushan Purim – Adar 15 (March 19) – the war ends and celebration is held in Shushan, capital of Persia

A YEAR EARLIER, 356 BCE

~ Nissan: Haman throws lots which fall on Adar 13 as the day of the genocide of the entire Jewish nation
~ 13 Nissan (this year April 15): Writing the decree and sending them out to the entire Persian Empire
~ 14-16 Nissan (April 16-18): At Esther’s suggestion all the Jews gather to pray and fast for three days to abolish the tragic decree
~ 15 Nissan at night: King Achashverosh has insomnia, he hears the story about Mordechai rescuing his life and decides to reward him. This becomes the beginning of the Purim redemption
~ 15-16 Nissan (2^nd day of Passover): Esther invites Haman and Achashverosh to a party and then to a second party, with the intention to ruin Human’s plans
~ 16 Nissan: Haman is hung on the tree which he built to hang Mordechai
~ 23 Sivan (June 23): The decree is abolished, and transformed

YEAR 1312 BCE

~ 1 Nissan (April 3): G-d designates the month of Nissan as the first month of the year, and tells Moses that the Exodus would take place in two weeks. Commands him about the details of Passover
~ 10 Nissan (April 12): Preparing the Pascal lamb for Passover. The Egyptian first born wage war against Egypt
~ 14 Nissan (April 16): Plague of the first born
~ 15 Nissan (April 17): The Jewish people leave Egypt after 430 years of exile
~  21 Nissan (April 23): The Red Sea parts and allows the Jewish people to walk through while drowning the pursuing Egyptians. The Jews sing praise

OTHER YEARS

~ 1 Nissan: Creation of Adam and Eve and their placement in the Garden of Eden (according to Rabbi Yehoshua – Rosh Hashana 11a. See Tosfos ibid 27a)
~  14 Nissan:
>>> Abraham wins his battles with the kings
>>> Birth of Isaac
>>> Jacob ‘steals’ his brother Esau’s blessings
>>> Jacobs crosses the river and wrestles with and prevails over Esau’s angel
>>> The victory of Devorah and Barak over Sisra (Judges 4)
>>>The fall of Assyrian King Sancheriv and his army through the prayers of Chezkiyahu (Kings II 19:35)
>>>Daniel interprets the dream of Nevuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (Daniel 6:23) as predicting the fall of the great empires to come, Babylon, Persia, Greek, Roman and/or Ishmael
>>>The death of Babylonian King Baltshatzar, grandson of Nevuchadnezzar, the night of his party where he displays the vessels of the Holy Temple (Daniel 4:30)
>>>Daniel is saved from the Lions’ den (Daniel 6:23)
>>>n the future – vengeance against Edom (Piyut for Shabbas HaGodol and 2^nd day of Passover)
>>>In the future – Esau and Amalek will be destroyed, followed by the construction of the Third Temple (see Sukka 41a. Pesachim 5a. Zohar III 249a. Citations in Shaarei Zohar on Sukka ibid)

Tags: redemption, Babylon, Persia, Garden of Eden, Mittler Rebbe, passover
Posted in Purim, Months & Holidays, Beliefs & Concepts, Social, Moshiach & Redemption, Adar, Torah, The Gulf War 2003, Current Events | No Comments »

In an Earthen Vessel

July 28th, 2015

And G-d spoke to Moses, saying: A man whose wife shall stray and commit a betrayal against him… that man shall bring his wife to the Kohen… And the Kohen shall take holy water in an earthen vessel…

Numbers 5:11-23

Life, as described by the Kabbalists, is a marriage of body and soul. The soul—the active, vital force in the relationship—is its “male” component. The body—the vessel that receives the soul and channels and focuses its energies—is the “female” element in the relationship.

Common wisdom has it that spirit is loftier than matter and the soul superior to the body. Indeed, the soul of man maintains a perpetual awareness of its Creator and Source, while the body, susceptible to the enticements of the material, is often the culprit in man’s tendency to forget, stray and betray.

But this is a “male” vision of life. There also exists another perspective on reality—a perspective in which passivity is superior to activity, being is greater than doing, and earthiness is truer than abstraction. A perspective in which the body is not, at best, no more than a servant of the soul, but is itself a conduit matrix of the divine.

Our sages tell us that there will come a time when the supremacy of the female will come to light. A time when the physical will equal and surpass the spiritual as a vehicle of connection to G-d. A time when the soul shall draw its nourishment from the body.[1]

Oil and Water

Therein lies the deeper significance of the laws of the sotah (the “wayward wife”), legislated in the fifth chapter of Numbers:

A man who suspected his wife of unfaithfulness (and had evidence  that substantiated his suspicions[2]) was to bring her to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. There the Kohen (priest) would fill an earthen vessel with water from a Temple well and mix in earth from the Temple ground. He would then inscribe the oath of faithfulness (Numbers 5:19-22) upon a parchment scroll, which he also placed in the “bitter waters” until the words were dissolved in the water. The “wayward wife” would then drink of the water.

If the woman had been indeed guilty of adultery, the “bitter waters” would spell her end. In the case in which her husband’s suspicions were unjustified, they not only exonerated her, but actually enhanced her relationship with her husband and the productivity of her marriage.

It is significant that the “wayward wife” was vindicated by means of holy water placed in an earthen vessel. This is in contrast to a law regarding the kindling of the Chanukah lights, which instructs that one should avoid kindling them in a clay lamp or other earthen vessel, as the placement of oil in such utensils yields unaesthetic results.[3] Indeed, the lights in the Holy Temple, after which the Chanukah lights are modeled, were lit with the finest olive oil in a candelabrum of pure gold. While the Chanukah lights are not held to such a high standard of purity and refinement, they require a clean-burning fuel (oil or wax) and a utensil of metal or other “clean” material.

The Chanukah lights proclaim the supremacy of spirit over matter.[4] It is only natural, therefore, that something of such a “spiritual” and “male” character would shun the earthen vessel. The spirituality of Chanukah is also expressed in its oil, whose nature is not to mix with other liquids but to rise above them, as spirit holds itself aloof from the physical and the earthly.

But there is also a fluid of another sort.

“The Torah has been compared to water,” writes Rabbi Schneur Zalman in his Tanya, “because just as water tends to descend from a higher place to a lower place, so has the Torah descended from its place of glory, which is the will and wisdom of G-d… until it has clothed itself in physical things and in matters of this world.”[5]

When a soul contemplates his body and finds her a “wayward wife” contentious to his spiritual goals, his wont may be to lay the blame on her femininity—on her physicality and earthiness. But if he truly desires to achieve harmony between them, he must learn to incorporate her feminine vision into their marriage. He must learn that life is more than spiritual oil flickering in vessels of purest gold. He must learn that it is also water—water that gravitates earthward to fill the most material containers with its divine essence.

Based on the Rebbe’s talks on Shabbat Nasso 5720 (June 4, 1960) and on other occasions

Tags: Alter Rebbe, Physicality, body and soul, adultery, water, oil, life, male and female, Priest, marriage, Torah, Holy Temple, spiritual and material, Tanya, menorah, kabbalah, Divine will
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Soul & Mystical, Naso, Love & Marriage, Bamidbar, Spiritual, Torah | 1 Comment »