October 10th, 2013
Editor’s note: In our continuous effort to offer new and diverse insights into life, we are delighted to present a pilot of a new column prepared by our expanded editorial team addressing current events with a twist — their personal relevance to our lives.
Disagreements are common in politics. The Unites States Capitol has seen a fair amount of argument, but when the senate recently got to calling names like “anarchists”, “nihilists”, “extortionists”, and “socialists who want to force their will on the American people”, the Senate’s Chaplain Black felt it was time to intervene, and his daily morning prayer recently turned into a scolding.
Differences of opinion are unavoidable among individuals and they are a fundamental part of human life. Each of us has our own mind, our own heart, and our own history of personal experiences — all of which contribute to our perspective on any given issue. So what separates healthy disagreement from the behavior that caused the US senate’s chaplain to pray “save us from the madness” and state that “we acknowledge our transgressions” in his recent scathing morning prayers in the senate?
The key to peaceful disagreement is perspective.
As living individuals, each of us has feelings and our own point of view. When our awareness is primarily focused on our feelings, things that contradict our point of view tend to bother us. Intrusions into our comfort zone can really upset our equilibrium. Thankfully, as humans we have been gifted with the ability to make decisions and with a little hard work to control our awareness and our mind-frame.
Each of us is privileged to be a part of the universe and to have the opportunity to contribute to it. Every individual has a purpose, a part to play in achieving the completeness of the universe, and the talents to achieve it. This includes each of us, and it includes all of those around us.
By achieving a state of conscious awareness of the fact that we are one component of an enormous universe, that there is a greater purpose which has many roles that need to be filled, some suit us and some suit others that are very different to us, our feelings become a part of our awareness rather than dominating its entirety. Suddenly other points of view are not so offensive, and when things encroach a little on our comfort zone we may seem them as a component of a big picture rather than being an annoyance.
We are each a cog in the big machine that is the universe, and all the cogs in the machine need to function for the machine to work. Some turn clockwise and some counter-clockwise, some might even bang into each other, but they all combine to get the machine to work.
By taking a few moments at a time once in a while to think about the fact that each of us is a part of something bigger, something infinite, we can attain a new perspective. The subject of our awareness becomes the bigger picture. We lose some of the limitations that we have accumulated, and we start to live a little higher and a little broader, becoming more tolerant, more agreeable, and all around calmer.
Chaplain Black did not state on behalf of the US Senate “We acknowledge our transgressions…” or pray “Forgive them the blunders they have committed” because there was a difference of opinion about healthcare. The reason for the scolding was summed up in the prayer: “Remove from them that stubborn pride”.
Each and every one of us is unique; intellectually, emotionally, and in countless other ways. No two of us will agree about everything, and most of us will differ on many issues. But we have been blessed with the ability to free ourselves of the limitations of tunnel vision, to broaden our perspective and to live higher and calmer, so when we encounter opposition, as long as we remember that we are all making different, even opposite contributions to the same purpose and we’re all playing for the same team, we can disagree peacefully, remain calm, and retain our respect for each other and continue to respect ourselves.
Tags: humility, pride, conflict resolution
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Bereishit, Lech-Lecha, Social, Torah, Government | 4 Comments »
September 18th, 2013
Happy Holiday from The Meaningful Life Center
Tonight the mystical and meaningful holiday of Sukkot begins, and will continue for the next seven days. Sukkot reminds us of the divine clouds of glory that protected us with during our Exodus from Egypt. It’s a special time for hosting guests, and for going deep into your own spirituality with joy and with fun. Enhance your stay in your sukkah with ideas and stories from The Meaningful Life Center. They’re always available to you free of charge! Have a sweet new year and a beautiful, meaningful Sukkot.
Stories to Tell in Your Sukkah:
A Beautiful Etrog
Each Sukkot morning, after performing the mitzvah of taking the “Four Kinds,” the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, would allow all who wished to do so to use his lulav and etrog. Many chassidim availed themselves of the opportunity, though they had a set of “Four Kinds” of their own, regarding it as a great privilege to perform the mitzvah with their Rebbe’s set.
One day, after the Rebbe’s etrog was returned to him bruised and stained from being handled by hundreds of hands, one of his chassidim said to him: “Why do you allow so many people to use your etrog? Look at what has happened to it! It has lost its hiddur (beauty)!” [1]
“Why,” replied Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, “this is the most beautiful etrog in the world! What greater hiddur can there be for an etrog than the fact that hundreds of Jews have performed a mitzvah with it?”
—–
[1] . The chassid was referring to the principle of hiddur mitzvah (“beautification of the mitzvah”), derived from the verse, “This is my G-d, and I shall beautify Him” (Exodus 15:2). According to the Midrash, this teaches us to “make beautiful before Him with mitzvot: make Him a beautiful lulav, a beautiful sukkah, beautiful tzitzit, beautiful tefillin” (Mechilta, ibid.). One of the things that characterizes an etrog as mehudar is a “clean” surface, free of blemishes and discoloring.
*****
The Natural Chassid
When Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi began to disseminate his teachings in White Russia and Lithuania (circa 1772), many young men flocked to him and became his ardent followers, despite the prevailing opposition to the Chassidic movement. They found that Chassidism injected a new vitality and joy in serving G-d that was lacking in “establishment” Judaism. Among the newly converted Chassidim were the two sons of one of the leading Torah scholars of the time.
One day, they approached Rabbi Schneur Zalman with a dilemma that had been occupying their minds for some time: should they try to win over their father to the Chassidic approach to serving G-d, or is he perhaps too set in his ways to change at this point in his life.
“Does he perform mitzvot with joy?” asked Rabbi Schneur Zalman.
“Every year,” related one of the sons in reply, “when we finish building our sukkah, father climbs onto a bench and kisses the sechach[1] .”
“In that case,” said the founder of Chabad, “he is fine the way he is.”
——
[1] . The roof of branches (or other vegetation) that is the main component of the sukkah.
*****
Rainy Days
Rabbi Fishel of Strikov would sit in the sukkah even in the pouring rain. Once he was asked: “Does not the Shulchan Aruch (The Code of Jewish Law) clearly state that, ‘If it rains, one should go back into the house’? And does not the Rama add, ‘Whoever is absolved from sitting in the sukkah and does not leave it, receives no reward for this and is nothing but a simpleton’?”
Said Rabbi Fishel: “I’d rather be a simpleton than leave the sukkah.”
Tags: Chassidic stories, sukkah
Posted in Tishrei, Months & Holidays, Alter Rebbe, Torah Personalities, Simchat Torah, Modern, Torah | No Comments »
March 22nd, 2013
PASSOVER — One of the many fascinating subplots of Passover is the fact that the Jews left Egypt with enormous wealth.
As it says (Exodus 12:36): “And they emptied out Egypt” of its wealth, fulfilling G-d’s promise in His covenant with Abraham: “Know for sure that your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs for 400 years. They will be enslaved and oppressed. But I will finally bring judgment against the nation who enslaves them, and they will then leave with great wealth” (Genesis 15:13:14. See Rashi there).
The fact that the Jews leave Egypt with great wealth is so important that the Torah emphasizes it three different times in the story of Exodus: 3:21-22. 11:1-2. 12:35-36.
Indeed, G-d actually beseeches Moses to beseech the peope to borrow gold and silver from the Egyptians so that the tzaddik [Abraham] should not say that the promise that “they will be enslaved and oppressed” was fulfilled,” but the promise “they will then leave with great wealth” was not fulfilled (Berachot 9a-b).
Another Talmud states (Pesachim 119b): “Joseph gathered all the silver and gold of the world and brought it to Egypt… when Israel ascended from Egypt they ascended with it [the treasures],” and goes on to enumerate how this wealth was seized by one nation from the other, until “the Romans seized it from the Greeks. And it still remains stored in Rome.”
Clearly, wealth plays a major role in history and in the story of Exodus – both as virtue and vice.
3325 years have passed since these events transpired. How much has really changed regarding human attitudes toward wealth? Not much it seems. It would make a fascinating study to derive from the above referenced passages a deeper understanding of the nature of economics and the human pursuit of money, its uses and its misuses and ultimately its redemption.
All this demonstrates the power of wealth to corrupt but also to build, and the ability we have to harness and transform this enormous force from vice into great virtue.
Above all, as we celebrate Passover and we break out of all our boundaries, we should always remember: The final litmus test of true transcendence is the way we deal with our money and assets – whether we know how to give as much, if not more, than we take; whether we are able to recognize the means from the end; and whether we control our wealth or it controls us.
We hereby bring you the fifth and final part of Money and Spirituality, a paper that explores the power of wealth.
All of us at the MLC bless you with a meaningful and transcendent Passover.
OUR FUTURE ECONOMY: A NEW MODALITY FOR WEALTH AND PHILANTHROPY
In reviewing history in retrospect, a pattern of economic structural evolution emerges. Initially, economies were driven and controlled by the few in power – monarchies, the serf system etc. The birth of the free market heralded the dominance of individuality and private ownership with markets being driven by competition. Marx correctly zeroed in on the flaws of capitalism – the abuse of individual power – without really offering a viable economic alternative.
In an imperfect world, everyone, even dissenters, contribute toward crystallizing a vision of a working system – fine tuning and shaping it till we realign the distortions. In this context it can be argued that Marxist and socialist thought as well as capitalist philosophy, are all part of an economic evolution, leading up to a new perfected model. Just as Korach’s rebellion helped shape and define the true nature of Torah’s class system, so too, Marxist theory helps us address the faults of our existing system. Marx’s criticism and insight enables us to modify and reshape capitalism addressing the misery and alienation of our existing economy in order for us to correct it, and align the world to its initial intention pre-tree of knowledge.
Today we stand at the threshold of a new economic paradigm, one that allows us the luxury of the accumulative trial and error of the past, while introducing new elements made possible only recently. Critical changes today point to the possibility of creating a ‘new economy’ in the spirit of the Torah model.
· Prosperity
· Spiritual hunger
· Convergence of matter and spirit
· Decentralization
· Accelerated production
· Technology
· New business models: cooperation vs. competition; specialization vs. monopoly
Prosperity and Spiritual hunger
Today we stand at a time of unprecedented prosperity. At the same time there also exists an unprecedented spiritual void, which continues to widen the schism between our material success and our spiritual hunger.
According to the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings cited above this should not come as a surprise. Our growing demand for acquisition of material wealth actually reflects a deep craving for the ‘energy’ and ‘sparks’ within this wealth. Hence, the wealthier we become, the deeper the anxiety and restlessness for not finding relief by utilizing the true purpose of this wealth. The stronger our grip on the material, the deeper our need for the spiritual within.
Indeed, the prophet Amos tells us: “Days are coming, when I will send a great hunger and thirst in the world. But the hunger will be not for bread and the thirst not for water, but for the word of G-d.” The Bible itself assures us that “It is not on bread alone that man lives, but on the word of G-d,” which is the divine spark within.
Technology and the Convergence of Matter and Spirit
In every area of developing technologies, we are witnessing the convergence of matter and spirit. The Zohar tells us that the proliferation of science beginning in 1840 (approximately the time of the Industrial Revolution) and accelerating at greater speeds ever since, is a prelude to a “world filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea.”
The stage has been set. The final frontier is achieving unity in our own personal lives – integrating the work we do and the wealth we acquire with the purpose of our existence. Bridging our outer and our inner lives.
The final frontier of integrating matter and spirit is the integration of wealth and religion. Because wealth represents all that is material, its transformation into spiritual fuel is critical in the complete synthesis of matter and spirit.
Maimonides writes that the Messianic age does not necessitate miraculous or cataclysmic external change. The primary change will be from within; a radical shift of consciousness. Instead of seeing materialism as an end in itself, we will see it as a means to “knowing G-d.” This consciousness will affect our economic view. As Maimonides puts it: “Material delights will be found as dust,” which also means that the abundance of material wealth will render it valueless as dust and useless as an end unto itself. This in turn will naturally eliminate envy and competition, hunger, poverty and strife. “The business of this entire world will be to know G-d.”
This does not mean that all will be theologians. It means that everyone, in his/her particular profession and expertise, will perceive G-d in all that we do. A physician will study, recognize and teach us the beauties of the Divine within human anatomy and physiology. A physicist will demonstrate the parallels of Divine unity and the unity within the structure of nature. A businessperson will glean wisdom in comparing the models of business structure with the business of the cosmos.
Wealth, in short, will finally realize its true value: soul energy, elevating and transforming all of existence.
The Mishkan was a model in microcosm for this social and economic structure. The 40 years in the desert provided a controlled and self-sufficient environment, without the challenges of supply and demand of a functioning economy this was in order to nurture a working model in a controlled setting. However, the ultimate goal was to enter the promised land – a land that can consume its inhabitants – and face the challenge of materialism. The challenge remains to create the Mishkan economic model in the real world, ultimately leading to our times today – when we have the possibility to actualize this new model universally and globally.
We will enter the new economic age with the wealth of the past, with “their silver and gold with them,” but with a new attitude.
Our present challenge is to create a transition from the old economy to the new one. The challenge is twofold:
We are accustomed to an old economic paradigm. What would happen, for instance, if we were to realize that so much wealth has been generated that it is as ‘plentiful as dust’?! Would we want to accept such a possibility? Or would human greed not allow such a consideration?
We see wealth as a measure of self worth and security. By giving it away we see ourselves as becoming less. Is it conceivable that those with more will be ready to just share willingly, or would their insecurity not allow them to?
The only answer, I submit, is introducing the Torah model for life in general, and wealth and philanthropy in particular: As opposed to Marxian theory, that man is a product of his environment, the Torah’s faith in a human being is absolute. You, man were created in the Divine Image. Your inherent nature is divine. Selfishness and greed is superimposed by a material world created by G-d – a world that allows for all the economic classes to divide us – in order to allow us the opportunity to be wise and pierce the false veneer, and recognize the true Divine nature of wealth and power, and in effect use it for its intended purpose. When human consciousness is raised and we feel that our security and value does not come from a mercurial physical world but from within, from your Divine soul, we can then exchange the ‘teddy bears’ of our material security blankets with a true and eternal self esteem.
Inevitably this will change our attitude and use of wealth.
Perhaps one can say that the Torah’s futuristic economy will be an elegant synthesis of a free economy choosing to behave in some way like a socialist one, with the key distinction being, that the collective sharing will come from within, self initiated rather than imposed. Recognizing the true nature of wealth will drive men to create systems that will honor and express the inner purpose of our wealth: creating a home for G-d. We will begin to see the acquisition of wealth as a means for spiritual growth, for understanding ourselves and G-d, for filling the world with Divine knowledge as the waters cover the sea.
Practically speaking, for this new economic paradigm to take hold we must create educational materials and practical programs that introduce and engender into our children and our adults the deeper meaning of wealth. This then needs to translate into a methodology: how to give charity, how to make your home and workplace a more giving place. An example would be to prominently place a charity box on your office desk and in your room.
“Theory becomes a material force when it has gripped the masses,” writes Marx. Awareness comes first, action follows. Think and act conscientiously, and we begin to create a shift, a change. Torah believes that redemption is a process: each charitable act today is a building block, that accumulates with all those before and after, with all generations past, creating a nuclear force that must ultimately surface.
Wealth without its spirit, is the world in which we live in today. Wealth with its spirit is the economy of tomorrow.
We stand at a unique and exciting threshold. How will we do?
END
Tags: money, charity, tzedakah, materialism, spiritual and material
Posted in The Ramban, Soul & Mystical, Months & Holidays, Passover, Middle Ages, Religion, Beliefs & Concepts, Personal Life, Torah Personalities, Moshiach & Redemption, Spiritual, Business, Work & Money, Nisan | 1 Comment »
January 3rd, 2013
224 years ago, one of the greatest thinkers and leaders of all time, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe (1745-1812), was released from prison, free to continue spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus. As an unprecedented master who fused all aspects of the Torah, both the revealed and the esoteric, the Alter Rebbe developed the most eloquent and comprehensive blueprint to date in bridging the schism between the material and the spiritual – offering a dynamic blueprint for life today, one that makes the spiritual journey personally relevant to contemporary times.
This system, called Chabad Chassidus, can be summed up this way: If Kabbalah manifests the Divine in the human then Chabad Chassidism transforms the human into the Divine. This interface between G-d and Man allows us to enter the modern world without compromising timeless values. On the contrary: it begets the opportunity to integrate both freedoms, material and spiritual, by refining and spiritualizing material secularism, turning the world into an intimate home for the Divine. .
In honor of Yud Tes Kislev, we offer you an essay that describes some of Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s unique and groundbreaking insights into the human psyche. For more material, please view here Rabbi Jacobson’s powerful class on this topic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Modern-day science believes that we humans are evolved beasts, driven by primal, narcissistic needs and feelings. What can we truly expect of creatures obsessed with survival of the fittest? What can we really look forward to for the future of the human race?
In this fascinating essay, we dissect our current view of the human psyche, and offer the Alter Rebbe’s fresh psychological model that will revolutionize the way you think about yourself and the world.
It is commonly accepted that the age of modern psychology began at the end of the 19th century. The way we understand ourselves today is very much defined by the thinking of William James, then Sigmund Freud, who some call the Father of Psychology, followed by Carl Jung, BF Skinner and other great psychologists of the 20th century.
I would like to submit that the Father of Psychology is actually a man who lived a century earlier, and has yet to be recognized as the true pioneer of modern psychology.
That man was Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), and he offered the most sophisticated and comprehensive view to date on the nature of the human psyche and its struggles.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s immense contribution can be appreciated by contrasting it with the prevalent view on the psyche.
The big issue facing psychology is of course the human struggle between our conflicting drives. On the lowest end of the spectrum is our selfish need to survive and experience pleasure. On the next rung, our practical need to co-exist, to love and be loved and live productive lives. Then we have our ethical values and our conscience. And finally, our higher, spiritual and transcendental dimensions.
Human anxiety is a result of our conflicting voices. How we treat and mistreat others is determined by which force controls our behavior. Vulnerable and impressionable children, of course, are the first to suffer the consequences and are hurt the deepest by our clashing drives colliding with each other. And we all begin our lives as children. Then, these children grow up and have to pick up the pieces, try to heal from their wounds and rebuild their lives.
The rest is history – your history and mine, the history of every person alive today struggling with the disparate forces that shape our personalities and define our life choices. A vicious cycle indeed.
Plaguing thinkers from the beginning of time is the million-dollar question: Who is the real you? Or more precisely: Which of our drives is the most powerful one? Which is most dominant?
The prevalent theory – which can be coined the Darwinian-Freudian model – argues that the most powerful and most basic human drive is selfish survival.
Humans are fundamentally no different than other creatures, and indeed have evolved from the same ancestors. According to Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection, variation within species occurs randomly and the survival or extinction of each organism is determined by that organism’s ability to adapt to its environment. Another name Darwin (1809-1882) gave Natural Selection was “the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.”
Darwin did not speak in psychological terms. Indeed, he avoided applying his theory to the social and religious arena. It was apparently British philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) who first used the term “survival of the fittest” as a central tenet of what became known as “Social Darwinism.” He applied (or some say misapplied) Darwin’s idea of natural selection to justify European domination and colonization of much of the rest of the world. Social Darwinism was also widely used to defend the unequal distribution of wealth and power in Europe and North America at the time. Poor and politically powerless people were thought to have been failures in the natural competition for survival. Subsequently, helping them was seen as a waste of time and counter to nature. Rich and powerful people did not need to feel ashamed of their advantages because their success was proof that they were the most fit in this competition.
In the psychological realm, Freud (1856-1939) posited that the most basic of all human instincts is the “Id,” the primal, unconscious source for satisfying all mans’ basic needs and feelings. It has only one rule: The “pleasure principle:” “I want it and I want it all now.” The id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation or the good of others.
Then there is the “Ego,” the rational part of the mind that relates to the real world and operates via the “reality principle,” recognizing that you can’t always get what you want. The Ego realizes the need for compromise and negotiates between the Id and the Superego, which might be called the moral part of the mind. The Superego is an embodiment of parental and societal values. It stores and enforces rules. The Ego’s job is to get the Id’s pleasures but to be reasonable and bear the long-term consequences in mind. The Ego denies both instant gratification and pious delaying of gratification.
Freud described the human personality as being: “…basically a battlefield. He is a dark-cellar in which a well-bred spinster lady (the superego) and a sex-crazed monkey (the id) are forever engaged in mortal combat, the struggle being refereed by a rather nervous bank clerk (the ego).”
Thus an individual’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are the result of the interaction of the id, the superego, and the ego. This creates conflict, which leads to anxiety, which in turn generates all types of defense mechanisms.
Though Freud may not have directly correlated his theories to Darwin’s, it’s irresistible to avoid the parallels, and how each complements the other. If humans are merely “billion year old bacteria” and essentially no different than any other animal fighting for survival, then it would make absolute sense that our most dominant drive is fixation on our own needs and pleasure, even at the expense of others. “Survival of the fittest.”
Obviously, there are many variations of this theory. There are also many opinions that fundamentally disagree with Freud. Still, despite the differences, the prevailing view tends to lean toward the Darwinian-Freudian model.
One of the sad consequences of this viewpoint is the lack of expectation we can have of each other. If our most natural self is the need to survive and the narcissistic pursuit of pleasure, then what can we really expect of people?! Can we really be disappointed if someone ends up hurting others in his/her own driving need for pleasure? Can we even blame the person? After all, we are sophisticated “bacteria” just trying to survive in a hostile environment… Yes, we can expect of humans to create superimposed rules, like “red lights” and “green lights” so that we can coexist and not destroy each other. But that is superimposed, not our natural state.
It’s interesting to note, that the original German for Freud’s Ego is “ich,” yet another manifestation of the “self.” So even as the Ego negotiates between the Id and the Superego, it still is fundamentally self motivated. [Superego, Uber-ich, can be translated as a dimension that is above – that transcends – the ego. But it can also mean a superman, ultra ego].
If you take it to the anarchist extreme, one can even question our entire justice system. Are we really expecting people to be better, or are we just trying to keep the “store” intact so that we don’t self-destruct. In other words, if the “cat were let out of the bag,” anarchy would prevail. So we need subjective, arbitrary rules to maintain order.
No wonder fear is the most commonly used tool in education, and punishment is the most popular deterrent to crime. Since people are essentially animals, with an ominous Id lurking within, never knowing when it will strike, we can’t depend or trust that people will just do the “right thing” and “rise to the occasion.”
That sure sounds harsh, doesn’t it?! And indeed, I amplified certain points in order to crystallize the issues, but I have not distorted any of them, and the description above more or less describes contemporary psychological theory.
No doubt that many of us are surely repulsed by this dark perspective on human nature. You may wonder: What about the soul? What about the beautiful acts of nobility and heroism we witness time and again? What about all those people who paid heavy, selfless prices for their beliefs and for protecting others?
How does all human virtue and dignity fit into the Darwinian-Freudian model?
And what about the inner voice that resonates so deeply in most people that good must prevail? And the disturbing feelings we feel when innocent people are hurt? Is all that yet another evolutionary aberration — a quirk — that is inconsistent with the cardinal law of “survival of the fittest”?! Or is it the other way around: Perhaps the good in humans is the most dominant force, and the current “low-end” model may be flawed.
These are excellent questions. Indeed, these and other vital questions are catalysts that compel us to recognize that there is a serious gaping hole in the Darwinian-Freudian model.
After all, no one has ever seen the human psyche. By definition the unconscious defies conscious human observation. Let alone the soul. So, basically all theories about the psyche are as subjective and arbitrary as the people positing these theories and their own life experiences.
No one is blaming Freud or other psychologists. But all they really could offer us is based on their personal psychological experiences. Perhaps some of them were surrounded predominantly by Id-like experiences, which informed their observations and conclusions? Had they truly experienced the selflessness of the soul, they may have incorporated other theories into their models.
All that is speculation. Let’s get back to history.
Preceding all these thinkers, was Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s psychological model, which is defined by three revolutionary principles:
1/ Human self-control is inherent, not acquired.
2/ The essence of a human is good and Divine; the Yid, not the Id.
3/ Even mans’ intrinsic self and selfishness (“itness”) is rooted in the Essence of the Divine Self.
Here’s a brief overview of Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s model.
A person carries two voices, two souls: The animal soul and the Divine one. In the words of Ecclesiastes, “The human spirit ascends on high; the spirit of the beast descends down into the earth.” They are in constant struggle, with the animal soul seeking instant gratification and pleasure (like the Id), and the Divine soul seeking transcendence and unity. The animal spirit wants to be “more animal,” hence more self-ego. The Divine spirit wants to be “more Divine,” more selfless.
The domain of the animal manifests in the impulsive emotions, while the domain of the Divine spirit rests in the reflective mind, which can control and temper impulsive reactions. A young child for instance, is controlled entirely by emotion, and yells out “I want it and I want it all now.” Similarly the animal within us selfishly barks “give, give.” As our minds develop we gain the ability to reflect, repress, temper or channel our impulses.
The question of course is, as mentioned earlier, which is our most dominant force?
The answer is the Divine soul. The inner good in man is the most dominant force in our lives. Yet, this force is locked in battle with the animal soul. We have the freedom and the ability to overcome any temptation if we so wish through self control (“moach shalit al halev,” the mind’s dominance over the emotions).
Self Control
An argument can be made that self-control is an acquired skill that comes later in life, and is superimposed over the inherent impulses of the heart. And as a rule, an acquired skill will never be as powerful as an inherent one. It can dominate for a while, but when “push comes to shove,” and survival is at stake, we will gravitate to the inherent.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman categorically rejects that argument, and unequivocally states that the power of self-control is natural and inherent to the human being. We are born with that quality. But like other talents, kit takes time for it to emerge in our lives. As our mind develops, it brings out our inherent self-control.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman actually supports this with a verse in Ecclesiastes, which equates the dominance of the mind over folly [of the impulsive heart] to the natural dominance of light over darkness. Unlike fire and water, two equal adversaries, which have the power to extinguish each other, light naturally dispels darkness.
— Incidentally, this is the essential theme of Chanukah, when we light the flames at sundown and facing the street, to demonstrate the victory of spirit over matter, quality over quantity, and the few over the many.
The Essence is Good
True, we have an impulsive animal spirit. But even more powerful than the animal is the Divine Image in which each human being was created.
Yes, we have an inherent primal, unconscious force that shapes all our behavior. But the deepest force within us is not the Id, but the Yid, the “pintele yud,” the Divine spark (like the Hebrew letter Yud, which looks like a dot).
Fueled by our (inherent) self-control, behavioral discipline helps us access our inner good and bring it to the surface.
So, in Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s model, behavioral change goes hand in hand with internal work.
The Human Self Below is Rooted in the Divine Self Above
One can argue that all vice (greed, selfishness, corruption etc.) is rooted in the inherent “itness” of our ego, the sense of self-containment that feels as if it has no source and is utterly independent of anything except itself. The self is driven to survive and distinguishes us from others. If we felt, for instance, that we were integrally connected to a higher unity and to other people, like limbs of one body, we would never hurt each other, just as one limb doesn’t hurt another in a healthy body.
This would lead us to conclude, that ethical and spiritual goals must include some form of “self” sacrifice. As long as the self-contained self is intact, the basic drives of self-survival will continue to impede spiritual growth.
According to this way of thinking, the ego is the root of all evil, and the independent “self” is an illusion and a distortion that must be eliminated.
Hence, all spiritual disciplines include measure to tame and even nullify the ego.
Enters Rabbi Schneur Zalman with a radically different approach — which may be his greatest contribution of all. He explains, in perhaps one of the most powerful philosophical declarations ever made, that our sense of “self,” the feeling that we are “self-created,” with no source preceding us, is rooted in the Divine “Self” whose existence is Self-generated, with no other source preceding Him.
True, we must do everything to sublimate our egos, but the ultimate goal is not nullification of the ego but transforming it into recognizing that it is a manifestation of the Divine Self. The “yesh hanivra” becomes united with the “Yesh haAmiti,” the human ego unites with the Divine Ego; the created “it” (self) below is rooted in the true “It” (self) Above.
So in addition to our inherent self-control and goodness, even our Id (“it” in English, “es” in German) is ultimately rooted in the true “It.”
All of the basic ideas in contemporary psychology about the struggle and battle between different forces within us are included in Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s model. Yet, with a critical additional dimension of the inherent Divine spirit, that accounts for mans’ sublime nature, and thus radically alters the way we look at a human being and his/her potential.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman also recognizes human inherent selfishness (the Id). Yet he doesn’t stop there, and sees deeper dimensions even beyond that. Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s picture is simply a bigger and more encompassing one.
Perhaps Divine choreography arranged that Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s model be introduced at the end of the 18th century (1796 to be exact), as a type of “cure preceding the illness” phenomenon. His model served as a pre-emptive prelude to the psychological and scientific revolution that would rock the world and our notion of human nature.
All systems of knowledge, if I may, evolve. As new discoveries are made, arguments and counterarguments serve the role of crystallizing ideas. Through trial and error, and the sincere search for truth, every theory undergoes refinement, “reality checks” and “market corrections.” Certain details may be discarded in the process, as the idea matures into fruition.
Freud and the other thinkers of the 19th-20th century opened may new doors of inquiry and deserve the credit for recognizing deeper truths about the human condition. Rejecting any of their conclusions in no way rejects their contributions.
It’s ironic that the Enlightenment and the psychological – and all other scientific – advances in the last few centuries were followed by the most blood-shedding century in history: The Two World Wars.
The turmoil of the last hundred years — and the upheaval today, both personally and globally — provides us with a unique opportunity to revisit our psychological models. With all our so-called psychological insights, and with a thriving therapeutic industry — as well as unprecedented dysfunctionality in family life and in religious life — we can learn much about how to define, or not to define, the very nature of what it means to be human.
Over two centuries ago Rabbi Schneur Zalman presented us with an invaluable model of life that can be appreciated now more than ever.
It would be wise to explore his teachings, which provide us with a most comprehensive blueprint for modern life, uniting faith and reason, spirit and matter in our struggle with physical life.
Freud and his colleagues may be the fathers of psychology today. But the Alter Rebbe is the true father of the psychology of tomorrow.
Tags: psychology, ego, Tanya, Freud
Posted in Soul & Mystical, Months & Holidays, Alter Rebbe, Beliefs & Concepts, Torah Personalities, Personal Life, Tevet, Free Choice, Modern, Social, Spiritual, Torah, Emotions & Psychology, Science & Technology, Medicine | 6 Comments »
December 20th, 2012
Is Our World Safe for Children?
So much grief has been poured out in the last week over the six and seven year olds who were gunned down last week by Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. Their killings struck a nerve in every parent, and for that matter every person hearing the story, tearing through our psyches, realizing how close to home such horror truly is.
How can your heart not melt when you see the images of those little innocent kids marching out of the school clutching each other’s hands? They could have been our children. They could have been us — we too were once vulnerable children trudging to school every day of our young lives. When children are struck down in the most sacred of all sanctums — a school, a place where millions of us were educated, a place that is meant to be an oasis, protecting us from the cruelties of the outer world — it shakes us to the core, knowing that all of us have been in some way violated by this crime.
There are lines we all never cross. Despite our disagreements about so many matters, everyone concurs that children must be left out of the battles and bloodshed of adults. As children grow up they will inevitably, unfortunately, encounter human travesties. But we can all agree that we must protect and shelter our children from the darkness of life as long as we possibly can.
That, in effect, is the nature of a school — a place of innocence, a space where we (hopefully) pursue truth, clarity, knowledge, love and all the elements that help shape healthy children into healthier adults. An optimal school is, in other words, like a garden — a place of beauty, where seeds are sowed, and meant to blossom into beautiful shrubs and flowers. This is done with the assistance of selfless educators, who like dedicated gardeners, don’t create the plants. Rather they create the nurturing environment, watering the seeds and weeding the weeds, that allow them to bloom.
Trouble in Paradise
When that line is crossed and violence enters into the garden, when blood is spilled on freshly fallen snow white, its stark violation is keenly sensed by one and all.
“Leave them kids alone” was a powerful resonating anthem made popular by a pop group (though they were talking about teachers, referring to the corruption wrought on children by so-called educators. — But that’s a discussion for another time. Here we are focusing on the horrors crossing the boundaries from outside of school walls).
And what it does is remind us that some places should never be defiled.
But is that true? Should we be concerned only about the innocent souls in innocent places, and give up on ourselves?
Shouldn’t a tragedy like Sandy Hook — without taking away from the need to protect our children — also wake us up to the innocence within ourselves and the need to protect that as well?
Have we become so resigned about our own aspirations and ideals that we relegate the pure and the beautiful only to our children? By doing, perhaps we are actually saying, sadly, that purity is only in the domain of fantasy — the fantasy world of naive children.
But then isn’t it true that our children will inherit the earth and the attitudes that we adults create? Yes, today they may be innocent, but they will very soon — too soon — enter the corrupt, jaded, cynical world of the “mature.”
Are we expecting something better for our children when we expect of ourselves? How can we assume that our children will have a better world when we are the ones shaping that world with our sub-par standards?
Are we ready to tell our own children: “hey, I love you and will do everything to protect you. But know that one day you will grow up, and your eyes will then open as you realize that all your “innocence” and “purity,” all your dreams and exuberance, were an illusion — a childhood fantasy worthy for no one but immature babies…”
Is there an adult (I should add healthy) parent that is willing to tell this to his or her child?
Is there any adult that actually believes that? — Even writing those words brought a chill to my spine…
Is that what we are ready to tell the children murdered in Sandy Hook — as well as those that survived, along with all the millions of children going to school every day?
Try this test at home with a, say, 3 year old child (perhaps older): Ask the child, your child or any child, how would you like to have one million dollars? Just for fun, let’s make it one billion dollars.
What do you think will be the child’s reaction? Would you be surprised if the child asks you what is money, or what is a million or a billion, or perhaps ignores you altogether because the child is busy playing with some toys?
Think about it.
Who has it more right: Us adults who “appreciate” the value of money, or the child who has no clue?
Who was more aware: Adam and Eve with their “eyes opened” ashamed of their nakedness, or as they were innocent beings lacking any self-consciousness and dissonance? Who is more aware: Jaded adults, colored by their own desires, selfishness and ambitions, or children who don’t even know the meaning of money?
It always struck me as deeply troubling when adults agree on banning certain “adult” products and entertainment from children, but have no problem with indulging in it themselves (I am not obviously addressing the issue of freedom of speech). If it’s appropriate for adults why is it inappropriate for children? And what distinguishes a child from an adult — age? What age exactly does this move from the unacceptable to the acceptable? Would we say the same for unethical behavior as an example: that its not ok for children but ok for adults? After all, aren’t adults today the children of yesterday, and the children of today the adults of tomorrow? Our adult lives will be shaped by our lives as children. By creating a dichotomy of the two aren’t we undermining our adult lives, as if to say, that something is destructive for the foundation of the structure (childhood), but acceptable for the structure itself (adulthood)?
I suspect that we all have higher standards and expectations of our children — and of ourselves. Why else are we so shocked by the murders in Newtown?
We are disturbed because we all know and sense that something is very very wrong when pure children are gunned down (point blank, with multiple shots), in a school of all places — that last bastion of hope, where we hope to bring up our next generation.
But Sandy Hook reminds us of something more: that we are our children. We were once children, and we still are children (only in adult bodies), who have wandered away from our purest version of ourselves.
Sandy Hook simply reminded us of a truth that many of us have conveniently forgotten, due to the distractions and seductions of our material lives.
Yes, our “busy” lives drown out the subtle voice within that tells us:
Our children are closer to reality than we are. Their simple purity and innocence is far truer than our sophisticated institutions and advanced theories.
The young souls of Sandy Hook remind us that the angels who are our children are far more real than the demons that are our adults.
One of the greatest tributes we can offer to the young lives that have been torn away from their families and the world is to resolve once and for all, not to gravitate back to our “adult” assumptions that we have been indoctrinated with, that we adult have it right and the children have it wrong, or are simply ignorant.
But to see our shock at this latest atrocity as a reminder that it’s the other way around: Our children are the best of us, and it is their world that is far more real than our distorted one.
The shock we experienced by the violation that has pierced the innocent walls of our schools and our children should be converted into an equally powerful resolve to build not just more secure schools with higher walls around the “garden,” but to build a world — a garden — in which we feel our children would be most comfortable.
We can and should build more protected schools. We can and should radically improve our mental health care? But is that the solution? As long as our schools are mere “oases” from the jungle surrounding them, how high must their walls be to protect from gunmen or madmen (or both)?
Instead of seeing our schools as “escape zones” and our children as immature “anomalies” that need to be protected from the “real” world, why don’t we see our shock for what it is: a wake up call that we need to turn our entire world into the garden we want for our children, and for… ourselves.
Instead of condemning our children to enter into a world of — and built by (the standards of) — adults, let us build a world defined by the far more sublime standards of our children.
Imagine a world where our children are totally comfortable. A world where they can roam freely, with no concern or fear. A world that is safe like a home and beautiful like a garden. Where flowers of all colors and shapes grow and intermingle.
Do you think it is is possible? Is this the stuff of child fantasy? Can we adults dream of such a reality?
The children of Sandy Hook, whose dreams were cut short, deserve that we continue the dream for them.
If you can dream it, you can create it.
Tags: vulnerability, innocence, school, childhood
Posted in Bereishit, Personal Life, Social, Home & Family, Torah, Education, Vayigash, Current Events | 4 Comments »
November 23rd, 2012
The Case Against a Palestinian State
With a so-called “cease-fire” between Israel and Hamas, one need not be a skeptic to wonder what this “cease-fire” actually means, and who it applies to. Hamas has been raining missiles indiscriminately on cities across Israel, terrorizing millions. Israel simply reacted as any country would. And now, a cease fire is declared?! Who is meant to cease-fire? The perpetrators or the defenders? And a cease-fire to what end? Did Israel succeed in eliminating the threat?
Does anyone, on any side of the aisle, truly believe that this will hold, and that our problems are resolved?
The only way to understand this latest conflagration is to see it as a series of events that have been going on for over sixty years and perhaps longer — fires that have flared up again and again in a highly combustible environment. At best, Israel has been successful in putting out many of these fires, but never has it eliminated the underlying cause, nor has it changed the volatile ground that breeds and feeds the ongoing threat.
The mighty Israeli military — and the highly acclaimed Jewish intelligence (yiddish sechel) — has thus been rendered into being nothing more than… glorified “fire fighters,” adept at extinguishing blazes, but not at solving the root of the problem: the factors that cause these blazes to ignite in the first place.
Beyond the short-term deterrents, what then is the bigger picture, and what can be done to resolve this at the source once and for all?
*
Let us begin with the big question: What lies behind Arab rage against Israel? Compared to the millions of Muslims slaughtered by other Muslims in Sudan, Syria, Iraq and other countries, Palestinian deaths in Israel are relatively few. Yet the millions massacred and millions more repressed does not evoke Arab outrage as do the events in Israel. Why the double standard? Some argue that this double standard in the Middle East is due to the fact that Arab countries are shame-based societies, and Israeli repression of Arabs is seen not just as brutal, but also as humiliating.
They cite Arabs sating that, “Israel is a colonial outpost and that as a result while Israeli Arabs may have ballots and free speech, they have no dignity. The Israeli occupation represents a total humiliation of all the Arab regimes. It’s a continuous reminder of the weakness of the Arabs as people, of their society and political system, as well as an indication of the impotence and corruption of their regimes.”
Arab humiliation seems to have become a mainstay since the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The Arab world can simply not get over their lost pride as a people who once ruled and represented the epitome of civilization, and now are relegated to Third World status. Israel and America represent for the Arab world the source of this humiliation – so the argument goes.
Many other speculations are offered to explain Arab rage and frenzy against Israel and the West.
Understanding the underlying causes for Arab sentiments is not academic; it is the only way to get to the bottom of the issues. Understanding their mentality is the true key to help provide us with a meaningful strategy. We can never devise a workable plan as long as we focus on the superficial causes, and do not understand the driving force of our adversary. Does the Arab world just want justice for the Palestinians? Equal rights (rights they do not have under any Arab ruler)? Some land to live peacefully? Or perhaps they want something more that they simply are not telling us?
I submit that the true reason and core root of Arab anger is religious and not political.
The Arab world’s opposition to Israel is not due to any Israeli actions, but rather to the very existence of the Land of Israel and Jewish control over the land. This control is a perpetual thorn in their side, and the root cause for their “shame” and humiliation.
Why? Because Muslims fundamentally believe that Israel’s existence – and Jewish control over Israel – in what they consider to be their ‘conquered land,’ is a desecration of their religious vision.
This is the reason why Muslims have always built mosques on the sacred land of Jews and Christians (e.g. the Temple Mount, Bethlehem) to demonstrate their absolute belief that Muslim control over these lands fulfills and realizes the Divine will.
This religious belief is the true cause for the rage of the Arab/Muslim world against Israel. It is not about human rights, Palestinian sovereignty, Arab dignity, oil, money, harems, or any other issue. No amount of land return, no concessions will satisfy them – other than the elimination of Jewish control in Israel.
As uncomfortable as it may be, we will never be able to resolve the issues until we realize that this is a religious war not a political one.
Many of us would like to conveniently believe that the issues are political ones, because that would make the situation a lot more manageable and the problem a lot simpler. We know how to deal with political challenges. But if this is a religious war, we simply do not have the tools, experience or interest to fight such a war.
Our existing modalities are secular ones. Our political systems and governmental institutions have been built with secular goals in mind, without much consideration to spiritual and religious values, which we have relegated to the private sector. We therefore do not see the world in context of religious and spiritual vision. That’s why we cannot fathom or understand the rage of the Arab world today.
And this is why a Palestinian state is not possible, and for that matter not doable. A state will never satisfy the Arab world. They will simply see it as a step in the direction of their re-conquest of Israel. They do not want a state for political reasons, but for religious ones. That is the key to the underlying issues. As much as we wish to make the Arafats of the world our “partners in peace,” we must realize that our secular notions of peace are not part of their agenda at all.
But what lies beneath and behind – what fuels – this Arab rage and passion? To understand this we need to enter into the secret world of religious passion.
Balance between the sacred and the mundane is a central theme in the Torah and in Jewish literature. We read time and again about passionate souls who are challenged to find balance between transcedence and existence. We are clearly instructed to live holy lives. “Be holy, because I, your G-d, am holy.” But how do we do that in a deeply secular and mundane world, without annihilating our existing institutions and infrastructures?
Sanctifying yourself in the material world is no simple feat. Spirit and matter are dichotomous. Our physical existence consumes us so that it leaves little room (space and time) for spirituality. Our struggle for survival – eating, sleeping, work, shelter – hampers our search for transcendence, the pursuit of our calling and higher purpose. Material life lends itself to corruption, which explains why the scouts sent by Moses to Israel returned with a negative report, arguing that Israel is a “land that consumes its inhabitants.” Who among us does not have the struggle between our own personal higher standards and the temptation to conform to society’s standards, between home and career, between focusing on our transcendental needs when we are so preoccupied with our material ones?
The challenge of creating harmony between body and soul is twofold. When we are immersed in our daily needs it is increasingly difficult to access our souls. When we are inspired by a transcendental experience, we find it difficult to reenter regular life. It seems as if the extraordinary and the ordinary are mutually exclusive, like two different worlds that can never entirely converge.
How often do we find someone caught up in spiritual ecstasy that they cannot return intact? Being burned out by the fire of a passionate high, unable to reenter ordinary life? Case in point the famous Talmudic story of the ‘four who entered the garden,’ three unable to return unharmed. This explains why some mystics have chosen the ascetic path, separating themselves from regular life, so that they can pursue the life of the spirit.
In the book of Leviticus we read how Nadav and Avihu succumbed to this temptation. In their great passion and love for the Divine, they entered the Holy of Holies, and they… ‘burned out’ and could not return. The Torah then proceeds to define the necessary guidelines on how to enter holiness and how to internalize and integrate the experience and not self-destruct.
Of course this fear of being spiritually ‘burned out’ can lead one to argue the merit of the exact opposite position: We should just immerse ourselves in our material lives and forget about our spiritual dreams and fantasies. The argument goes: In our mundane world it is simply naïve to live a life of spiritual and ethical integrity. If we do embrace the sublime, we stand the great risk of ‘burn out’ and being unable to cope with ordinary life. Why take the risk, better to just resign ourselves to a mundane life, as close as we possible can to ‘animal bliss.’
But that type of resignation is a cop-out. Can we be healthy human beings if we repress our soul’s restless thirst for transcendence? Indeed, we are obligated to sanctify our lives. And this precisely is life’s challenge: To fuse both worlds – matter and spirit, to spiritualize our material existence. This requires a delicate balance – a delicate dance – to synthesize both experiences, without one annihilating the other.
What is sanctity? Sanctity is recognizing that that every aspect of your life is not self contained but meant to become a channel for a Higher presence. Kedusha (holiness) is bittul (see Tanya chapter 6), suspension of self that allows the Divine to enter. Selfishness and narcissism does not allow anything else in. “Where is G-d?” the future Rebbe of Kotzk was once asked as a child. He replied: “Wherever you let Him in.”
The command “be holy” instructs us to sanctify all aspects of existence – time, space and human. We must sanctify our personal behavior, through kindness and love. Then we sanctify time – we realize the preciousness of each moment and fill it with meaningful and Divine activities. Shabbat and the holidays are sacred days. Yom Kippur – the holiest day of the year, the Holy of Holies – is the epitome of time sanctification, serving as the source of sanctity for all days of the year.
Finally we sanctify space, the homes, land and countries in which we live. The Holy Land of Israel is the epitome of space sanctification, serving as the source of sanctity that spread to the entire globe. [This is one reason why we pray facing the East – Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple Mount].
Jerusalem – especially the Temple Mount and specifically the Holy of Holies on the Mount – is the center and nucleus of Holiness on Earth. No wonder everyone always wanted to control Jerusalem. Not just today but throughout history. How many battles have been waged over that holy real estate?
So, Jewish control of the Holy Land and particularly of the Holy of Holies is no small matter. Arab rage against Israel may have many ostensible causes. But at its core root, it stems from the Holy of Holies – from the need and will to control that vital region. As long as Jews control it, they feel utterly weak.
The Talmud gives us a profound psychological insight. At times your unconscious – your mazal – may sense something that causes a strong physical reaction. The holiness of Israel and Jerusalem is the cause for the profound enmity of the Arab world, even if there are other perceived causes and not everyone may be conscious of the true cause.
But to devise a successful strategy requires a true diagnosis of the problem. And sometimes (more often than not) the truth is something no one wants to hear or acknowledge. The war against Israel is rooted in religious belief (albeit distorted). And this is very difficult for us to accept. Why? There are many reasons. One compelling reason is this: After all, our modern secular world still lingers in the long shadow of the war between science and religion, a war many thought was won long ago by science and secularism. Suddenly religion comes back on the scene, and is threatening not just the Middle East but New York and Washington – mighty secular America.
That is too much to absorb in one shot. That’s why people are in such shock. We need to get accustomed to this new reality — a religious global war being fought, a war that will determine what G-d really wants of us, a war that will define and crystallize once and for all what is true Islam, what is true Christianity and what is true Judaism. We need to learn to reintroduce a long forgotten G-d into our lives, to reacquaint ourselves with G-d after a long hiatus, fueled by prosperity and its inevitable complacency and spiritual lethargy.
As a Jew, I know that our role is to use every platform available to us today to advocate the universal message of Torah – what Abraham taught to all his children, how G-d wants all of us to live, Jew, Muslim, Christian and all people.
The Torah’s essential message is that we can and we must sanctify the material world. We need to integrate the sacred with the mundane. One extreme or the other is simply not acceptable: Violent passion – even in the name of G-d – is destructive and therefore un-G-dly. Too much untempered chesed (Ishmael) annihilates the universe. Conversely, overabundant gevurah (Esau) and immersion in the material, or its antithesis, radical disassociation with the physical (as in celibacy), is equally destructive.
The holiness of Eretz Yisroel is complete when it creates harmony between the physical land (Eretz) and the Divine (Yisroel, meaning “You have battled with the Divine and with man and you have prevailed”).
We are now experiencing perhaps the greatest ‘market correction’ in history – in defining the truth of the world’s religions; a reality check of the vastest proportions – the final battle – and ultimate reconciliation – between the sublime and the secular, between spirit and matter.
Truth or consequences is not a game today; it has never been so apparent. The consequences of living a lie are becoming more obvious by the day. Lies and deception work well in shadows, where is difficult to discern true from false. But as the dawn breaks and we can begin to clearly see the price we pay for our falsities, the truth emerges in direct proportion to the exposed lies.
Are we really surprised that Hamas is declaring victory after the so-called “cease-fire” and calling for a third intifida?
Sometimes the most obvious truths are not stated and acknowledged because we fear the unknown. But then when we do acknowledge them we begin to realize that we have the power to face the challenge.
Let us hope and pray that we do not have to pay with any more lives to realize the truth of our situation and act accordingly.
Image by: Israel Defense Forces from Israel (Palestinian Rioters in El-Arrub) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Tags: sanctification, religion, matter and spirit, Islamism, shame, Islam
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Bereishit, Good & Evil, Israel, Beliefs & Concepts, Social, Torah, Vayeitzei, Current Events | 21 Comments »
November 16th, 2012
As we read in this week’s Torah portion how our patriarch Isaac shuddered a great, very great, shudder (Genesis 27:33) — we are all shuddering over the latest brutal killings of fellow Jews in Israel.
After a rather lengthy sleep we have suddenly been jolted back to reality with the latest conflagration in the Middle East.
Is anyone shocked?
We children of the West, born in freedom, have been spoiled by the façade of our many distractions that have allowed us the luxury of denial of the stark battles of good and evil, creating an illusion of false security.
The reverie of a peaceful siesta is far more comfortable, but one need not be very intelligent to recognize that the Middle East is a combustion chamber, a fermenting hotbed of noxious toxins always ready to explode.
September 11 and other attacks remind us sporadically from time to time that there are powerful brewing forces that must be reckoned with before we enter an age of true peace, but it is so easy to sink back into our comfortable cushions. Such is the nature of the beast of denial.
Just a bit of history can surely wake you up:
1948–1949: Israeli War of Independence
1951–1955: Retribution operations
1956: Suez War
1967: Six-Day War
1967–1970: War of Attrition
1973: Yom Kippur War
1978: South Lebanon conflict
1982: First Lebanon War
1982–2000: South Lebanon conflict
1987–1993: First Intifada
2000–2005: Second Intifada
And more recently, with a bith more detail which we all certainly remember:
August 2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from Gaza.
June 2006: Hamas militants infiltrate an army post near the Israeli side of the Gaza Strip and abduct Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
July 2006: Second Lebanon War, sparked by persistent rocket shelling of Nothern Israel by Hezbollah.
2008–2009: Gaza War
Are these cooincidences that every Israeli acquiescence is followed by another uprising by its enemies?
In 2006 it was Hezbollah from the north. Now, six years later, in 2012, it’s Hamas from the south.
For the record Hezbollah, which means the Party of G-d, views its conflict with Israel as “an existential struggle” as opposed to “conflict over land” (as Lebanese scholar Amal Saad-Ghorayeb underscores in her book, Hizbu’llah: Politics and Ideology). In the words of Sheikh Naim Qasim, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, “Even if hundreds of years pass by, Israel’s existence will continue to be an illegal existence.”
Although Hezbollah had denounced attacks on Western civilians, they make an exception in the case of Israel. As Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah put it, “in occupied Palestine there is no difference between a soldier and a civilian, for they are all invaders, occupiers and usurpers of the land.” After Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, some analysts predicted—and many Lebanese hoped—that Hezbollah would soon wind down its military operations and become a purely political party. But Nasrallah had greater ambitions than to win more seats in Lebanon’s parliament, and he had had the firm backing of Iran and Syria. At once a determined radical and an astute pragmatist, he viewed Hezbollah both as a Lebanese party committed to assuring the welfare of its constituents and as a vanguard in the pan-Islamic struggle to destroy Israel and restore Palestine to its native inhabitants.
By no means did this restrict Hezbollah’s action to Israel alone. In the early 1990s, Hezbollah members were connected to two notorious attacks in Buenos Aires: the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy, which killed twenty-nine people, ostensibly in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Sheikh Musawi; and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center, which killed eighty-five civilians.
Tragically, it doesn’t end there. In March 2004, after the Israeli assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, Nasrallah said to Hamas: “We are under your command. Your blood is our blood; our fight is one.” Hezbollah demonstrated its solidarity with the Palestinian group by firing more than sixty-five rockets at six different Israeli military positions in the Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon.
And now Hamas is back in action, relentlessly launching missiles into Israel…
You may recall that Hamas, now controlling the activities in Gaza and the West Bank, initiated the crisis in 2006 by kidnapping the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Hamas clearly views the Arab-Israeli conflict as a religious struggle between Islam and Judaism that can only be resolved by the destruction of the State of Israel, and thus opposes any Arab-Israeli peace talks.
If you’re still asleep, here are a few quotes from the Hamas covenant (or charter):
Preface: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” (A quote by Imam Hassan al Banna)
Article 6: “The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned…”
Article 7:”The Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah’s promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharqad tree would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.”
Article 11: “The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up.”
Article 13: “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. The Palestinian people know better than to consent to having their future, rights and fate toyed with.”
Article 28: “The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion … It relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups. All these organizations, whether secret or open, work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions… When the Jews conquered the Holy City in 1967, they stood on the threshold of the Aqsa Mosque and proclaimed that “Mohammed is dead, and his descendants are all women.” Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. “May the cowards never sleep.”
Article 32: “After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.”
What to be done?
As in all serious confrontations one needs a short-term plan and a long-term one. Obviously, first and foremost everything possible must be done in the short term to protect innocent lives and never allow anyone – terrorists or sovereign states – to violate the security of a peace-loving nation. A show of strength is often necessary to serve as a deterrent.
We all would wish that this short-term approach would be enough. But the fact remains that even when these immediate fires are quelled (hopefully sooner than later), the region is festering with centuries old toxins, driven by religious passions and often fanatical faith (misguided or not), and the resulting hostility to Israel will not just go away. It is built on a philosophy and unwavering belief system of millions.
Indeed, these battles have been raging for thousands of years, beginning with the hostilities between Ishmael and Isaac, boith children of Abraham, and Esau and Jacob, both children of Isaac.
Thus, one thing is for sure: Until we don’t come to honest terms with the brutal truth about the true nature of the conflict – religious and spiritual as opposed to political – we will not know how to fight this war and we will never win it. Fires may be suppressed, but the underlying forces will not be tamed.
It is no surprise therefore that the current outbreak began on the threshold of Rosh Chodosh Kislev, the month in which we vanquished our enemies and pervailed in the story of Chanukah. The Holiday of Lights symbolizes the victory of Jewish spirit and light over all its adversaries. This victory is commemorated with the kindling of the menorah, which was lit daily in the Holy Temple.
During this time we traditionally increase in all our committments, in our Torah study, prayer and charity. Above all, we intensify our love and kindness to each other – counterbalancing the dark forces that surround us, then just as now.
Just as we need to fight the phsyical war to protect innocent lives, we also need to fight the spiritual war.
With the second Temple’s destruction by the Romans our long diaspora began, in which we pray for the Temple’s restoration. Because the Temple wasn’t a mere structure of bricks and mortar. It was a window – a literal gate – between heaven and earth. “Build Me a Sanctuary,” G-d says, “and I will rest among you.” The Temple’s destruction marked the closing of the window between spirit and matter, between the Divine purpose of existence and existence itself. Think of it as a traveler losing sight of his destination, an entity losing touch of its mission – a world losing direction.
The first symptom of a dichotomy between matter and spirit – the misalignment of existence and purpose – is expressed in personal disunity. When an individual loses touch with his own raison d’etre, his fragmented self has to cause anxiety and ultimate insecurity and erosion of self-respect. In its extreme it escalates into a self-loathing (the purposeful soul loathing the aimless life). This inevitably spills over into our relationships with others: When you hate another it is a projection – or deflection – of hating yourself. A secure person can co-exist with anyone. Even if he may disagree with or be attacked by another, the secure person distinguishes between the actions of the enemy and his person.
From the personal, divisiveness carries over to the collective: To the splits between communities, religions and nations.
Once divisiveness infected the people, the Holy Temple – which bridged spirit and matter – could simply no longer stand. There was no room for it in a fractured world. It no longer was appreciated and no longer served its purpose…
Just as divisiveness destroys the Temple, unity rebuilds it. And mind you, unity here means on a universal scale. Indeed, the Midrash tells us that had the nations of the world known how the Temple protected them, they would have built legions around it shielding it from any harm!
Thinking about the story of Chanukah and the dominance of quality over quantity, light over darknes, the few over the many – helps shed light and underscores the true nature of the larger war.
As mentioned, first and foremost everything must be done in the immediate to protect the innocent. But in the long term big picture, we must remember that this – as in past battles in Israel, all the way back to the Babylonian and Roman destruction of the Temples – is ultimately a spiritual and religious battle, reflecting the battle of all life.
The true battle of life is not for land, honor or wealth. It is for the dominance of spirit over matter. Our greatest challenge is not political but spiritual. It is about finding purpose and direction.
We thus intensify our efforts in reconnecting with out inner purpose, through our increased study, prayer and charity, thereby creating internal harmony. Above all – we do all we can to battle divisiveness and foster love between each other.
As long as we do not understand the current confrontation – some call it a “clash of civilizations” – we will continue to be its victim, and be putting out fires in a never-ending, slowly bleeding vicious cycle.
The ultimate victor will be not the one with the most powerful weapons. It will be the one with the most powerful spiritual vision.
What exactly this battle entails has been discussed at length in this column.
So while all peace-loving people grieve over the tragic loss of any life, and pray for the end of all hostilities – we must always remember that even while we are forced to deal with the short-term challenges, there looms a much larger picture.
The universe is at war and has always been at war – the raging battle between materialism and spirituality, between personal gain and higher purpose, between matter and spirit. Center stage of this war – now and throughout history – has always been Israel.
So ladies and gentlemen: Time to wake up. “Everybody up, up, up, up” was the annoying sound of the reveille call we would hear each morning in summer camp, abruptly disturbing our peaceful sleep. Annoying indeed.
Perhaps this is the power of the promise “hineh lo yonum v’lo yishan shomer Yisroel,” “Behold, the protector of Israel does not slumber nor sleep” – even when we may.
Tags: matter and spirit, Islamism, Middle East, purpose of existence, terrorism, purpose
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Bereishit, Israel, Social, Toldot, Torah, Current Events | 5 Comments »
November 1st, 2012
Is Hurricane Sandy the Advent of a New Era?
In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy, we bring you these words that Rabbi Jacobson penned during the brunt of the storm, as its furious winds were beginning to thrash New York and the surrounding areas.
While prudence and caution are in order for protection from any potential damage at the hands of Hurricane Sandy, let us not forget that everything carries deeper messages.
Winds in general and especially strong winds are powerful reminders of forces beyond our control. And like any formidable force, they can either wreak havoc or brings us great opportunities.
Especially considering a hard-to-ignore coincidence of the hurricane striking the most heavily populated part of the country, including Washington DC, just a week before the Presidential election – winds from above disturbing the final whirlwind campaign efforts of both candidates.
All the more compounded by the fact that the magnitude of this storm is being considered a once-in-a-lifetime event, considering that it is a rare combination of several factors: 1) the most extensive storm system in years, (2) making a beeline for the most densely populated part of the eastern seaboard, (3) due to make landfall at exactly high tide, (4) on a full moon when tides are at their maximum (5) and when a cold weather system is poised to converge with it.
The gale winds upon our waters — born last week in the warm southern seas right around Aruba, now whimpering away into oblivion somewhere in the northern hemisphere — which unleashed their fury over the Eastern Seaboard, bring to mind the question:
What is the first documented episode of a powerful wind, and its impact on water?
The second verse in the Bible: “And the divine wind hovered over the face of the water.”
The Midrash says that “the divine wind (“ruach” in Hebrew, which also translates as spirit) refers to “the spirit of Moshiach.”
As the winds howled over the waters, and the seas surged, perhaps they were also bringing us (beyond the devastation and the compassion to those suffering losses) refreshing winds of change…
* * *
The second time the word wind is used in the Bible is equally fascinating: After Adam and Eve had transgressed and eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, and they realized what they had done, the verse tells us: “They heard God’s voice moving about in the garden with the wind of the day. The man and his wife hid themselves from God among the trees of the garden. God called to the man, and He said, ‘Where are you?’”
In the “wind of the day” the Divine voice called out to Adam: “Where are you?” Where is your soul – your windy spirit (ruach)?
This is eerily reminiscent of the story of Jonah, where we read:
“The Lord cast a mighty wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, and the ship threatened to be broken up. And the sailors were frightened, and each one cried out to his god… and Jonah went down to the ship’s hold, lay down, and fell fast asleep.
“And the captain approached him and said to him, ‘Why do you sleep? Get up, call out to your God, perhaps God will think about us, and we will not perish’.”
The storm subsided only after Jonah declared that “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the G-d of heaven, Who made the sea and the dry land” and acknowledged that the tempest had come because he was fleeing his divine calling.
Jonah’s immortal words ring true today as they did then – and as they did for Adam and Eve who were trying to hide from their divine calling as well: “For I know that, because of me, this mighty tempest is upon you.”
Just to be sure, we don’t blame natural disasters on anyone; yet we are sensitive to events around us – especially those disrupting millions of lives – and make sure to derive their personal lessons in our own lives.
I just learned one such lesson – and a powerful one at that – from a colleague of mine in New York, who teaches a weekly Monday night Torah class. This Monday night was, of course, during the height of the storm. So everyone assumed that the class would be cancelled. But just to make sure a few of its regular attendees texted my colleague to confirm that the class is in fact postponed.
My colleague texted them back: “If Pharaoh [of Egypt], Nebuchadnezzar [of Babylon], Titus [of Rome], Stalin [of the Soviet Union], and Hitler didn’t stop us from enduring as Jews, surely Sandy won’t stop us! The class is on!”
As you can imagine, after reading his message, everyone attended the class. (For the record, they all lived nearby and did not place themselves at risk to join the class). With the winds roaring outdoors, they learned Torah like they never learned before…
With one short text my friend taught me an immortal lesson – which I believe is a priceless lesson for us all: When it comes to our eternal values nothing can stop us.
And the credit goes to Hurricane Sandy. Were it not for her raging winds, my friend and those who attended his class would not have discovered and appreciated the depth of their inner winds (spirits) and commitment.
What lessons will we learn from Sandy?
As Hurricane Sandy pummels its way across the Atlantic towards land – on no less than a full moon – what messages do its furious winds bring us?
Are they howling out to us with the eternal question asked to Adam and to every human being: “Where are you?”
Or are they conveying Jonah’s enduring words: “For I know that, because of me, this mighty tempest is upon you.”
Are they waking us up, crying out to us, as the captain did to Jonah: Why do you sleep?
Or perhaps they may just be humbly reminding us – smack at the end of a billion dollar Presidential campaign – who is really in charge?
Are they a harbinger of the wind and spirit of a global revolution in spiritual consciousness (aka Moshiach)?
And will we absorb their lessons and create a spiritual storm of our own, which will bring fresh winds of spirit and growth in our own lives?
Will we then allow all our winds to join together and sweep across the universe with a new wind of divine awareness, which will finally usher in the “wind (spirit) of Moshiach” upon the water and land of our world – a world filled with divine wisdom as the waters cover the earth?
Related article: The Soul of a Hurricane: Exclusive Interview
Tags: change, Jonah, storm, Moshiach, divine providence, redemption
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Bereishit, Beliefs & Concepts, Vayeira, Nature, Spiritual, Moshiach & Redemption, Torah | 8 Comments »
October 1st, 2012
One of the greatest challenges in life is dealing with the down that inevitably follows every inspirational high. We can call it “the day after syndrome” (I can barely resist the more provocative “hang over syndrome”). One moment we were inspired, motivated, lifted to great heights, and then we return to our “regular” everyday activities.
This is the question and the challenge of the post-holiday season in which we now stand. The holiday rich month of Tishrei is a time of spiritual saturation. Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hoshana Rabba, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah were meant to lift us on their wings and help us reconnect to our higher calling and access the deepest recesses of our soul.
But then comes the day after, when the “ride” is over. As we land (hopefully smoothly) from the soaring flight of Tishrei the great dilemma presents itself: will we—and how can we—gain the power to hold on to the inspiration? Inspiration is relatively easy; maintaining it is the difficult task.
Beginning from before Rosh Hashana this column has been addressing the “inner child”(and the “outer child” as well) – the purest part of each soul. Prior to Rosh Hashana, in Give Me Your Soul, we suggested an exercise to validate and empower every child. On Yom Kippur we connected with our innocence – our “Inner Child.”On Sukkot we hugged the child in a warm, all encompassing embrace (My Dear Child), and on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah we wrote our child Let Us Not Part.
Here is the next entry in this series, Letters To My Child, written following the holiday season, as we reenter our daily routines.
My dearest child,
Now that we have concluded the holiday season, including the last day which we spent alone together, dancing and celebrating, you are no doubt wondering, and maybe even trembling over the fact that we now have to inevitably part ways. Does this mean that you, my child, will have to return to your lonely world? And what was the point of spending one more day together; it just pushed off the inevitable parting for one day?!
Let me tell you my child what I am feeling. Let us reread Rashi’s parable about the last day of the holiday we spent together (Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah): There was once a king who invited his children for a banquet of several days. When it came time for them to go, he said to them: “My children, please, stay with me one more day – your parting is difficult for me…”
The king does not say “our parting is difficult for me.” He says “your parting is difficult for me.” Why? Because He never parts from us; we part from Him. We always remain connected with our soul – and I always remain one with you, my child. However, we live in a coarse world in which G-d concealed the Divine presence, the presence of the soul and the presence of the pure child. On a conscious level we feel like we are “parting” ways. But they our only “your parting,” how you, humans feel, not “our parting.”
He did this in order to allow us the ultimate accomplishment: To overcome the concealment and reveal the inner truth that we are not apart, but all one.
But since “your parting is difficult for me” we are given an extra day to connect in the most intimate and powerful manner, which empowers us for the rest of the year. As we leave the spiritually saturated holiday season, and move from the warmth of summer to the cold of winter, traveling through difficult “dusty roads,” we rejoice together for one more day (See Midrash Rabbah, Song of Songs 7:4).
But this is not meant to remain one day of retention. Its’ purpose is to motivate us to carry and spread its unifying energy throughout the entire year. And we do so, by recognizing the challenge and difficulty of “your parting” and taking powerful measures to counter its effects.
Here is what I will do, my child. I too know that the year’s journey will be difficult. Life is so hard and challenging. My daily struggle for survival and all the material distractions of the world around me are so powerfully seductive. They cause me to forget about what really matters. And you – my child – is what really matters.
But I have also been taught that we are not doomed to this amnesia. This precise challenge is the entire purpose of our lives: to now allow the means of our existence to cloud the ends. Even as we are immersed with our physical existence and struggle for survival, we must never forget our souls. We cannot allow ourselves to be so selfishly consumed with our immediate needs that we forget our inner lives. Furthermore, my mission is to transform the material into the spiritual. To reveal the Divine even in the most concealed places. To allow you, my child, to emerge from your hiding place.
So you see, I now understand that your concealing yourself is very much part of the entire concealment of everything holy and pure in this corrupt world. The best and the finest hide to protect themselves from the narcissism and greed of an adult world driven by self-interest.
Here is my pledge to you, my beloved child: I will do everything possible to connect with you and protect you. Every morning we will say together “Modeh Ani,” and we will together acknowledge the soul that was returned to me, so tender and pure (“neshomo she’nosato bi tehorah hi”), and how the soul gets clothed in layers upon layers (“boroso,” “yotzarto,” “nofachto bi”), until it is completely shrouded in the physical body. But even then it is Divinely protected (“v’atoh meshamro b’kirbi”).
I know that you, my child, don’t trust sporadic spurts of attention, only when crisis strikes. You want and need ongoing care and nurturing. I therefore will commit, on a daily basis, to sublime activities that keep me in touch with my soul and with you, my child.
Each day I will rebuild the three pillars upon which the world – and our inner world – stands: Study, prayer and good deeds. I will emote with you as I say my daily prayers. Every day I will designate time for spiritual study and acts of virtue. I will give charity daily and reach out to people to offer assistance in any way I can. In short, I will create space in my everyday life for my soul to express itself, by committing to a consistent routine of spiritual activities.
I will do everything in my power to ensure that you, my child, are nourished. But I need you to do everything in your power as well. Please don’t run away and hide from me. I need your help as much as you need mine. I need your sense of enchantment and adventure. I need your hope and optimism. I need your bubbly excitement over things that I have long forgotten. Above all, I need your dreams, your aspirations and your belief that everything is possible.
And should I at times forget and neglect you, please remind me. Don’t give up on me. Kick me in the pants, cry and make me aware, kick and scream, wake me up. Do anything but never be silent.
I never want to part with you again.
With the deepest love,
Tags: G-d's love, inner child, purpose of existence, concealment, soul, body and soul, purpose
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Tishrei, Bereishit, Bereishit, Months & Holidays, Torah | 3 Comments »
September 14th, 2012
Rosh Hashana Suggestion
Save Our Children
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men — Frederick Douglass
Jews have an expression: Mit an eitzeh shlogt men zich nit on. We don’t dispense unsolicited advice.
But at times, it may be worth making a suggestion. Especially considering the unique challenges we all face today.
So as we are about to enter a new year, which brings with it new and unprecedented energy and opportunity, please allow me to make a suggestion. We can call it a Rosh Hashana resolution. Hopefully it will be received well.
Over the years I have written much about the vital importance of finding your personal life mission statement. If a business cannot function without one, how can we?
This is the central theme of Rosh Hashana, the collective birthday of the human race, when the human being was created in the divine image, with a distinct and irreplaceable role to achieve in transforming existence.
The absolute significance of each life – that each of us is indispensable and was sent to earth on a mission that you and only you can accomplish – is the most critical ingredient in life and the foundation of all of Torah and Judaism.
Without this foundation – that you and everything you do matters now and forever – any expectation of us and any choice we make is rendered negligible. What significance can there be to any mitzvah, and to any moral virtue and social responsibility, if our lives have no meaning or arbitrary meaning?
Rosh Hashana then provides us with the greatest possible gift: The renewal of our divine contract and mandate – the renewal of our divinely endowed mission and all the resources we need to realize this mission.
On this extraordinary day we are charged anew with the single most essential force in life: The dignity of your immutable value.
The importance of this cannot be overstated. No words can express the significance of our indispensability.
Imagine waking up every day knowing that you have a job to do that no one else but you can accomplish. That the entire world is waiting in anticipation for you to fulfill your role. And if you don’t do your part, now one else can fulfill their roles. Imagine that you are carrying the baton in your leg of a long marathon, and if you drop the baton or do not run your leg, everyone else is compromised. Imagine that you are an astronaut in space and if you don’t press the right button all of humanity hangs in the balance.
Imagine that every second of the day, every fiber of your being, feels how your next act changes the course of destiny.
If you felt this sense of urgency and this confidence all the time, how many problems would it pre-empt? How much heartache, aggravation, and therapy it would prevent; how much money, time and resources it would save!
Think about that for a minute: If you don’t feel like you make a difference in the world, how excited can you be about the things you do and the choices you make? When you wake up in the morning and you feel like what you do that day doesn’t matter anyway, how committed or passionate can you be?
This simple, clear message is the best preventive medicine for much of the troubles plaguing our world today, much if not all of which stems from one root: A deep void and lack of feeling that you and your actions are absolutely significant. That you are a necessary player in the scheme of existence, and your choices and actions always matter.
We need to reach to every person, to every child, every parent, every educator, every leader, with the message: You matter. Your life and what you do with it matters. You are indispensable to G-d and to this world.
* * *
A few weeks ago a couple approached me with their little children and asked me to bless their children for the New Year. I gave them a blessing, and then, without much thought, I turned to the parents and smilingly said: And G-d should bless you and all us adults that we not corrupt our pure and innocent children.
Words provoke. Spontaneously, the mother asks me: what do you suggest we can do to ensure that our children grow up the healthiest they can be and do not get corrupted by the adult world? If there were one thing we can do, what would it be?
“What a great question,” I said to myself and to her.
I will share with you my response, as a suggestion all parents around the world – a Rosh Hashana resolution:
On this Rosh Hashana let us all begin a new custom – a gift to our children:
Every morning upon awakening and every evening before putting your children to sleep – and as many times as you can throughout the day – tell your child (in addition to any words of love you usually convey to your child):
— (Obviously, you can and ought to customize this with your own words, and also tailor to the specific age and comprehension of your child. But here is an idea that you can either use or adapt). —
“Your soul was sent here to earth to accomplish a mission that you and only you can accomplish. Always remember that.
“You have a special song inside of you. A melody that has never been sung before. A beautiful song that will change everything you encounter.
“Wherever you go, whatever you do, whomever you meet – everything is waiting for you to sing your song. For you to shine with your special glow. For you to paint your unique portrait. For you to contribute your irreplaceable verse.”
In the Morning
Each morning, take your child’s hand and place it on his or her heart, and tell your child: “Your warm and special soul has just returned to you fresh and new. You were given this soul today anew so that you use it to illuminate and warm everyone and everything you come in contact with today.”
You can easily use the Modeh Ani prayer, which we say upon awakening, to express this message: Modeh ani lefonecho melech chai v’kayom, she’hechezarto bi neshmosi b’chemloh rabbo emunosecho. I offer thanks before you, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.
These words contain many ideas. One of them is the message of indispensability: Thank you for returning my unique soul, for making me special and imbuing me with an indispensable mission, for having faith in me.
“I am so excited to see you again this morning, my dear child.
“The world would be very different if you weren’t here. As you awake know that you have a new day ahead of you in which you have a critical role to play.
“You are absolutely necessary. You are indispensable to G-d’s vision of the world, chosen to fulfill a mission in this world that you and only you can accomplish.”
After School or At the End of the Day
As the day ends ask your child how he sang his special song that day. How she contributed and brought light to another person. Depending on the age and comprehension of the child, find ways to elicit form your child how he or she fulfilled their mission that day.
In the Evening
Every night before putting your children to sleep say to them:
“My dear and beautiful child, your special soul will now be returning to its source, to replenish itself with energy from the wellsprings of life.
“You surely used this day well, and showed G-d that He did well in placing His confidence in you.
“Now, return your soul and sleep well.”
Here too you can insert the evening prayer: Beyodcho afkid ruchi, podiso oisi Hashem Kel emes. In Your hand I entrust my spirit, You have redeemed me Hashem G-d of truth.
All Day Every Day
No number of times is enough to infuse our children with the cognizance of – and confidence in – their souls. In our material world, which relentlessly assaults our spirits, we can always use more energy to counter the attack.
Remember, children are naturally spiritual. As they grow and increasingly immerse into the material world they will assimilate and be impacted (by the toxins) of materialism. So the more we arm them with spiritual resources, the bigger the arsenal we provide them, and reinforce their confidence in their unique soul’s mission, the more powerful they will be and the more strength and courage they will have when they have to deal with the formidable and relentless demands and pressures of material life.
Therefore, whenever you have an opportunity to remind your child about his or her unparalleled spiritual mission, never hesitate to do so, even if it means again and again and again.
Is there a limit to how many times you can express love to your beloved? There is also no limit to how many times you can convey dignity and significance to you children.
Our Great Responsibility
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children (as Nelson Mandela said).
It is time to create a revolution – to refocus our priorities and invest our energies into the most premium of all our gifts: Our children. And remember: It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
Now let us envision what our child will look like as he or she grown into an adult saturated with not just with our love and nurturing, but also with a profound and intimate sense of purpose and urgency.
Imagine a child turned adult who has heard this message every day after day:
“You matter, not because you think you are important, or because others tell you that you are, or because of your buying power, monetary value, looks, performance or productivity level. But because G-d put you here. You are an indispensable musical note. Irreplaceable. Period. The world would be different if you were not here or if you do not fulfill your calling. You have been allotted a certain section of this globe, with certain talents; people you will meet; experiences you will have; places you will go; objects you will obtain – all are allocated to you in order for you to transform them, to leave them differently from how you found them. And this change lives forever. Eternally.
“You don’t just matter to me and your family; you matter to the entire world. You matter to all the worlds and the cosmos. You matter to all the souls in heaven who have been here before us. And above all: You matter to G-d.
“G-d personally chose you and sent your soul down to us here. To accomplish things that only you can accomplish.
“Never ever forget that.”
Blessed is the child that will grow up with this message ingrained in his every move.
Blessed is the world that will be filled with such children.
Tags: life tools, corruption, soul, body and soul, morals, confidence, individuality, passion, purpose
Posted in Weekly Parsha, Tishrei, Rosh Hashanah, Months & Holidays, Social, Devarim, Torah, Netzavim, Education | 19 Comments »
