THE DIET REVOLUTION AND SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION

        From Atkins to the Zone (alef to tov) and everything in between, diet, nutrition and fitness are the all consuming topics of this generation.  Countless hours are invested in trying to find that perfect combination of food, nutritional supplements and exercise.    In the process, kitchens are transformed into mini-labs complete with scales and measures, herbs and sprout growers, juicers grinders and processors of all sorts.  Precious space in small apartments has been dedicated to all kinds of exercise equipment. Books and magazines on health and nutrition crowd the shelves and pantries are filled with nutritional experiments.

  Contemporary diet and nutrition programs have, for many, virtually become  belief systems.  Each dietary path has its devoted adherents – ready to defend their faith to the last spoonful.   How can this be, we wonder?   Health and fitness are purely a physical, factual matter– are they not?  Yet people speak in terms of guilt, shame and taboo when they talk about eating. What is the deeper message in all of this from the Heavenly prospective? Is it only weight control or is there a more profound meaning to this diet revolution?

            First, let us take a moment to think about just how many facets of  life reflect occupation or preoccupation with food.  Eating and drinking are primary pleasures that have generated a multi billion dollar industry. Today, there is virtually no taste experience that is not available to the kosher consumer and so all of the  gustatory adventures available to the world at large  are open to observant Jews as well.

Inspired by the media and the merchandizing masters, the average person spends a startling percentage of his or her waking hours, buying, preparing and eating food and drinking beverages.  In reaction, many will then invest additional time learning to resist temptation.  If we add to these figures the amount of time and effort spent on learning to live with  food allergies and combating eating disorders we can easily see how  some enormous percent of  time and energy is spent in these pursuits. Thus, dieting has a tremendous mass appeal because it meets the diverse needs of large numbers of people.

       Let us return to our original question.  What is it about diet –whether elective or mandated by  an allergy or condition–that has become such a preoccupying factor in people’s  lives? Perhaps this phenomenon is a preparatory precursor to the time, in the hopefully not too distant future, when the Creator will impose a new world order known as the “birth pangs” of the the world’s redeemer (Mashiach) bringing with it a new state of higher consciousness for all mankind. Yet to achieve this new state of consciousness there will have to be a refocus upon things spiritual.  How can this happen we may wonder when we spend so much time pursuing materialistic goals. How will we ever willingly follow principles that are linked to spirituality which require the dedication of considerable time and effort?

Society’s preoccupation with food and specifically with dieting is perhaps a part of the Divine solution to this question.   For there is nothing like a diet to train a person in the skills needed to  achieve the discipline of following rules established by someone other than themselves  and experience the humility of  trying to overcome obstacles. 

Instilling belief:     Dieting works best when the dieter believes in his or her chosen diet.  Changing life long eating habits is challenging and for most  that challenge can only be met when the dieter is persuaded that the diet will completely overhaul and change his or her life.

Disciplined Action:   Once convinced of the virtues of a  particular way of eating, the dieter is willing to weigh every mouthful, go miles out of the way to find certified organic foods,  eat only according to a rigid schedule and learn to tolerate the physiological and psychological challenges that are a  part of the process.   

Reaping the Rewards:    When  dieters  painstakingly follow their diet plan, they experience  the  “good feeling”  that comes with  gaining control and mastery over their desires.  Indeed,  weight control may  be their first  experience of  self imposed discipline and restriction which leads them towards personal empowerment.  

Let us bring that intuition into focus and look at it more closely.  

Towards a Universal Diet: 

The new age goals of fitness and  health  are very important to many of us.   Whether prodded by their fears of gaining or losing weight, of becoming ill or of  showing the signs of aging,  many of us are willing to spend time and effort studying and investigating competing dietary claims and adhering to restrictive dietary regimens.  Many are willing to swallow the inflated costs of  buying  organic foods and  nutritional supplements and endure strenuous and often monotonous  exercise regimens.

For the health advocate, a profound yet practical benefit of these programs  is an enhanced awareness of the significance of  these actions.  This awareness  can lead to an heightened level of consciousness that will incorporate self control and discipline into many other facets of  their lives. (For those who put into practice refining their weighing and measuring ones dietary regime for some will help to awaken their awareness of the need to weigh and measure each of their decisions regarding kashrus          However this is only the beginning.  May we soon see the day that we, who  had previously weighed and measured our portions,  are weighing  and measuring the consequences of our actions; monitoring and directing our thoughts and emotions  in accordance with the Creator’s guidelines. We will then be able to  “exercise”  our free will to choose to fulfill the Creator’s will (mitzvoth and ma’asim tovim). These acts of Divine service will then serve as spiritual “wings” for us to reach new supernal heights. This elevation of the consciousness will also empower us to resist ephemeral temptations as we will now see life from an ethereal position  and understand the futility of pursuing temporal goals and ambitions as an end unto themselves.

   Therefore, we need not despair for  the Creator has already embedded within the mundane activities of this world the potential for reconnecting with Hashem.  May we all  merit to see the final redemption (geulah) 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

THOUGHTS ON LIVING WITH THE SPIRITUAL SUCCAH ALL YEAR ROUND

           But, why, we might ask, why would we want to live inside a succah all year round?  As adults, we might  have experienced  this essentially roofless abode as cold and  wet or hot and  uncomfortable, visited by unlovely critters and difficult to keep clean.  We might not have particularly relished serving meals in a place very distant from our kitchens and in the absence  of the amenities of our dining rooms.  Those of us who live in apartment buildings may have found it quite challenging to fulfill the mitzvah of leyshev b’succah altogether.

Happily, the  small child inside of us has other memories and feelings connected with the succah. Let us take a moment and think back to our earliest experiences in the Succah.   Remember  how we used to look for the  twinkling stars through the thatch and how  entranced we were by the grapes, fruits and garlands hanging upside down from the  beams.  This  child within us can yet feel the  Ananei Hakavod, the clouds of glory, that surround our succahs and experience  the joy,  the happiness and the feeling of closeness and protection  the succah offers. We can and in fact should make every effort to recapture those feelings and allow ourselves to fully appreciate this mitzvah so that as adults, we can understand the mitzvah of succah  at a more profound level. 

The source  of the simcha of Succos,  lies deep within the external makifim, coverings, of the mitzvah.  When we part these coverings, we will be able  to see how we can derive true spiritual benefit  from the succah throughout the year.  The  secret of the succah is  hidden in its roof. While the walls of the succah  can be made of almost any material, the roof  – s’chach of the succah has very specific requirements.   The halacha requires that the s’chach  be made of material  that has grown from the ground and is  now  detached, and is material that cannot become a conduit for spiritual contamination.

               Once we understand how these laws can  be applied to our homes, we can  indeed be surrounded by the succah with its Annanei  Hakavod all the year round.

The s’chach must be made of material that has grown from the ground.  In order to become a suitable marriage partner, we must recognize the value of  the home in which we were raised because it provided our “grounding.”   If we were fortunate enough to have  grown  up in a home with a Torah perspective,  where service of Hashem was of primary importance, then that becomes a strong and true foundation upon which we can build our own home.   But know that the home in which we were raised , is the home Hashem planned for us, and  thus the right place for us. whatever its point of view was.  If we have any doubt as to this fact, think of Avraham Avinu’s parental home—and recognize that even the home of  idol worshippers can produce beautiful fruit.      Regardless of the sort of home we grew up in,  we can all  take appropriate spiritual nourishment from our upbringing by focusing upon the strengths of that home rather than upon its weaknesses. We must refrain from being critical of our parents and our siblings, even privately. Instead, we must make every effort to see them as the spiritual and physical soil in which we were nurtured and feel a deep gratitude to them.

     The next law of  the s’chach is that it must be cut from its source.  When we come into marriage, we must  cut ourselves loose from our rooting place.  If we don’t do this, then we might find ourselves living in the past, demanding to be treated as if we were still children in our parents’ homes.    We are also in danger of assuming that our homes are going to be run the way our parents’ homes were run which assumption may lead to us making unfavorable comparisons between our parents and our spouses.

In order to properly detach ourselves, we must appreciate that the home that we build with our spouse is meant to be a home which will bear the stamp of our own unique personalities both in its successes and in its failures.  We will know that we have succeeded in this task when we are able to gently create appropriate boundaries between ourselves and our parents—boundaries which let them in but do not admit of any kind of  meddlesome intrusion into areas that should be reserved strictly for ourselves and our spouses.

            The final halacha governing the s’chach is that it must not be made from material that is m’kabel tumah- subject to becoming impure through contamination with impure substances. That is to say not to allow ourselves to become attached to alien values that are inconsistent with a Torah way of life and can adopt for ourselves life giving, life promoting Torah values.

 Whatever our earlier circumstances were, once severed from our own grounding,  it is crucial that we  make every effort to establish a home that is free from the kinds of influences that undermine our ability to serve Hashem with Yirah and Ahava and Simcha for our own sakes and for the sakes of our children.  We will only be able to create the kind of home in which  the Shechina is shorait  when we build our s’chach of material that is not subject to such contamination.  We must be on guard in every possible way against  spiritual contaminants  which threaten to invade our homes and only allow those things which enhance our spiritual well being.

             When we cover our lives with a roof made of emuna, we will surely see blessings in the fruits of our labors all the year round.              

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

DWELLING IN SUKKAH CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

 

        Once again we find ourselves standing at the entranceway to the season of Sukkos. Have we ever taken the occasion to consider the meaning of a mitzvah that we literally step into and dwell within  for seven full days?

            From Caterpillar to Butterfly

            Just as we can observe dramatic changes within the creation, such as the transition of the relatively graceless dawdling caterpillar into a gracefully airborne butterfly, so also we at times observe quite dramatic changes in the course of our lives. Examples of these milestones our when we learned how to walk and talk, graduated, became engaged, began a new job or moved. However, when it comes to spiritual growth, unless we pay close attention to the subtle changes inside of ourselves, we can pass through the various stages of development and transformation without being fully aware of them.

            The sukkah can serve as our spiritual cocoon

             In order for us to begin dwelling in sukkah consciousness we need to remove any “roofs” of perceptual limitation and replace them with the supernal lattice –s’chach –which allows us to widen our spiritual horizons. By understanding the connection between the halachas of the s’chach and ourselves , we can begin to peer through the gaps and gaze into the supernal realms of our lives. 

              The Sukkah can be seen as a form of concretized prayer which contains all the components necessary for our spiritual metamorphosis. The mitzvah of sukkah is one of those divinely constructed conduits that enables us to make that smooth transition to the next level of our avodas Hashem. This transformation is made available to us through the halachas of the sukkah.

            The sukkah in a metaphysical sense is like a human being with a body and a soul, as it is composed of both earthly and heavenly components.  This duality is reflected in the s’chach  which originated from a natural substance that was attached to the ground and is now uprooted from its soil ( even as Avraham Aveinu uprooted himself from his  cultural surroundings). The s’chack is then placed on high and becomes a  supernal quintessential covering that offers us Divine protection and Heavenly insights. The mitzvah of sukkah aids us to detach from any materialistic excesses as well as guides us through the Uzpizin to nourish from the eternal values of the Torah as will been explained. 

              How many of us have thought about the following dichotomy? We all have seen how parents begin prodding their toddlers to walk and talk as rapidly as they are able, yet as soon as these same children get a little bigger their parents and educators are constantly telling and teaching these children, often in futility, to sit down and be quite. For the children this mixed message might be quiet confusing but there lies within this moshal a profound message for all of us.

             Indeed, in the first phases of life, our task is to learn how to walk and talk and use all of our efforts to “get up” on our own two feet and succeed in the world, however, if a person does not learn how to “sit down” introspectively and become “quietly” contemplative they will find themselves spending their entire adulthood trying to conquer the world instead submitting to their own inner spiritual calling. Perhaps one of the many invaluable lessons within the mitzvah of (leishev) to sit in sukkah is to teach us how to “sit down” in contemplation with our neshomos under the guidance of each days Ushpizin – the supernal sublime guests that grace our sukkah..

             Just as the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur awakens within us our yir’as Hashem, the seven days of Sukkas has the power to draw  from within us   expressions of ahavas Hashem.

         To aid us in this transition Chazal teach that on each of the seven days of Sukkos one of our forefathers is invited to join us in the sukkah. They are our honored guests who educate us in perceiving our true purpose and potential that we can strive to attain throughout the year when we return back into our homes. This transition is best facilitated by opening our hearts and minds to the divine attributes that the seven Uspizin symbolize as the infra-structure of our spiritual stature.

            Under the influence of our forefather Avraham Avinu we can reveal and refine the trait of – chesed – loving kindness for the sake of Heaven.  Under the guidance of our forefather Yitzchak Avinu we are aided in developing the attribute of discipline so that our chesed can be constructively channeled.  Under the influence of Yaakov Avinu we are shown how to harmonize these seemingly disparate attributes of chesed and gavurah.

             Moshe Rabbeinu awakens the netzach Israel within us that links us with the eternal message of the Torah. Under the tutelage of Aaron HaKohan we learn to offer ourselves for service to the Creator thereby engendering greater peace in  the world.

 Yosef HaTzadik inspires us in our strivings towards righteousness through acts of purity. Finally the attribute of malchus, which is expressed through the kingdom of David HaMelech, is the power within us to orchestrate and combine all of these attributes  so as to harmonize our potential to reveal the will of the Creator in this world. This means that each day of Succos we each have been blessed with our own private supernal “tutors” who join us while we are enveloped within the mitzvah thereby aiding us to elicit from deep within us the seven divine attributes. 

                  Through following this spiritual prescription may we see to take the inner message of the sukkah back into our homes the whole year, thereby meriting to dance (stand up) and sing (speak) words of praise and gratefulness for each moment throughout our lives thereby meriting to soon dwell in the long awaited Sukkos David.    

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

SUKKAH – UNBOUNDED BOUNDARIES

                               

                 From Caterpillar to Butterfly

            Just as we can observe dramatic changes within the creation, such as the transition of an unassuming dawdling caterpillar into a gracefully airborne butterfly, so also we at times observe quite dramatic changes in the course of our lives.

        The sukkah is a, so to speak, spiritual cocoon that can help us remove any “roofs” of perceptual limitation and replace them with the supernal lattice covering –s’chach –which allows us to widen our previously limited horizons. By understanding the connection between the halachas of the s’chach and ourselves , we can begin to peer through the gaps and gaze into the supernal realms of our lives. 

             

The mitzvah of sukkah aids us to detach from any materialistic excesses as well as guides us through the Uzpizin (seven days of supernal guidance from our greatest spiritual leaders from Avraham Avinu through David HaMelek), to nourish from the eternal values of the Torah as will been explained. 

 

 For during each of the seven days we spend in our sukkas we have the opportunity to absorb spiritual ‘nutrients’ that provide a far greater visual range– a broader and sharper perception of ourselves, others and our world then we would have ordinarily been able to obtain without this mitzvah.  

When compared to our sturdy homes, the halachic construction specifications of our sukkas call for a less then solid and contiguous structure. For example, the   ‘latticed’ roof – the s’chach – contains many small openings. Also there need be only a minimum of three ‘halachic’ walls which need only come to within three tefachim of the ground—lavud –and do not need to come all the way up to the s’chach.  The walls, also amazingly, do not even need to be located within the boarders of the kosher area of the sukka—dophin hakoma – as long as they are within four amos of it (about six feet).

    Several elements of these halachic parameters stand out.  The first is the degree of openness and seeming “incompletion” that is tolerated by the halacha.  We have an open lattice roof and walls that can seem to be somewhat incomplete. How, one wonders, could such a configuration be considered a suitable dwelling?  Yet it is precisely the idiosyncratic nature of this construction that allows us the opportunity to contemplate connections that might have eluded us from our vantage point within the solid shelter of our houses. These seeming ‘gaps’ thus can and do serve a lofty purpose.

 We are finite beings living in a finite world and our usual perception of reality is confined within the parameters of human consciousness. When the Yom Tov of Succoth arrives, however, the Creator allows us a glimpse – especially through the latticed s’chach and also through the other halachic ‘openings of G-dly consciousness. We, ourselves, cannot contrive this opportunity, only Hashem can afford us this glimpse into limitlessness. As is said in Koheleth which we read on Shabbos Chol Hamoed Sukkos, there is a time and a season for everything and only Hashem can create that time and season. For seven blissful days we are given a seasonal opportunity to live in a temporary dwelling that allows us to access a vastly expanded realm above and beyond time, place and limitation.

(Optioanl) [ In a worldly sense, to what can the s’chach and the walls of the Succah be compared?  In nature, the living cell is covered by a membrane. And so how do the necessary nutrients get into the cell ?  There are several routes inward, however, recently, scientists have discovered that miraculously, from within that membrane, molecules of a protein, called clathrin, assemble into a cage-like structure made up of lattice walls.  This latticed cage captures and transports nutrients,  hormones and other necessary substances into the cell.  When the job is done, these latticed walls spontaneously disassemble. 

So we too, through the mitzvah of sukka, assemble a latticed roof – the s’chach which allows for the ‘spiritual nutrients’ to become accessible to us, until the end of the festival. Now let us examine some of these ‘spiritual nutrients’ that come through the ‘lattice s’chach’ and possibly even through the walls of our sukkas.]

       The walls of the sukka bring us additional messages.  There are numerous fascinating laws concerning the walls of the sukka. Certain areas of a sukka can still be kosher even if its walls are under a roof or under the branches of a tree, as long as the wall or walls are within four amos of the kosher area. This wall, which is called – dofin a coma – a bending wall, is now  able to serve as a kosher wall to complete the sukka, even though a person would not be fulfilling the mitzvah of sukka by eating or sleeping in that area.

Perhaps we can offer the following insight. Each of us has a part of our personalities which can be understood through the metaphor of the wall. A physical wall can serve several purposes – it can define living spaces and provide staging areas in which we can organize the activities of life. Indeed, with respect to tefillah, we are taught to select a makom kavua—a designated place– in our shul or in our home where we can daven.  Walls provide much needed privacy, stability and security. Just as physical walls perform these functions, so too do psychological walls.  We build psychological barriers to shield ourselves from unwanted influences and undesired intrusions.   However, there are times that these “walls” can work against us. If, for example, we allow the “walls” of our personalities to become too rigid a barrier between ourselves and others, then we lose precious opportunities for growth and connection. If, however, we allow ourselves to ‘bend over towards others’ by letting go of our personal idiosyncrasies, we then can unite with them in the building a ‘sukka of peace’ and cooperation.  Perhaps this is one of the many wondrous lessons that the Torah had in mind in giving us the law of the bending wall  dophin hakoma.

This number seven is echoed in the number of days we spend in the sukka as well as the seven emotive attributes within each of us. Thus, not only does our stay in the sukka  help us to develop the attribute of humility, the time spent in the sukka also allows us to take advantage of each of the rectifying attributes of our seven ushpizin – Avraham Avinu through David HaMelek and through the various mitzvoth during this auspicious time.

When we spend seven days in the sukka, in the company of these special dignitaries of the Creator we are able to access the inner value of this special time and specific place.

            One of the well known sayings of the Bal Shem Tov is: “You are where your thoughts are.” Even though the Yomim Tovim will pass, we can continue to dwell in the holy ‘conceptual atmosphere’ of the sukka with its profound symbolism.  May we merit to nurture these ideas and feelings throughout the whole year thereby bringing closer the final geula soon in our days.

 

 

              Through the year we dwell in homes that are solidly constructed to provide us with insulation, protection and privacy. The security we experience in these dwellings is a paradigm for the external reality of  nature, which cloaks the Creator‘s essence within it.  When we leave our homes to dwell in the Sukkah, we are proclaiming that we desire to relinquish our man-made “security” for true Divine protection. 

 We are then prepared to enter the spiritual realm called Succah.  In this realm we encounter the Divinely inspired influences of the Ushpizin –the special guests we invite into our Succahs.

           How many of us have thought about the following dichotomy? We all have seen how parents begin prodding their toddlers to walk and talk as rapidly as they are able, yet as soon as these same children get a little bigger their parents and educators are constantly telling and teaching these children, often in futility, to sit down and be quite. For the children this mixed message might be quiet confusing but there lies within this moshal a profound message for all of us.

             Indeed, in the first phases of life, our task is to learn how to walk and talk and use all of our efforts to “get up” on our own two feet and succeed in the world, however, if a person does not learn how to “sit down” introspectively and become “quietly” contemplative they will find themselves spending their entire adulthood trying to conquer the world instead submitting to their own inner spiritual calling. Perhaps one of the many invaluable lessons within the mitzvah of (leishev) to sit in sukkah is to teach us how to “sit down” in contemplation with our neshomos under the guidance of each days Ushpizin – the supernal sublime guests that grace our sukkah..

       To aid us in this transition Chazal teach that on each of the seven days of Sukkos one of our forefathers is invited to join us in the sukkah. They are our honored guests who educate us in perceiving our true purpose and potential that we can strive to attain throughout the year when we return back into our homes. This transition is best facilitated by opening our hearts and minds to the divine attributes that the seven Uspizin symbolize as the infra-structure of our spiritual stature.

            Under the influence of our forefather Avraham Avinu we can reveal and refine the trait of – chesed – loving kindness for the sake of Heaven.  Under the guidance of our forefather Yitzchak Avinu we are aided in developing the attribute of discipline so that our chesed can be constructively channeled.  Under the influence of Yaakov Avinu we are shown how to harmonize these seemingly disparate attributes of chesed and gavurah.

             Moshe Rabbeinu awakens the netzach Israel within us that links us with the eternal message of the Torah. Under the tutelage of Aaron HaKohan we learn to offer ourselves for service to the Creator thereby engendering greater peace in  the world.

            Yosef HaTzadik inspires us in our strivings towards righteousness through acts of purity. Finally the attribute of malchus, which is expressed through the kingdom of David HaMelech, is the power within us to orchestrate and combine all of these attributes  so as to harmonize our potential to reveal the will of the Creator in this world. This means that each day of Succos we each have been blessed with our own private supernal “tutors” who join us while we are enveloped within the mitzvah thereby aiding us to elicit from deep within us the seven divine attributes. 

                  Through following this spiritual prescription may we see to take the inner message of the sukkah back into our homes the whole year, thereby meriting to dance (stand up) and sing (speak) words of praise and gratefulness for each moment throughout our lives thereby meriting to soon dwell in the long awaited Sukkos David.    

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

IN RETROSPECT: THE SUCCAH WHERE HEAVEN & EARTH MEET

                                                                                                                                            We live in two realms simultaneously – the physical world that we can see, hear and touch and the spiritual world of  the neshama which is connected to Hashem and is accessible through thoughtful contemplation.  The Succah is the extraordinary instrumentality that allows us to make a smooth transition from the see – hear – smell touch world of the physical to the place of our neshama-consciousness.  In the Succah, we can actually experience the transformation; Whether we have carefully observed and absorbed this process as it was occurring or do so now in retrospect,  we can take this special consciousness with us into the rest of the year so that what happens on the neshama level does not remain hidden from us.  What is the nature of this transformation?

 The perception of change in the physical world is accomplished by enhancing our intellect through the acquisition of knowledge, by physical growth and sometimes by adorning ourselves and by changing or improving our environments and is accompanied by signs that we can perceive with our senses.   Thus a baby is weaned.  A child begins cheder. A youth learns a new masechta.  A young woman becomes a kallah. A family moves into a new home. However, when it comes to spiritual growth, unless we are paying attention to the subtle changes inside of ourselves  we can pass through various stages of spiritual growth without marking the event consciously. We see the results when eventually they manifest themselves as changes in our temperament and in our reactions, but that can take a very long time and sometimes by the time we “notice” the change we are not able to consciously work on it to enhance it or, r’l if it be a change down the ladder, to uproot it.

        To rebalance this, Hashem has given us Chodesh Tishrei in which  we are encouraged to participate in the spiritual rectifications necessary to meeting the challenges of the new year.  The Holy days of Tishrei which precede Succos teach us how to use in-sight and search our hearts with our inner eyes to root out those negative attributes that diminish our holiness.  We are then prepared to enter the spiritual realm called Succah.  In this realm we encounter the Divinely inspired influences of the Ushpizin –the special guests we invite into our Succahs. 

These, our Shepherds, aid us in the rectification and renewal of  the seven principal character traits that  form the infra-structure of our personalities: Under the influence of  our forefather Avraham we are aided in the development of  the trait of Chesed– the exercise of  loving- kindness for the sake of Heaven.  Under the influence of our forefather Yitzchak we are aided in the development of the trait of Gevurah  which is the use of discipline to direct and channel kindness so that it can be constructive rather than destructive.  Under the influence of  Yaakov Avinu  we are shown how to use Torah to develop Teferes which is the trait that harmonizes loving kindness and discipline.  Our next guest,  Our Teacher Moshe Rabbeinu helps us understand Netzach that eternal component within us that connects us to Hashem and makes it possible for us to fulfill the  Creator’s will.  Under the tutelage of Aaron HaKohan we experience Hod, splendor in service of Hashem. Yosef HaTzadik – Yesod  inspires us and encourages us to cleave to   moral purity in righteousness.  David HaMelech – Malchus demonstrates the power of royalty to orchestrate and combine all of these attributes and  implant in us those aspirations and decisions that will enhance our holiness and our ability to come closer to Hashem in the upcoming year.  

David Hamelech sings “ V’Ani tefilasi lecha Hashem . . .”    In a certain spiritual sense our Succahs are a form of concretized prayer which embodies those crucial elements that form us. Like ourselves, the Succah is composed of  earthly and heavenly components.  That combination of body and soul; of the material and the spiritual is epitomized by the s’chach – the thatched roof of our Succahs — because the s’chach represents the quintessential form of Divine protection and blessing. 

Thus by understanding the connection between the halachas of the s’chach and ourselves we can direct our lives throughout the whole year: 1) the s’chach must be made from material which originally grew from the ground—mechubar l’karka.  We too are connected to this physical world through our bodies and our senses which create a strong psychological bond to this world.   2) The material used for the  s’chach must be detached from the ground. Perhaps the Torah is thus declaring to us that in order to be elevated and reconnected to the Heavenly realm even while we are still living in this world we need to uproot our psychological, emotional and intellectual attachment to the nonessential pulls of this world 3) The s’chach must not be a  keli (vessel) which is capable of  receiving tumah—spiritual impurity. Although the halachas, laws, of  spiritual impurity are  very complex  and we thus are unable to cover them here, we can say that  most kelim that have import and value are susceptible to spiritual impurity.  Perhaps this third halacha of the s’chach is therefore coming to teach us that  we need to  be extremely diligent in annulling those prideful and self  righteous parts of our egos, replacing them with  a humble but sturdy sense of self respect.

 A halacha that directs the placement of the s’chach offers an additional illuminating insight. The roof of the succah must be sufficiently porous to allow rain to fall through it and ideally have openings large enough to allow us to see the stars.  We can learn a profound lesson from this halacha.  Even when we live in a permanent dwelling, with its impermeable ceilings, covered by a solid roof, we can look up and see right through this illusory protection to the true Protector,  Aveinu Shebashamayim.  

 This means that as we mature and become less dependent upon others and less enamored of the lures of this world, we can step up to a level of self nullification that  allows us to acknowledge the true Source of all security and sustenance in life.  This is a great lesson for us.  Our submission (bittel) to the will of Hashem’s Torah keeps us protected from the powers of tumah as symbolized through the s’chach which is the conduit for Divine protection and revelation. May we merit to take the message of the s’chach back into to our homes opening our doors and our hearts to the will of Hashem.

      

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

DUST OF THE DAWN – YOM KIPPUR TRANSFORMATION

                    

         One of the most famous confrontations in history has an interesting “footnote”.  We are informed by the Midrash that the battle between the angel of Eisav and Yaakov was so intense that the “dust” it raised reached the Kisei Ha-Kavod., and then we are told wondrously that all the successes of Yaakov Avinu, in business ventures and in battle (challenge) as well as the success of all of his descendants throughout the ages comes in the merit of this “dust of contention”. (Shir Hashirim Raba: 3:6:2)

              These puzzling and profound statements warrant further attention but before we look into the spiritual molecular structure of this “dust,” we will add one more dimension and that is the element of time. Our holy Zohar (Vayikra 100b) implies that our tikun of that battle takes place on the evening of Yom Kippur.It is also well known in our holy Sarfim that in every interaction there are always three components of: person (nefesh), place (makom) and time (zman).   Yaakov Aveinu and Eisav represent the two diametrically opposed aspects of nefesh – moral extremes of good and bad.  The gid hanasheh corresponds to mokom – place since it is the mechanism which allows us to position ourselves in the physical and moral planes. [In the Tikuni Zohar it is written that the gid hanasha corresponds to media of tzadik which corresponds to the attribute of yesod – (tikun 18 duf 32b)]. The third component is Yom Kippur which is separate and apart from the rest of the calendar year [that Rashi brings from one pashot in the Tana devay Eliahu – Raba – perek alef on Tehillim (139 pusack 16) indicating that Yom Kippur is a uniquely sanctified day. [also see the Sefer Likutey Moharan – simon 179].

              To the above we could ask a few obvious questions. Are all bracas for parnosa and success in overcoming challenges pre-ordained “gifts” than we do nothing to deserve them? Also what is the significance that this “soul battle” took place specifically on evening of Yom Kippur? Also what is the deeper meaning of this “dust” that guarantees these blessings of parnoasa and success throughout the generations?

             We begin our analysis with the understanding that every human being is a composite of soul and body, intellect and emotions, the spiritual and the physical. When we make choices in our everyday activities – those choices can either align us with Hashem’s purpose for us or send us floundering in the opposite direction. It is through seeing and living life through “soul perspective”, which is “cosmic view” of the world, that allows us to traverse safely the occasional bumpy “terrain” of life’s challenges.                                                      

               As is well known, Esau, who came with four hundred men to confront Ya’akov, symbolizes the yetzer hora’s efforts to try to upset this synergistic balance. That night Yaakov returned over the Yabuk to collect – pachim ketanim – small vessels and had a dramatic encounter with the angel of Esau. Near the end of the battle, Yaakov’s gid hanasheh, the cord/sinew that coordinates balance and movement and allows us to effect a change in physical position, was dislocated. Perhaps we can say that the gid hanasha not only represents the pivotal point for movement but also symbolizes the moral direction we choose.

            Interestingly, the exact size army that Esau came with is the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew word for straw (KaSh) spelled  – Kuf Shin. The nature of straw is that each strand itself is easily broken, but when many strands of straw are bound together they become strong and resilient. So to in life, each individual small incident, like a piece of straw, can be seen as relatively insignificant and be easily torn (discarded), however if one allows themselves to “bundle up issues” until the some total of them looks and feels as strong as the army of Esav then even these minor but now bundled confrontations within daily life can seen and felt as overwhelming.

         From this insight perhaps we can now add an additional reason why our Sages have told us not to bundle mitzvos together to teach us that also individual challenges throughout our daily lives should also never be bundled together, but each incident should be dealt with appropriately unto itself and the “emotional chaff” immediately discarded. Thus if someone at various times does something to annoy us, we should deal with each challenge with a fresh open-minded objective solution oriented perspective and not allow any bundling of past aggravations and annoyances into the picture. Another example of bundling can be for example multiple annoying issues besiege a person like an emergency arises to take someone to the hospital but the car in front is moving too slowly or the secretary at the registration desk is rude, or the waiting time to be seen seems forever. The strategy in order to maintain one’s emotional equilibrium and equanimity is to always keep separate each contentious issue (piece of kash) and thereby much more easily diffuse the intensity of that days tests of character.

 The conflict between Yaakov and Eisav symbolizes the quintessential battle between selflessness and selfishness. The Zohar in Parshas Toldos informs us that everything that Yaakov Avinu did was for the sake of Heaven (l’Sham Shamayim). The Midrash tells us that Yaakov is the symbol of the Yetzer Tov while Esau corresponds to the Yetzer Hora. At the end of the titanic struggle that lasted until the break of dawn, Yaakov Avinu was able to triumphant over the angel of Esau. Our forefather Yaakov, like his predecessors Avraham and Yitzchak, was able to successfully realign his spiritual genetic propensities thus enabling us to be the perpetual beneficiaries of this treasury of moral refinement.

        The avoda of Erev Yom Kippur also plays an important part in this transformation because this day is the “entranceway” that lies between the material and the spiritual realms. On Erev Yom Kippur we are asked to live in seemingly disparate realms. We spend the day examining our actions and our motives in an effort to do sincere teshuvah and immerse in the waters of purification (the holy mikva) and yet are commanded to eat more than usual throughout the day with culminating with a full seuda. By fulling this mitzvah of eating well the Sages have told us that is it thereby considered as if we had fasted two days. This perhaps can be understood to mean that Erev Yom Kippu through, ironically, eating becomes sanctified like fasting on Yom Kippur itself. That being said we can now understand better that what our Sages have told us to be exceedingly careful each Erev Shabbos and Erev Yom Tov because naturally the obligations of preparation and emotional height is far greater than the rest of the year. So also we can therefore surmise is Erev Yom Kippur which is referred to as Shabbos Shabboston. Therefore true success in making ourselves a vessel to receive holiness and blessings that come on the holidays is to not buddle issues which could lead to confrontations and instead stand up to each challenge and deal with it only at its core root as Yaakov Avinu. Yaakov instead of battling four hundred united (bundled) warriers he battled with the ONE root of their existence (the angel of Esav) and thereby overcame (annulled) the potential confrontation of all of them.  By radiating an arua of respect and concern for others, regardless of which incidents arise, then we can be assured to have made ourselves a fitting vessel (cle) to receive the blessings that Yaacov merited for parnosa and success.    

        On Yom Kippur we are compared to malakim because we are not limited to the realm of this mundane world. It is a time and opportunity to reach new levels of closeness to G-d through the power of prayer. The eve of Yom Kippur can bring with it a shift in consciousness from the earthly to the spiritual realm, with the “break of dawn” perhaps symbolizing the new light of day which has the power to shine its beneficence throughout all the rest of the year.

           May we all merit to transform each challenging situation from the “dust of potential confrontation” into the “gold dust of actualized conciliation” thereby meriting to bring closer the final redemption (geula) – may it be 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