The Silent Soul: The Spiritual Meaning of Speech

July 10th, 2014

Tags: speech, soul, silence, purpose of life, Talmud
Posted in Chapter One, Months & Holidays, Pirkei Avos, Ethics of Our Fathers, Torah, Nisan | 1 Comment »

Containing the Infinite: Integrating Spiritual Experiences

July 10th, 2014

by Ari Sollish

You shall set boundaries for the people roundabout [the mountain], saying: “Beware of ascending the mountain or touching its edge…”

“Bound the mountain and sanctify it.”
Exodus 19:12,23

At Sinai, for the first time, heaven and earth embraced.

For nearly 25 centuries, an invisible wall separated heaven and earth—an impenetrable barrier that guaranteed our material existence would remain intact. On the 6th of Sivan 2448, when the Torah was given, the wall disappeared and divinity descended upon the land. Through our implementation of the Divine will contained in the Torah, G-d’s primordial vision of the intimate mingling of spirit and matter could finally become a reality.

So significant is this union of spirit and matter that we are told that it was the sole intent of creation. In the words of our Sages: “G-d desired to have an abode in the lowliest of realms.”[1] Why, then, did G-d initially create a “barrier” between spirit and matter, all but precluding the possibility of realizing His ultimate desire?

Genesis

In describing the origin of creation, the “Ari”[2] states:[3]

In the beginning, a simple divine light filled the entirety of existence… When there arose in His simple will the desire to create the worlds, He contracted His light (tzimtzum), withdrawing it to the sides and leaving a void and an empty space in its center to allow for the existence of the worlds.[4] He then drew a single line of His infinite light (kav) into the void to illuminate the worlds…

In other words, before the tzimtzum, G-d’s omnipresence (the “Infinite Light”) was manifest, allowing no space for an “autonomous” reality such as ours to exist. Therefore, G-d withdrew and concealed this “light” to create the framework of our existence. Once done, he drew life into this “void” with but a single line of “light,” the finite infusion of Divine energy that vivifies our reality.

G-d’s ultimate desire, however, is that through our divine service the world should reach a state of refinement where it cannot only accommodate the finite light of the kav, but even the full measure of Infinite Light that was manifest prior to the tzimtzum and beyond. For this is the true meaning of the fusion of spirit and matter: that the physical existence of our world be capable of integrating and internalizing the spiritual energy drawn into it, eventually containing even the light that preceded creation, and indeed, initiating a “new” light that was not even manifest prior to the tzimzum.

But can this be? The very fact that the original light had to be withdrawn to allow for creation tells us that our reality cannot exist in the face of this light. How, then, can there ever be a mingling of both the Infinite Light (in its purest form) and our reality?

The secret lies in understanding the power of the tzimtzum.

The Chassidic masters explain tzimtzum by way of analogy. Before a teacher can transmit to his disciple a concept that is entirely beyond the student’s comprehension, he must first completely “erase” the concept as it exists in his own mind. Only when his own intellectual canvas is blank can he then proceed to paint the idea with completely different strokes, creating an image to which the student can relate. Once the student has integrated the concept as it was explained to him, he can then successively peel back the layers of the idea, delving deeper and deeper, until he reaches the essence of the concept —the way it first existed in the mind of the teacher.

However, if instead of first condensing the idea, the teacher transmits it in the same form as he understands it, then not only will the student not comprehend, he will become even more confused than before.

The same is true regarding the G-dly transmission of divinity into creation. Without a complete tzimtzum, the possibility of creation would not have existed.[5] Once there was a tzimtzum, however, not only is there a “space” for the worlds (to receive the finite “light” of the kav), but also, through the Torah and mitzvot, creation can be refined to the point where it can even contain the original Infinite Light and beyond.[6]

Similarly, we can understand why G-d initially created a total “barrier” between heaven and earth, leaving our world without even a hint of the divine heavenly light preceding creation, removing it only at Sinai: for the ultimate objective is that matter should contain spirit, not be obliterated by it. Thus, physicality had to initially exist unaware of spirituality, developing its own consciousness, so that when divinity finally did descend upon it, it could integrate the experience rather than being annihilated by it.

Integration

This idea also applies to the spiritual experiences we encounter: The ultimate purpose of these moments of divine inspiration is not to overwhelm us, but for them to be integrated and contained within our physical identity. Although we must constantly endeavor to renew our spiritual inspiration, we must all the while bear in mind the necessity to translate this inspiration within the mundanity of day-to-day living; for our mission is to serve G-d as “souls within a body,” spirit grounded within our persona.

Throughout our history, we find spiritual seekers struggling with the challenge of balancing a spiritual ecstatic high and their daily lives. The Torah tells the story of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, who died when they “approached G-d,”[7] for their body could not contain the spiritual ecstasy their soul experienced.[8] The Talmud relates: “Four entered the orchard… Ben-Azai died… Ben-Zoma lost his sanity… Elisha ben Avuyah became an apostate.”[9] Only Rabbi Akiva emerged unscathed, for he “entered in peace”[10]—he initially entered cognizant of the necessity to contain and integrate the experience. The others lacked this foresight, with tragic results.

Thus, before the tremendous spiritual phenomenon of Mount Sinai, G-d told Moses to “set boundaries for the people roundabout [the mountain],” preventing the Children of Israel from “ascending the mountain” or from even “touching its edge.” For to truly benefit from the experience of Sinai, Israel had to remain far removed from the heights of spiritual ecstasy where their souls could depart from their bodies. So far removed, as to not even approach the “edge” of such ecstasy. Only then could they be sure to integrate the awesome experience of Sinai.

In our lives, too, we encounter moments of holiness, times when we may feel immensely inspired. The secret, though, is integrating spiritual experiences, bearing in mind that the ultimate purpose of such inspiration is to infuse our physical lives with this spiritual fire. Then, we not only avoid the harm that ungrounded inspiration may cause, but guarantee the infinite benefit that such inspiration spawns.

Based on an address of the Rebbe given the 3rd of Sivan, first of the Yemai Hagbolo, 5749 (1989)[11]

 

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Tags: Mt. Sinai, inspiration, Rebbe, soul, body and soul, tzimtzum
Posted in Shavuot, Soul & Mystical, Months & Holidays, Spiritual, Torah, Sivan | No Comments »

The Silent Kohen – Silence Beyond Pain

July 9th, 2014

A few years ago, at a Passover Seder, I was seated near a French Jew who, during the course of his lifelong spiritual search, had discovered Zen. Amazingly hale and spirited at 70, Julian was a self-proclaimed atheist whose primary belief was in nature, a belief supported by many years following the ways of Native American life on Indian reservations in Canada.

I sensed that Julian was resisting any attempt to be engaged in the discussions at the table about Judaism. As we began conversing, he shared with me — almost to demonstrate his antipathy to anything Jewish — that he was always absorbed by Zen thought, particularly its koans (theoretical mental exercises). There were, however, two koans that continued to elude him:

Koan #1: “A hand slips down into the water, but the sleeve does not get wet. How?”

Koan #2: “A bull crashes through a window. Its head, body and legs come crashing through, but not its tail. Why?”

As the evening progressed, and we both had some Passover wine (him more than me), I felt an opportunity to respond to Julian’s dilemma. I asked him if he was familiar with the original and foremost ‘Koan’ of them all. The Hebrew word “Kohen” means priest, referring to the Kohanic priests who served in the Holy Temple.

In the Holy Temple, there were two types of service: The service of the Kohanim and that of the Levites. The Levites served G-d through song, each day composing a new melody praising G-d. The Kohanim served in silence. However great the power of song, it cannot compare to the power of silence. The hush of the Kohanic service accessed the most intimate dimension of the Divine, whose intensity cannot be contained even by the most beautiful melody.

From our limited perspective, sound is louder than silence. From the perspective of true Reality, however, silence is more powerful than sound. Not because G-d is closer to silence than He is to sound, but because silence allows us the ability to rise above our limited perception and senses to experience the sublime.

Now, I said to Julian, let’s get back to your first koan: “A hand slips under water, but the sleeve does not get wet. How?” Can water get wet? No. Because water is wetness. From our limited perspective a dry hand and sleeve that slip into water get wet, because dry and wet are two different states. Reality, however, is neither dry nor wet and therefore includes and integrates both. When we sublimate ourselves (“tevilah,” submersion in a mikvah, are the same letters as “bittul,” self-nullification) in the “pure waters of knowledge,” when we experience silence, then our sleeve and arm and entire being cannot get wet, for we are wetness itself.

To your second koan: “The entire bull crashes through the window and the tail does not. Why?” Let me ask you, “Why not? Why should the tail follow?”

A philosophy professor asked his graduate students to write their dissertation responding to a one-word question: “Why?” All the students, writing lengthy treatises, failed except two. One student received an A for answering “Because.” The other received an A+ for replying “Why not?”

All our “why” questions originate from the fact that we begin with defined principles that are “givens” and therefore we ask “why?” However, from G-d’s perspective, one which is beyond all definitions and paradoxes, any “why” question, and for that matter any question, is absurd. Before G-d “why not?” is the more appropriate question.

The bull, our aggressive side, crashes through a window. We, our logic, expect all of it to come crashing through, including the tail. When the tail does not, we ask “why?” My friend, I said, suspend your logic and be silent. And now, “why not?”

The Frenchman jumped from his chair, “Of course! After all these years — of course, of course…” He continued muttering to himself, punctuated by brief bursts of laughter … “Why not? Why not? Why … not?”

He sat still for some time. Then he looked at me in silence. A silence that was louder than any words. And he said, “So why did this G-d — your G-d — allow the Holocaust?”

He did not need to explain his segue.

I was quiet. Then I looked truth in the eye — in my eye and in his — and I said to him, “You just struck the greatest ‘koan’ of all. Having spent your entire lifetime intrigued, searching for the mysteries of the ‘koan,’ you are troubled by the ultimate ‘koan,’ the ultimate paradox.” He leaned closer to me, staring in my eyes, listening with everything he had. “Why are you ready to accept the transcendental experiences that result from the intrinsic paradoxes inherent in all the ‘koans,’ yet unwilling to accept the paradox of a good G-d allowing for evil? If G-d is Reality — the entirety of Reality — is it not possible that G-d transcends our limited definitions of good and evil? Namely, that G-d is neither good nor evil (in ways that we define the terms), neither ‘wet’ nor ‘dry,’ neither ‘yes’ nor ‘no,’ and we therefore cannot ask ‘why’ or even ‘why not.’

“The reason that you — and I, and everyone, for that matter — agonize over this ‘koan’ is that this one hits home…other ‘koans’ are theoretical exercises that are both intriguing and beguiling and may even lead to some greater truth. But at the end of the day, we live and sleep peacefully with the knowledge that our logic does not comprehend the sound of one hand clapping, or the dry hand in wet water. However, we cannot sleep peacefully when we know and feel the agony of innocent children being mercilessly gassed, their ashes blown away in the wind, of helpless blood being absorbed by the grasses of the Bavarian soil.

“This, my dear friend, is the ultimate ‘koan.’ And I have no answer for it. None of us will ever have an answer. Indeed, G-d Himself may never have an answer that we can understand, and G-d, too, does not sleep peacefully. When the Romans were putting to torturous death the greatest sages and saints of their time, and doing so with unbridled barbarism, the celestial angels cried to G-d: ‘This is Torah and this is its reward?!’ G-d did not go into any theological explanations. He simply said, ‘Be silent…'”

Silence. The only response.

Julian tilted his head ever so slightly. He looked at me for an eternity. And did not utter another word all evening. And neither did I.

But before he went home he said to me at the door, “It is so difficult. The pain is so deep.”

Not until later did I learn that this French Jew and Holocaust survivor is a Kohen, a Holy Kohen

Tags: good and evil, holocaust, silence
Posted in Soul & Mystical, Spiritual | 4 Comments »

Reincarnation and Afterlife

July 9th, 2014

Mike Feder: Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Announcer. Here we are again and we are talking tonight about Reincarnation and the Afterlife.

First of all, let me mention, before we plunge into the program, that last week we got some really great calls, and we want you to call again. The number to call at WEVD is 212-244-1050. Okay, let’s start right off.

Simon Jacobson: Well, first let’s say hello.

Feder: Hello!

Jacobson: I must second that it was really gratifying to hear calls come in last week.

Feder: So let me start by asking you the first question.

Jacobson: Let’s plunge in as usual.

Feder: As usual. I’ll ask you straight out. Is there an afterlife and is there a thing called reincarnation and what is it from your point of view?

Jacobson: Okay. I remember when we were planning this topic that I said it was going to be a heavy topic and I do hope that it provokes many responses, but I think I should say at the outset—I always have to begin with my disclaimers (I do apologize for them but they’re necessary) particularly with a topic like this—there are certain axioms that I believe I should state for the record because based on those premises, our discussions can really flow from there.

Jacobson: So to begin with a disclaimer, it’s going to be difficult to cover this topic in the allotted time. But as we hope this show is going to be a long-term educational process for ourselves and for the listeners, if we set the tone and cover certain basics, we can always do a follow-up show to embellish and elaborate. That’s one statement.

Now, regarding the issue of reincarnation and the afterlife, I think the first thing that should be stated is that this is built and predicated on the concept of a soul. If there’s no soul, then there’s no afterlife and there’s no reincarnation.

Feder: Well, your body as it is now doesn’t go to some other place, only your soul does, right?

Jacobson: Yes. And I think I should define for myself and for all of us how exactly we’re interpreting the word “soul.”

There are many different issues. What does a soul mean? You hear the cliché today, that the soul is like spirit, like soul music, the soul of music, or the soul of the matter.

I would say that the soul is more than just a spirit, more than just an energy. In the context of the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, the concept of a soul, is essentially the reason for our being.

Let me give an example. When someone writes a book, the words on the page are the body, the expression. But the soul is the message and the vision, the feeling, the energy of the author (or musician for that matter) that’s between the lines. Actually, musical notes are an even better example. Musical notes on a paper are static, inanimate. But when you play them, something called music comes to life.

So to use that as a metaphor for “existence,” you, Mike, myself, every one of us is a musical note. Our bodies are the physical manifestation/expression of that note, the way it looks on a page, but when we live up to our calling, to our destiny, our soul emerges. And that is usually not expressed or experienced in a very tangible way…

Feder: I was going to say, this is an intangible essence…

Jacobson: Exactly. As music is intangible comparatively speaking to the note on the page. The note is very tangible: Someone will say, I see the note, but what does the music look like? And you’ll say, you can’t see music, you have to listen to it.

So in life I would say the same is true. You can see the human body, the human personality, but where do you see the soul express itself? In love, in sadness, in tears, in joy…

Feder: Maybe in the expression of art.

Jacobson: Yes. Generally in the creative energies and experiences that are, what we call, the sublime.

So essentially, each of us has a soul. That soul is that spirit or energy, the purpose of your being. So we can live a “body” life, which really means you’re driven by materialistic concerns, materialistic drives and needs: I need to eat, I need to sleep, I need shelter, I need to drink, I need some other physical needs.

Then there are spiritual needs, soul needs. Love, nurturing, the need to give, to build something that’s bigger than selfish personal gain. That essentially is the soul being nourished. And each activity that we do, whether it’s a meal that we eat, or how we deal with our friends or associates, in each of those areas we have those two choices. And those two choices are essentially between the self—those that are materialistically driven— and those driven by the soul and spirit, a more selfless and transcendental dimension.

Now, that being said, if we ask, for example, the question, “What is reality?” is it our material bodies, is it the food we eat, is it the musical note on the page? Or is it the spirit that the note imbues us with, expresses, when you play the music?

So in music no one will argue of course that the notes are simply vehicles. The same would be, for instance, with the human body. The body is just an inanimate corpse without a spirit. So love is expressed when you have that sublime, transcendental element.

But because we are material human beings living in the material universe, we can be distracted and we can live for the here and now and neglect or forget that there is another, let’s call it, reality.

Feder: I’ve heard some people described as “soulless” people sometimes. No animation, no higher feelings.

Jacobson: Exactly. Like on days when you just trudge along and you can barely lift your head. But the reason I’m elaborating—you’ll see I’m leading up to reincarnation and afterlife—but because of this shroud, or ability for us to live in a very materialistic reality, we can almost forget—because of our daily needs for survival—that there is another reality.

But generally the concepts of souls, spirit, and by extension, afterlife and reincarnation are very exotic and difficult to relate to because that’s not the reality that we see here and now. It’s not the reality of Wall St., it’s not the reality of vacationing, it’s not the reality of the headlines that we read every day and we see on TV.

Spirit is a reality that’s experienced in a completely different environment, for which we need to create a conducive scenario for us to be able to be receptive to it.

When you are struggling for survival, it’s very difficult to pay attention to the sublime. Yet, clearly, the soul is the essence of what life is really all about, and I don’t even say this in a religious context, I say it in a human context, a universal one, that everyone has a need for soul experiences, transcendental experiences.

Some call it G-d, others call it art and music, or some other form, but it’s clearly not the morass of the mundane.

Now, the connection is, of course, that once you understand this and say “Yes, I can relate to the fact that there is another reality called ‘soul,’ now let me hear what that reality looks like?” This is where we enter into a world of a discussion like this evening, a discussion about reincarnation and afterlife.

Feder: Well, for someone who is a complete an utter skeptic, they would say, and which they do all the time, “Well, prove it to me. Where is the evidence?”

Jacobson: Okay. I was about to say something along that line. I’m glad you and I think alike. And this is a show for skeptics and seekers, and often they overlap. We can be a skeptical seeker and a seeking skeptic. So it’s a very legitimate question but I must say that to really get into that requires a different discussion, because for a show about reincarnation and afterlife, you have to accept that the concept of soul is a given.

If you don’t, then we should do a whole show about the “Soul ” instead.

Feder: Okay. So let’s presume today, because I believe it enough, that there’s a soul, so now let’s talk about that.

Jacobson: I want to add one thing. I don’t believe that there always exists empirical evidence, mathematical proofs for different things. But there are issues in life that I believe of us don’t require proof and evidence in quite the same way.

If someone says to you, “Prove to me that this investment is going to be a good investment, or prove to me that 2+2=4 and not 5,” that’s one thing. But if someone says, “Prove to me that human beings need love,” or “Prove to me that we feel bad when innocent people suffer,” or “Prove to me why are you feeling so sad that you’re crying about something” — all these are dealing with an area of life that’s sometimes irrational and emotional, and frankly, I think intelligent people know that asking for proofs when you’re dealing with the sublime is like asking to see a microscopic subatomic particle with the naked eye. It’s a different world, a different realm, and you need different tools.

Feder: And yet almost everybody would agree about the things you just talked about, that they are absolute requirements to exist in the world.

Jacobson: Exactly. And therefore I’d rather not get into a long discussion on evidence, but suffice it with what I just said.

Feder: Okay.

Jacobson: So, with that being said, then essentially there’s the science of materialism. The science of materialism is the laws of economics, the laws of history, the laws of science in general: social science, physical science, and political science. Then there’s the science of spirituality, the study of the soul.

The study of the soul is, in a way, as complex, if not more complex, than the study of the body. Doctors can give us an anatomical or physiological map of the structure of the human being. That we know is complicated. Take the circulatory system. Someone will say, in the circulatory system there’s the heart: the heart beats and the blood circulates all over the body. That sounds simple but we all know it’s quite complicated, for example, what happens when there are clogs.

Take any element in the human body, any system, and it’s very complicated, to the point that most doctors, all knowledgeable doctors will say that with all our knowledge, we still know very little.

Now, I’m not even discussing the brain. So the soul too has its own science, its own journeys. The journey of the soul is essentially our topic of discussion here. Reincarnation and the afterlife: the journeys and the understanding, the science, the psyche of the soul. By understanding that, you begin to relate to the idea of how the soul transmigrates, where is the soul before we’re born, what happens after we die?

Feder: So redefine quickly, so we understand what we’re talking about: the soul is that special essence in each person which is from the Creator, and it comes from before you were born and it lasts after you die, right?

Jacobson: Well, I’ll summarize with an analogy. It’s the vision of the cosmic architect called G-d in creating us, similar to the vision of the musician internally in his or her soul, before he or she puts down on paper the musical notes. Because musical notes are just an expression of a feeling, as music is a certain expression of a passion, of a mood, of a venue and so on.

Feder: So, therefore, each soul is distinctly and invisibly different from every other soul, right?

Jacobson: Exactly. Like every musical note. So in that sense you can say that our bodies are the actual note and the soul is G-d’s vision, the energy that makes us be who we are, the essence of the human being.

Now, are we ready for step two?

Feder: Okay. The soul moves on…

Jacobson: Well, here’s the key, and here I ask myself, and you, and all our listeners, to put yourself in a different mindset than the one you are accustomed to, because it’s a prerequisite to really appreciate this.

You see, we think again in terms of the tangible. Our sensory tools are our most dependable and primary tools: sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. From the perspective of the senses we can ask the question, “Where does the soul go after it dies, after the human being dies?”

And my response is, and this is the springboard of our discussion, “What do you mean, where does it go? You make it sound like we are where it’s at and the soul has to go somewhere. Maybe the soul is where it’s at, and we go somewhere.”

Feder: You have to explain this.

Jacobson: Of course. But I see from your smile that you get it somewhat. But let me explain. Where does electricity go when an appliance is shut off, or when you pull the plug (no pun intended)? Where does electricity go? If a child asks that question, the parent will say that electricity doesn’t go anywhere. It goes back to its natural environment, which is everywhere. On the contrary, electricity was with us from the beginning of time, and at some point in history, human beings just learned to tap it, whether it was an accident, or from one of the different legends…Benjamin Franklin with the kite and the lightning, whatever it may be.

We then learned that there’s a power in the air, so to speak, called electricity. We learned to build generators. We learned to tap that electricity, to generate it, to transmit it through wires, and bring it to homes and cities and light up our homes and energize appliances.

Feder: We also learned how to turn it on and off.

Jacobson: Exactly. But what do you mean by turning it on and off? You’re not destroying electricity when you turn it off, it’s just that the circuit is closed so the electricity doesn’t continue to flow in your direction. It’s as if you built a dam and didn’t allow the water flow, the electric current to continue.

Feder: But it’s still there.

Jacobson: Right. Exactly. So what happens is as follows: you plug something in to an outlet, you turn on a switch, the circuit is now open and the current can flow through, and it energizes the light bulb which is now shining. The air conditioner is on, the refrigerator is cooling. You shut off the switch or you pull the plug and essentially electricity goes back to its natural state, which is in a very “non-tangible” state, and it is now not energizing this particular appliance.

So now let’s apply the analogy to the soul and body. And I beg you to indulge me: the soul is not like electricity but it’s a similar idea.

The soul is a form of energy, upon conception, upon birth, the  body, which is the appliance, is now suddenly connected to the circuit, to this electric current. The flow enters the body, the body is vivified and energized, and lives its life. Upon death, what happens is essentially the equivalent of the switch being shut, where the body ceases to be connected to that flow of energy.

So the soul goes back to its essential state before it entered this appliance or box called the body.

Feder: And what is that state?

Jacobson: Okay. The thing is, the more spiritual we are, the more we can relate to that state. But clearly, it’s a state of being that is difficult for us to relate to because and while we are in the box. When you are here in the appliance, think of it from the perspective of the refrigerator. The refrigerator will ask you (meaning electricity—obviously I’m speaking here in metaphor), “What are you? Where are you? I understand when you enter me and you allow me to cool and I can cool the food that I carry inside of me. Or I light up the room as a lightbulb. But where are you?”

The answer is, I’m in a different world than you are, and we don’t really communicate. The only place where we have some interaction is when I enter you, and you see me through the evidence of my expression. You see that you’re alive.

The difference between a corpse, G-d forbid, and a live body—even if the corpse is completely intact: eyes, ears, a heart and a brain—is that it does not have that electric flow called the soul or the spirit.

So it’s hard for us, people of bodies and people of the material world, to really fully comprehend that existence. That is precisely why reincarnation and afterlife are very exotic and non-spatial and difficult concepts to relate to. And that’s also one of the reasons that when it is discussed, it’s always discussed by people who are familiar with the topics with the disclaimers that this requires a good understanding of souls and spirituality. You shouldn’t just jump into it.

Now, for most of us, we often hear someone say, “Okay, reincarnation. Great. What was I in a previous life? Was I a frog, a caterpillar?”

Feder: Richard Nixon? You could be anything, right? But listen, let’s take it for granted that the people who are listening now, and myself included, all have the faith that this exists—let’s make the leap of faith—and then we can go on to just say, where is the soul before and where does it go after?

Jacobson: No, no. I intend to discuss it. But to tell you the truth, when I speak about this, I don’t feel like I am educating others, I’m speaking also to myself when I say this.

Feder: Or asking a question out loud.

Jacobson: Right. It’s like thinking out loud. I’m always trying to relate to a world where, remember, when you look around, you see a room, you see chairs, you see people, you see bodies. You see materialism. And you can sense something more, but it’s always something elusive, so I speak to myself as well when I say it’s not something that you can easily travel in.

Feder: You know, maybe unfortunately, the first time that I ever really believed absolutely that there was something called the soul is when my mother died, and I went to see her, and there was her body. She had just died a couple of hours before. And I looked at her body and I realized that whatever it was that was essentially her was absolutely gone. And it was the lack of something, the missing quality, that made me realize that that thing existed, if you understand what I mean.

Jacobson: For sure. Because what you loved in your mother was not her eyes and her arms and her legs, it was her person.

Feder: But it was so totally gone that I realized it must have been some kind of special essence. And it was the first time I ever realized that. Maybe other people have had that experience.

Jacobson: Okay, so what you’re saying really testifies and demonstrates the point I made, that you needed to actually see that…

Feder: In front of me with my own eyes…

Jacobson: And the truth is, I hope we all can appreciate this in life and not have to wait to see it in death. In other words, when you look at someone you love, and they’re lying there or they’re awake, but they’re here alive with us, that appreciation, what you are loving, is not just a body, it’s not just arms and legs, it’s not just their limbs and organs. You’re talking about a person, a contributor, a person who has a special unique musical note, essentially. You love the musical note that they’re playing, and even when the music isn’t always perfect or something irritates you, it’s the person you love, it’s not just their actions, not just the sum of the parts. It’s something that every one of us knows is not tangible.

You know how profound love can be. You can’t even point your finger at it. What do you really love in the person? Is it their eyes, is it their physical body, is it their mind, their heart?

Feder: It’s almost impossible to express that.

Jacobson: Exactly. That would be the best example of us entering that soul world. But the thing is, it does remain hard to articulate, because you hug the person or in some other way embrace them, and for you, that’s an expression of love, you don’t need to analyze it with your mind and say, “What exactly is this?” That’s also the point. It’s not even necessary for us to understand it fully.

Yet that doesn’t mean we don’t discuss it, because we do want to educate ourselves in a way that we rise to the occasion.

Feder: It seems ironic to me that oddly enough, the things that are the most intangible, the things that have the least evidence, are the things that people talk about more than anything else.

Jacobson: The things that are most real to us are the things that are the hardest to articulate. That’s the law of human nature.

Feder: So let’s talk about something that is easy to articulate, which is that you are listening to Rabbi Simon Jacobson, and this is Toward a Meaningful Life with Simon Jacobson. My name is Mike Feder and we’re here every Sunday night from 6-7pm and you’re listening to WEVD, 1050AM in New York City.

This show is an outgrowth of the Meaningful Life Center in Brooklyn, and this show is also based very much on Rabbi Jacobson’s book called Toward a Meaningful Life, in which almost every subject that you hear discussed on the air here is discussed in the book.

We really want to thank everyone who has emailed us or written or called us. Here are some of the ways you can get in touch with us, and we want to hear from you. The most important thing is the telephone number: 1-800-3MEANING or 1-800-363-2646. You can also email us at wisdomreb@aol.com. You can always write to us at The Meaningful Life Center, 788 Eastern Parkway, Suite 303, Brooklyn, NY 11225.

I’d like to also tell you that we have a new website where you can download transcripts of this program, and previous and future programs. It’s www.meaningfullife.com.

Let us move on. Say whatever you have to say, otherwise I have some questions I want to ask you.

Jacobson: I do want to say one thing about afterlife and reincarnation that may preempt your questions or may lead to them. After this preface, I do want to get to the heart, or meat of the thing: “Where’s the beef?” as they say.

So to sum up, the soul’s transmigrations, or the understanding of that spiritual reality, essentially, allows one to really relate to the concept of afterlife. So the question was asked, where does the soul go after death?

And my answer was, it doesn’t go anywhere. It essentially goes back to its initial state, and for a while, in between birth and death, it energized the appliance, the box called the body, which was energized by the soul.

Now, of course, it’s not like just turning the clock back, life will never be the same. Because once the soul did enter the body, and they did live together, and they did good deeds, and mitzvos, which means they fulfilled G-d’s  Will for them, body and soul together, they are partners forever. And in some way, which is really another discussion but part of this one in a way, they even remain connected after death.

Feder: That’s something that obviously needs more explanation.

Jacobson: But I want to say this. Really, I would change the word “afterlife.” I would say what happens as the soul’s life continues.

Feder: The life of the soul continues, even if that of the body doesn’t.

Jacobson: Correct. So afterlife essentially means that life continues but on another dimension. Now the soul continues to travel on its own journey, but it has been transformed by the experience that it had together with the body.

Feder: Oh, now that’s interesting.

Jacobson: Okay, so with electricity, for instance, electricity leaves the appliance but the electricity doesn’t change. The appliance may change. But the electricity just goes back to its natural state. It is dispassionate and impersonal and is unaffected by the time that it energized the light bulb.

Feder: But the soul has been changed or adjusted or altered in some way by its encounter with your body as it moves ahead in its journey.

Jacobson: In both ways. If a person lived up to his or her destiny, the soul is enriched and empowered, and you could even say more, that it has been actualized. Because look at the soul (now I’m going beyond the electricity analogy) the soul is like a reservoir of resources and energy.

In a person’s life, when you allow that potential to actualize itself through love, through giving, through graciousness, through kindness, the soul is actually “exercised.” It’s like any talent. You can have a muscle, but if you don’t use it, it will atrophy. It’s the same with the soul. When you don’t use that resource called love, or that resource called compassion, what happens is the soul remains untapped and therefore in some way stagnates.

In other words, when you stretch out your arm to lend a helping hand, or you walk somewhere to visit a sick person, or you speak nicely, kindly, you give good advice, or any other way that you’ve used your appliance called the body to express soul experiences, the soul is then nourished by that and is exercised and cultivated.

Feder: So you’re implying then that there is a purification or almost an upward journey that the soul can take, or it can even go down.

Jacobson: Precisely. If the soul, for example, was used by the body in a negative way, let’s say someone used their mind or heart to hurt someone else, they used their ingenuity to be destructive, or they used their arm to raise it against a friend or a stranger. Or they used their mouth to libel someone or to hurt someone. Then what happens is the soul, in a sense, is negatively influenced and impacted by it. Mind you, not the essence of the soul, but definitely many of its forms of expression have been affected by the, so to speak, body’s misuse of that soul.

Now, interestingly, the word in Hebrew for reincarnation is gilgul. Gilgul means a cycle. The word galgil in Hebrew means a wheel. This alludes to the fact that the journey of the soul continues on. If the soul has not fulfilled its calling, if that musical note did not play its music fully or completely or in some way played some distorted music, it then needs to return to this world again to complete, fulfill, complement, or in some other way, correct or repair what was missing.

So, in a sense, the science of gilgul, the science of reincarnation, is a spiritual immune system so to speak that makes sure that the soul will continue to transmigrate and go through its journeys and return to this world. That’s why you find in many cases—from the holy AriZal and the Kabbalah—situations where a person may come back to do just one mitzvah, one good deed that they missed in a previous life. They return and are given a new opportunity and once they accomplished the mitzvah, the soul achieves peace because the wheel, the cycle is complete.

That is essentially, in brief, the concept of reincarnation.

Feder: Okay, we have a caller. Allen from New Jersey. You’re on the air.

Caller: Can you explain please, Rabbi, the concept of the luz, the bone in the body that’s responsible for reincarnation, and also how the soul and body will reunite in the future?

Jacobson: Very good questions, Allen.

Feder: You’ll have to explain that word.

Jacobson: Luz. Luz is a word in Hebrew. It’s called the “etzem luz” which refers to a bone, and there are two opinions as to which bone that is: some say it’s the top of the spine, and some say that it’s the bottom of the spine. It’s a bone that even after the body decomposes and deteriorates in the earth, the Talmud says that that bone always remains intact. And the reason being, it’s almost a testimony, a witness to eternity. Even the body continues on, remains somewhat intact, because this refers to the concept that Allen was referring to which is resurrection, which really is an extension of reincarnation, the belief that because the soul and body did live a life together in this world, there is a belief in Judaism that one day they will reunite and live on together.

Feder: In which case, part of that body would have to be preserved, right?

Jacobson: Exactly. So the Talmud says that this luz bone will be the basis upon which the rest of the body will be rebuilt. Actually, I must say as a footnote, particularly for the skeptics, I don’t know about the seekers…

Feder: You’re talking to one right now, because I find this one a hard one.

Jacobson: Well, Mike, that’s why we need to dedicate another show to resurrection, but I’ll say this. There was a book last year that was about resurrection and science, and essentially, even the idea today of cloning DNA is not so strange (Jurassic Park was based on that), but medicine and science do not preclude the possibility that we will be able to extract that DNA from even a hair follicle and reconstruct and rebuild a life through that. So it’s not as wild as it sounds.

But I must say, we should really dedicate a different show to that because otherwise, we’ll really go off on a tangent here. And that’s why I prefaced this by saying that this show will lead to more questions than answers.

Feder: Well, speaking of questions, we do have one person who’s been holding on for quite a while. Okay, we have Angel from New Jersey.

Caller: Yes, good evening, Rabbi. The question I have is, in my reading of the Old Testament up until King Saul’s time, I had the impression that after the body dies, the essence of the person goes to rest, and that everybody thought that that was it. There was nothing that was going to happen afterwards. And I was wondering where the idea of reincarnation came from.

Feder: In other words, where in the Scripture or in the books does it appear first?

Jacobson: Very fair question, Angel. The truth is, there are opinions and questions about where the idea of reincarnation originates from, because in the Talmud you don’t find any direct reference (although there are many allusions). But essentially, even when there are differences of opinions among the Sages, ultimately there are usually trusted authorities that are relied upon. Essentially, the Kabbalists are the experts and authorities  who can talk about gilgul. Those who deal with halachah, or the laws, deal with the legal aspects, and gilguls or reincarnation doesn’t necessarily have legal applications or implications.

Feder: You’re losing me a bit here with the legal thing.

Jacobson: What I’m trying to say is that ultimately we rely upon the authorities, from a Jewish perspective, and these are the Kabbalists, Jewish mystics, who talk about the gilgul, and primarily I mentioned the Zohar, the Book of Splendor, the classical text of Jewish mysticism, authored by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who has an entire section in the chapter of Mishpatim (the chapter in Exodus called Mishpatim), where he talks at length about what he calls Toras hagilgul, the Torah or the science, the study of reincarnation.

Now, the reference in the actual Bible is obviously based on the concept of the soul. How does G-d create man, meaning Adam and Eve? “And He blew” and imbued or instilled a breath into the earth, and that created the human being.

So clearly, that breath of energy, that breath of life is not something that was created at that moment, clearly it is a spiritual nature, and doesn’t disappear after a person dies.

Feder: Is that another word for the soul then, that breath?

Jacobson: That’s what it is in Hebrew. Nishmas chaim means the breath, the breath of life. Remember that in Hebrew neshamah (soul) is the same word as breath actually. So essentially the concept of a soul is clearly referred to in the Bible.

Now the concept of reward and punishment is also based on the fact that if a human being has a relationship with G-d, and to simply say that that relationship ends upon death is essentially negating the whole idea of achieving something eternal from what we accomplish on this earth.

Feder: When you say “reward and punishment,” are you referring to the upward and/or downward journey of the soul after…

Jacobson: Precisely. I’m also referring to the idea that when you do a good deed in this world, Mike, something lives on forever, it’s not just while you’re here.

Feder: And if you do a bad deed?

Jacobson: It’s exactly the same. You’ve done something that needs to be repaired. With a bad deed, we say that it goes on forever until it’s repaired, because obviously the goal is to have a second chance which is the concept, again, of reincarnation.

But the questions are really good and I must say, and I hope you’ll mention, that I invite Angel and Allen and all the listeners to look up the show, once it’s a transcript on the website, and continue to ask questions…

I think reading the transcripts on the website is a great opportunity, particularly on a topic like this which is so dense, to understand the basics of these concepts, and I invite the listeners to visit the website and follow up with more in-depth questions (I’ll be happy to answer individual questions on line and perhaps we can create a follow-up show) but both Allen and Angels’ questions were very good questions.

Feder: Let me ask you a question which follows the path that we’re taking. When you were talking about the transmigration of souls, the movement of a soul from one body to another level, or another body which is reincarnation, this is a question a lot of people ask and wonder about.

Does a soul have a remembrance or recognition of itself in a former incarnation? Like when I die and am reincarnated and my soul goes to another place, do I know it’s me and do I remember what I was like and what I’m all about and what my lesson is to be?

Jacobson: Excellent question. I’m glad you asked that, as always, because it follows from where we were. Now, I want to distinguish between two things. Often when people who are interested in issues such as reincarnation, past lives, and destiny, ask me questions, it’s important to distinguish between sensationalism and the search for exotica, and real practical application.

Often, we human beings like the sensational, we like the unknown, and I don’t want to analyze it or criticize it, but I believe that this is perhaps because in a way it absolves us of responsibility. Like if someone says they can read your palm, or they read your stars…

Feder: Your destiny.

Jacobson: Yes. In a way it’s like, “Oh this is my destiny.” So it’s an excuse to say that I’m not completely responsible. That’s why when you go to a true Kabbalist, a true mystic he will refuse to reply to a sensational question or one that comes merely out of curiosity. (I’ve often made the statement that the people who really know, don’t say, and the people who say, don’t know, usually) because someone who really knows is very wary and very skeptical that this shouldn’t be used or abused.

Like someone will say, Okay, can you tell me where I reincarnated? Now a person who really knows that answer will usually not answer because the real question would be, why is it important for you to know? To make you a better person? Would you become more responsible? Would you be able to resolve issues you carry with other people

Now, in certain exceptions thi information will be shared if the person who’s asking the question is responsible and will definitely use it in a positive way. But if it’s just to satisfy some type of curiosity, then there is no legitimate reason to get into it.

Feder: Well, it’s like these psychic hotlines on TV that you see all the time. Will I get a new watch next week? Will I get a raise? Will my boyfriend this that and the other thing.

Jacobson: In Judaism, we’re very careful and respectful of human dignity and responsibility, and this means that you’re responsible for your life. So we shouldn’t over-rely on reincarnation and the concept of soul alone, but rather, it ultimately comes down to: are you going to live a better life? What kind of person are you going to be?

But with that qualification, I will say the following:

There’s no doubt that the effects of the soul in the previous lifetime or let’s say its journeys on the path, definitely have an impact on our lives today.

It may be an impact on our personality, on opportunities that come our way, in the way you deal with problems. It’s not necessarily coming from that place, because clearly according to the nurture/nature argument, there are many factors that shape us.

Feder: So what you’re saying is that the essence of my soul, or whatever it was before it entered my body and became my life, will affect who I am?

Jacobson: To some extent. There are several factors that shape who you are. One, of course, is your genes, your genetic make-up, which are your parents. Now that, of course, is also complicated, because often you see that these things can skip generations, for example, if you have a red-headed grandfather and red hair has skipped a generation.

So clearly genetics is complicated, it’s not just black or white.

Now, the second thing that impacts who you are, of course, is nurture: your education, the attitudes, for good or for bad, that you had in your environment, in your home, in your schooling, and so on.

In addition to all of that, there are definitely elements in the human personality, the human experiences and opportunities that G-d may present for you. He may give you opportunities to repair or to complement or to fulfill something you may have missed in a previous lifetime.

So the attitude essentially would be, like the Baal Shem Tov said in a very powerful, beautiful way, “Sometimes the soul comes down to earth for 70 or 80 years, just to do a favor for another person.”

Feder: For one person, in one moment.

Jacobson: In other words, the concept of reincarnation, when it comes down to the practical, is developing the sensitivity we have to have every moment for every opportunity that comes your way.

You meet someone today, tonight, tomorrow, it may be a stranger, it may be someone you know, that’s an opportunity for you to accomplish something, And you do not know, perhaps whether your soul came to this life for you to fulfill something in your interaction now, some good deed, to say a good word, to do a kind gesture, that in some way fulfills something the soul missed in a previous part of his journey.

So it’s a very powerful message.

Feder: So this is a way that I could look at my life and transcend what might be immediate or short-sighted suffering. If I look at all my sufferings, I can wonder and curse it and blame it on everybody, but if I look at all my sufferings as not a new thing, but as an opportunity to repair something that didn’t go right the last time, it’s a way of looking at it, right?

Jacobson: Yes. And it’s a way of saying that there is never despair, there’s always hope, always another chance. It may not be about people, it may be the fact that you gravitate to a certain part of nature, it may be that you are suddenly brought to a location and you don’t know why you are there. You may have gone traveling for vacation or for business purposes and you meet someone unexpectedly. It’s opening your eyes to possibilities and horizons, so to speak.

So though we may not be able to point our finger at where we have reincarnated from, those opportunities, in a way, are like the soul speaking to you, to us, saying, “You’re here for a reason. Listen to my call. Listen to my beckoning.”

Feder: Could the reason be that you are here to meet the particular person who you are truly to fall in love with and then repair something that went wrong last time?

Jacobson: Yes. Repairing doesn’t always mean that you did something wrong. It could mean that something wasn’t completely fulfilled, consummated, or other situations. Love is often very much that way. Love between two people really, when it’s on a profound deep level… it’s almost like they feel that they knew each other somewhere. It’s that uncanny feeling of, “How did that person know that about me?”

Feder: Okay, we have one more call before we have to approach the end of the program. Caller, you’re on the air.

Caller: My wife was sick for 36 years with cancer, she suffered a lot. She was a tzedeikis (a righteous woman). She passed away more than a year ago. Afterwards I felt that she was around me. I couldn’t separate from this feeling. I have grandchildren and great grandchildren and they have the same name as my wife. I feel that her soul is in these children, but the person who lived and did good deeds, the soul lives in them, as the Rabbis explain. That’s my feeling, what’s your opinion about it?

Jacobson: First of all, I want to share my feelings of both condolence and compassion for your loss. But at the same time for your gain, as you just described it. It’s very powerful and a clear demonstration of what we say, you know, when we name someone for a grandmother or a mother or father, G-d forbid, who have passed on, or other relatives, that naming in a way is a way of channeling the soul energy of that person into that child’s life. Because a name has power to it. A name is a channel for spiritual energy. The spirit of your wife, as we know in Jewish faith, never died. The sad part is that it is disconnected from our perception, that we can’t see it, like there’s a curtain that doesn’t allow us to see it, which is the sad part.

But when you see grandchildren and people who have been moved and inspired and who continue the legacy…

There’s an entire chapter in the Bible called Chayei Sarah, “The Life of Sarah,” about the wife of Abraham, and interestingly, when you read that chapter, the chapter begins with her death: how she lived 127 years, how Abraham went and bought her a plot in Hebron, and so on.

So the question is asked, her life was described in the previous chapter. That’s the chapter we should call “the life of Sarah.” But why is the chapter called “the life of Sarah” after she passes? Because how do we see if a person is truly alive? Not when they’re walking around biologically breathing, but when you see their eternal impact and influence on the people they left, on Abraham, on Isaac, in the case of Sarah.

So in a way, many people who are great moguls, who are powerful, etc., and people tremble before them… once they’re gone, no one remembers them, except if they build a memorial. But there are people who, even when they’re not here physically, their spirit is so imbued and so inspiring to others, that you really see that their life lives then in a way that was not apparent during their lifetime. During their lifetime, their physical presence was there.

Feder: You know, I hate to do this, but this show went so rapidly—I think because it’s so meaningful and so interesting—but we are right about at the end, and I want to say a few details that we usually say at the end, and ask you a final question.

You are listening to Toward a Meaningful Life with Simon Jacobson. This is Mike Feder and we thank you very much for your calls. Write down the number, engrave it somewhere, 212-244-1050, because we want you to call in. We’re here every Sunday from 6-7pm.

We’d like to mention that this program is based on the book Toward a Meaningful Life, written by Simon Jacobson and available at bookstores everywhere. These programs are brought to you by you, by the listener, and our underwriter for tonight’s program, the person who brought it to us, is Sharon, and we thank her very much for helping us bring the show to you.

And also I’d like to say before we end that we have received many requests, in fact, from people asking how they can donate to the Meaningful Life Center, which is the organization that brings you all this, the radio show and the web site among other things. The Meaningful Life Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing a sense of peace, light, inspiration and meaning into the world. All its activities are made possible by donations of listeners just like you who receive the center’s publications and tapes and who listen to this program and visit the website.

When you contribute to the Meaningful Life Center, you become a partner in the work that we’re doing here, so we ask you to please consider funding these radio programs, sending us money. It’s a great opportunity for honoring someone you love perhaps, or bringing meaningful inspiration to thousands of people that we’re trying to reach.

You can dedicate a program to the memory of a loved one, someone’s birthday for instance, wedding, or any kind of occasion. But the spiritual value is there. That’s what you’re investing in. And believe me, we really do need your help. A donation of any sort, a dollar, or we’ll take $100,000 would be greatly appreciated.

Please call us at 1-800-3MEANING (1-800-363-2646). When you pledge, make sure you ask to receive our newsletter, Meanings. And remember, we don’t have commercial sponsors, you are our sponsors. We count on you the listener to make this show possible.

Next week we’re going to talk about a nationwide plague, something that’s touched everybody: depression and mental illness. And let me ask one more question before we go on:

If the spirit, the soul, is moving on an upward or purifying path, what is its ultimate journey, or destination?

Jacobson: The ultimate destination… I’ll cite a Talmudic statement that says, “Tzadikim (righteous people) and talmidei chochamim (Torah scholars), true, refined human beings, don’t have peace, not in this world and not in the World to Come.”

And let me qualify that. It doesn’t mean they have no peace in a negative way, it means a restlessness. And it cites a beautiful Psalm from King David that says “The journey, the travel, is from strength to strength, from level to level.” True spiritual journeys really never end, and that does not mean (I don’t want to scare any of the listeners or ourselves) that we never come to any plateau, it means that true growth is like an infinite journey of goodness, it’s like, when you love someone, can you ever say “I love them to the fullest capacity?”

No, love is a continuous journey that continues on. And in that sense, the soul always continues in its journey. So I would not say that there’s an ultimate destination. But the first destination is reached by our efforts, and with our spiritual input, that when you use your options, and opportunities, to be more spiritual instead of more selfish, when you travel somewhere (now it’s vacation time), when you meet people today or tomorrow, and you use it not just for personal gain but for some spiritual growth, that is  soul travel.

The ultimate goal, in a way, is creating a chain reaction where people, spirits, all over the world bond with one another, and we each allow our personal light to shine, and connect with the light of others. In Jewish faith this is the concept of Redemption, a personal redemption, a universal redemption, a world where spirituality is the priority and materialism is just a means toward that end.

And from there, you ask me where we go? It’s only upward. Instead of being a battle between good and evil, it should be a battle between good and better, as the Yiddish expression goes: “If good is good, is better not better?”

Feder: Thank you very very much.

Jacobson: Thank you, Mike. See you next week.

Tags: death, radio transcript, reincarnation, redemption
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How Do I Find a True Rabbi? Part 2

July 9th, 2014

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing us today is divisiveness. Splintered families, fragmented communities, national, racial and cultural rifts have all become the norm of our age. Not to mention the split within our psyches.

Has it always been this way? Difficult to say. Comparing generations is always a tricky endeavor, because each generation tends to see its problems in the strongest light. Distinctions of time and place also contribute to the difficulty of making accurate comparisons.

One thing is for sure: Prosperity and comforts tend to intensify the divide between people. Oppression of a people has the power to unite them. It elicits their vigilance and fortitude. It forces a crystallization of values and standards. However, when people live in peace and comfort, natural apathy seeps back in, creating (or exposing) deeper schisms between classes, families, communities and individuals.

The Jewish people are a perfect example of this. Oppression did not allow them the free time and luxury to fight with each other, especially over petty matters. Unquestionably, there were many disagreements among Jews throughout history. Yet, a ‘comfortable divisiveness’ – one that becomes structurally solidified as an integral part of society – is a modern phenomenon.

Here is not the place to discuss the ironic paradox, why human comfort should cause more separation and misery, but the facts are the facts. I am not advocating a return to oppression (G-d forbid), but rather pointing out the challenge of freedom and prosperity.

What follows below is an account of one of the most defining moments in my life that allowed me a glimpse into the ‘establishment.’

It happened a few years ago. I was invited to sit on a panel discussion at Touro Law School in Huntington, New York. The discussion was about some of the principles of Jewish faith including a dialogue on Moshiach and redemption (geulah). My co-panelists were two other Rabbis, one Orthodox and another Conservative. From the story you will see why I don’t call myself an ‘orthodox’ Rabbi. Our mediator presented ten questions on the given topics to all three of us and we all responded to them in a cordial way.

After we finished answering the mediator’s questions, the audience was invited to ask their questions. We were in an auditorium filled with maybe three, four hundred people. A woman stood up in the back of the room and asked the following question. “I speak on behalf of the largest segment of Jews today, the 90% of the Jewish people who are assimilated and unaffiliated with any type of denomination. Some of us question the existence of G-d, many of us don’t go to any synagogue. Many are disappointed in their religious leaders and others are just plain apathetic. I want to know this: you Rabbis all talk so eloquently about a final redemption and a world that will be driven by G-d and spirituality in the quest for divine knowledge rather than material pursuits. I want to know what will happen to myself and 90% of Jews today who are totally non-observant and not committed to any mitzvahs or any of the Torah laws, what will happen to us if Moshiach were to come tonight?”

“Oh man, pretty good question,” I say to myself.

The order of response was first the orthodox Rabbi. He said four words: “G-d will have mercy”… Subsequently, a resounding ‘boo’ arose from the entire crowd. Clearly they were not satisfied with his answer and found it condescending. This was not exactly a reverent audience, you can imagine, so they didn’t mind booing a Rabbi. That’s what he said and that’s how they responded to his answer.

Then came the Conservative Rabbi’s turn. He actually turned to me and said, “yes, I have the same question Rabbi Jacobson. What will happen to the unaffiliated?” The crowd laughed. That would have been bad enough, but then he added the following. His voice dripping with cynicism, he said that he once heard in the name of one of the Torah leaders and scholars of the last generation (I won’t mention the name), that the Holocaust was G-d’s punishment of the Jews for breaking Jewish law, particularly those in central Europe, France and Germany (where the reform movement was born, etc.). And the Rabbi went on to list how every atrocity perpetrated by the Nazis was a result of another broken commandment broken. Their hair was shorn was because they didn’t cover their hair, their arms were hurt was because they didn’t put on Tefillin. Children were killed because they weren’t born in purity, etc. etc. “And so if the Messiah were to come tonight,” the conservative Rabbi turned to me and asked, “Is that what you believe will happen to 90% of the Jewish people, the people that don’t keep the Mitzvot, will they experience another holocaust?”…

His words were chilling — he had succeeded in unsettling the entire crowd and getting them riled up. A profound tension filled the air.

There are questions and there are questions. This woman’s question was one of those moments of truth. Because ultimately her simple question touches the heart of all of Judaism; it exposes what we really believe, it touches us all. And the Conservative Rabbi’s unnerving remarks only helped accentuate the issues at hand.

I must tell you that this was one of the most powerful experiences in my life. Imagine the scene of 400 stunned people sitting there waiting for my response. I sat there on the podium under those glaring lights, getting hotter under the collar. A thundering silence filled the room. Clearly, this question went straight to people’s hearts. The question was provocative but to the point. And how?

As it came my turn to speak, every second turned into an hour. Frankly, I had no idea what I was going to say. One thing was for sure. I was not going to get away with some evasive cliché or humorous answer. This was a real moment of truth. Sometimes your entire life training is to prepare you to answer this type of question. I knew that my response – especially in context of the other Rabbis… what shall we call it? — could make it or break it for hundreds of people.

So, what does one do in a time like this? You pray that G-d put the right words in your mouth. I thought to myself: How would Moses, the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe – all the true Jew lovers – what would they say to this question? What would G-d Himself say to this woman?

I prayed to G-d to put the right words in my mouth. I took a deep breath and here is what came out of my mouth:

“One of the Rebbe’s once said that if you are asked a question and you don’t have an answer you should tell a story and if that doesn’t work you should sing a song. I will try to tell a story and I hope this story answers your question and I won’t need to sing.

“In the 19th century there was a Rebbe that lived in a town in Russia, a great Rebbe, mystic and scholar, and very well respected. One Simchat Torah in 1887 the Rebbe spoke about the great virtues of simple folk. He spoke very highly about their special stature, and how they are in some ways even greater than the scholar and pious person. These were not just words. Among the Rebbe’s close acquaintances was a secular, non-observant Jew. He was neither a scholar nor very pious, but the Rebbe spent serious time with him.

“Following the talk, one of the elder Chassidim came to the Rebbe and asked with respect. ”The Rebbe encourages us to ask questions, so I have a question. While I understand that a simple person has certain virtues, yet the way the Rebbe described it seems somewhat ‘stretching it.’ I respect the Rebbe’s choices but how is it that the Rebbe can justify spending so much disproportionate time with this fellow who is neither a scholar nor a pious man, when so many of his students and followers would give their lives to spend just a few minutes with the Rebbe, for wisdom, for inspiration.

“Knowing that this Chassid was a diamond merchant, the Rebbe asked him to bring several diamonds of different values so that he (the Rebbe) could choose the most precious one of the lot. It was a strange request but when the Rebbe asks, a Chassid complies although he didn’t know what the Rebbe was getting at. He gathered several precious stones of different values and placed them before the Rebbe. The Rebbe chose the largest and brightest stone and exclaimed: “this is the most precious of the lot – am I right?!” The Chassid didn’t want to contradict the Rebbe so he remained quiet. But after the Rebbe insisted, the Chassid said, “well, that is not really the most precious one.”

“But the stone looks so beautiful and large” asked the Rebbe. The Chassid replied, “With all due respect Rebbe, you need to have a trained eye. The naked eye cannot tell the value of a stone, the cut, color, clarity and carat.” The Rebbe smiled and said to him, “With all due respect, if that is the case with stones, how much more so with neshamot, souls. The value of a soul is not what meets the eye, you need to have a trained eye, the naked eye can’t tell anything about neshamot” The Rebbe was telling him that he cannot judge the value of people.”

After telling this story, I continued: “There is no human being in the world that can measure souls because souls are not man made, they are divine. Therefore only G-d knows the true nature of our souls, we humans don’t. I don’t know whose neshama is greater, whether it is yours (I pointed to the woman) or mine or someone else’s, or this orthodox Rabbi’s or this conservative Rabbi’s or anyone else in this room. Not only don’t I know, but it doesn’t even matter. It is not our business to know, judge or measure the value of souls. If we had to know the nature of the soul, we would have been told. It is not our job and function to know. The fact is that we all have neshamot and we do not know whose is greater. Sometimes the one with the greatest challenges is the one with the greatest soul.

“We know very little about a soul and its journey. Remember, none of us chose to be born into the families that we were born into. Why for instance, is one child born into a healthy, nurturing home, and another child is born into a dysfunctional, abusive home? Why is one child born into a home which provided the child with a strong spiritual education, one that offered a proud and educated Jewish influence, and another child is born into a home that provided no education, or a very negative and illiterate one? These are part of G-d’s mysterious ways and only G-d knows the answer to these questions. One thing is for sure: Each soul is pure and holy, and no one has the right or the knowledge to know the level of a soul. We cannot judge anyone, because we don’t know all the forces that have shaped their lives.

“None of us chose to be born into the families that we were born into. I didn’t choose my parents and the education and level of observance they provided me. You didn’t choose your family, and the 90% of the unaffiliated Jews that you described also didn’t choose. It is all driven by Divine intervention, G-d chooses. In other words, the type of education, the kind of family and environment that we would be exposed to is totally not up to us. We therefore cannot judge people and measure them.

“The only thing we could measure – even if we had that right – is: what did you do with the abilities and opportunities that were presented to you?

I continued:

“One step further. It says in holy books that Moses was shown all the generations to come. Moses is the first and greatest leader of the Jewish people, their ultimate shepherd, ‘roeh Yisroel.’ Before he passed away, G-d wanted to show him the future generations so that he would have nachas (pleasure) to see how they would thrive under all circumstances. Of all the things he saw what impressed Moses most was the effort and commitment of the last generation. The Torah tells us that Moses is the humblest man that walked the face of this earth. Why was he so humble? He was humble before our generation. When he saw this generation – one so assimilated, so secular, a generation that grew out of generations who suffered so much – and yet there are Jews trying to connect to G-d, that humbled Moses. This one tries to keep a Shabbos, this one tries to light a Shabbos candle, Yizkor on Yom Kippur, whatever. That humbled him.

“You know why? Because Moses’ generation was ‘enlightened.‘ They all witnessed and experienced miracles. The exodus from Egypt, the parting of the sea, revelation at Sinai, forty years of miracles in the wilderness and yet they were far from perfect. But this generation did not see miracles. It is a generation that has every reason to deny G-d. A generation that followed the holocaust and before that, the pogroms in Eastern Europe, the Cossacks, and before that the Inquisition and the Crusaders. On and On, you name it – and still, there are people walking the streets of New York or Bangkok, Melbourne or Stockholm, Tel Aviv or Capetown, wherever it may be, and are aspiring and trying – that humbled Moses more than anything else.”

Then I concluded:

“I don’t know much more than you do, and I don’t understand it all on a cosmic level, but in reply to your question, I can say this: I was taught by my Rebbes that if Moshiach is to come tonight, all of us, including the 90% unaffiliated will march with him. Indeed, people with the greatest challenges will march first – being the ones that made Moses humble. If Moshiach comes tonight, by tomorrow morning you and every person on this earth will recognize that Mitzvos and Torah is the healthiest and best way for a person and a Jew to self-actualize and to live up to their divine calling and their highest potential.”

There was silent hush in the room after I finished speaking. I felt a very strong emotional reaction coming from the crowd, a powerful surge of electricity that was felt across the entire room. People were crying and the woman who asked the question came over to me in tears. It was amazing, beyond description. I was deeply moved and never forgot that evening.

I sincerely say this with all humility – because I know that my answer was not my own. I truly feel privileged to have a Rebbe who taught me how to answer this question. Without that I honestly believe that I would have had the same blank response as the other two rabbis did.

I must admit that I felt proud at that moment, and every time I think about that evening. Not arrogant pride, but blessed pride. A pride that is mixed with deep sadness, because right here before my eyes I saw both the tragedy and blessing of our times. These two so-called Rabbis could not answer this earth shattering and life-defining question. If they cannot answer such a fundamental question, what are they doing to their constituents?! Without the basic understanding of the soul, are they truly able to foster love and respect for people that are not like themselves – people from other communities, people who may dress and behave differently, people who may go to other synagogues, unaffiliated Jews and so on?

The reason they could not answer the question is because they never learned about the neshama – the soul. They may know much about the Torah’s laws and dictates, but not much about the human spirit. The reason I was able to address the issue was not because of my innovation or creative skills, but because I was taught these principles. The indispensable value and sanctity of every individual soul – despite its challenges and opportunities – is the most fundamental principle in Judaism. This is what Torah is all about; everything else is commentary.

G-d created the neshama. Each human being has a soul that is created in a divine image and all of us are trying our best through the information we have and through study and commitment to live up to it. Without knowledge or awareness of every soul’s value, there is no way that we could find ways to love each other unconditionally. The mitzvah of “love thy fellow as yourself’ is only possible because we have souls that unite, and we are not just bodies that divide.

And this is precisely what is lacking today in our education system, including the education of many of our Rabbis. This is one of the reasons that I struggle with the title “Rabbi” and “Orthodox.”  Because these names are labels that either don’t mean anything, or even worse. I don’t want to be stereotyped because of the behavior or ignorance of many so-called “Rabbis.”

We all are essentially souls of G-d walking around in material bodies. Titles are not that important, especially titles that become bureaucratic and tend to obscure the truth.

Those two Rabbis were very nice guys. The fact that they couldn’t answer the question was not due to their own fault. They were never taught this information. Even if they were aware of the concepts, for them it was only a concept, not a viable reality. And without knowing the reality of this fundamental principle, how could they ever communicate the message of Torah to the unaffiliated 90% (or whatever number it is) of the Jewish people. The answer is they don’t communicate it! They may communicate it to the other ten percent, their constituents, but this inherently creates an immediate separation between ‘us and them,’ so to speak, between this group and that group, because there is no spiritual common denominator between different types of Jews. Everyone is going their own way, completely oblivious that we are all interdependent souls, and each of us is incomplete without the other souls.

I repeat again: The only way to bridge and unite diverse people is through recognizing the sanctity and indispensability of each individual soul, regardless of background.

Last week I wrote about a foolproof method to determine the status of your Rabbi by asking him for his sources. In the same vein, if you want to have a good understanding of any Rabbi – and for that matter any scholar – ask him this woman’s question: What will happen to the people who transgressed when Moshiach comes?

Let me conclude with the following words: There may be no perfect rabbis today. There may be no perfect synagogues and communities. However, G-d tells us that he does not ask us to accomplish our mission without giving us the abilities to do so. We have everything it takes to fulfill our calling. Therefore, we clearly have the power to search, discover and recognize the appropriate Torah authorities and mentors that will assist us in our life journey.

Remember, we are all in the same boat. We all face challenges of people not living up to the standards of their belief system; we all have experienced hypocrisy and the inevitable disappointments. But we also have been given strength to face these challenges, and we do not come alone. We are like ‘midgets’ that stand on the shoulders of ‘giants’ – all the generations that come before us. With this enormous accumulative power we have within ourselves the ability to face corruption and not become victims. Indeed, to actually transform the corruption and hypocrisy.

What each of us has to do is find the best people around us, ask the right questions, have the courage to ask them, and always remember that each of us, even Rabbis, are an indispensable musical note in a grand cosmic composition.

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Was Moses Orthodox? Part 1

July 9th, 2014

Or Conservative? Or Reform? For that matter, is G-d Orthodox, Conservative or Reform? Is He Jew or Gentile? Black or white? Man or woman? Obviously, all these human distinctions are completely inapplicable when trying to define the ethereal and divine. Spirit cannot be quantified with material descriptions.

That is why I do not recognize the legitimacy of Reform Judaism. Nor, for that matter, do I recognize the legitimacy of Orthodox Judaism, or Conservative, Ultra Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Chassidic, Conservadox, Reformadox . . . did I miss anyone?

All these man-made titles are a result of humans being drawn to the “country club” mentality. We want to be part of a group. But inherent to this mentality is stereotyping anyone that does not “belong” to your identifiable group. How many of us feel uncomfortable – or are made to feel that way – in certain “synagogues” because we don’t “fit in?” We don’t dress a certain way, do not belong to the same social circle and economic scale, and cannot read Hebrew quickly enough.

True unity, true Jewish unity, will only be possible if we all rise above the petty club mentality and embrace each other, regardless of education and background, as we should embrace a brother and sister, recognizing that we are all children of the same G-d, and each of us has a soul and a unique spiritual destiny.

Observance of Torah and Mitzvot does not create, eliminate or alter your inherent soul. What it does is fan the flames of your soul and allow it to manifest itself in your life, permeate your being and express and actualize your innermost resources. Not unlike any potential talent that remains to be realized.

The objective of life is to allow your soul to emerge on a conscious level and imbue your personality and all your activities with a higher awareness, sensitivity and refinement.

Once you allow that to happen, you’ll never want to be Orthodox again. Just Jewish, like Moses.

Click here for “Was Moses Orthodox Part II?”

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Was Moses Orthodox? Part 2

July 9th, 2014

Editor’s Note: Simon Jacobson’s article, “Was Moses Orthodox?” received an unprecedented amount of attention. Rabbi Jacobson was flooded with letters and E-mail regarding his short piece. Most were positive. A few were not. A rabbi in Michigan accused Mr. Jacobson of being “sadly mistaken if he thinks that ‘observing the Torah and Mitzvot does not create, eliminate, or alter your inherent soul.'” He also asserted, “There is no question that observance of Torah and Mitzvot provides the only key to communion with the Almighty. Those who consistently choose that path in life are called Orthodox Jews, and the Almighty has consistently stood guard over them these past 3,500 years, protecting them from the wayward byways of a confused, bewildered world.”

What follows is Rabbi Jacobson’s response:

* * *

Instead of fighting with one writer who failed to grasp the point of the initial piece, “Was Moses Orthodox?” let’s take a step back. Rather than trying to determine the validity of “orthodoxy,” we should figure out what, in fact, makes a Jew a Jew?

Is it culture? Education? Observance? Personality? Genes? History? Programming? Anti-Semitism? Chicken soup? The list goes on.

The answer is simple. What makes you human-and most importantly, what makes you a Jew-is one thing and one thing only: your soul, your Neshomo.

In fact, you are your soul, contained in the vehicle of the body. Your soul is shaped by G-d in His own Divine image. This soul is an “inalienable right” of every human being, unalterable and nonarbitrary. Just as G-d is immutable, so too is the soul. Fundamental to Torah thought is that nothing-no action, no behavior-can alter the essential Divine nature of the soul. The soul is eternal; a Jew has a unique Jewish soul.

Even if a person, G-d forbid, sins and transgresses, there is always the hope for teshuvah (atonement). Maimonides wrote, “The Torah assures that at the end of golus (exile) Jews will ultimately do teshuvah.” Even if one does not atone, the affect of his behavior is on his body and the relationship of the body to the soul; not on the soul. There is, unequivocally, no such thing (in Judaism) as eternal damnation of the soul.

This is not an opinion or a viewpoint, but a fundamental component of Jewish faith-faith in the immortality of G-d and the Divine soul, and absolute belief in the realization of G-d’s plan for existence. Judaism teaches that evil is transient and good is eternal. Good must and will prevail. This is the entire basis of our belief in the Messiah and redemption: that the world will realize the purpose for which it was created. Anything less questions the validity of G-d Himself.

The well-known statement from Hillel reads, “Love all creatures, and bring them close to Torah.” When Hillel uses a seemingly strange expression, “creatures” instead of “people,” he is reminding us somewhat arrestingly that even if a person has no apparent quality or virtue, he must be loved by the mere virtue of being G-d’s creature; G-d chose to create him or her and that is the greatest reason to love one another. We therefore love everyone unconditionally, including a criminal and someone who is not living up to his calling.

It does not stop there. True unconditional love also means that you want the best for your beloved. Thus Hillel continues: “And bring them closer to Torah.” Love for your fellow man dictates that you do everything in your power to inspire and motivate him to live up to his greatest potential. I may therefore disagree with another Jew’s behavior or choices, but I never disagree with the person. I embrace him as my brother, both of us children of G-d.

Now let us once again consider the question of Moses’ religious “affiliation.”

The word “orthodox” has been politicized and bureaucratized. To most secular people it does not mean “Torah observant” and “G-d- fearing Jew.” It means a “political party,” a “dogmatic minority” that wants control and power, and imposes its will on others. For better or worse, this is the way “orthodoxy” has been “spun,” and this is its image in many people’s minds. They do not see Orthodox Jews as G-dlier people.

Who can say that they are wrong? How many Jews have been “turned off” of Judaism for legitimate reasons, escaping religiously oppressive homes, experiencing deep alienation in synagogues and with rabbis who are bureaucratic, punitive, angry, hypocritical or even abusive, all supposedly in the name of “orthodoxy” and fulfilling “G-d’s Will.” These rabbis miss the point, following the letter of the law while missing its spirit.

“Orthodox” often implies inflexible and stagnant. In truth, halacha (Jewish law) also means halicho (motion), as it is a dynamic and live system. Not a throwback to archaic times, but a vibrant approach to life, and one that continues to play infinitely new combinations of Divine music, using the same “musical notes” of our holy ancestors.

Nowhere in the Torah is there any mention of the word “orthodox,” or in fact “reform” or “conservative.” The denomination called “Orthodox Jewry” was created only after the birth of the reform and conservative movements in order to contrast between them. So again we ask, was Moses an “Orthodox Jew?” No. Because man-made labels and definitions have no place in a relationship between our souls and G-d.

Tags: teshuvah, soul, unity, neshama
Posted in Religion, Spiritual | 5 Comments »

How Do I Find a True Rabbi? Part 1

July 8th, 2014

To Rabbi Jacobson

With a plethora of spiritual options out there, how can I know what Rabbi and synagogue to choose for myself? One Rabbi tells me that the other one is a sham, the other one tells me that the first one is a lowlife. A third one tells me that both of them are in it for the money. Pray tell, how does one navigate among the multitude of paths being presented today?

To boot I am constantly reminded of my ignorance. Having never gone to yeshiva and never formally studying Judaism I have no way of knowing which Rabbi is authentic? Many of the Rabbis I meet tell me that I have to defer to them as authorities. But I am then presented with the conundrum: How can I decide who is the right authority when each ‘authority’ invalidates the other?

What is a lost soul to do?
—-

Dear LS,

Thank you so much for your question, and especially about a topic so critically important, one that really needs to be addressed today. For some reason many people don’t have the courage to ask these direct questions, or they are silenced when then do. It’s quite refreshing to hear someone ‘put it the way it is’ and perhaps expose the ‘emperor with no clothes.’ I appreciate your candidness and I will try to reciprocate.

First of all, I empathize with you profoundly. I have met far too many people who are disillusioned precisely by the confusion you describe and by the divisiveness amongst Rabbis, synagogues and denominations. Almost everyone out there claims to be an authority and so many just simply contradict each other!

Allow me therefore to address your question from two perspectives. First, regarding the criteria in searching for a Rabbi. Second, regarding divisiveness.

I would like to begin by expanding on your question. Since the Torah is Divine, what did G-d have in mind for us to do when we are faced with the dilemma you describe of choosing the appropriate Rabbi, teacher and authority? The issue at hand is obviously not just about a Rabbi; it is about any teacher you choose. How do we know whom to trust as the right and truthful educator?

By no means is this a minor question. If we don’t know whether our teachers are authentic, how can we ever know whether the information they impart is true? In other words, all our knowledge seems to be dependent on people (teachers, parents, clergy etc.), who, with all their flaws and subjectivity may be feeding us distortions and personal opinions, rather than objective truth. And these so called ‘authorities’ themselves may be victims of the ‘teachers’ before them!

No wonder so many people have simply drifted (or ran) away from all types of ‘authorities,’ especially those claiming a monopoly on absolute truth…

Reminds me of the new constituent who approached his Rabbi. “Rabbi, I hear that the Torah contains the absolute truth, will you teach it to me?” “Of course,” the Rabbi answers. “How much will these lessons cost me?” asks the constituent. “No cost,” the Rabbi exclaims. “How can I charge you for the Torah which G-d gave us for free?!” The man is impressed. They get together to begin the first class. They open up a Torah (Chumash), which is all in Hebrew, and the man cries out: “I don’t read Hebrew. I can’t understand one word in this book!” To which the Rabbi replies: “Hebrew lessons will be $2000”…

What then is G-d’s plan for us: How does He allow us to discover the truth amongst all these unknown pitfalls and uncertainties? What value does the Torah have as a blueprint for life, if we are dependent on fallible human beings to understand this blueprint?

G-d had to somehow and somewhere have built in an ‘immune system’ into the Torah that would allow it to protect itself from con-artists, exploiters, abusers and plain ignoramuses (the list, of course, goes on).

And indeed He did. The Torah itself tells us the nature of truth, Torah and the criteria for a Rabbi and authority.

The Talmud tells us, that each of us was taught the entire Torah in our mothers’ womb. Just like our bodies grow through pregnancy and go through their developmental stages, so too our minds and souls develop during these nine months. Modern medicine knows a little about the fetus’s physiological development, the Torah teaches us about its psychological and the spiritual development. Upon birth we were made to consciously forget, but the truth remains etched in our unconscious psyches. When we discover a truth in our lives – when we are educated and taught wisdom – the truth resonates, because we already have it inside ourselves; it was just concealed beneath the conscious layers of existence.

Truth, in other words, is not owned by anyone. Not by teachers, not by Rabbis, not by scientists. No one has a monopoly on truth. G-d’s truth is planted into all of existence and ingrained in our psyches. We have both the truth within us as well as the tools to discover it. A good teacher is one who helps us cut away the weeds and uncover the flowers within.

Education, in other words, is not so much about imparting information than it is about discovering our inner wisdom. Not so much about educating, as it is about un-educating us from ignorance and bad habits that impede the way to recognize the inner truths within ourselves and others, within life and existence.

Following this line of thought let us now go back to the search for a true Rabbi.

The Torah actually tells us the criteria of a true Rabbi:

1) Mastery of Torah knowledge.

2) Formal ordination from a Rabbi who too was ordained by a Rabbi before him. In effect, every rabbi receives his ordination (“ish me’pi ish”) in an unbroken chain all the way to Moses.

3) Apprenticeship under the guidance and tutelage of an established rabbi and expert in the particular field of law in which the Rabbi will officiate.

And above all – the one least mentioned and least known:

4) Yirat Shomayim – fear and awe of Heaven. Absolute humility in face of G-d. A Rabbi is not an administrator or a fund-raiser, not merely a nice guy with charisma, not even an educator or a mentor; he is a G-dly man, a ‘soul doctor’ if you will, interested only in bringing G-d’s will and wisdom to others.

The most vital credential of a true teacher and Rabbi is humility: the humble recognition that these truths are not his own; they are G-d’s. The Rabbi, the teacher, the authority has to brutally ensure that not one iota of ego gets in the way of his teachings. Before rendering a legal decision, a Rabbi must feel like ‘a sword is hanging over his throat,’ the Talmud says.

Now, you may ask, how can one tell which Rabbi fits these criteria?

Let me suggest a simple foolproof test, which has been proven to work time and again.

If you hear a rabbi – or some other religious authority – say something that doesn’t sound right to you, ask him respectfully the following question, preferably in private: What is the source for the statement you made?

You will find Rabbis answering three different types of answers.

One will say or imply with his body language: “What right do you have to ask me that question? Who do you think you are? I – I am the Rabbi; you are just a simple ignoramus!” Some rabbis may not use these exact words, but this will be their condescending message. More compassionate Rabbis will patronize you instead of insulting you outright. This first category will not allow you to challenge them.

A second answer: I don’t really have a source. It’s my own idea and innovation.” (Some will proudly add: Don’t you find my thoughts brilliant?”)

The third answer: The Rabbi will humbly listen to you, and politely answer: “Here are my sources. Chapter and verse. This is how I interpreted a particular source based on the following commentaries. Here is where I added a certain point, based on the following logic.” In other words, he will show you all his sources and allow you to retrace his logic and process.

I believe that there is no need to tell you which answer is the only one acceptable by Torah standards.

The Torah tells us that a true Rabbi must be able to verify his sources and answer the question: “Mi’haychon dantuni,” what is your source for your judgment of me? He has no right to get angry at that question or feel any personal affront. If he does, he should go get another ‘job.’

Indeed, legitimate Rabbis and Poskim, without waiting to be asked, will include in their legal renderings (‘piskei dinim’) a list of sources and precedents that substantiates their rulings.

Only the teacher that demonstrates humility – subjugates his person to the teachings (not vice versa) – is the one that earns the right to be your true teacher and authority, one that can motivate you and demand of you. All others may impart information, even of vital importance, but you can never trust whether you are getting ‘their truth’ or truth’s truth.

By no means does this suggest that every layperson is equal to a Rabbi and that everyone is an equal authority. On the contrary: Sincere humility – not just brilliant erudition – earns a true Rabbi and teacher the right to be an authority. Laypeople have the right to question with respect and deference – but this questioning too must not be out of arrogance or a need to reject authority in order to justify one’s own position. It too must be done with humility – the humble and sincere search for truth, and for the true authority that can convey truth.

Needless to say, a Rabbi of this caliber will exude only love. He will educate with an attitude that is warm and non-judgmental. His words will resonate with his listeners and students. In his words they will feel G-d’s presence, not his (the Rabbi’s) presence. The words from his heart will enter their hearts.

After all, even a Rabbi and teacher is commanded (in last week’s Torah portion) “V’ohavto l’rayecho komocho” – love your fellow as yourself.

Try out my little test with different Rabbis. Ask them for their sources, and let me know what you discover…

*** *** ***

This message about the nature of true education is also alluded to in the Torah portion, Emor, which begins with the words “Speak…and you shall tell them.” Our sages associate this commandment with the obligation of education. The redundancy (“speak” and “tell them”) informs us ‘to caution the adults concerning the children’ (Talmud Yevamot 114a. Cited in Rashi’s opening commentary to this week’s portion).

The Hebrew word used here for ‘caution’ – ‘lihazhir’ – shares the same root as the word ‘zohar,’ meaning “radiance.” This teaches us the fundamental ingredients of true education: Caution suggests a superimposed warning from without. To radiate implies a resonance from within. We must not merely caution our children and students but we must radiate for them. ‘Speak’ to your children and warn them of all life’s dangers, but do so in a way that ‘you shall tell them’ and radiate from within the inherent beauties of life.

Discipline is a most necessary component in the education. An unshaped and impressionable child needs direction and guidance to grow into a healthy and virtuous adult. Discipline helps avoid the pitfalls and traps of our own selfishness. Yet, how often do we witness – and how many of us have been hurt if not damaged – by discipline devoid of love…

Especially in the religious world, how many of us have been affected by dogmatic, fear driven discipline?! I personally have witnessed the devastating psychological effects of many people growing up (can we call it ‘up’?) in homes and schools that indoctrinated children with the wrath of G-d, with fear and guilt – with everything that has been coined today as ‘religious neurosis.’

Emor tells us – it actually commands us – to educate our children and students with radiance and love. Discipline and caution are necessary, but they are part of and rooted in the same word as ‘radiate;’ discipline is but a dimension in radiance – gevurah within chesed.

See yourself as a gardener, the Torah is telling us. Within the earth lie flower seeds. Each person carries within him/herself divine beauty and light, by virtue of the fact that we have all been created in the Divine Image. As a gardener, the role of parent and educator is to clean the earth, rip out the weeds – create a nurturing environment so that the ‘flowers’ within your child or student can emerge intact, unencumbered.

Discipline is cleaning out the weeds in your life, in your home and in your behavior, so that your child can flourish. Even when discipline is required in education, always, but always ensure that the child feels that it is coming from a loving place.

A Rabbi or teacher that approaches education in this loving fashion will only bring joy and unity into his community and by extension – into other communities as well.

Which leads us into the second issue of divisiveness. How can you tell which Rabbi brings love into the world and which one causes divisiveness? I discovered the answer to this question in an unforgettable experience that took place several years ago. In the process, I learned of yet another question to ask your Rabbi that will clearly tell you much about his personality.

See Part 2 of this Discussion.

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Herd Mentality: Does Religion Demand It?

July 8th, 2014

History is witness to the often devastating effects of mob mentality. Nowhere was this more evident than in the last century’s Nazis, who demonstrated in real life the horrific consequences of blind obedience.

Groupthink. Herd mentality. Brainwashing. Cults. Bandwagon effect. Witch hunt. Lynch mob. There are many terms that express one of the things abhorred today: Conformity. Calling someone a conformist is considered an insult. In our free-spirited society, where individuality and independence reigns, who wants to be seen as a “copycat” and follower of others? As someone who cannot think or act on their own?

From the Salem witch hunts to George Orwell’s chilling account of a “Newspeak” world, where everyone is expected and forced to think and speak the same words, we are all repulsed by the forces that demand annihilation of the individual voice.

And, yet the group and community play a vital role in society. Without it we have no cooperation, growth, and all the benefits of cross-pollination. So how do we balance the two – the individual and the collective, without compromising one or the other? How do we protect against the abuses of groupthink while maintaining the value of the community?

Thinkers, psychologists and politicians have been struggling with this issue through the centuries.

Fascinatingly, a 3300 year old document offers us a formula that balances individuality and community.

Let us take a fascinating trip down the corridors of history tracing back to the earliest roots of social communion (the “mother” of modern social media), to the inception of the concept of “community.”

As Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, we read a story called “Vayakhel”. Vayakhel means to gather, rooted in the word kahal, community or group. Moses gathered the people, and thereby instituted the custom of gathering together on a regular basis to study and pray and commune.

What is the power of this gathering? In one words: Synergy. How did Moses assure that he group would not decline into mob mentality? By assuring that the communion was divine – driven not by self-interest, but by fulfilling a higher calling. And by insisting that the group is only an extension of individuals.

Before Moses gathered the people together, they were a bunch of individuals – all children of Abraham, Isaac, And Jacob, who were fierce individuals whose lives were all about non-conformity and building a whole new way of looking at the world.

One truth is that materiality dictates conformity, and spirituality dictates individuality. Materiality is synonymous with survival – doing what you have to do to survive. Survival creates a need to work together. Spirit is not defined by material needs, so spirit allows itself to soar. Transcendence – that souring of the soul – is very individualistic. We all do it differently.

Long before there was a gathering at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites were a group of individuals. The Midrash says that though millions of people stood at Mt. Sinai, the Ten Commandments were spoken in the second person singular. You would think that since G-d was addressing a group, these commandments would have been spoken in the plural.

Here’s the rub: The Midrash says that everyone standing there heard the Ten Commandments as if it was being spoken only to him or her.

It’s like going to a concert. Have you ever been at a concert and you felt the music move you? (Thousands of Grateful Dead-heads can back us up here.) The experience is yours, even though you might be surrounded by an arena of 20,000 people. The music and words of the band resonate inside you. The whole arena is crowded by other individuals who are having their own unique experiences of hearing the music. You’re standing together in the same place, but your experience is distinctly your own.

Like experiencing music, everyone at Mt. Sinai heard what they as individuals needed to hear. Once you have this kind of individuality, you can bring people together to be more than the sum of their parts. (To go back to the concert metaphor, it’s the synergy or feeling of togetherness that the group experiences.)

If there was no individuality in the first place, when you bring together a group they will become conformists. But if each individual consciously chooses to join with his fellows, then you have a synergy that is greater than the sum of its parts.

So in this light, does religion demand a herd mentality? Does religion want to draw you toward the herd to refute or combat a perceived enemy, or does it fundamentally want you to be an individual who takes part in a synergistic experience?

Truth be told, that history is witness to terrible abuses in the name of religion and faith. We have seen how religious” authorities have used mob mentality to wreak havoc and destruction. Let’s be real clear about this: Any religion that demands a mob mentality from its members is not true religion or true faith; it’s an establishment that is serving the interests of a small group in power.

True religion – as defined by Torah – has first and foremost absolute respect for the dignity of every human being created in the Divine Image. The true experience of religion is making choices based on the wishes of your soul in fulfilling its calling, not based on self-interest and the influence of the material world.

It is difficult to escape the influence of the material world and the drive for survival. Yet, Torah provides us with methods and tools to access your free soul within.

We offer you an exercise to guide you toward experiencing spirituality as an individual, rather than as a member of a herd: The purpose of this is to ultimately create communities that are synergistic.

Go into a quiet room. Close your eyes. Focus on your inside. Do you hear anything? The answer should be no. But then think about the silent gentle sound of your own self untouched, unstimulated by your outer senses. This is your soul — the still small voice within you. As you spend a few minutes doing this on a daily basis you will begin to access your soul and learn to soar on the wings of your soul by listening to its soundless melody. Once you open your eyes and return to “regular” life, take a few random moments throughout the day to recall the experience of your soul. This will help bring awareness of your inner purity into your conventional activities. Do this regularly, and you will experience true and sustainable change.

This will help you discover how to live from the inside out, rather than from the outside in.

Posted in Religion, Spiritual | 4 Comments »

Is G-d Religious?

July 8th, 2014

by Simon Jacobson

The polls are mixed on that count. Recent surveys show that as much as 80-90% of Americans will say that they believe in G-d, but 40-50% will say they do not practice a religion.

Indeed, if God is all-powerful and infinite, and religion is a set of laws and rituals and a list of things that one must or must not do, it would seem that God could hardly be described as “religious.” Nor would it seem that being religions will bring a person closer to God. If God transcends all limitation and definition, why would the way to relate to Gdd be to impose further restriction and definition on our already finite and constricted lives?

Yet this paradox is not confined to the religious-spiritual aspect of the human experience. Throughout the ages, whenever man has endeavored to escape the bounds of the mundane and the everyday, he did so by submitting to a structured, even rigid, code of behavior.

My favorite example for this is the discipline of music. There are just so many musical notes on the scale, and no one–not even the greatest musician–can create additional notes or subtract any. Anyone who wishes to play or compose music must conform to this absolute, immutable system.

And yet, by submitting to this framework, the musician will create a piece of music that touches the deepest place in a person’s heart—a place that cannot be described, much less be defined. By using this very precise, mathematical formula, the musician will create something that transports the listener to a place high above the confines and fetters of everyday life, high above the strictures of physics and mathematics.

Imagine, then, a musical discipline whose laws are dictated by the inventor and creator of life—by the one who has intimate knowledge of life’s every strength and every vulnerability, of its every potential and its every sensitivity.

The only question remaining is: but why so many laws? Why must this discipline dictate how we are to wake and how we are to sleep, and virtually everything in between?

Because life itself, in all its infinite complexity, is our instrument of connection with God. Every “scale” on its “range” must be exploited to achieve the optimum connection.

Music being our metaphor, we cannot but quote the famous anecdote in which Archduke Ferdinand of Austria says to Mozart, “Beautiful music, but far too many notes.” To which the composer replied, “Yes, your majesty, but not one more than necessary.”

Tags: soul, purpose of life, God, Jewish law
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