Tag: light

Sifra, Sefer, Sippur

The Torah, says Sefer Yetzira, is really three in one. There’s the Torah of Bereshit, the Torah of Sinai, and the Torah of souls. Our job, says the Baal Shem Tov, is to unify these three Torot with every word we speak and breath we take.

The Chinukh of Chanukka

Since Chanukka and Purim reference toward the future, R. Luria associates them with Mashiach ben David, and the 7th marriage blessing when “the woman of valor becomes the crown to her husband.” R. Luria brings fascinating evidence of the gender shifts that weave through the messianic lineage and narrative.

Chanukka through the years

Just as eyes are windows to the soul, so the Chanukka lights are windows into the soul of the chag.

The Reward of a Mitzvah

The Zohar is teaching that HaShem (so to speak) looked into Him/Her/Itself and articulated a will for a creation that would revel in the glory of G-d. That vision and all the myriad ways it could materialize and all the laws that define its parameters…that is the primordial Torah.

Chanukka through the years

Just as eyes are windows to the soul, so the Chanukka lights are windows into the soul of the chag.

A TEACHING FOR THE FAST OF TAMMUZ

This Torah of Atzilut was what Adam would have received had he not opted for duality, preferring Knowledge of Good and Evil over the Tree of Life’s non-dual Knowledge-of-the-Holy-One. It is also the Torah that we received at Sinai, but forfeited when we too betrayed its calling.

Tag: light

Sifra, Sefer, Sippur

The Chinukh of Chanukka

Chanukka through the years

The Reward of a Mitzvah

Chanukka through the years

A TEACHING FOR THE FAST OF TAMMUZ

Black Fire on White Fire–Torah of Atzilut

Converts: Unsung Heroes of the Oral Torah

A Chanukka Meditation from the Zohar

The Transmutation of Shame though Teshuva

The Torah of Atzilut — The Torah of Souls

A (Short) Discourse on Freedom

Topsy-Turvy Gluon Dance ~~ Purim 2016 /5776

“These Lights are Holy…”: An Instruction for Meditatioin

“…Until there are no stragglers in the marketplace.”

Sweetening the Dinim – Rosh HaShanna

Hillel says to move toward many; Shammai says to move toward one

On Chanukka Everyone’s a High Priest

The Inner Search for Pure Oil

Inviting Our Inner Stranger

Chanukkah, Greece and Democracy