ALL TIME PITFALLS – PESACH

     

               In a few impacting verses (pesukim) in the beginning of the Book of Exodus (Sefer Shemos) , the Torah sets in motion the political and emotional forces that were to keep the children of Israel in bondage for the next two hundred and ten years.  These same forces have operated as a snare throughout history and are present today, only the stage setting has been specially designed to lure this generations unwary into its web of spiritual bondage. The mindset that led to their subjugation in Egypt was their yearning to be like everyone else – to assimilate into the culture of whatever country they found themselves in. There are those who in their eagerness to be a part of the culture, may mistakenly replace their service of the Creator (Hashem) with loyal service to the governing regime in a manner far beyond and above that which is required by the ordinary dictates of good citizenship.                     

1)      Pharaoh, who personifies the Jewish nemesis, the yetzer hara, understood that as long as the Jewish people were living in accordance with high standard of spiritual development referred to as the “Children of (Bnei) Israel,” he would not be able to subjugate them.  They were the beneficiaries of Hashem’s promise to Avraham our forefather (Avinu) – a promise which was to be eternally evidenced by the bris mila, covenant of circumcision. However, after Joseph died, some of the Jews stopped circumcising their sons because they wanted to emulate the Egyptians.  (Midrash Rabba I:8).  In order to prevent their assimilation, Hashem transformed the appreciation the Egyptians previously had into a feeling that the Bnei Israel had become a threat to them. The yetzer hara, in the guise of Pharaoh, then changed its form, face and presentation in order to subjugate the Israelites and turn them into servants of the state. 

To induce the Israelites to participate in their building program, the Egyptians hung a brick kiln around Pharaoh’s neck, inviting the Jews to join him in brick making.  Each man went to work making as many bricks as possible, which thereafter became the expected quota. The Jews thus became willing accomplices in their own enslavement, wooed and won over by this appeal to “love of country.” This technique, oft repeated in Jewish history, trapped them into a process of assimilation and distancing them from their connection to the teachings (Torah) of the Creator. 

              Modern society today poses a different but equally challenging test, by luring its citizens towards the ephemeral standards of the times. Their value scale of success is graded by such “yardsticks” as how wealthy and famous one is. The lifestyle that emerges from this philosophy can be as, if not more, detrimental to spiritual growth than the servitude imposed by the Egyptians.

 

                                         Addicted to Bondage

By the time the Israelites began to see the futility and hypocrisy of their alliance with Pharaoh, it was too late. The bondage had become an addiction.   The Bnei Yisrael were given the task of building arei miskenos, cities, whose names were Pisom and Ra’amseis. The word miskenos has the same root as the word miskein which means misfortune or poverty.    Pisom means sudden or immediate.  It also can refer to the mouth of the abyss, pi tehom (Midrash Rabba I:10).  Ra’am means loud, like a thunderclap.

            In our hectic lives, where sudden and immediate claims upon our time are an all too frequent occurrence, if we are not discerning, we may find that we are building Pisom.  We may also necessarily be building Ra’amses, since these calls to duty are usually loud and very difficult to ignore. One of the ploys of the yetzer hara is to persuade us that we must accomplish everything we have set out to do which can lead to feel overwhelmed. Pharaoh well understood that working without respite on purposeless tasks that could never be completed would weaken the physical, mental, emotional and most importantly spiritual health of the Nation.

         Acting too quickly and assuming excessive obligations without enough considered thought as to their value and purpose can make a person feel as if they are enslaved. The connection between poignant, distressing state of affairs and the bondage in Egypt is apparent. We can now readily see how these words of our eternal Torah apply to anyone at any time:  “They embittered their lives with avoda kasha, hard work, bechomer, with mortar and with leveinim, bricks, and with every labor of the field; all the labors that they performed with them were with crushing harshness” (Shemos 1:14).   The work was kasha, hard.  This word is related to the word for straw, kash, to hint to us that work is hard when it is like straw to us, that is, when it is commonplace and purposeless.   Mortar, chomer, which in Hebrew also means material, represents that which is stripped of spiritual content and inspiration.  Even without purpose and without inspiration we can still produce leveinim, bricks, but when one works under those circumstances they are reduced to field laborers (avoda basadeh) deprived of higher motivation, dignity and joy.

           

                                                            Salvation

But take heart; there is a way out.  There is an answer that may surprise us.  Moshe Rabbeinu told Pharaoh to release us because we are being called upon to serve Hashem.   Service of the Creator is not always easy, but it has all of the components that make it humane and perfect.  It provides meaningful obligations that have an eternal reward.  It provides periodic rest periods on Shabbos and Yamim Tovim dedicated to  menucahs ha-nefesh andsimcha.  Can a lifestyle that thrives on competition and stresses the importance of out -doing the neighbors in material acquisitions, compare with the eternal, meaningful rhythm of our beautiful Jewish lives? 

           When we stop and take stock of our options and our strengths, the time we have, the things we must do in order to fulfill our obligations as Jews as opposed to those things that we may be doing to serve some other cultural demand, we may be pleasantly surprised by the result.  We may be able to simplify our lives and our goals and live in greater harmony then we ever thought possible.  The job of the Egyptian taskmasters was to maximize the burdens upon the Israelites which ultimately shortened their servitude and enhanced their purification in the caldron that was Egypt.  It is precisely when the “task masters of time” bear down upon us that we have the opportunity to cull the necessary from the unnecessary and focus upon those matters that are essential to our avoda can be reached by sincerely asking for Hashem’s help in the process. 

This will actualize Pharaoh’s fear that we will  “go up [be raised up] from the land.”  “The land” which represents our physical and mental attachment to this world will no longer have a hold on us.  When we cleave to Hashem through His Torah, we will be elevated to a higher level of consciousness referred to as “the children of (Bnei) Israel.”

The Torah teaches us that the more the Jewish nation was afflicted the more they increased and spread out. This means that even during this period when we, as a nation, were far from reaching the perfect service of Hashem, His Divine Radiance was still with us.  In the dark and immoral environment of Egypt, Israelite slaves, who were deprived of all the benefits that culture and civilization are thought to bestow, were being forged into a holy nation.  The very harshness of the bondage actually strengthened the potential in each Israelite, so that when the time was ripe, Hashem would redeem us. The teaching here is very profound as it is a lesson to us that suffering and affliction can have very beneficial results. We do not ask for tests, but if they come, they can inspire our best performances. From this spiritual plateau we will not only be free from Pharaoh and Mitzrayim but we will be able to fulfill the will of the Creator in the holy land of Eretz Israel.

               May we merit this soon in our days.  

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FIGHTING OUR BATTLES PESACH STYLE

                   Wars of liberation have been fought throughout history by captive peoples attempting to re-establish their autonomy.    Their strategy is fairly  straightforward.  Once diplomacy has failed,  they may take other , more extreme measures – secretly preparing an extensive escape plan –preparing to do battle if necessary  even though their captors may be much stronger.  They might use spies and subterfuge, and create a battle plan making the best use of men and materiel.  Each and every person would receive a specific assignment that would help to ensure success with the least amount of casualties. Many would serve as  front line military personal armed with weapons , each assigned to a specific area. Other people would serve as lookouts, messengers and  food  suppliers.

               Now let us look at the strategic approach the Bnei Israel actually took to free themselves from Egypt  and see if we notice anything unusual. The offensive military strategy seemed primarily to consist of removing all the chumetz  [leavened bread] in their abodes and preparing the Pesach offering and eating the Pesach offering the night of the outgoing from Egypt  while the defensive tactics  consisted of placing dam [blood]on the door posts and lintels at the entrance way of their homes.

                 Can we even imagine the reaction a military strategist would have when hearing how we prepared ourselves for the potential battle and ensuing Great Escape. Yet every Jew who followed this supernal protocol left safely filled with blessings. How can we explain this miraculous phenomenon?

            In Egypt, the Creator chose to utterly suspend cause and effect in a manner we perceive as miraculous.  However, even in our era, where open miracles do not occur, we can use this glimpse into spiritual technology to understand that those things that we assume are causing our successes or our failures do not represent actual causes.  It is the Creator who is the Only Cause and so when we observe His commandments, we achieve a spiritual release from  bondage to the cause and effect  paradigm of the natural world. Following the guidelines of the Torah offers us the opportunity to experience a panoramic view of supernal consciousness. This shift in awareness not only allows us to perceive the ethereal position of the soul’s relationship with the entire cosmos but also affords us the opportunity to delve deeply within and  effectuates our ability to choose to follow the guidance of  our Creator  so that we may be led to the proper path.

   We wish you a happy sweet Pesach.                   

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E-MEDITATE

ONE MINUTE OF BLESSINGS

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A SINCERE THANK YOU FROM US TO YOU

B.S.D.

             To all of you who have been reading our blog articles, and especially those of you who have taken the time to offer comments, please know that it is because of all of your beautiful vibes that we are dedicated to continue to provide the kind of “food” for thought that all of our souls need and yearn for.
               Not that we are perfectly qualified but because we ourselves have had an upbringing grounded in the secular and with wondrous Heavenly assistance have hopefully properly  transformed  into a balanced spiritual/material life, we would gladly share our knowledge and experiences with you if any of you have questions on how to progress in your soul journey. The kind of inquires you might be interested in can include for example: coming to a better understanding of the seeming dichotomies between the spiritual and material aspects of life, dealing with issues of free will verses predetermined destiny, Jewish karma, reincarnation to name a few.
                                  In the meanwhile we our wishing all of you a joyous holiday of Purim.
      
       P.S. Please be patient for our responses to your inquires. Also, please known  we try to add at least one article a week usually by Tue. or Wed. and will hopefully be adding video casts soon.

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ECONOMICS OF TIME – fe. a.

THE ECONOMICS OF TIME

                         Do you believe that only famous people have a unique purpose?  Do you think that only larger-than-life personalities have a raison d’etre, and you do not? You might want to reconsider those attitudes, for we all have a Divine purpose – a G-d given, soul driven mission in this world which we may have intuited as a child and experienced through our identification with great people. That secret yearning, to strive to reach ones ultimate potential, is an intuitive message from our souls (neshoma) encouraging us to be that special someone.

  In order to achieve this lofty goal we not only need to refine ourselves but it is most conducive to structure our surroundings with supernal cues that remind us of our true purpose and highest aspirations. The third essential “ingredient” is the elusive “dimension” of time. Just like space can be measured, so also time can be measured by the amount of cerebral ticks of our minds as they synchronize with pulse beat of our desires.

Time is not just an invention of convenience for personal scheduling but has been given by The Creator to help us define the spatial reality of the Jewish year. Like each room in a house, which each serves a unique purpose and function as designed by its architect and constructed by its builders, how much more so are the coordinates of time, which can be perceived as an ethereal “structure” that have an on the sight Architect and His wise talented “builders” (the Sages) who have authorization to synchronize our calendar with the Heavenly timelines. So let us take an opportunity to focus on the use and value of our precious time.

               When we learn how to manage our time so as to prioritize our tasks and put our service of the Creator (Hashem) first and foremost, then we receive our “promotions”, but first we are tested in using our time well.  Although each of the calibrations on the clock is evenly spaced and the hands of the clock travel at a uniform speed, time is not objective and homogeneous, but subjective, varied  and  responsive to our attitudes and moods.  This flexibility gives us an opportunity to make a meaningful choice:  We can consider time to be  a vessel  that can hold a collection of  golden eternal currency or see it as merely a container for storing the ephemera of a mundane existence.  We are all capable of transforming time by converting it from an earthly time piece into a G-d given gift that can be used as the vehicle for achieving eternal holiness in our lives.  

Each one of us has the most desirable of all possible goals for which to strive towards – those being specified good deeds known as mitzvoth which are instruments of eternality. These precious “gifts of opportunity” bestowed upon us by the Creator are embedded within even the most “mundane” task and activity, just ready to transform it into one of overarching   importance. 

Mitzvoth are not only limited to great and heroic community projects but  any act  can be done in service of Hashem when it is done for the right reasons in the correct way.

When  we attempt to realign our priorities, there is one force that will not be happy.  Our negative inclination (yetzer hara) will use all of its wiles to dissuade us from our goals, which is often an easy task, since the array of opportunities for misaligning  time is seemingly endless. [1]   Thus our first step in this process is to ask Hashem for help in refining and maximizing the use of our precious time. The Sages inform us that we need only move in the right direction, creating an opening as small as the size of a pin hole, for the Creator to then  open for us opportunities the size of the doors of  the Holy Temple (Bais HaMigdash) in Jerusalem, may it be built soon in our days.

Watch an expert packing a suitcase.  He or she will be able to put more in and get it to close more smoothly then we ever could have imagined.  Our days are like that suitcase in that, throughout each day, we are given opportunities to find corners and crevices of time that are just right for certain activities.

And where is all of this leading?  After we have practiced these techniques for a while, we may truly appreciate that each minute of life and opportunity is precious thereby always being inspired to fill that time in meaningful ways with a positive attitude. Through striving to fulfill ones unique abilities our inner creative energy will come bursting forth with joy and dedication. Priorities will then align themselves almost naturally and intuitively and the time we devote to our good deeds will often be expressed in minutes salvaged from the corners and crevices of that “suitcase” we spoke of earlier and placed into the service of Hashem to fulfill His purpose for us in this world. May we merit this blessing soon in our days.

 

© YB and SE Falk

All rights reserved

 

 



[1] .  Indeed, the Sages tell us that the main stumbling block of even the greatest righteous people (tzaddikim) were rooted in the miscalculation of  time.  This sin of Adam and Chava was not that they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, but that they ate from the Tree of Knowledge at the wrong time. The Sages explain that had they waited until  Shabbos, the Creator would have given them permission to eat from this tree. Likewise, King David was judged for marrying Bas Sheva before  the Heavenly designated time.

 

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DE-FEETING HAMAN (2 other new articles on Purim below)

            Purim is the perfect time to invite guests who think that Judaism is stodgy and restrictive.   As we stomp all over Haman’s name during the Megilla reading, and then sit down to a meal that’s more liquid then solid, I most enjoy watching Purim dismantling all of their pre-conceived notions.   I don’t tell my guests (who are having too much fun to worry about it) that even as we do something that seems strange or unusual, we are making a powerful statement that reverberates through time in order to bring the ultimate redemption.

            Stomping Out Haman 

             The custom of stomping at the sound of Haman’s name begins at the feet, so let us take off our shoes and examine the bottom of our “soles/souls”.  Most of us have a live and let live relationship with our feet.  If they do not bother us, we don’t worry about them.  We don’t usually buy special vitamins or minerals to enhance their functioning and at best we notice them because we need them as a place to put our shoes. 

Our feet don’t seem to  “kick up” much of a fuss about this attitude because they are too busy either standing or walking.  Walking is an amazing process, that we take for granted, which involves the foot’s ability to be rigid and calloused, yet flexible and mobile:  taking steps begins with the foot in a rigid state, the heel  hitting the ground, it then continues  with the foot unlocking and flexing so the knee can pass over it.  Our weight is then transferred to the ball of the foot as we propel ourselves over the toes whereupon the foot again becomes rigid to provide the momentum for the next step.  Although small in comparison to the body, the foot is able to support its full weight using muscles, tendons sinews and interestingly twenty six bones. 

The feet are furthest from the head and seem to be unconnected from all the other organs.  Yet according to a fairly popular alternative medical practice called reflexology, applying pressure to designated points on the feet can restore health and well being to each part of the body for a wide variety of ailments. According to this system, there are said to be, even more interestingly, 7200 hundred nerve endings in the feet which connect to zones so that each part of the foot corresponds to some part or organ of the body.  For example, the various organs and systems of the body are represented on the sole of the foot while the big toe relates to the head.  The ball of the foot relates to the lungs while the heal of the foot relates to the small intestine and bladder are located towards the heel.  

The feet also seem to be the farthest removed from that which is holy and pure.  Yet, it would be very difficult to interact with the world in the fulfillment of many (mitzvoth) specific good deeds without their assistance.  And it is that interaction with the world that Purim is so much about as this holiday begins with an awakening from “below”.

Our generation’s place in history lies on that end of Hashem’s time line that is embedded deeply within a mindset that often connects itself to self gratification, that is at the bottom end of  the  fourth of our four  exiles, [1] yet, we play a “pivotal” role.  Like the “soles” of the feet, most “souls” today are distant from the achievements of earlier generations, yet it is our duty to lift ourselves up, “striding” ever forward bringing the knowledge of Hashem into the here and now – which time is referred to as the (ikvei) [heels] footsteps of the HaMasiach.  Although this last exile like our heels has become somewhat calloused it is precisely that quality that gives us the opportunity to illuminate this epoch in time so that the ultimate redemption can occur.

Interestingly, our feet play a crucial role in this epic drama. They serve as the liaison between our “souls” and the ground. By having “our feet on the ground” – ie. in this material world, we are vulnerable to the nefarious plans of (Haman/Amalak) those who personify evil, but at the same time this positions give us a solid “foot-hold” in this battle.

Although our physical “soles” are connected to earthliness, our holy “souls” are unified with the true Source of All.  We therefore literally have the power to “stamp out” the influence and memory of  Haman  and Amalek with each “step” bringing us closer to their “de-feat” and the our ultimate redemption.

 Purim samayach!!!

 

           



[1] The Ari Hakadosh teaches that the purpose of the four exiles was to repair the sin of Adam Ha Rishon, the first man, with each exile corresponding to the various parts of the Primordial Man. So the Egyptian and Babylonian exiles repaired the head, the Persia and Midai, the chest, the Greek exile was the lower part of the body and finally the exile of Edom was the feet.

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PURIM – SEEING BEYOND THE MASK

               On your way to (Pesach) Passover, don’t  pass over Purim.  Ah Purim, how we all appreciate you even though you tantalize us,  mystify us and  laugh with us as we struggle to understand you.   Like Yom Kippur, you help us to reach a destination called forgiveness but what a difference in the trip.  You allow us to atone for our sins with merriment and with eating and with drinking– a lot of drinking.    On Yom Kippur we abstain. On Yom Kippur we remove our shoes, while you get us to put on an extra pair of clown shoes. On Yom Kippur we refrain from anointing ourselves while you allow us to us smear our faces and bodies with extra creams and cosmetics. On Yom Kippur we stay awake and focused while you – Purim – lead us to take an extra drink and or a little extra sleep.  How does this happen?

             Maybe we can find an answer using  your mitzvah of drinking wine –everything becomes clearer with a little wine and even clearer with more wine  . . .  Let’s see, where was I ? Oh yes, Drinking can easily bring a person to frivolity and nonsense, yet you, Purim, are (mehapech) the opposite,  you make a switch and the wine we drink takes us up the spiritual ladder towards purity and strivings towards kiddusha.

You’re really clever.  You  fool our (yetzer hora) negative inclination by giving  it just what it wants lots of wine and maybe even some more and then all of a sudden, it can’t connive or deceive any more because (nichnas yayin yotzei sod) once wine goes in, on this unique holy day, then the inner yearnings of our pure Jewish soul come out. 

You put masks on us to strip our masks away. All of a sudden we may realize that our regular, ordinary, middle of the road conduct is really the result of our inner battle between these two forces. Now we get a chance to glimpse at our dark side and through the special loftiness of this day can actually laugh at it , with that laughter freeing us from its negative influence hopefully not just for this day, but forever.

When we see beyond the mask, we learn how not to judge. Throughout the year we may be guilty of too quickly evaluating and judging others on a very shallow level. On Purim when a (adel) sweet person puts on a scary mask, we are not frightened because we know that behind the mask is a precious soul.  So, too, in the real world, every Jew has good points which we should focus on and therefore not be so quick to judge anyone superficially.

               Ah Purim, you don’t have us simply ask (mechila) forgiveness, of our friends, you tell us to say it with presents.  How so? We give two gifts to at least one friend and minimally one gift to each of two poor people. One of the great Rabbis makes an observation asking why are we obligated to give at least double to a friend and only minimally one gift to each of the poor?  He answers that the poor gratefully accept whatever we offer, but we might have offended our friends over the course of the year and they may continue to harbor resentment. On Purim we are commanded to make a special effort to repair these breaches in all relationships especially those which have weakened. Therefore we should  “redouble” our efforts with sincere gifts and send a clear message to both close friends and  estranged acquaintances  that we are sincerely interested in healing the past and rebuilding the future together. Also we give them gifts that don’t need preparation – ie. ready to eat – to hint to them that they do not have to make any – preparations – changes in themselves – in order for us to accept them as they are.

            On Purim, the poor can make us rich.  One reason we are only minimally required to give one gift to each of at least two needy people is because as long as we don’t see the poor as our friends we ourselves are spiritually poor, however, if we see every Jew, including the needy, as our friends, then we will generously lavish them with gifts thereby taking them out of their physical poverty and ourselves our of our spiritual poverty.

       Ah Purim, leave us with one more gift, leave us with your special smile which inspires our hearts as we prepare for the next stage of our journey that being the wonderful Pesach transformation.

      

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PURIM & CHANUKAH SECRETS HIDDEN WITHIN THE GRAPES & OLIVES

There are two popular holidays in the Jewish calendar that can be celebrated even as we perform our ordinary weekday activities.  Even though they have no special Yom Tov or Shabbos requirements they do much more than just commemorate events in history. Purim, in which wine is the drink of choice and Chanukah with its lighting of the menorah with ideally olive oil, have concealed within these days of joy, like quality olive oil that is extracted from olives and vintage wine whose transformed juice exudes from the grapes, heretofore untapped hidden powers that can aid us to help to rectify and elevate the entire creation.

              [How is this achieved and why is it necessary? When Adam and Chava ate the forbidden fruit, violating the specific commandment of the Creator, the yetzer hara became internalized causing an admixture within all mankind of tov vi-rah. Since four of the five senses of hearing, tasting, seeing and feeling (touch) acted as “accomplices” to the primordial sin, we need to now use those very same senses, in the performance of mitzvos and acts and chesed, to rectify this cosmic error which continues to reverberate throughout the generations.] (this par. not pub.)

               Partially because of a lack of enough sensitivity and an increase in senseless enmity (sinas kinom), that was a major cause of the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash, our Sages wisely gave us specific additional mitzvos that focus on strengthening our sense of awareness thereby reawakening our sensitivity in our relationship others. How can this best be achieved?

  Purim is a holiday that offers us an opportunity to become extraordinarily sensitive listeners through fulfilling the mitzvah of hearing every word of the Megilla. This unique mitzvah of focused rapt attention thereby teaches us how to truly listen to others, so as to better understand how to best help them. How is this achieved? We accomplish this through the other three mitzvos of the day which are giving charity generously, sending gifts of food to friends and opening the “doors” of our homes and hearts for a tasty meal which is a flavorful  experience for all of us.

Now that our hearing has been attuned and our taste buds enhanced we can look into the lights of Chanukah to see how to best rekindle the proper feelings between each other. How is this achieved? Just as we bend over – lower ourselves – as the naros are ideally below ten

tefakim, so as to be able to light – ie. touch – the Chanukah naros until they are lit up by the “helper” candle known as the shomus, so too in our relationship with others, we should be willing to metaphorically “bend over”,when  necessary, in order to share our soul’s “flame” to help kindle our fellow brethren including those who are still out in the shuk  – ie. – the marketplace of spiritual obscurity.

             There is an interesting possible correlation between Purim with its wine and Chanukah with its olive oil and two of the pillars of our avoda: Torah and tefillah. Just like the juice of the grape needs a transformational period of time of fermentation in order to become quality wine, so also, as was in the Purim episode when our nation prayed and fasted, do we sometimes need to pray over and over until our teffilos become transformed into a vintage quality that is able to mi-hapik the decree. The olive tree, on the other hand, which takes decades before producing quality olives and its olive oil can be likened to the extensive time it takes for a Torah student to develop into a true Torah scholar who is from then on able to produce chiddushim that adds spiritual “lights” to the world. Chanukah therefore symbolizes victory of Torah over teva with the olive oil of the Menorah symbolizing the wisdom of the Torah – as it is said: ner mitzvah, Torah orh.

       A final insight found within the holiday of Purim is alluded to through the mitzvah of sending  readymade foods to friends. Since during the course of the year some event might  have caused  others to feel that they have not lived up to our standards, the sending of specifically prepared foods expresses a profound message that just as this food needs no preparation, we are always ready and  prepared to accept you just as you are.

                May we through these beautiful mitzvos, which help us to realign our sensibility (feelings) of proper love and respect for all of our brethren, merit the final Bais HaMigdash soon in our days.

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

DAVENING AT THE TZION OF THE RASHBI-THE BURIAL SITE OF RABBI SHIMON BAR YOCHAI

          Meron in Eretz Israel is the burial site of the RASHBI author of the ZOHAR the seminal treatise on Kabbalah. It is awe inspiring to see thousands of Jews from every walk of life come to this holy site to reconnect with the very roots of their souls.  

        They come from all over the world and represent the entire spectrum of Jewish consciousness and social and political conventions and practices . Here  we can find the ultra orthodox and the radically secular,the conservative and the liberal, some with long peyot [side locks] while others with pony tails.

        This diverse group comes together in  order that each may connect with the supernal transcendence of this timeless holy place. Some are filled with tears of pain while others are celebrating in joyous ecstasy. Nonetheless, by the time they are ready to depart,  each visitor will  have a definitely discernible
experience – it may express itself as a sense of renewal and inspiration, or it
may present in a more subtle fashion  — but each will receive in accordance with  the power of his or her soul to be recharged.

    How is such a phenomena possible? The answer is not “blowing in the wind”  but hovering within the core of each one of our souls. The holy RASHBI,  as he is fondly and reverently called, merited to find a way to reveal the deepest levels of Kabbalistic tradition in a format that keeps itself hidden
from all but a select few Sages in each generation.

        The sefer that he wrote, the Zohar contains all of the encoded secrets of
theTorah which were later revealed by giants such as the ARizal and his
disciples. This extraordinary sefer  contains the spiritual keys to all of the
hidden worlds and the powers locked within them to re-balance our –
neshomas – thus providing the  truest form of  soul food.

         

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A DRINK OF WATER

Many of the deeds we do seem quite insignificant but prove to have far-reaching implications. The following true story highlights the great value of carefully considering each of our decisions, large and small.

Yosef and Rachel were looking forward to this long-awaited journey to Eretz Yisrael. They left for the airport shortly after sunset. As they drove along, Rachel was chatting excitedly about the trip. She wondered aloud whether she had found the right gifts for their family and friends and then her conversation shifted to her favorite topic – of someday soon meriting to live in Eretz Yisrael. All the while her husband, Yosef, wasn’t paying too much attention because he apparently had something weighty on his mind. He kept glancing toward the darkening sky, looking at his watch and repeatedly opening his ticket folder to check on the time of their flight. Rachel asked him what was on his mind. He was concerned, he said, about whether he would have time to look for a minyan to daven Maariv before the flight.

Upon arriving at the airport, they quickly loaded their weighty bags onto a cart and began the lengthy check-in process. Yosef kept glancing at the large overhead clock as if his concentrated thoughts could make the hands move slowly enough for him to still have sufficient time to find a minyan.

Carry-on bags and tickets in hand, the couple now walked briskly over to the security area, where they were told to place all they were carrying, including coats and shoes, into the ever-cycling gray tubs that would be shuttled through the fluoroscope machine one after another like a flock of sheep forced into a line to enter the narrow gate of the pasture.

Having rescued their possessions, they headed down the long corridor toward the waiting room next to their departure gate. Rachel began to feel faint. Yosef, noticing her discomfort, suggested to her as they passed a water fountain that they stop a moment for her to have a well-deserved drink and sit down on a bench to rest for a few moments. Rachel, who always traveled with clean collapsible plastic cups for health’s sake, filled the two cups with water from the fountain but insisted that move along quickly to the flight gate and only then would she sit and take a drink. Yosef knew they had at least another five minute’s walk ahead of them and suggested again that they sit down to drink and rest a moment. Rachel thanked him for his consideration but urged that they keep moving.

“Let’s just get to the gate as fast as we can – I can rest later,” she assured him.

At the exact moment they arrived at their flight gate, they saw a group of men standing in a corner of the lounge and heard them saying the Vehu rachu… that prayer that precedes Barechu. Yosef was delighted to be able to join in with the minyan and daven Maariv with the tzibbur.

Thanks to Rachel’s insistence on postponing her own comfort so as not to delay an opportunity for her husband to seek a minyan before they boarded the plane, she was able to reap the spiritual benefits of helping him perform a mitzvah.

We of course cannot say which rewards are connected with which mitzvos but it does seem strange that Yosef and Rachel were the only people on that entire jumbo jet who had a vacant seat next to them. Rachel, who usually finds it difficult to sleep, much less relax and rest in an upright position on a plane, and who had refused to stop and rest for even a few seconds on their mad dash to the departure gate, was able to stretch out and sleep comfortably for many hours for the first time on an international flight.

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