Tag: wisdom

Worlds, Souls, Divinity–Inspired by the Komarna Rebbe

This is a teaching about prayer as conveyed by the Komarna Rebbe (R. Yitzchak Eisik Safrin, 1806 – 1874). It is only tangentially related to Purim, though it does appear in his commentary on Megillat Esther. Furthermore, since Purim is a most propitious time for prayer, it is an appropriate teaching for the occasion. But mostly, it is a subject I wanted to broach, and this concurrence of commentary and prayer focus provides an opportunity to do so.

SHADOWS AND LIGHT–CHANUKKA 5783/2022

There’s an elephant in the room, though I think most readers are unaware of its shadowed presence. It’s the portion of the Chanukka story that occurs after the victorious restoration of the Temple that we celebrate with our chanukiyot.

Video–Sarah, Sarai, Yiska

Sarah is the Matriarch of the Jewish people. Tradition ascribes superiority to her Divine Inspiration over Avraham's.

The Dust of Their Skirmish Reached to the Throne of Glory–Sukkot, 5783

The midrash informs us that the “dust” of Yakov's epic battle with Essav reached to the Throne of Glory, and (to this very day) is the force behind the Jewish people’s subsequent success in peddling, big business, war and Torah study. What does that mean?

Video–Yom Kippur: Leave Your Begging Bowl at the Door

The Sod Yesharim suggests a very powerful practice to get the most out of our highest of holy days, Yom Kippur. (Sod Yesharim is the third Rebbe in the Ishbitz line of chassidut. He wrote in the mid/late 1800's).

Video–Rosh HaShana and the Kabbalistic Mystery of Nesira

You might be surprised to know that Rosh HaShana is not only Day of Judgement and the Day of Remembrance, it is also, says kabbala, the Day of Nesira (surgical uncoupling). This is a short teaching about that profound dimension of Rosh HaShana.

Elul and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy

The prayer is that HaShem should feel free to choose the speediest path to redemption, and that we should have the depth of vision (of x-ray vision) to see and truly experience (to whole-heartedly embrace) the good of it.

“This Opposite This” HaShem Made the World

This tug-of-war stripped down to its basics is really about “who eats who?” And, really, the whole drama of geopolitics comes down to exactly that: In the end, whose narrative, whose scripture, whose ideology, whose story of why we are here and where we’re headed and what G d wants from us…whose narrative is going to prevail, and absorb everyone else into its story line. “Who will eat who?”

Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women–2

We are Inviting women from around the world to join the actual Jerusalem-based event via zoom (enabled by Shifra Hendrie who has offered her expanded zoom link for the occasion). And… Sharing the nusach/script of the ceremony so you can prepare for the event and, if you are unable to join our Jerusalem ceremony, you can create your own High Council, either on your own or with friends.

Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women

Our Fruit Tree and Vegetable Kingdom Role Models

On Tu B’Shvat we celebrate our generous and magnificent fruit trees that selflessly nourish the world for no other reason than that it’s what they are designed to do. May we honor them back by preserving their habitat, mulching their soil, protecting their pollinators, providing fresh water, repelling their pests and (on their new year’s day) praying for them to enjoy a healthy, lush and fruitful year.

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.

The Coveted Sukkah of Sodom

"Anyone who fulfills the mitzvah of sukkah in this world, will get a perpetual share (are you ready for this) in the Sukkah of Sodom” [Pesikta d'Rav Kahana].

Chai Elul—A Rosh HaShana Teaching for the Baal Shem Tov’s Birthday

R. Tsadok notes that Rosh Hashana (humanity's birthday) is actually a very strange Yom Tov given the debate between Hillel and Shamai about whether its better to be born...or not.

A Short Tribute to Etrog for Tu B’Shvat

The word for etrog (אתרוג) relates to the Hebrew root, רגג, which means, “to long and desire.” For this reason etrog corresponds to to the heart area, the center of conscious emotion and desire.

Chanukka—Harbinger of Messianic Gender Shifts to Come

Masters of Judgement

Rosh Hashana marks the conception (when the thought of creation arose within the mind of G-d) and Pesach marks the actual birth (when an actual “creature” evolved that could hold the level of consciousness, called yechida, the capacity to understand what it means that G-d is one on the 50th gate level of understanding. That “creature” is Kenesset Yisrael, the Mystical Body of Israel, born on the other side of the parted sea that served as its birth canal.

The Klipah Precedes the Fruit

“If the Torah had not been given, we would still have learned modesty from the cat, industriousness from the ant…” and many important instructions-by-example from the plant kingdom. [TB Eruvin 100b] For example, fruit trees teach us that a “klipah precedes the fruit and serves to guard it” הקליפה קודמת להיות משמרת לפרי)).” [Ari, Likutei Torah, Bereshit and numerous other places]. The klipah’s tough (and often green) husk protects the immature fruit from predators, freezing weather, infestations and the like.

ZOT CHANUKKA–A TRIBUTE TO THE SHEKHINA

The kabbalists read into Chanukka’s eight days, a journey of progressive tikun down through the sefirot from Binah to Malchut. Curiously, Binah associates with the higher Shekhina called Ima (literally, Mother) and Malchut associates with the lower Shekhina called Nukba (literally, Woman). Chanukka thus begins and ends on a feminine note. The first candle (of Binah) accompanies all the subsequent lights, and its last candle (of Malchut) gets honored with a name of its own—Zot Chanukka—(in part) because it enacts the last frame of the Shekhina’s moonlike odyssey (as we shall see).

Tag: wisdom

Worlds, Souls, Divinity–Inspired by the Komarna Rebbe

SHADOWS AND LIGHT–CHANUKKA 5783/2022

Video–Sarah, Sarai, Yiska

The Dust of Their Skirmish Reached to the Throne of Glory–Sukkot, 5783

Video–Yom Kippur: Leave Your Begging Bowl at the Door

Video–Rosh HaShana and the Kabbalistic Mystery of Nesira

Elul and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy

“This Opposite This” HaShem Made the World

Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women–2

Purim High Council Prayer and Meditation Happening for Women

Our Fruit Tree and Vegetable Kingdom Role Models

The Chinukh of Chanukka

The Coveted Sukkah of Sodom

Chai Elul—A Rosh HaShana Teaching for the Baal Shem Tov’s Birthday

A Short Tribute to Etrog for Tu B’Shvat

Chanukka—Harbinger of Messianic Gender Shifts to Come

Masters of Judgement

The Klipah Precedes the Fruit

ZOT CHANUKKA–A TRIBUTE TO THE SHEKHINA

Shame is Nothing to Be Ashamed About

The Shame Behind Causeless Hatred

The Akeida–A Hero’s Journey

When the People are Ready the Obstacles Dissolve

Turning Wisdom into Oral Torah

Rosh Hashana

Cheshvan

Chanukka

Tu B'Shvat

Purim

Shavuot

Tisha B'Av

Elul