In Honor and in Memory of all the lives lost in the vicious Bulgarian attack.
And for a complete refuah shleimah to all all those hurt and wounded

Not again. Just when Jewish life in Israel and abroad seemed to be experiencing a relative calm, the latest tragic attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria rudely reminds us of the lurking enemy.

It was just a week ago that I was walking the bustling streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, enthralled by the thriving life all around. How beautiful and how blessed to see Jews — after being opressed for thousands of years — finally experiencing freedom and comfort (material at least; spiritual is another story).

But now in the wake of the terror attack in Burgas airport that killed seven people and wounded 30 (which eerily happended on the 18th anniversary of an attack on the Jewish community in Buenos Aires), we are awakened from our reverie, and compelled to look deeper into ourselves and the world around us. “When a calamity strikes the public,” Maimonides exhorts us, “we must cry out, examine our lives and correct our ways. To say that the calamity is merely a natural phenomenon and a chance occurrence is insensitive and cruel” (Laws of Fasting 1:2-3). How much more so, as we begin the sad Nine Days, when we mourn over the destruction of the holy Temples and our other losses.

Just as we read in the Torah this week about how the Jewish people arrive at the shores of the Promised Land, after their arduous journey through the wilderness, the Promised Land still eludes us in many ways.

People are asking: G-t in himmel: vos vet zein? G-d in heaven: what will be?

Rabbi Yisrael Lau, former chief Rabbi of Israel (is there such a thing as a former chief rabbi?) relates a story that happened with him the first time he came to the USA in 1974. He was then a rabbi in a small synagogue outside of Tel Aviv, and came to Brooklyn to visit the Rebbe. In middle of their conversation, the Rebbe asked him what Jews are saying these days in Israel (it was right after the 1973 Yom Kippur war). Rabbi Lau replied that Jews are asking each other: “Vos vet zein”? “What will be?”

The Rebbe grasped Rabbi Lau’s arm, and vehemently said: “Yiden fregen nit vos vet zein; zei fregen: vos geit men ton!” Jews don’t ask what will be; they ask: What are we going to do!

“What will be” is the question of a victim. “What are we going to do” is a proactive question. When you are at war, the last thing you want to hear is your commander-in-chief questioning, “What are we going to do?” You want to hear that we have a plan, a direction, a strategy – and we are forging ahead!

So, what are we to do?

To answer that question, let us first take a penetrating look at the most compelling question of all: Why the Jews? Why Israel? What do our enemies have against us? Why do they go to the farthest lengths to find and target Jews wherever they may be in the world — now, in Bulgaria?!

Israel has always been in the news. From the beginning of time people, nations and religions have been fighting for control of the Holy Land. Disproportionate to its size the Promised Land carries unparalleled influence throughout history. What is the mysterious power of this small piece of the map that has everyone consumed with it?

Like everything in life, the mystique of Israel can only be understood by getting to its soul-root.

When you want to understand the true nature of a phenomenon you must always travel beneath the surface into the underlying causes. To understand existence we must study its complete structure in full context. Doctors and scientists explore the physiological causes for any given experience. Not just the symptoms, but also the biological, anatomical, chemical and other variables that shape life. Physics digs further into the molecular and cellular structures, until we reach the sub-atomic level. As of today, we have yet to discover fundamentally deeper dimensions (despite the recent purported discovery of Higgs Boson).

Mysticism – which is a better name than metaphysics – goes further by exploring the spiritual structure that lies within it all: The soul inside the “body” of the phenomenon.

When we see how Israel so illogically dominates the news, and not just today but for millennia on end, there is no way to understand this mystery without getting into the deepest roots of existence itself – the soul of life. The same can be said about the Bible, the “best selling” book in history, and one that continues to top all charts. What lies behind its power?

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the… annals of Jewish mysticism.

The world in which we live is actually made up of two parts: One part matter, one part spirit. Everything in life consists of a body and a soul. The Kabbalists call it container and light, but you can also define it as form and function, style and substance, outside and inside, package and product.

The outer layer of the material universe is like a shell, a peel – a thick skin that conceals the enormous spiritual energy within. Just as it is on an individual level: Your physical body is a container that carries within itself your personality, your soul and all its faculties. The naked eye that only views the body does not see what lies inside; it may have no inkling of what lurks within your psyche. Indeed, it may even have a distorted view of who you truly are. The macrocosm is just like the microcosm: The “body” of the universe conceals the potent forces that lie within.

But one big question remains: Even though spirit and matter are in actuality two sides of one coin, they are perceived by us as two separate entities. Indeed, one could even deny the existence of the spirit within (as many claim they do). In Kabbalistic terminology this denial or dichotomy is possible, nay, necessary as a result of the great primordial Tzimtzum, in which G-d concealed the conscious Divine energy, so that existence as we know it could emerge and experience itself as a distinct entity, not overwhelmed by the Divine unity.

So here’s the big question: Is this concealment airtight? Is it ever possible to reach a place where these two worlds meet? Or are we doomed to live either in the world of matter or spirit?

This, mind you, is not merely an academic question. It determines the very essence of life’s possibilities for us. It touches on the wall that divides us in the material world from our loved ones who have passed on to the world of spirit. It defines the greatest search of all mankind – for the ultimate unified field theory that unites all of existence. And above all, it tells us whether our search for the ultimate utopia is possible.

Can we reach beyond the doors of perception and truly live a life of integration – a life of peace between body and soul, between matter and spirit? Is there an intersection that connects the two worlds?

The answer is Israel. The Holy Land is the portal between heaven and earth. The split between the two worlds is deep indeed. Yet, G-d left one door open between them, and the opening to that door is in the Promised Land. This is what makes this land holy. Holiness means something that simply has less egocentric layers that block out the inner Divine energy. G-d left this door open so that the holiness of Israel will ultimately transform the rest of the world.

Israel – Eretz Yisroel as its accurately called in the Torah – is the spiritual ‘center’ of the universe. The sages tell us that Israel has ten levels of holiness, one greater than the next, with the highest point being Jerusalem, and within it the Temple Mount. Jacob called it “the gate to heaven” (Genesis 28:17).

Israel is the place that bridges heaven and earth. The word “Israel” is the name given by Esau’s angel to Jacob after their all-night wrestle. “Hereafter you will be named Yisroel, for you have battled with the Divine and with man and you have prevailed” (Genesis 32:29). There is a battle between the Divine and man, between spirit and matter, and Jacob prevailed, allowing for the fusion of the two.

One of the most eloquent ideas in Kabbala is the interwoven unity of time, space and the human being: Everything that exists in one entity also exists in the other two. Everything in time and space is also contained in microcosm within each of us. And vice versa: Everything within the human system manifests somewhere in time and space.

Jacob’s victory as reflected in his name Israel manifests itself in space in the land called Israel. The Holy Land of Israel is the physical manifestation of the fusion between the spiritual and the material – between the human and the Divine.

The centrality of Israel in Torah is actually a psycho/spiritual centrality. The Holy Land represents a state of sanctity within each of our souls, and its ability to integrate with our physical lives. It’s role as Promised Land – the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land that consumes the journey of the Jewish people throughout the wilderness – is the destination to which we all aspire.

And that’s why everyone gravitates to this land. Unconsciously, ever nation, religion and individual senses that the Holy land is the spiritual vortex of existence, the place where the doors open up to reach the Divine.

The collective unconscious of the universe is obsessed with Israel. Not with China, land of 2+ billion, not with India, not with the USA, a country 10 times younger than many walls in Jerusalem. The only place on Earth which continues to dominate headlines, today just as it did 3500 years ago, is this small country (1/19^th the size of the state of California) called Israel!

But the question begs: If Israel is the bridge between heaven and earth why is there no peace in the Holy Land? Why don’t we experience this unity? True, one can sense a mystical presence in Jerusalem, Tzfat and other cities, but why has it not permeated the people that live there, and for that matter, why hasn’t it spread to the rest of the world?

The entire point of Israel’s centrality is to serve as a spiritual hub which will bring peace to the entire world. It is a place that is meant to serve as a model of what the world would look like when heaven meets earth. So where are the results?

Ahh, this brings us to the crux of it all. The thing called “galut.” Galut means exile. A better translation is displacement – a spiritual dissonance, in which we become misaligned from our source and our purpose.

Health is a sound soul inside a sound body – body and soul aligned in one seamless whole, and the body serves as a container that allows the soul to freely flow through it. What happens when there is an impediment, G-d forbid, when the soul’s energy cannot freely flow through the body? This is the definition of illness.

So it is with spiritual and psychological health. A healthy organism, a healthy person, nation or religion is one in which the “body” is one with the “soul.” However, when “what you do” is not one with “who you are,” when there is a dichotomy between your physical activity and your soul’s aspirations, you are in “galut” – spiritually and psychologically displaced.

This galut is perhaps most acutely felt in the Holy Land. In the spiritual vortex of the universe any dissonance is most keenly experienced. A speck of dust on your arm is hardly noticed. The same dust on your eyeball is quite irritating. Israel is called the Divine “eye.” Every disparity in the world is amplified in the eyeball, in the soul.

In our prayers we declare: “Because of our iniquities we were exiled from our land.” Everyone says this prayer, including the Jews living in Israel. But they are living in the land, how can they say, “we were exiled from the land”? Because exile is much more than physical displacement; it is spiritual displacement – and that is the state of affairs in the universe for the last 19 centuries, actually, from the beginning of time. Until the day when we actually integrate matter and spirit, we are living in an unhealthy state of displacement and disconnection. The fact that we may feel healthy only accentuates the disconnection.

But the good news is this: The cause for this displacement is our iniquities. Why? What is a sin? Sin actually means displacement. When we, say, hurt another person, we are actually hurting ourselves. Every sin is a form of wandering away from fulfilling our true purpose.

However, the word sin has become loaded today, as have many religious references. No one has a problem with being told that spilling water into your hard drive will destroy your computer. Or that eating poison will harm you. We don’t call this a “sin,” we call it “destructive behavior” and as a result of “cause and effect,” destructive behavior will result in damage to the system. [Just as we don’t call them “sports fanatics” and “religious fans,” even though the word “fan” is short for “fanatic”].

Once you get beyond the stereotypes and distorted myths surrounding sin (many of which have been fed to us by a, well, displaced religious establishment), you discover that the true meaning of sin is exactly that: displacement, a behavior that is inconsistent with what makes the “machine” of life work best. As a result, according to the rules of “cause and effect,” we were displaced (exiled) from our land. Not as an incidental punishment, but as an effect of our behavior. When you wander away from your calling, you in effect have wandered away from “Israel” – your soul and the collective soul and conscience of the universe.

Yes, as painful as it is, you can live in Israel, but Israel may not live in you. Just as you can eat kosher and not be kosher.

Two important qualifications, before you criticize what I just wrote. One, the Holy Land retains its inherent holiness despite our displaced exile. Two, it is a great mitzvah to live in Israel, and one of the great miracles of our time is the renaissance of Jewish life in Israel today. And perhaps the noblest role of all is the one played by Tzahal, Israeli soldiers sacrificing their lives to protect their brothers and sisters.

However, the challenge still remains for all of us, both those living inside and outside of Israel: Is Israel – the true spiritual nature of Eretz Yisroel – living inside of us?

As we are left reeling by more appalling news coming from Bulgaria, as more innocent lives are broken, as we read how the Jewish people conclude their 40 year journey to the Promised Land – what better thought to ponder on than our own relationship with the spiritual center of the universe.

Our hearts cry out, our feelings and thoughts are with all the innocent victims and their families, we do whatever we physically can to support Israel and all those in need. But there is something more, much more that we can do.

As much support as we offer, many of us are left absolutely paralyzed with the question: “What will be?” It seems like there is nothing we can do to change the situation.

In truth there is something very powerful that we can do. In addition to our immediate support on every possible level, we must never forget the root of all our problems in Israel: Our misalignment and displacement from our spiritual hub.

Our call today is to realign our lives with the spiritual Israel within and without. As the Tzemach Tzedek told one of his Chassidim: “Make here (the place in which you live) Eretz Yisroel.” Wherever you are – inside or outside of Israel – you must battle the forces that separate man from the Divine, you must take your life and transform it into “Eretz Yisroel,” a spiritual force that prevails over all. And prevail we will.

The angrier you get about events surrounding Israel, the more you should channel that intensity into positive action to create a spiritual revolution in your life, in your home, in your community and in your corner of the world. This is the true conquest of Israel.

And we are told, we are promised that a positive shift in your life wherever you may live, positively shifts the state of affairs in Israel. A shift in the spoke shifts the hub. By building our “spiritual Israel” within we build physical Israel.

Here’s a suggestion, if I may:

Our sages teach us that by studying the laws and details about a specific entity, we help rebuild it. So even when we cannot physically perform a certain mitzvah (e.g. bring an offering in the temple, build and serve in the physical Temple), we “perform” the mitzvah by studying and “recreating” the experience as best as we possible can with the resources we have available to us. You can call it cognitive actualization: Cognitive focus generates practical reality. Sometimes when we can’t perform a certain action, we can focus our mind on it, thereby setting in motion a force that gets actualized in the process. A form of positive projection, if you wish. By thinking about the action we project and actually create it.

Based on this concept, here is the suggestion: As a show of solidarity with Israel and a way to help “build” the true Israel both in body and soul, let us organize classes to study in depth and detail the nature of the Holy Land – both its physical and spiritual nature. Let us study the description and laws of the holy Temple. By exploring the spiritual and psychological parallels of Israel in our lives today we bond with the land. Israel’s geography, its personality, its very terrain – mountains and valleys, fruits and deserts, all reflect our own spiritual personality. To appreciate and preserve the power of Israel we must recognize and access its soul.

This of course is in addition to all other ways in which we support Israel – financially, emotionally and so on. Obviously, a powerful way of showing support is by visiting the Holy Land or even deciding to live there. But even for those of us that cannot do that (for whatever reason), we are not released from the obligation of building Israel within our lives and having Israel live inside of us. Indeed, perhaps our obligation may be even stronger, and it behooves us to find deeper ways to bond with Israel as the soul of the universe and recognize its integral connection to our own soul.

Yes, we are on our way to the Promised Land. 3324 years ago, 1944 years ago, and today. How long it will take is up to us.

Steve Jobs’ Contribution to the New Spiritual Revolution

When Apple released the first iPad in April 2010, I wrote an article titled Steve Jobs and Passover, contrasting today’s technological revolution and the Torah’s spiritual revolution initiated by Abraham close to 4000 years ago, closing with the question: Who will rise today as a spiritual Steve Jobs, ready to pioneer a new spiritual path?

With the untimely passing of Mr. Jobs, at the young age of 56, I would like to add a second part to that original article and discuss the parallels between the two revolutions – the technology or information revolution, and the spiritual revolution.

In the first article I emphasized the difference between the two revolutions, and the limitations of the technology revolution to actually make us better people and turn this world into a nicer place.

But that being said, the breakthroughs in technology and spirituality are in fact very much connected.

A 2000 Year-Old Prediction

Some two thousand years ago the Zohar (I 117a), the classical text of mysticism, made the following radical prediction:

Beginning in 1840 (corresponding with the Industrial Revolution), there would be a dual revolution – an explosion of scientific wisdom coupled with an outburst of spiritual wisdom – which would begin ushering in true unity into the world, leading toward the final redemption.

The Zohar’s prediction is based on the verse (Genesis 7:11): In the six-hundredth year in the life of Noah… all wellsprings of the great deep burst open, and the windows of heaven were opened. The Zohar interprets this to mean: “in the sixth century of the sixth millennium, the gates of the supernal wisdom will be opened, as will the springs of the earthly wisdom, preparing the world to be elevated in the seventh millennium.”

Indeed, the fifty-sixth century from creation (1740-1840 in the Gregorian calendar) was a time of great discovery and accelerated development, both in the supernal wisdom of Torah and in the earthly wisdom of secular science. This was the century in which the mystical teachings of Chassidism were revealed and disseminated by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov and his disciples. The inner soul of Torah, which until then had been the province of a select number of mystics in each generation, was made accessible to all, imparting a new depth to our understanding of divine unity and the inherent spirit within our lives and the cosmos, infusing vitality and joy into our traditions.

As these supernal revelations poured forth from windows of heaven, the earthly wellsprings answered in kind. The same century saw an unprecedented eruption of knowledge in all fields of secular science—in mathematics, physics, medicine and technology—revolutionizing all areas of human life.

According to the Zohar, this dual revolution came to prepare the world for the “seventh millennium”—the Messianic era, when the six “workday” millennia of history will culminate in an age of total fusion and unity between matter and spirit, a time  “that is wholly Shabbat and tranquility for life everlasting.”

Since the year 1840 (5600 in the Hebrew calendar) this technological revolution has only accelerated, growing exponentially faster and faster with each passing year. To the point that the speed of technology today doubles every second year (according to Moore’s Law), and in many areas expands even faster, with new innovations emerging at breathtaking speed.

In the past few decades, Steve Jobs was at the center of this revolution.

The Search for Unity

All of science and technology is about discovering unity. Science, first and foremost, seeks to find the unifying laws and principles that govern the widely diverse systems of our universe. Technology aims to cut down and eliminate the divisions between time and space, between matter and energy.

You can say that the ultimate technological nirvana, the epitome of scientific utopia would be a total fusion of both entities – matter and spirit, body and soul, form and function, machine and purpose.

Think of a computer. Your press a letter on a keypad and poof – words appear on a screen, which then can be transmitted and printed anywhere. Steve Jobs took that to another level, fusing design and technology, where with the mere touch of your hand you could produce your desired results.

Once upon a time you would have needed to etch the same letters in stone, which took much time and effort. And then send it on foot or on horseback (or camelback) to its intended recipient, which could take months if not years.

Today, with one small touch you trigger electrical impulses that in turn are converted into digital language, which produce all your intended results – and ship your message instantaneously anywhere in the universe!

Three hundred years ago, a teacher could communicate directly only with those who were within range of his voice; today, his words and image can be broadcast to billions of people in all parts of the globe.

Steve Jobs was perhaps the greatest developer of technology of our time. What he accomplished above all was create a seamless revolution in the world of culture and technology, machines that serve as intuitive extensions of our human senses. Invisible instruments that bridge matter and energy in unprecedented ways.

Jobs understood and innovated the fusion of design, technology, culture and information – forging first-time deals with content and music providers – basically creating a seamless flow, from the source to the recipient, with the minimal amount of resistance. He took technology to another level of seamlessness — turning it into a natural cultural expression.

Mr. Jobs expressed it best in this January 2000 Fortune magazine interview, discussing his obsession with design (notice his use of the word soul):

“We don’t have good language to talk about this kind of thing,” Mr. Jobs said. “In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. The iMac is not just the color or translucence or the shape of the shell. The essence of the iMac is to be the finest possible consumer computer in which each element plays together. … That is the furthest thing from veneer. It was at the core of the product the day we started. This is what customers pay us for — to sweat all these details so it’s easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We’re supposed to be really good at this. That doesn’t mean we don’t listen to customers, but it’s hard for them to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it.”

In a recent interview, Gadi Amit, founder and principal designer of New Deal Design in San Francisco, put it this way: “Most people underestimate his grandeur and his greatness. They think it’s about design. It’s beyond design. It’s completely holistic, and it’s dogmatic. Things need to be high quality; they have to have poetry and culture in each step. Steve was cut from completely different cloth from most business leaders. He was not a number-crunching guy; he was not a technologist. He was a cultural leader, and he drove Apple from that perspective. He started with culture; then followed with technology and design. No one seems to get that.”

Steve Jobs’s legacy will be, Mr. Amit continued, “the blending of technology and poetry. It’s not about design per se; it’s the poetic aspect of the entire enterprise. Compared to Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, he’s in a different class. I think this is a revolutionary shift. Jobs is a revolutionary character. He shifted the industry and changed our lives through this amalgamation of culture and technology. If you’re looking for C.E.O.’s of this caliber, you have to look outside the engineering and business schools. That is truly revolutionary.”

If Steve Jobs were a conductor, he would be superconductor – creating instruments that are seamless expressions and extensions, with (almost) zero resistance, of a person’s mind and intuition, as well as of his fingers, ears, mouth and other faculties.

And who knows what else he would have accomplished had he lived longer.

Whether intentional or not, this fusion is in fact driven by the integral Divine unity in all of existence. The soul of this integration is the fusion between matter and spirit.

So we can say that Steve Jobs was a pioneer in the eternal human search for unity.

The Yom Kippur Connection

The Torah calls Yom Kippur achas b’shana. Achas b’shana means much more than just “once a year.” Every holiday takes place once a year. And yet the verse uses the term achas b’shana only regarding Yom Kippur. Achas b’shana means “oneness in the year,” that once a year, on this special day, the ultimate oneness of Divine unity radiates. Yechida – l’yachdecho.

The soul has five dimensions. Yom Kippur is the day of Yechida – when the fifth and innermost level of the soul is revealed.

Our mission in life all year round is to reveal the inherent unity within all of existence; to integrate matter and spirit, body and soul. But throughout the year that unity is concealed and harder to uncover. On Yom Kippur, achas b’shana, the layers are removed and we have unfiltered access to the unity of Yechida, which is one with the unity of the Divine essence. Yom Kippur infuses us with the power to channel that unity into existence all year round.

The Missing Ingredient

The dual revolution in both types of wisdom — wisdom of the mind and wisdom of the soul — has surely come to pass; where we have fallen short is in integrating these spheres of knowledge.

The revolution will take complete hold only when both elements – science and soul – are fused together as one.

Only by balancing the scientific with the spiritual can we transform the dream of an ideal future into a functional blueprint for society, for true communication can begin only when human minds and souls interact. With communica­tion comes understanding; with understanding comes com­passion; and with compassion comes a natural movement toward universalism.

So the current technological revolution is in fact the hand of G-d at work; it is meant to help us make G-d a reality in our lives and unity our natural state of being. And as time goes on, science will show itself more and more to parallel the truths of G-d, thereby revealing the intrinsic unity in the entire universe.

The divine purpose of the present information revolution, for instance, which gives an individual unprecedented power and opportunity, is to allow us to share knowledge — spiritual knowledge with each other, empowering and unifying individuals everywhere. We need to utilize today’s interactive technology not just for business or leisure but to interlink as people — to create a welcome environment for the interaction of our souls, our hearts, our visions.

There is much to learn from the technological revolution, as long as we understand its role in our lives and see it as a final step in our dramatic search for unity throughout the universe. After all, developments in science and technology have taught us to be more sensitive to the intangible and the sublime: the forces behind computers, telephones, television, the internet, mobile and cloud technology, and so on are all invisible, and yet we fully recognize their power and reach. Similarly, we must come to accept that the driving force behind the entire universe is intangible and sublime, and we must come to experience the transcendent and G-dly in every single thing — beginning, of course with ourselves.

With all our human capacity for technological advancement, we must never forget our higher objective. We must strive to enhance our scientific search for truth by constantly expanding our spiritual search for the divine.

Where Are We Headed?

For many people technology is disconnected from its soul. The information revolution is for many just a new way to make money, entertainment, a way to further indulge, or just a plain deluge. In part one I described the shortcomings of the technology revolution devoid and divorced from its soul.

But that doesn’t diminish its true and vital nature – as a twin expression to the revolution of the “upper (higher) knowledge,” and precursor to the age of “a world filled with Divine knowledge as the waters cover the sea.”

Indeed, a fundamental principle in Torah is that “nothing was created for naught,” and “everything in this universe was created to express Divine honor.” Gold, the Midrash tells us, was created for the Holy Temple to be used for sacred purposes to refine and elevate our world. But in order that there be free will, in order to give us the dignity of choice, gold was also placed in the human domain where we can choose to use it for our own selfish purposes, or be wise enough to understand and appreciate the true purpose of gold and use it accordingly.

The same is with technology. Even though the actual instrument and machines are man-made, they are using and tapping into forces embedded in nature that are part of G-d’s creation from the beginning of time. The purpose of these formidable forces is to be used, like gold, to refine and sublimate the material world, and transform it into a spiritual environment and home. Only, G-d wanted us to be partners in this drama and process, so we have the free will to choose and initiate the use of technology towards its intended objectives (ends), namely to fill the world with Divine knowledge.

Just because some (or even many) people misunderstand and misuse technology doesn’t mean that technology is bad and it should be destroyed. As the sages answered the Roman philosophers who asked then why G-d doesn’t destroy the sun and the moon to prevent them from being worshipped as idols: “should God destroy His world because of fools?” (Avodah Zara 54a)

By creating instruments and tools that broke down the gap dissonance between man and technology, man and machine, Steve Jobs’ innovations helped refine the material world and make it a more seamless channel for energy.

As such, he helped – knowingly or not – prepare the world for the ultimate refinement, when every cell of material existence will channel Divine energy. A world in which the “stone in the wall will cry out” and the very “flesh” of our physical universe will see and hear and express its inner soul. Every last fiber of matter will sing Divine music.

Who Will be the Spiritual Steve Jobs?

The first revolution – in science and technology (“earthly wisdom”) – is well in place. The second revolution – in spirituality and Divine knowledge (“supernal wisdom”) – has to now catch up.

Steve Jobs (and the other three horsemen today, Google, Facebook, Amazon) created a seamless revolution in the world of technology – fusion in the tools we use.

We need to now each become a spiritual “Steve Jobs” and create an equally powerful seamless revolution of spiritual fusion, integrating matter and spirit — the mundane and the divine — in an all encompassing unity, that joins our ideals and our actions, mind and heart, values and survival.

There is no better day than Yom Kippur to begin the revolution…

Where Do We Stand?

So much has been said about the unprecedented upheavals of the past year – economic chaos, Arab Spring, volatile weather, and of course, Israel. A cloud of uncertainty hangs over virtually every sector of life. Predictions for the next year are dire.

But as we stand at the threshold of the Jewish New Year, a time when our cosmic contract is renewed, we have the opportunity to begin the year with a new mindset, one that is not polluted by the anxieties of the past year.

Furthermore, the New Year is called Rosh Hashana for a reason. “Rosh” means head. The day is not just the beginning of the year. It is also the head of the year. And like a head, Rosh Hashana is the “central nervous system” that controls and regulates all the days of the year (like the mind that governs all the parts of the body).

This means that our new attitude on Rosh Hashana has the power to affect and draw in new energy throughout the entire upcoming year.

So notwithstanding the difficulties we faced yesterday and the day and year before, Rosh Hashana presents the universe – and the human race – with new opportunities.

Birds’ Eye View

One way to begin is to take a step back from the current turmoil, and look at the bigger picture. All monsters look frightening from close-up. When we rise up and look at things with a birds-eye view, most adversaries don’t appear that threatening.

Instead of being overwhelmed by the myopic ground level view, Rosh Hashana, when our contract is renewed, behooves us to go back to the point of departure and focus on the reason we are here in the first place. When you have wandered off course, the wisest thing to do is to retrace your steps and return to the point prior to getting lost.

And we need not look far. While headlines are dominated by despondent news, there are also some very encouraging breakthroughs that can offer the human race real hope.

Among many exciting pieces of recent news, two stand out that I believe can shed a powerful light on our future.

A Mind Blowing Statistic

We often search for that one statement that captures the pulse of an era. Or that one statistic that encapsulates the progress of our times.

I recently fell upon a fascinating calculation that with one number gives us a razor-sharp snapshot of our contemporary world.

And it comes to us by courtesy of no less that a Polish born Jew, who fled anti-Semitic Polish pogroms, came in 1905 to America and rose in the ranks to become a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, someone who was known as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy.”

In 1957, Admiral Hyman – or Chaim – Rickover delivered a lecture calculating that a century earlier, in the early years of the industrial age, 94 percent of the world’s energy was provided by the labor of men and animals. Water and fossil fuels made up the remaining 6 percent. By the 1950s, those numbers had reversed, and coal, oil and natural gas supplied 93 percent of the world’s energy. Rickover pointed out that without this energy revolution, most of the material advances of the modern age would be impossible. A car, he said, uses the energy equivalent of the labor of 2,000 men; a jet plane that of 700,000 men.

This one statistic – the drastic change in energy production in just the last century – captures the essence of our modern times, both its positive aspects and its negative ones.

For example, what are the implications and consequences of people suddenly freed up from producing most of the energy that runs their lives? Instead of spending most of our time toiling in the fields and in other forms of labor, we now can relax while over 90% of our energy needed is being generated by other forces. How much leisure time has this produced? And what are we doing with all that free time? How is it impacting our relationships, our commitments, our families and our own psychological well-being?

For most of human history, the labor of men and animals was the sole source of energy, and that placed significant limits on how much free time we had. Starting in the late 18th and early 19th century, humans harnessed the power of steam and coal to run machines, and the result was an explosion of available and unused time.

This dramatic change in how energy is produced also offers us a powerful perspective on the economy and generation of wealth. How much of our free time has been filled up with the creation of material abundance and the acquisition of enormous wealth? How much of our emotional and spiritual lives, how much of our souls – “who we are” as opposed to “what we do” – has been compromised in the process?

Since 1957 this trend has only escalated. With technological breakthroughs advancing at a blinding pace, today we can have our needs and luxuries (including things that can be harmful to us) met with no more energy expended than the press of a button!

You can literally morph into a couch-potato, and get every one of your whims delivered to you either online or through home delivery!

What is this doing to our psyches?

Rosh Hashana 2011

With this radical shift in mind, Rosh Hashana today takes on a unique significance.

Rosh Hashana, the collective birthday of the human race, was always an introspective time for humans to look at – and into – their lives, and ask whether we are living up to our calling.

The Torah tells us that on Rosh Hashana 5772 years ago the first man and woman were created in the form of Adam and Eve. They were charged with the mission “to serve and protect” – to sublimate and refine the self-oriented material world around them, and transform it into a land of virtue and love.

Every Rosh Hashana we are expected to report and give an accounting of how we have done and how we are doing, and what we forecast for the next “fiscal” year.

Armed with Rickover’s calculation about how little energy humans need to generate today, the question today is how are we using our energy and our free time?

This statistic compels us humans to look at ourselves and our activities and investments in a new way.

The G-d Particle

Here is a second intriguing scientific development.

“The biggest innovations of our time will likely be those that help address humanity’s needs, rather than those that simply create the most profit. Good ideas come from doing things differently, exploring new territory and taking risks.” So writes David R. Butcher in a new article, titled 6 Amazing Science Projects that are Changing the World.

One of the projects he lists is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle collider and the most expensive scientific instrument ever built. Buried deep beneath the countryside on the Franco-Swiss border, the Collider was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), a 20-nation consortium and the world’s leading particle physics laboratory, in collaboration with more than 10,000 scientists and engineers from more than 100 countries. The LHC is designed to unlock the fundamental physics of the universe, including determining whether the hypothetical Higgs boson (commonly referred to as the “G-d particle”) exists and how the universe formed, as well as possibly finding dark matter and new dimensions. Last year, LHC physicists announced they had created 10 million mini-Big Bangs in the first week of their high-powered probe into the secrets of the cosmos.

Hmm. Scientists in search of the G-d particle…

Perhaps it is the G-d particle that is missing in the equation. Perhaps it is the element missing in the enormous human-energy vacuum created by technology. And should we be able to harness our vast stores of freed up energy and time (as well as the enormous Divine energy within all technology) toward fulfilling our spiritual mission “to serve and protect” – what type of world can we create?

A Centennial of a Revolution

Which bring me to a – lesser known (if at all) – centennial that begins this year.

100 years ago the world was on the verge of being thrust into the bloodiest and most tumultuous period in all of history, shaking the universe to its core.

On the brink of the Russian revolution and World War I, 5672/1911-12 was a momentous time. Major transitions – mostly tragic but some positive – were underway, and humanity would never, ever be the same.

Meanwhile, in a small town in Russia a great Chassidic Master, known as the Rebbe Rashab, began delivering a series of profound discourses, which would become known as “Series 72” (Hemshech Ayin-Beis) as they were delivered beginning (on Shavuot) in the Hebrew year 5672, which was the year 1912. The series, delivered over an extended period of four years, consists of 144 (!) discourses, and an entire section that was only written and never delivered in public.

These discourses were so dense and complex that for years they were never published. The good news, however, is that ultimately they were published (in 1977) from their original manuscripts and we have them available today to study and analyze.

“Series 72” dissects the very nature of existence, indeed, the very nature of reality itself. Its central and most remarkable theme is the search for an interface between our superficial existence and the higher Divine reality. Existence as we see and experience it can appear divorced of any purpose and direction. Life as we know it can be quite selfish and narcissistic, detached from serving anything but oneself. Such dissonance contains the germ for all destruction.

Perhaps, as the universe was at the brink of annihilation in 1912 – which only true visionaries could foresee – the Rebbe Rashab felt the need to dissect and revisit the “engineering room” that wires all of existence, and seek out the proper interfaces that would relieve existential tension and loneliness and allow us the ability to reconnect.

I submit that “Series 72” (Hemshech Ayin Beis) offers us the missing link – the G-d particle within existence – that, when accessed, allows us to direct our human energy (and tap the energy produced by fossil fuels and technology) toward its intended purpose: To generate powerful waves of Divine energy, through our acts of virtue and kindness, which will transform the world into a Divine home.

Hemshech Ayin Beis, together with its earlier counterpart, Hemshech Samach Vav (Series 66), unleashed a revolution – that perhaps we can now, one century later, begin to appreciate.

As this column has done in 2006, in celebration of the centennial of Samach Vav (here is a comprehensive summary and elaboration of that discourse), we will honor this year’s Ayin Beis centennial (5672-5772, 1912-2012) by producing an exciting and accessible series of materials, classes and programs around the “Ayin Beis” series. Stay tuned.

Curtain

We live in a troubled world. Much fear – both the overt, and the far worse covert – controls decisions or indecisions being made today, both by laypeople and our so-called leaders.

The good news is that a new year is upon us, rife with many new possibilities.

If we only allow ourselves to pull ourselves a bit back and out from our enmeshed lives, we can transcend many of our doubts, and see new opportunities, as an old world gives way to a new one.

Armed with the awareness of the “brave new world” we live in, with tremendous reservoirs of energy and time freed up due to technology; and armed with Hemshech Ayin Beis, which teaches us how to create interfaces between our lives and the Divine – we have the power to create a true revolution.

As the curtain comes down on 5771 and we prepare to enter 5772, we have much to look forward to.

Ten Years Later

Any one of age remembers exactly where they were ten years ago when the first planes struck New York’s World Trade Centers.

At the time we all knew that this traumatic day would never be forgotten. Not just by the families who lost their loved ones, but by all of us. The sheer chutzpah of the attacks – striking at the heart and center of the Western World, leaving an indelible scar on Manhattan’s famed skyline; the striking events of that dark Tuesday morning – who can forget the streaming images implanted in our memories of the airplanes slicing through the towers; the desperate people jumping from the buildings; the horrified soot covered faces of those running from the scene, the billowing smoke rising for days on end to the downtown heavens, the streaming flow of people running from the scene, crossing the bridges – every haunting detail of 9/11 assured that this ignoble date would be forever etched in the annals of history.

Just say the word 9/11 (nine-eleven), and everyone knows exactly what you are talking about.

But of all the powerful experiences of that day – both the tragic ones as well as the noble acts of courage – the one that perhaps endures the most is the utter incomprehensibility of the attacks.

Today, just as then – despite the decade that has passed, and all the intelligence (if you can call it that), wars fought, technologies developed – we are no closer to making sense and understanding the events of 9/11: Why were we attacked? What did Bin-Laden and Al Qaeda want to achieve with these aggressive acts?

The only thing we know certain after 9/11 is that we have entered an age of uncertainty. Before that date America was riding high, brimming with confidence, everything was possible. This country – and the general Western world – felt invincible. We saw violence and terrorism centered in the Middle East, mostly focused on Israel. We were immune, or so we thought, from the ills plaguing that primitive region. We were, after all, an “advanced” society, immersed in economic growth, technological innovation; we were – just like the Titanic’s maiden voyage – unsinkable.

Then came September 11, 2011. A high profile attack on American soil – striking the financial engine room of New York and the Pentagon in Washington. And suddenly the world equation changed – or more accurately: our eyes were opened to a new reality: Muslim fundamentalists see the USA and the Western World as an enemy. Terrorism is global, and it punched America in the eye.

Now a decade later, with the wisdom of retrospect, we can say that 9/11 – in the wee dawn hours of the 21^st century – ushered in a new age: An age of uncertainty.

Look what happened since. In addition to our national security being shaken to the core – something you can tangibly feel every time you board a plane – our economy has followed suit. Just as it seemed that prosperity would keep accelerating, markets would never stop rising, and technologies were advancing at a breathtaking pace, on the verge of reaching digital utopia, we have all been reminded of age-old human vices and the fragility of our structures.

At the opening bell – or falling ball – of the 21^st century, we were sure that technology would emancipate the world; money would be flowing in every direction; our confidence was at its highest point. Even the sky was not the limit.

Just 11 years into the young century, we are undergoing our first serious transition, marking the shift from one state to another. From economics to politics, the United States and the world at large are experiencing seismic tremors.

We must acknowledge the fact that since 9/11 there has been no attack on America in the last ten years. We did something right. But the shadow of that fateful day still hangs low and heavily over us. The doubts and uncertainty it has sowed remain very real and threatening.

In a way Bin-Laden (though dead now) accomplished his goal: To weaken the resolve and confidence of the West – the world he and his colleagues consider “decadent,” the “crusaders” who together with the “Zionists” are at war with G-d’s plan for Muslim dominance.

The Good News

Now for the good news.

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

A second, and equally important principle is that every negative can be turned into a positive. Even loss and destruction – including what happened on 9/11 – can and ought to be channeled and transformed into a force for good. This does not justify or minimize the loss; it only tells us that after the fact even a liability can become an asset.

The Torah takes this a step further: Every new breakthrough is preceded by the meltdown of the status quo. Like a new building that can only be built after the old one has been razed, every true innovation is possible only when the previous institutions and structures collapse. Because as long as we are stuck in an old state, we cannot expect to assume a new state. To allow for a new layer of skin, the previous one has to be shed, leaving a vacuum between two paradigms, the old and the new.

This in-between, transition, state can be very disconcerting, because at the point of the crack we are neither there or here – we cannot depend on past structures, and we do not yet have the new ones in place. Nature abhors a vacuum, as do we. Yet, there is no other way to grow and mature.

When our systems seem to be failing the key thing then is to remember the bigger picture: We are in the process of a journey, which has twists and turns, that often don’t allow you to see your destination. We must stay the course and not allow the present unknown deter us from forging ahead. Think of it like the frame of a film: while you are in the present frame you cannot see what the next frames will bring. The mistake most people make is to think that the current frame is the end of the story.

Here is where we can distinguish between “the men and the boys.” Sucked into the vortex of the whirlpool it is very difficult to see outside of our own selves. Mired in self-interest and in the challenges of the moment, our vision is heavily clouded. To recognize the forest from the trees requires stepping back, climbing up, and take in the scene from a birds’ eye view. When we are able to transcend immediate circumstances, it becomes quite evident that we are in a period of transition from one age into the next.

Which is why these shifts are so disconcerting and utterly unnerving, even traumatic. Whenever we are shaken from our reverie and torn from our comfort zones, we undoubtedly will feel quite upset and disturbed.

Yet, it is precisely at these points in time – when we blindly turn the corner, leaving the past behind and facing an unknown future – that allow us, if we only let go, to see a bigger picture, and allow it to inform the “smaller picture” of our daily lives.

When you think about it, periods like this are inevitable. Like a healthy immune system, every few years our systems have to go through a reality check and a market correction (no pun intended), to realign us and help achieve balance.

The boys will only see the here and now. They can thus be overcome by fear and indecision based on the unpredictability of world affairs. The men will realize that we are in the process of growth, and we must see it through, patiently, humbly, and filled with hope and courage.

What Does the Future Hold?

So what does the future hold?

Our Torah sages discuss in various places about the present “clash of civilizations.” One particular Midrash states: The King of Poros (Persia) will bring destruction to the entire world, and all the nations will be outraged and confused… and Jews will be outraged and confused and say: where shall we come and go, where shall we come and go?  G-d will answer them: My children, do not be afraid. Everything I have done, I have done for you. Why are you afraid, do not fear, the time of your Redemption has arrived…

The end game of 9/11 is a redeemed world. This does not justify or diminish the losses and pain of those lost on that day. It only tells us that the battles being waged today are part of a difficult process that began long ago of man making peace with G-d. From the beginning of time, history is witness to a fundamental clash between matter and spirit, between the material life and the spiritual one. In its present reincarnation this is today’s battle between faith and modernity.

Every individual, every community, every nation will at some point have to make peace between its “body” and “soul.” But until it does, the war goes on.

Ten years ago, after the 9/11 attacks (when I actually began writing this weekly column), I wrote an elaborate series of articles addressing the roots of today’s conflict and what is foretold about their conclusion, as well as what we can do to help bring on a peaceful world. Please go here and here to read them.

September 11 marks the day when this battle turned global. Now our time has come to not be afraid, but to rise to the occasion and find ways to bring on personal and global redemption.

9/11 will always be remembered. But it is up to us to determine how it will be remembered. Will it be remembered as a day of death and destruction, or a day that began a new world order?

May we be blessed with the vision and strength to turn September 11 into a day that helped usher in redemption to the world.

***

That’s as far as analysis goes. Next week we will address some lessons that we can learn from September 11 – as we look back over the past 10 years.

We will focus on five of what are certainly a multitude of messages that can be gleaned from this watershed moment:

Silence and Words

At an open grave one does not console. The sheer pain is too intense, the open wound too fragile. Thus, I could not bring myself to pontificate and write about last week’s horrific murder of Leiby Kletzky a”h.

But now as we conclude the seven-day shiva period, perhaps some words are in order – despite the fact that the tragedy and its aftershocks have not abated.

Indeed, just like there is a time to be silent there is also a time to speak. Because we Jews have learned that we don’t ask “why;” we ask “what.” When it comes to “why” – why terrible things happen – we are silent; but when it comes to “what” – what can we do – then we have much to say.

We may never know why a little innocent boy had to make the wrong turn and meet the wrong man – if one can call him that – only to be torn away from his family in such a brutal manner, forever. But as much as we do not know why, we do know with absolute certainty that we can and must do something about it.

So just as silence is necessary in acknowledging the total mystery and shock of the tragedy, words are equally necessary to address, explore and discuss what we ought to do.

As Maimonides writes, “when a calamity strikes the public we must see it as a result of our evil actions. We must cry out, examine our lives and correct our ways. To say that the calamity is merely a natural phenomenon and a chance occurrence is insensitive and cruel” (Laws of Fasting 1:2-3).

Maimonides’ words do not mean that we should be pointing fingers and looking to blame someone (besides the perpetrator) for the calamity, but that we should be looking into our own hearts and souls and seeing how we can correct our ways. In Leiby’s case — a child from a very loving family — it means that our society as a whole has to undergo a deep soul searching to understand what we are doing wrong that would allow such horror, and what we can do to remedy the roots of the problem.

Grief alone is not enough. As the prophet states about these sad days that punctuate the Three Weeks: These days will be transformed into joy and gladness and holidays (Zechariah 8:19. Maimonides end of Laws of Fasting). Eliminating these tragic days will not do. They must be transformed to good.

You see, grief is a very powerful force, releasing enormous amounts of energy, perhaps even greater than that which is released through joy. As such, if we allow our grief to take control then evil will have prevailed. We therefore are compelled to channel the vast power of grief into positive action – that is as intense as the very anguish itself. As such the pain becomes a catalyst, propelling us to something enormously powerful. Think of the pain and tears as water that nourishes and nurtures the seeds for growth.

Should the heartache ultimately outshine and overshadow the growth, evil would have won. And we cannot allow that.

Therefore, this calamity must drive us to change the world for the good. And in an even more dramatic fashion than Levi Aron’s monstrous act changed the world for the bad. Nothing less will do.

Turning Grief Into Action

How can we possibly transform Leiby’s gruesome death into a positive force?

By taking all our rage, our bloodcurdling cries, and mobilizing them towards driving a revolution.

What type of revolution?

A revolution that is a direct outgrowth of this particular tragedy. A parallel positive to counter the horrible negative. Jews redeem the negative – not by running away from it or dwelling on it, but by returning to the same spot where the damage took place- yet this time repairing the damage. Maimonides writes (Laws of Teshuvah 2:1) that true teshuvah (return) occurs when “a person who confronts the same situation in which he sinned when he has the potential to commit [the sin again], and, nevertheless, abstains and does not commit it because of his teshuvah alone and not because of fear or a lack of strength.”

When you are faced with the same conditions in which you transgressed, and this time you do what is right – that is true healing.

Where did the unspeakable damage take place in Leiby’s case? In the unforgivable snuffing out of a pure and innocent child’s life. The healing and redemption must therefore come through its diametric opposite: saving our children.

The State of our Children

I once asked a sociologist friend what criteria he uses to determine the value of a particular society. His answer: standard of living, per capita income, health care, respect of human rights. By these standards our society today is ranked highest in all of history.

By contrast, the Torah has one criterion that determines the level of a society: the welfare of our children. The Torah’s central focus in virtually every mitzvah, Shabbat and holidays, orbits around our children: Teach your children; When your child will ask, Answer. Children – our future, our legacy – are our single most valuable commodity. By that standard – the welfare of our children – our society may be one of the lowest in the ratings. Certainly not in the top tiers.

Our children today are under attack. They are neglected, ignored, left to fend for themselves, without healthy role models and mentors. Television and media – with its fantasies and superstars – have become the babysitters and paragons for our children.

Just look around: many children grow up in broken and dysfunctional families. The level of social anxiety and misery is at unprecedented heights. Witness the amounts of money and time spent on therapy and other interventions to heal our fractured psyches. How much of that can be traced back to our fractured childhoods?

Some of you may feel that I am exaggerating and the situation is not as ominous as I am describing. You are entitled, but ask yourselves: Are children happy today? All newborns are born happy, but is that true about, say, ten year olds? 15 year olds? And besides, when it comes to our most precious commodity, our future, isn’t it better to err on the side of caution, to cherish and protect our children more than necessary, instead of the other way around?

There is no doubt that our highly materialistic and me-centered society is taking its toll on our most vulnerable: Our children. When people are consumed with their own needs, with power, money, acquisition, self-indulgence, the first to suffer are their children. Self-focus deprives our children from receiving their single most vital source of sustenance: Attention and love.

And what happens to a child deprived of nurturing? The same thing that happens to a flower deprived of water. It withers. It gets desperate – it gasps for breath, desperate to find some nourishment, some love, healthy or not, to feed its parched soul…

We don’t have to wait for outright abuse and molestation to see the damaging effects of neglected children. Remember the rule: All unhealthy behavior is rooted in much subtler forms of abandonment before it blows up into overt abuse. When children are not cared for, a vacuum is created. And we know nature’s attitude to vacuums. Nature abhors a vacuum. All predators thrive in vacuums.

A vacuum, on its own, seems quite innocuous. And in its early stages it waits quietly, dormant, seeming not to bother anyone. But it creates fertile ground for the most dangerous of forces. First a child is neglected. Then a defenseless child is abandoned. And then we wonder how that child got hurt.

Save Our Children

The opposite end of the spectrum of a child being hurt is a child being helped; a child being saved.

Leiby’s death was the epitome of betrayal – a defenseless child left to the wolves. And the horrific manner of his death, only amplifies the betrayal.

Just to be clear: Leiby was not betrayed by his parents. They are the most wonderful, loving parents any child could dream of. Just listen to the words of Leiby’s brokenhearted father at the funeral…

He was betrayed by society. By an environment in which children can be hurt. By a world that allows predators to thrive.

This tragic story is not about blaming any one individual; it’s about shedding light on the larger picture; on the general status of our children today. We ought to be looking for the bigger lessons, the deeper messages. As cited earlier from Maimonides: a tragedy behooves us to look into ourselves and our own lives.

The only thing that can counter the horror of children being hurt, is an even greater effort to save our children.

So here is what we can do:

We must once and for all declare war against any form of child abuse, child neglect, child molestation.

But this is not just a war “against”. This is a war “for”.

For loving our children. For cherishing our children. For hugging and kissing them a million times a day. For making sure that wherever they go – to school, to camp, for a walk on the street – they are absolutely safe and cared for, protected against any predator, abuser or molester.

Loving our children with such vigilance helps prevent vacuums from emerging. With every vacuum eliminated, there is less fertile ground for predators to feed off.

World War III

We have fought many battles and waged many wars throughout history. The 20^th century was home to the two bloodiest wars in all of time.

Now, at the dawn of the 21^st century let us wage one final war. Call it World War III. But unlike all its predecessors, this war is an offensive one – a war for our children’s pure souls.

Our battle today is with complacency borne out of comfort and prosperity. Our freedoms and luxuries (which are a true blessing) allow us to become apathetic and take our blessings, beginning with our greatest blessing – our children – for granted. Our war today is to generate a sense of urgency from within, a laser-focused effort to put our children on center stage where they belong.

Leiby’s death should wake us up that enough is enough. Enough of adults indulging in their own needs, leaving children vulnerable, victims in their wake, undefended and unprotected.

Enough minimizing and pushing our children’s hurt under the rug.

Enough sitting by as schools and camps become environments where children can be harmed.

Enough of broken and dysfunctional homes, battlefields where children are left to be slaughtered.

Enough is enough.

Let us reclaim their innocent souls. Let us make sure that our children always know how much they are cared for and cherished.

Before putting your children to bed, and upon their awakening, make an extra effort to hug and embrace your child. During your busy day, find some way to reach out to your child, spontaneously. These are but two simple suggestions. When we apply ourselves, we will surely find many more ways to nurture our children, our flowers, our gardens.

Friends, please share you ideas and suggestions by commenting on this article. We will be happy to post your suggestions for the benefit of others.

This is a war that each of us can and should wage and be a part of. No need for training and special techniques.

And wage the war for our children with passion – with at least as much, if not even more intensity than the grief of Leiby’s abduction and brutal murder.

Keep your eyes open. Should you even suspect that a child is being compromised or hurt, say something, do something.

Every school and camp, every day care center and playgroup, every place where children congregate, should appoint a discreet marshal who is trained and experienced to detect any form of abuse and predatory behavior, and nip it in the bud before it conflagrates.

Let us declare war against any predator or potential predator, by declaring loudly and unequivocally, for all to know, that we accept nothing less than a new zero tolerance policy. Predators beware: Your life – not your victim’s – will be destroyed should you ever touch a child. Potential predators of the world be on guard: Know that we are watching – all eyes are trained and focused on you.

Predators thrive in darkness. As soon as you shine the light, many will think twice before acting.

Like a burglar alarm, awareness and shining the light is not a guarantee, but a powerful deterrent. Should you ever touch a child inappropriately, your life will be seriously affected. You will be ostracized. You will be exposed. Your family, your wife, your friends and community will be made aware of who you are. The shidduchim of your children will be at risk.

Obviously, this needs to be done responsibly. But we’ve had enough cover-ups and denial. It’s time to move the fear and shame to the perpetrators and away from the victims. Instead of the victims cowering, let the predators cower.

We must declare full-fledged war and publicly announce that if one has a problem around children, if one cannot control his inclinations – then he must seek professional help. Wives of predators must cease being silent enablers and accomplices.

Sexual abuse of children is not a “game” or child’s play; it destroys lives. It affects a person’s entire futures, haunting him or her forever. It complicates and distorts – and often ruins – future relationships.

Touching a child inappropriately changes the child’s life forever…

Our Parting Words to Leiby

Let us be able to look into the eyes of Leiby’s soul and tell him: Your death will be avenged. Your death was not in vain. Your death was the final nail in the coffin of child neglect and child abuse.

Your death has mobilized us all in a war – the final war – against anyone and anything that will ever hurt a child again.

Your death was the beginning of a new era that will, at long last, finally abolish from this earth even one hurting child!

Yes it has come to this: A declaration of war.

Total and absolute war.

Nothing less will do.  Nothing else will suffice.

G-d, our Father in Heaven, we are ready to do our part. We beseech you, please do Yours. Comfort us all among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. And above all, help us eradicate all form of hurt and abuse from the face of this earth.

———

Baal Shem Tov Insights – Issue 51: Emor 5771

Summary

Who has not been tempted to criticize and chastise someone who we feel is behaving inappropriately? Who of us is not guilty of speaking harshly even to a loved one?

But have your strong words ever impacted someone? Have they inspired and motivated anyone to grow?

In the wake of the Osama bin Laden’s death, we are reminded of the long history of religious violence, aggression perpetrated in the name of faith, which has in our time come to the fore in the shape of Muslim fundamentalism. One of the terribly mystifying things about Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and religion-based terrorism in general – which is glaringly missing from the discourse presently consuming the pages of our newspapers, screens and websites – is their modus operandi: The need to use aggressive rhetoric and violence to achieve their religious goals.

In stark contrast, this week’s Torah portion teaches us an alternative – the original – modus operandi on how to influence others. This method – an approach driven by love and sensitivity – was epitomized by the Baal Shem Tov, who adamantly challenged the preachers in his time who would harshly rebuke their listeners.

*  *  *

To Rebuke or to Ignore? To Fight or to Accept?

When witnessing a transgression our first inclination may be to rebuke the transgressor, and chastise the perpetrator. Others take the other extreme: denying or ignoring the problem.

On a larger scale and more extreme level, this question has plagued religion from its inception: How should religious authorities address the sinner? With zealous aggression and punishment or with looking the other way? How should faith approach sin? Through annihilation or tolerance? How should we confront evil? Through hate and war or through Ghandi-like passive opposition?

The same can be asked of the parent and educator: How to discipline a wayward and disobedient child or student? With castigation or with passivity? With severity or leniency? Should we be unyielding or accepting?

But is there another alternative? Is there a way to remedy the problem without resorting to negative force? A way to be kind without compromising strong values?

A Third Approach

The opening of this week’s Torah reading, Emor, offers us a third approach.

The chapter begins with the words: “Speak … and you shall tell them.” Our sages associate this commandment with the obligation of education. The redundancy – “speak” and “tell them” – informs us, says the Talmud, “to caution the adults concerning the children.” ¹ The Hebrew word for “caution” – lihazhir – shares the same root as the word zohar, meaning “radiance.” Also the word for “speak” is emor (rather than dabeir), which means to speak softly, kindly. ²

This conveys a fundamental lesson about education, especially religious education. We must speak softly and kindly to our children and students, educate them about life’s dangers, but do so in a way that radiates the beauties of life.

Discipline is a most necessary component in the education. An unshaped and impressionable child needs direction and guidance to grow into a healthy and virtuous adult. Discipline helps avoid the pitfalls and traps of our own selfishness.

Yet, how often do we witness – and how many of us have been hurt if not damaged – by discipline devoid of love? Especially in the religious world, how many of us have been affected by dogmatic, fear driven discipline?! We have witnessed the devastating psychological effects of many people growing up in homes and schools where they were indoctrinated with fear and guilt, and threatened with the wrath of God.

Educate with Love

But the Torah clearly tells us – indeed, it actually commands us – to educate our children with radiance and love. Discipline is necessary, but as a dimension in radiance, kindness and love.

As it is in the microcosm so is it in the macrocosm – in the nature of religion: Passionate faith can spill over into dogma and intolerance. We must be vigilant that the path of faith should be saturated with love and inspiration.

Emor utterly negates Bin Laden’s intolerant and violent methods of religious coercion. It teaches us that we must always approach faith with gentleness and love. And that is the ultimate way of affecting people, even infidels.

The Baal Shem Tov’s Opposition to Rebuke

This Emor method – speaking gently and kindly – was epitomized by the Baal Shem Tov, who adamantly challenged the preachers in his time who would harshly rebuke their listeners. Many stories with the Baal Shem Tov attest to this fact.

The Baal Shem Tov taught:

A person should give rebuke with love, as the verse says, “G-d chastises whom He loves.” ³ However, one who seeks to aggrandize himself by admonishing others, or who rebukes solely to make a living, and tries to arouse the audience with a wailing voice, as alluded to in the verse, ⁴ “My tears were my bread,” arouses stringent judgment against the Jewish people, as alluded to in the verse, “G-d sent the venomous serpents against the people,”⁵ which refers to two types of admonishers.

This can be understood with a parable:

There was once a king who banished his only son from his presence, but sent two of his servants to keep an eye on him. After a while, one of the servants returned and slandered the prince to his father for misbehavior. The second servant also returned with the same report of misbehavior, however, he spoke out of pain for the king’s pain, and pain for the prince who was banished from his father’s presence to the point where he had completely forgotten how to conduct himself in a royal fashion, and all his royal grandeur and been transformed into disgrace. ⁶ Upon hearing the second servant’s words, the king had compassion on his son and sent to fetch him.

Similarly, there is a type of admonisher who speaks out publicly in condemnation of the Jewish people, thus arousing the Primal Serpent, as alluded to in the verse, “G-d sent the venomous serpent against the people,” who poisoned them with their venomous words. [First of all, these admonishers are hypocrites, because they are really interested in their own personal benefits, despite their claim that they are concerned about G-d’s honor. Secondly, they are shaming people while exonerating themselves from rebuke.] ⁷ However, one should include oneself together with the audience, as the verse alludes, ⁸ “Rebuke, rebuke your friend, and don’t bear any sin for him.” [The repetition] alludes that one should first rebuke oneself before rebuking another.

There are three categories [of rebukers]: gold, silver, and bronze. The Hebrew word for bronze is nechosheth, which resembles nachash, which means a snake. These are the rebukers who arouse dissent, as said: they are “bronze,” nechosheth – snakes. Then there is a category of gold, which is total mercy and compassion. Silver is the third, in-between, approach, to rebuke but with pleasant words of love, which enter the heart of the listener.

Speaking with Sensitivity

One day, the Baal Shem Tov instructed several of his disciples to embark on a journey. The Baal Shem Tov did not tell them where to go, nor did they ask; they allowed divine providence to direct their wagon where it may, confident that the destination and purpose of their trip would be revealed in due time.

After traveling for several hours, they stopped at a wayside inn to eat and rest. Now the Baal Shem Tov’s disciples were pious Jews who insisted on the highest standards of kashrut; when they learned that their host planned to serve them meat in their meal, they asked to see the shochet of the house, interrogated him as to his knowledge and piety and examined his knife for any possible blemishes. Their discussion of the kashrut standard of the food continued throughout the meal, as they inquired after the source of every ingredient in each dish set before them.

As they spoke and ate, a voice emerged from behind the oven, where an old beggar was resting amidst his bundles. “Dear Jews,” it called out, “are you as careful with what comes out of your mouth as you are with what enters into it?”

The party of chassidim concluded their meal in silence, climbed onto their wagon and turned it back toward Mezhibuzh. They now understood the purpose for which their master had dispatched them on their journey that morning.

The Secret to Influencing Others

As a young man, the late chassid Rabbi Sholom Ber Gordon, once asked the Frierdiker Rebbe how one is supposed to speak with others who may deserve a few strong words. “Should I use harsh words of rebuke?” Rabbi Gordon wondered.

The Rebbe replied: “Since you traveled through Turkey, and everything offers us a lesson in serving G-d, learn from the method used in a Turkish Bath. A person first enters the hot, steamy room. Once he has warmed up, relaxed, absorbed the heat and is perspiring freely, he climbs to a higher bench in the steam room, where it is even hotter due to the rising heat. After he has thoroughly been saturated with the heat, he leaves the room and asks an attendant to smack him with oak leaves…

“This is how we must speak with another, even one who may need some rebuke: First warm him up, with kind and loving words. Then elevate him to a higher plane. And then… he will ask you to smack him…

Inspiring through Love

Witnessing the great destruction done by fundamentalists who not only rebuke but also resort to violence in trying to impose their faith on others, the lesson of Emor has never been more important.

Instead of aggression or passivity, Emor calls upon us to influence but through the soft approach of love, that reaches into the heart and helps motivate a person to mend his ways and grow.

Even if rebuke may work at times, it often ends up demoralizing and breaking a person, instead of motivating him.

So in the final analysis the most the most influential tool to change the world is gentleness.

Sources: Toldos Yaakov Yosef Parshas Kedoshim. Keser Shem Tov sections 131. 262.

© Copyright 2011 The Meaningful Life Center.

Seeing the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

People often talk about miracles. There are firm believers that miracles happen in our lives, and firm skeptics and non-believers. But before we discuss and debate the issue, wouldn’t it be wise to first define the meaning of a miracle?

And what better time to do so than in this month of Nissan, which is a time of miracles? What exactly is a miracle and how does it play out in our lives? Are their miracles today? If yes, can we see and experience them?

In this disarming insight the Baal Shem Tov offers us a novel interpretation of a miracle, and in the process turns the entire concept on its head. We learn how each of us can recognize – and create – miracles in our lives.

*  *  *

A Time of Miracles

We are now in the month of Nissan – a time of miracles. The Jewish people experienced many miracles in this month, beginning with their miraculous exodus from Egypt, which was accompanied by many miracles.

The very name of the month – Nissan, a word with two Hebrew letter “nuns” – stands for “miracles upon miracles,” a time when one can expect miracles upon miracles. ¹ Our sages tell us that Nissan is the New Year for the miraculous order (while Tishrei is the New Year for the natural order). ²

What better time to take a deeper look at the meaning of miracles and how they play out in our lives.

People often talk about miracles. There are firm believers that miracles happen in our lives, and firm skeptics and non-believers. But before we discuss and debate the issue, wouldn’t it be wise to first define the meaning of a miracle?

What is a Miracle?

Most of us associate a miracle with a supernatural event – a suspension of the natural order. The parting of the sea is a quintessential example of such a miracle. Imagine if the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean would suddenly split into two, leaving a path in middle for humans to walk through. Or imagine the sun stopping in the heavens for several hours. These are magical paranormal events that defy the laws of nature and are impossible to scientifically explain.

Such miracles require a measure of faith, being that we don’t see them very often, if at all.

But is this the true definition of a miracle?

A New Definition

The Baal Shem Tov says that the difference between a miracle and a natural event is only in frequency. “A miracle is a novel event, a new thing that happens for the first time in nature. But after it repeats itself, this too becomes nature.”

In other words, “miracle” and “nature” are not objectively different; they are distinguished simply by our attitude. We see something new and novel as a miracle. But if it happens consistently – despite its miraculous personality – we call it “nature.” Our fickle personalities then find this “natural” occurrence as common and monotonous and we go off seeking a novelty, a new thing, anything that seems different and will turn us on.

Truth be told, we don’t really understand the “laws” of nature. Yes, nature operates according to a design that we have come to accept as normal. But while this makes life more predictable and, therefore, comfortable, it doesn’t necessarily make it any more understandable. When we know, for instance, that the sun will rise tomorrow morning, we feel a sense of order and control; but we still have no idea as to why nature was created this way. Just because we label something “natural” doesn’t mean that we understand it any better than we understand a “miracle.”

The difference between a miracle and an act of nature is only in frequency. Imagine that the sun were to rise only once in our lifetime. Everyone would rush to see it, proclaiming it the most miraculous event they had ever witnessed. But since we experience a sunrise every day, we see it as just another ordinary part of our lives.

We dismiss it as a “natural” unexceptional event, though in truth it is simply a miracle repeating itself again and again.

This is an inherent human trait – we become so accustomed to something that, no matter how extraordinary it may be, we take it for granted. We constantly need a new rush of excitement to arouse our interest.

Is there a greater miracle than life itself? Take the human breath: A person living to 80 will take over 700 million breaths in a lifetime! Is it not a miracle that we are able to exhale and inhale hundred of millions of times throughout life without fail?!

When we visit someone struggling, G-d forbid, to breathe, we suddenly realize the miracle involved. But in our own lives, since we breathe again and again, it loses for us the miraculous touch. Due to its regularity we dismiss it – if we think about it at all – as… “nature.”

Is life itself a miracle? What are the odds of 75 trillion cells in the human body working hand in hand, and allowing us our health?!

No wonder King David remind us at the end of Psalms: Every soul praises G-d. On every breath we take we should be praising G-d.

Miracles, then, are all around us. They are lost on us because we see them happening so “regularly” and “consistently,” but that doesn’t make them less of a miracle.

Miracles abound everywhere. We just have to pause and appreciate them.

A miracle then is actually seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary and the supernatural in the natural. Recognizing that no matter how many times a miracle repeats itself, the miracle does not weaken (even if our interest does).

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Now, based on this new definition of miracle, ask yourself: Do you believe in miracles?

Do we even need faith to appreciate the miracles in our lives – in our health, in nature, in our children, in the magic all around us?

Blake put it so well: To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour. But how? How can you hold infinity in the palm of your hand? And how can you keep it there?

Prior to Blake, the Baal Shem Tov, laid down the foundation and taught us how to see and touch the miracle: By seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Someone may say, “If I only saw a miracle, then I would believe, then I would change my life!” What are we waiting for – the splitting of the sea? Miracles are happening around us every moment. Life itself is a miracle; consider for just a moment the sheer wonder of human birth. In fact, we do often refer to birth as a miracle; why, then, do we so easily forget that every person on earth is the product of a miracle?

Since we are so distracted by the daily struggle to survive, by our responsibilities and obligations, we tend to ignore such simple facts. The very noise of life drowns out the underlying sound of what should be most real to us. It is not that we don’t believe in miracles; we simply stop taking the time to appreciate them. To see a miracle means to appreciate the uncommon within the common, the extraordinary within the ordinary.

When you can recognize the extraordinary within the ordinary, supernatural occurrences are not so significant.  Your faith – and life – is not dependent on such miracles, for you have a mature relationship with a reality that is higher than yourself, and you realize that the ultimate miracle is our very existence.

Just contemplate the awesome design and balance within any one family of the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom, to say nothing of the beauty of the human body or the elegance of the solar system. The miracle of nature is not to be found in its once-in-a-lifetime events, but in its relentless regularity. Whereas every creation of man is ephemeral, every part of nature is boundless, permanent, and inexplicable – in a word, miraculous.

Yes, we can explain away many events, even “miraculous” ones.  But then again, a good mind can explain away anything.  Just as you have a choice in everything you do, you can use your mind to either seek out the miracles in life or deny them.  Only you will know the degree of sincerity with which you are trying to understand your life and instill it with meaning.

By looking honestly at your life, you will recognize the miracles within nature and the miracle of nature itself.  You will recognize the divine providence in all your activities.  You will learn to appreciate the miracles of your own life – the successes you’ve had and the very miracle of life. Thank G-d for these miracles; don’t take them for granted.

And finally, you will realize that the world around you is experiencing miracles within miracles, a revolution from within. It is time to acknowledge that the world is hurtling toward redemption – and that it is your choice and your choice alone whether to be a part of it.

To See the Divine

Watch a beautiful sunset. Listen to a stirring symphony. Smell a delicate fragrance. Taste a delectable wine. Touch the soft cheek of a child. Those are our five senses at work – taking in and experiencing the aesthetics of our universe. But what else enters through our sensory doors? How stimulated – overstimulated – are we by the multitude of sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches inundating our daily interactions? And what impact does it have on us? Are we products, perhaps even victims, of the forces seducing our senses? Take television: Does anyone know the far-reaching effects that visual stimulation has on our psyches? How much is it desensitizing us to “see,” “hear” and experience the more sublime aspects of our lives – the invisible and ethereal?

So when we observe the world around us, the people, events and experiences of our lives, what should we be looking for? When we are seeking a loving relationship – or standing before a person we love – how do we assure that we are looking at the important things that matter, and not at superficial externals? And how do we attain such perspective when we are swamped with the endless flow of information assaulting our senses, numbing and distorting our priorities?

This month of Nissan – and the holiday of Pesach – provides us with the answer. In this month we have the power to see miracles in our lives. To see the Divine in everything we do.

What does it mean to “see” the Divine?

When we look at any particular object what do we see? First we see the physical features of the object – its shape, color, size and position. We may also notice its functions and the benefits they serve. With more focus, we can discern subtle elements and other aspects that may not have been ostensibly noticeable. Upon further study we develop a “deeper look” at the object and learn its unique composition of elements and molecules, and its biological and chemical makeup. Further down and in we discover its atomic structure, which in turn is comprised of sub-atomic particles. How far down the “rabbit hole” can we go?

Left to our own mortal resources we can only go that far. But with help from an unexpected place we can actually come to perceive – to see – the essence of the object, and even beyond that.

When the Kotzker Rebbe was a young child he was once asked: “Where is G-d?” To which he replied: “Wherever you let Him in?”

To see the divine miracle is to see the Essence of all reality, and to recognize that this Essence is beyond all reality. “He is the space of the universe, but the universe is not His space.” In some ways it means to see the forest from the trees; the roots from the symptoms; the causes from the effects.

Open Your Eyes

But to be able to open our eyes and see the miracle – to see the inner forces that shape our outer realities – two critical things are necessary:

1) We must leave our comfort zones and embark on a journey away from our subjective inclinations toward transcendence. You must travel away from your own subjective trappings and remove the immediate pressures that block you from seeing what lies within. This includes controlling the flow of images, sounds, tastes, touches and smells, which enter your being and clutter your life.

2) We must dedicate our lives and pass on this legacy to our children and generations to come – to focus not on the means, but on the end: To look beyond the seductive distractions of surface life and see what lies within; to search for the essence of things, rather than react to their symptoms. To seek out the purpose of existence and turn that purpose into the driving force of our decisions, rather than allow our existential needs and concerns to determine the course of our lives. You need to focus on the inner forces and the purpose of it all, ensuring that the means that lead you there are not confused with the end goal. Too often we get so consumed with the tools – earning a living, shopping, preparing – that we are left with no time, energy and space for the purpose of all these tools. Sometimes we may even forget that there is a purpose, like embarking on a journey and then forgetting the destination.

This commitment to the higher goal, as opposed to the means, in turn manifests in a life driven by virtue and selflessness, rather than instant gratification and immediate needs.

Opening New Doors

Once you demonstrate your commitment to this approach, new doors will open up from within. And then you will begin to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Every detail of your life begins to burst with enormous energy. You learn to savor every sight, every sound, every taste, every touch, every smell.

You can look at a wild flower and see a flower, or you can see Heaven. You can listen to a bird sing and hear a song, or hear the music of angels. You can gently caress the finger of your beloved and touch a finger, or you can touch eternity.

A new miraculous perspective emerges in your life, teaching you how to bridge the visible and the invisible, the sensory and the supra-sensory – how to use your senses to reach beyond your senses and experience new dimensions.

And above all, your new vision allows you to release fresh energy from every experience you encounter: In a life driven by self-interest every situation is numbed and deadened by “what’s in it for me?” In stark contrast, a life driven by seeing the miraculous opens your eyes, ears, taste, touch and smell to experience yourself and others in unprecedented ways. You learn to see new things, and see old things in new ways.

Every situation then becomes an opportunity to generate innovative power to help others and improve the world – directing every detail of your life toward the sublime, revealing the Divine purpose in everything, fulfilling the very objective of existence.

Miracles Are All Around Us

Miracles are all around us; we must open our eyes to see them ­– The Lubavitcher Rebbe

A group of college students had a private audience with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. One student asked the Rebbe if he could perform miracles.

“This physical, natural world,” he explained, “ is not a separate entity from the higher, spiritual world — rather, it evolved from it. And so, when someone connects himself to the spiritual world, to G-d, he can affect things in this physical world in a way that cannot be anticipated. Every person is given the choice whether or not to connect themselves to the spiritual world.

“We must make the right choice,” the Rebbe continued, “and use all our strength to live virtuously, to introduce harmony to everyone we meet, to encourage others to increase goodness and defeat evil — in effect, to make the world a better place.”

The Rebbe concluded: “So, in essence, by inspiring students like yourselves to go into the world and perform good works, yes, we can perform miracles.”

Be a Miracle Maker

As we enter the miraculous Passover season we are empowered to recognize and perform miracles in our own lives.

Let us commit to not take our lives and gifts for granted. To see the miracle of life – the miracle in every breath we take, in every step we make, in every grain of sand and in every fiber of existence.

Let us stand humble and gracious before the miracle of our lives.

And when we do, we open up news channels that flow forth with even more abundant miraculous energies, blessing us all with great success, materially and spiritually, all in good health, happiness and nachas from ourselves and out families.

Happy Pesach. A celebration of the miracle.

Sources: Toldos Yaakov Yosef Parshas Tzav. Kesser Shem Tov section 119. 256. See Sefer Hasichos 5749 vol. 1 pp. 372.

Dear G-d,

It’s been a while. How are You?

Though You didn’t ask, let me share with You how we are. Bluntly put: We’re not doing so well down here.

Last Friday night – as You surely know – a beautiful family was butchered in cold blood. A father, mother and their three children. Just to confirm that You get their names and ages right, to assure them their box seats in heaven, here is the exact spelling of their names: Udi Fogel, 36. Ruth Fogel, 35. Yoav Fogel, 11. Elad Fogel, 4. Hadas Fogel, 3 months.

Yes, You read that right, 3 months old… Throats slashed – all of them. What did they do wrong? They were sleeping in their home in the Promised Land, on a Friday night, after praying Shabbat services and eating the Shabbat meal, reciting blessings and singing Your praises.

Yes, indeed: This happened on Shabbat. On Your Shabbat. And in Your Holy Land. The land that Your eyes “watch from the beginning of the year till the end of the year.”

In Japan, one of Your “natural disasters” – in the guise of an earthquake and tsunami – devastated an entire region, leaving over 25,000 dead, and millions displaced. (Our insurance policies call these “natural disasters” “acts of G-d”– so don’t think You’re off the hook and have been forgotten; all joking aside, when it comes to saving money our insurance companies blame stuff on You, though they don’t necessarily give You the credit when things work out alright).

These two brazen tragedies were publicized, leaving us all reeling, shaken to the core. But surely there were many more tragedies – which You, if anyone, know about more of than all of us – that did not make headlines. How many people are suffering as we speak? Only You know.

Bottom line, things are not very pretty on Earth.

Before anyone tries waxing philosophical, let me acknowledge that I am quite aware that the holiday of Purim is quickly approaching. And we know that Purim is all about Your concealed presence and Your hidden plans. Your name is therefore never mentioned in the entire Megillah, indicating Your behind the scenes orchestration.

We also know that the name of our Purim heroine, Esther, is rooted in the Biblical verse “And I will surely hide (haster astir) My face from you” (Chulin 139b).

We know all this and more.

But pray tell: Did You really have to hide Your face to the extent of allowing, for G-d’s sake, an infant’s throat to be slit??!!

Your hidden face doesn’t get more hidden than when that inhuman butcher dug his knife into the chests and slit the throats of these innocent victims…

You asked us to remember – Zachor – what Amalek did to us. To remember and never to forget. We remember all to well. This Shabbos we will remember yet again. But now, with the latest blood-drenched bodies in Itamar, we don’t need a reminder to remember; their blood cries out to us. It’s hard to forget what you see with your own eyes.

Our quesiton to You is whether You remember? You also obligated Yourself to fulfill every command You gave us. Do You remember even as your face is shrouded and concealed? Do you remember us?…

My colleague Dennis Prager wrote a heart-wrenching piece, The Other Tsunami, on what type of monster it takes to brutally slaughter children. How unnatural it is for a human being to kill an innocent child, and how much “training” and “education” is necessary to lose any semblance of compassion toward pure children. His chilling words capture the brutal reality of this and other attacks on Jews, and there is no need for me to reiterate it here.

However, what I would like to know, dear G-d, is how You see it? I understand that Your beautiful face is concealed. But how concealed can You get? How much will You tolerate and how concealed will You allow Yourself to become?

Was the holocaust not enough concealment?

And we would like to know what it’s like to see all this pain from behind Your hidden face?

I also know that in the Purim Megillah You have already planted a tailored response to this and any other tragedy: Life is filled with surprising twists and turns. Just as our lives can turn, in a blink, from normalcy to disaster, one moment the Jews were living in peace, and a moment later, a decree was issued to annihilate the entire Jewish nation, they can also turn as quickly the other way around, from catastrophe to joy.

Purim’s essential message is one of total reversal of fortune – v’nahafoch hu (Esther 9:1), ha’chodesh asher ne’hepach lo’hem (9:22) – the month had been transformed for them from grief to joy, from mourning to a festive day.

Purim is a story of surprises. What you see is not what you get. Everything is turned inside out and outside in, upside down and down side up. We therefore understand that despite the recent calamities, we surely will be redeemed, and our grief and mourning – for the Fogel family – will turn into joy.

We know all this too well. As Jews we have seen the abyss many times, and… survived.

But did we really need yet another slaughter of a pure family?!…

How much grief and mourning will it take to show us that things can be transformed to celebration?

We surely also appreciate all Your blessings, all the gifts that You bestow upon us daily. We are deeply grateful. But that does not compensate for the suffering some of us endure. And indeed, You instructed us to cry out and do whatever we can for those in pain. You created us in a way that our hearts break when we suffer and see others suffer.

We stand in awe and shudder before Your seemingly infinite capacity at concealment…

But with all the profound mystery of Your concealment (sod ha’tzimtzum they call it), and all the secrets behind Your greater plan – will we ever get some respite?!

How does a concealed face look at a baby bleeding to death???

How does it feel from behind the veil? From behind the “hastir astir” (Esther) of your face?

It must be very lonely behind the mask…

What does it look like from “behind the curtain” and the “doors of perception”?

I know You can see it from our perspective as well. And I know that You shed tears when we do. But at the end of the day, You also have the advantage of seeing it from Your vantage point. And we don’t.

That makes all the difference.

Help us out here a bit. We sorely need it.

We have lived in the dark long enough. It’s high time to take off Your mask and cloak, and show us Your face. As You Yourself promised: “No longer shall your Teacher hide Himself behind robe and garment, but your eyes will behold Your Teacher” (Isaiah 30:20), “for they shall see eye to eye” (Isaiah 52:8).

[Signed]